Pine cone - "all gone"

Just when I thought Brock was passed the stage of putting things in his mouth...
HE EATS A PINE CONE! He and ma found a "tiny pine cone" at the park yesterday. He was carrying it around for a while and then my mom noticed him chewing on something and no pine cone. He chewed and swallowed it and then said, "pine cone all gone". He must have needed the fiber or something. He seems to be doing fine and he still talks about eating the pine cone. STRANGE!

Weeks in Pics

Slacking on the blog once again! Here are some pics from the last couple weeks.

First! Cory and I celebrated our 5th anniversary! We had a great weekend get away to a place called Plump Jack at Squaw Valley...it was awesome! We rode bikes, went wine tasting and out to a grown up dinner, and relaxed by the pool! Brock also had an awesome time hanging out with Mama and Pa.


Meet Carlee! Cory and I became a proud aunt and uncle earlier this month. Congrats Holly and Chad - she is gorgeous. And look at all that blonde hair!


Brock and his good buddy Conner!

More time with friends - Annie and Brock. We got this bike trailer a few weeks ago and Brock loves it. We try to go on rides a couple times a week. Brock is a little bossy though - he knows the way to the park and says "this way, this way", then screams if you go the wrong way - geez!


Last weekend my Dad's side of the family (my aunts, uncles and cousins) rented a house in Tahoe. It was great! Here is Brock jumping on the bed with cousin Kevin.


Last Monday we went to Wild Island with our friends Kelly and Owen. The boys had a blast. Brock laughed the whole way down the slides. He is my little water baby!

20 Months Old!

I can hardly believe Brock is 20 months – is it just me or does that sound like “almost” 2? Yikes! Our boy in a nutshell: He is always jabbering about this and that – and uses highly understandable sentences most of the time. He has a mind like a steel trap – he tells me stories about things that happened months ago and never misses a thing. He is super busy and active! He LOVES bikes, surfboards, skateboards, tractors and animals. He is pretty much obsessed with “pa” (Grandpa Coulston). Sorry everyone else, Brock has picked his favorite person and it is not you! It’s pa and pa only. The other day I took him over to my folks and he was scouring the house saying, “where a ou pa”(Where are you pa?). He is also losing his baby look. Rather than round and cuddly as he always was, he is now tall and lean – but still cuddly! And just the sweetest kid ever! He gives great hugs and kisses and the other day he told me “I ove ou” for the first time – I’m about to cry just thinking about it. Here are some more funny Brock stories.

Neighborhood Star

We have the most wonderful neighbors and Brock is friends with all of them. He knows almost every neighbor within a one block radius by name (Julie, Jay, Marshall, Tony, Rena, Victor, Norma, Bob, Grace, Pat, Chip, Adam, oh and their pets, Rock, Mandie, Shandy, Spooky, Smudge and Shimu). Each neighbor does something special with Brock. He hunts for bugs with Bob (a retired entomologist) – I’m certain he will be using the scientific names soon. He plays drums and skateboards with Marshall. I asked him what he did with Marshall the other day and he said, “bang da drums”! He plays in Rena’s fountain and chases her cats. He pets doggy Rock and feeds him sticks. Julie and Jay have a huge basket of toys in their house and on their porch, just for Brock. Julie is our super back up nanny when my mom is busy. He plays in Adams garage with bikes and tools. And on and on… We LOVE our neighbors! And they sure love him! Norma always says that Brock just brightens up our neighborhood - I agree!


Riding Marshall's skateboard

Playing the drums with Marshall

Big, Tiny

The most likely opposite to big is small, but Brock prefers to say “tiny”. He is always describing things as big or tiny. “Big rock – tiny rock”, “big car – tiny car”, “big spoon – tiny spoon” – you get the picture. Sometimes he uses his tiny voice (which is high and squeaky) when he describes something as tiny – what a goof!

Working the Please

Brock is full-on working the “pease”. He knows that he needs to say it when he asks for more food or whatever, but doesn’t always say it without encouragement. UNLESS it is something he really wants or knows I will probably say no to. For example, “more ice cream” immediately followed by a loud “Pease” It is really hard to say no to that sweet little please, but I try to stick with it.

Sharing

Sharing is a tough concept to get. After a lot of hard work Brock has become quite the sharer (most of the time). The other day he had a friend coming over to play. I asked him if there was one toy he didn’t want to share with his friend. I said we could put one special toy away, but that he had to share ALL of the other toys (a super nanny trick). He responded, “No, I share {with} Conner” - how sweet.

But he doesn’t always get why EVERYONE doesn’t share. We were in Costco the other day and the man in front of us was buying strawberries (Brock’s favorite). Brock said to me “eat sawberries” and I had to explain that those weren’t our strawberries. Brock responded, “share”? So then I explained that the man wouldn’t be sharing the strawberries either. To that Brock got a bit upset and questioned, “no share”? I’m sure he was wondering why he seems to be the only one in the world who has to always share. Like I said, a hard concept.

Throwing

Brock likes to throw things. When he was a baby we encouraged it and though it was cute. Now - not so cute. But this is a concept he is also starting to get. What he can throw, where and when he can throw it, when he can’t throw it – very confusing. One of Brock’s favorite activities it to throw rocks into the Truckee river – he could do this for hours.

Sleep

Yes! We are FINALLY getting some sleep. Brock sleeps all night, but is still an early riser – things to do! Cory and I are the same way.

Teeth

Eight… I think!

Hair

Still haven’t cut it, but I’m starting to think its time.



His Surfer Stance

When you tell him to do his surfer stance this is what he does. Not bad at all!




Cheers

Brock loves to do a big "cheers" and clink our cups before meals. We should probably have taught him to pray before meals - not to cheers and chug :) Oh well, it is pretty cute.

A Mellow Weekend

This weekend we just relaxed at home. While Brock napped we got some work done in our yard - which is in desperate need of landscaping! Brock got to hang with his buddy Owen and we did a lot of swimming.

Owen and Brock checking out the turtle! These two have been friends since they were just a couple days old. Believe it or not, they are the same age despite their difference in height.


Brock LOVES swimming! And he is doing better and better at the actual swimming part.


Warming up on the cement with Dad.

Cool shades!