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.
