Saturday night we took Brock to his first Halloween party of sorts...a pumpkin carving potluck with our friends and their kids. Brock had fun watching his daddy carve our pumpkin. It was funny--the daddies seemed to do more carving than any of the kids. So it was a night of "firsts" for Brock and for us...our first "kid" party. I had to laugh to myself when we got the invitation and noticed the party started at 5:00 p.m. It was a wild and crazy night...we were out the door at 7:00 to make it home for bedtime.
I love bath time. I love it when Brock is squeaky clean and smelling like baby shampoo and powder. After his bath the other day, I decided Brock needed to know why he gets this delicious smelling white stuff sprinkled all over him every day. I hope this little bit of wisdom will stick with him :)
Mamas like their boys to smell good
And girls like boys who smell good
So when you get stinky like boys do
There are some things that you should do...
Take a bath
Use soap
Brush your teeth
Spray cologne
Of course you're loved just as you are
But smelling nice will take you far
Little girls like nice boys with kind hearts
Who share their toys...and smell good
My mom asked me the other day if Brock has laughed yet. I said, "Well, he has smiled and made noise at the same time...I guess that's a laugh." Did I miss his first laugh? I haven't written it on his baby calendar yet. Hmmm. So I started paying closer attention. I caught him laughing today and tried to re-create the moment. This kid cracks me up :)
I don't know how early you can start teaching a child to swim. I will research this. But we got a good start yesterday...our first trip to the kiddie pool. This is one of the benefits of living in the South. It is the end of October, and we can go swimming. 80 degree weather + swimmer diapers from Grannie = an afternoon at the pool...despite the chilly water. He stood in the kiddie pool. He sat in the kiddie pool. I held him and let him float in the kiddie pool. Did he like it? Well, he didn't cry. I thought about blowing in his face and dunking him for a second, but I thought I better not push it. Overall, I'd say our first trip to the pool was a success.
Hmmm...that was much colder than the bathtub.
Is this gonna happen every time I don't finish my nap?
Brock has lots of stuffed animals. They sit in a cute little toy bag waiting to be introduced, all hoping to be his favorite. This week, Mr. Hedgehog made his debut. My Mimi made this spunky little guy, and I think he made quite an impression. It's hard to tell whether it was a good impression...you'll have to judge for yourself.
I find myself making up a lot of songs nowadays. I sing to Brock about everything and nothing. It keeps things entertaining and he seems to like it most of the time. I wonder if he will think life is a musical. Right after he was born, I was inspired by a framed scripture our friend made for his room. I want him to know this truth from God's Word and what all his body parts are called, so... The song goes on and on to include every body part I could rhyme, but we did a condensed version here so as not to bore you ( and I am getting sick, so you probably wouldn't want to listen to me singing for too long!)
Fearfully and Wonderfully Made
I love your nose; I love your nose
What a perfect nose; Just goes to show
That you are fearfully and wonderfully made
You are fearfully and wonderfully made
I love your eyes; I love your eyes
What pretty eyes; No big surprise
Cause you are fearfully and wonderfully made
You are fearfully and wonderfully made
I love your lips; I love your lips
What precious lips; I'd love a kiss
For you are fearfully and wonderfully made
You are fearfully and wonderfully made
I love your chin; I love your chin
What a perfect chin; It just makes me grin
For you are fearfully and wonderfully made
You are fearfully and wonderfully made
I love your cheeks; I love your cheeks
What pretty cheeks; I can hardly speak
For you are fearfully and wonderfully made
You are fearfully and wonderfully made
Oh thank you God; Oh thank you God
For our little boy; He's such a joy
For he is fearfully and wonderfully made
He is fearfully and wonderfully made
"I praise you for I am fearfully and wonderfully made." Psalm 139:14
I love children's books. I started collecting them before I was pregnant. It gave me a warm fuzzy feeling to think about reading my favorite stories to our hypothetical children. Sometime during my second trimester I got the books out and read an occasional story to baby...they say babies like hearing your voice in the womb. Now I try to read to Brock a little bit every day. Here is story time from a few days ago. He seems to be getting the hang of books :)
Our adventure on Friday: doctor's visit and s-h-o-t-s. I think when Brock is old enough to know what shots are, I will let them be a little secret between the nurse and me until the moment comes. Why stress a kid out? I may not have to worry about it though. He had to get two shots, and he did awesome. First prick....no tears. Second prick....3 seconds of silence...delayed reaction...tears...mommy picked him up....done. We took some Tylenol just to be safe and took it easy for the day. He sure did take it like a little man. I love the Band-Aids on the thighs. What a tough cookie!
We took our first trip to the Pumpkin Patch this week. A perfect outing for a sunny fall day. Brock wore a special outfit...a cowboy shirt and vest that I wore when I was little and that all of my cousins have worn, too. My Mimi and my cousins sent the outfit to Brock, "the newest cowboy", a few weeks after he was born so he can carry on the tradition. With it, they sent photos of all of them wearing the outfit which are also hanging in my Mimi's Cowboy Bathroom. The outfit is much too big for Brock right now, but he let me put it on him anyway, and he bore with me while I sat him on hay bales, propped him against pumpkins, and took a ridiculous amount of pictures. As we were leaving the Pumpkin Patch, we saw a cute little girl, about 4 years old, with a teeny tiny pumpkin in her hand. I said, "Aw, I like your baby pumpkin." "I like your baby," she replied with a shy smile. It made my day. I like him, too.
There are so many baby products on the market these days. You learn a whole new vocabulary when you have a little person in your family. You've got your Boppy Pillow, your Udder Cover, your Moby Wrap...and one of my favorites: the Bumbo. It's a chair that supports babies' hips and back just right so they can sit up. I don't know what is so hard about the word Bumbo, but I always have to stop myself from saying "Bimbo", and I've noticed I'm not the only one. Well, my baby definitely does not have a Bimbo, but he does have a Bumbo now thanks to his Granny :) Here he is sitting in it for the first time.
We had to Skype with Granny and show her what a big boy he is!
There are so many moments that make up each day. Life is made up of lots of little moments, and I am learning not to take any of them for granted. There is joy to be found in the little things. One of my favorite moments each day is when Brock wakes up from his nap. Happy, rested, content, and ready to explore the world. I can't help but smile.
This post originally included a video of Brock's tummy time where he rotated himself in a complete circle. But he was crying the whole time. I got a few complaints from family members who did not like seeing him cry...so it has been removed :)
Instead I just left this pic in case you could use a laugh today...
I came in to check on him during a nap the other day, and he was sleeping like this...
I woke up the other morning and opened the door to feel the weather outside. To my delight, there was no humidity, and it was FREEZING! Since summer always lingers for so long, it is very exciting when autumn finally arrives. Brock and I needed to run some errands, so I dug in his closet for something toasty to wear. It was game day, so I picked his FSU footie pajamas and hat, and then covered him up with his garnet and gold blankie. He was so cute I just had to snap a pic...his first time out in the cold. I checked the thermometer when we got in the car and you'll never believe how cold it was. A whopping 52 degrees. I am quite sure growing up in Washington, I wore shorts in 52 degree weather . Cold is relative. I have been in the south for way too long. To top it all off, by the time we finished grocery shopping at 9:30 am, it was already 70 degrees and I had to change him into a short sleeved onesie. Well, our cold adventure was fun while it lasted, Baby!
Hangin' out in the shopping cart...having a staring contest with Mr. Octopus.
Hmmm..I like the way this crinkles when I touch it.
I met Maria in college. She was a freshman when I was a junior. She and her friends were fun and crazy (think Spice Girls lip syncs in the dorms). Maria and I were both Resident Assistants the next year, and we became fast friends. We loved going on walks to our favorite muffin shop, doing Tae Bo, playing guitar, heading to Huntington Beach for Wahoo's Fish Tacos, laying out in the sun munching on Cookie Crisp, and "doing parades" on campus where we would blast Mambo #5 on my car stereo and wave at everyone as we drove by and laughed hysterically. She was my maid of honor. We live far apart now, but I keep her picture on my fridge and always look forward to our talks. She sent us a special treat the other day...a baby blanket for Brock that she made. We call it his Maria Blanket, and I know when he meets My Maria, he will love her just as much as his mommy does :)
This sweet little lamb lets you record yourself singing "Jesus Loves Me" so baby can hear your voice at the press of a button. I had fun recording the song for Brock before he was born, and I introduced the two of them the other day. I think they like each other.
My Mimi loves giraffes. My Pop-Pop loves hippos. Brock's bedroom is jungle themed, so he gets to see plenty of both. But Mimi beat Pop-Pop to the punch in her attempt to win their great grandson to her side. She got Brock a Sophie Giraffe...a special teething toy made of natural rubber with a special scent and feel that babies love. Sophies seem to be all the rage lately and I thought they were new, but apparently they started making them 50 years ago in Paris. Fancy! Sophie is soft, squeaky and easy to hold on to...lots of fun. Thanks, Mimi!!
Have you ever heard of Dunstan Baby Language? The idea is that all babies cry using 5 "words" and each one has a specific meaning.
1) Neh = Hungry
2) Owh = Sleepy
3) Heh = Needs a Diaper Change
4) Eh = Needs a Burp
5) Eairh = Has Gas Pain
I was so intrigued by this, albeit skeptical. I watched videos on YouTube, took notes, and listened to see if Brock spoke this universal baby language. I don't think he does. Guess he didn't get the memo. I have learned his sleepy cry, though, and it's pretty obvious. It's the one that sounds like he's too tired to cry. If you're interested, you can watch Dunstan Baby Language Lesson 1 on YouTube. If not, you can check out Brock speaking his own baby language :)
Every baby Seminole fan needs plenty of Garnet and Gold. To this end, Jason's mom crocheted a baby blanket for Brock in our team colors. He loves it. So do I. My favorite thing about it is the way his little fingers and toes slip through the holes as he's falling asleep. Sigh. He is so cute.
This is my baby's regular nighttime position. I can't bring myself to swaddle his arms when I put him to bed. They need to be free. Oh man, he's so cute. Aaaah. I hope he always sleeps this well.
Saturday night we took Brock to his first Halloween party of sorts...a pumpkin carving potluck with our friends and their kids. Brock had fun watching his daddy carve our pumpkin. It was funny--the daddies seemed to do more carving than any of the kids. So it was a night of "firsts" for Brock and for us...our first "kid" party. I had to laugh to myself when we got the invitation and noticed the party started at 5:00 p.m. It was a wild and crazy night...we were out the door at 7:00 to make it home for bedtime.
