19 Months Old

At 19 months old, he weighs 27 lbs 15.4 oz; his height is 35.75 inches.  He is pretty tall for his age. His shoe size is 7, but he has managed to wear all of our shoes at some point.  That's his big thing.  Clomping through the house with shoes as he tells us, "Bye bye!"

This month he had to get his Hep A and influenza shot.

Maverick is not afraid of much.  A tall slide doesn't bother him in the least.  His older brother, Rocco, is quite the opposite.  .  .  very cautious.  Our second child seems to have thrown caution out the window.  He's wide open.

Maverick really enjoyed the school fall festival we attended in our small town for Rocco.  He was thrilled with delight as he came down the slides.  I love this sweet picture of him inside one of the inflatables. 

Keeping a watch on him in the house keeps me busy.  He's constantly moving whatever I've propped in front of the stairs leading up to the playroom.  A couple of times he has actually made it to the top before I caught him.  He is determined to get in the playroom.  He knows what all is inside there!

He loves music.  Recently he's tried to snap.  Last month he began whistling.  In our bedroom he knows what the radio and CD player do.  When he wants music he points to it.  When I ask him if he wants to listen to it, he will shake his head and give his high pitched "Huh huh!'  He will bounce up and down, shake his arms back and forth, and twist at the waist.  He loves music like his mom!  Jason and I both sing to him when we put him to bed.  The first song he has started to hum is Frere Jacque. Its the main three notes that go upward that he hums over and over.

He's very advanced for his age when it comes to strength and gross / fine motor skills.  He can pull himself up, hold on tight while hanging, and open any container he wants.  His verbal skills are developing, too.  He says wah wah for water, Rah Rah for Rocco, bah bah for bottle, bae for baby, and baa for bath. When I have him try to say a certain word, he will shake his head down hard and come out with some syllable that often sounds nothing like what we're working on, but his determination is so sweet.

He likes to hide toys inside things and then hold his arms up and in a questioning way say, "Ehh?"  He likes to play this game a lot.

Our little boy is very smart when it comes time to eat.  He knows all about blessing the food. He'll cover both eyes with his sweet hands, and he ends with "A meh!" He has also learned the sign for Amen as well as the signs for eat and more. Maverick is very independent, and he some times won't eat unless you give him the fork and let him do it himself.  He normally is a really good eater, but I've found that if he doesn't eat, I can get him to by acting like I am crying.  It upsets him, so he'll quickly take bite.  Little man has a big heart.  A few times when he has seen me cry, he will sweetly wipe my tears off of my face.  It's actually more like poking my eye out, but the rough boy means well!

When he sees a tractor, truck or hears a big engine says,"Dada!"  He will keep on until you acknowledge, "Yes, daddy drives a tractor."  He will smile in agreement and shake his head.

As of September, Jason and I have been separated, living in separate homes.  While we work, he stays with Ms. Donna  and  Mr.  Greg two to three days a week. He can say their names (Nonna and Geg).  His Nana Carolyn also watches him a day or two a week.  Granddaddy is still recovering from his knee surgery so she hasn't taken him on more than that.  Friday's he is usually with Jason, since that is his day off. Jason also gets him in the afternoons on Monday (I teach a college course that night), Wednesday, and Thursday.  I have him every weekend (Friday afternoon through Sun night), as well as Tues and Friday after school.

We are separated, but we are still a family. A broken family hoping for healing and restoration. Our children are miracles from God proving that anything is possible.

Pumpkin Patch

We went to the Methodist Church Pumpkin Patch and found two pumpkins that we plan on painting soon.  We had the best time!

18 Months Old - 7 1/2 Years Old

Seven and a half!  I can't believe how the time flies.  Rocco's latest?  A pit fart.  Yes, I used to never even let him say the word, now he goes around making poot sounds under his arm pit.  Thanks Will Cox for teaching Rocco this cool trick!

When something good happens, Rocco will say, "What a play!"  He really likes sports.  He watches baseball and football on TV and knows all the lingo.

After his bath, Rocco has noticed the drain swirls around.  He always wants to stay in the tub until it is all drained out so that he can watch the "little tornado guy."

Teen Beach Movie is a thing of the past.  Now Rocco is into The Adventure of Shark Boy and Lava Girl. He's watched that weird movie I know ten times.  He is even keeping his own dream journal where he records his dreams.

Our two blessings from Jesus!

Maverick has been able to say his brother's name now for a few weeks.  He calls him Rah Rah.  When you ask him where the baby is or where Maverick is he will point to himself.   One thing he loves to do is to get under the bed covers and hide.  He will yell for us, then giggle as he covers back up.

As far as toys go, he loves anything you can push.  Vacuum cleaner, mop, broom, toy lawnmower.  And he's really into trucks and cars...doesn't matter what size.  But he's sweet too if you give him a baby doll he will hug it.  His absolute favorite are shoes.  He goes around the house every day with one shoe on, sometimes on the wrong foot, just clomping around.  If he finds flip flops, he knows how to fit them between the correct toes.

Toothbrushes come up missing a lot at our house.  Maverick loves to gnaw on them.  Sometimes he opens the toilet lid and throws toys inside.  I'm expecting one of our toothbrushes to turn up inside the bowl soon. Thankfully it hasn't happened yet.

A new tooth came in - no make that two.  They are on Maverick's left side in the far back...one upper and one lower.   He still just has the front top four and bottom four.

While Rocco loves to be inside, Maverick is the exact opposite.  He will fight you when the kitchen door opens just trying to get out there.  He knows all of his riding toys are in the garage.  If you let him ride for a while on the driveway, he'll cry, scream and grab with hands and feet trying to stay in his little car.  He does NOT want to go back inside.

I'm surprised that my curtains are still hanging.  Each morning, he twirls around in my sheers and blinds.  He thinks this is a great place to hide. He'll yank on them, all the while I'm telling him, "No Maverick!"  He thinks it is a game.

When it comes to food, Maverick is there!  He is my Nutella buddy.  We snack on cinnamon teddy grahams with peanut butter and Nutella.  Maverick and I could both eat it by the spoonfuls.

He is very observant and soaks in every little thing like a sponge.  He's quite the imitator.  Before he gets into the bathtub, he will stand stark naked in front of the toilet.  He doesn't know to pee pee into it, but he just stands there "taking care of business."

I love to watch my boys hang out together.  Here they are one morning watching a Power Ranger DVD in Maverick's room.

This was another morning.  Maverick just hangs all over his big brother.  In the morning, he'll lay right on top of his neck, with his pee pee diaper in his face and put him in a head lock.  

 Here comes the little Bulldog!  He is going to be like his brother in that he likes the game.  He puts the helmet on by himself, then he growls.  Rocco pretends that he is a player for UGA.  He'll get in the hallway and have me announce the team.  He comes running in just like the players do on TV before a big game.

The biggest scare I have at our house is the stairs.  They are hardwood all the way up.  Maverick now knows about the toy room.  He's learned how to climb over the toy sink shelves.  I turned them around and now he uses the towel rack to climb.  Even the big toy box didn't stop him.  He just climbed over it too.  For now, the baby play pen is guarding it.  Eventually he will learn how to conquer it as well.  He's gone up a few times on his own.   That's scary because he can't come down right yet.  One time Rocco followed him up so as to protect him from falling.  He's a great big brother.  It takes the whole family watching that little mess we call Maverick!  Little man loves to run from you.  He's such a stinker.

Stone Mountain

 For our sixteenth anniversary, we went to Stone Mountain in Georgia.  There's so much to do there, especially since I was last there as a teenager twenty years ago.  Rocco and I attempted the sky hike.  It's a ropes course high up in the trees.  Rocco hung for the first level then he was ready to get back down to the ground.  

 Seeing as he is the cautious one of my two children, I was so very proud of him for going as far as he did!

 He preferred the kids' course.  It had a zip line at the end; he held on tight and swung like a monkey all the way down and back.  He was amazed at his own strength and bravery.  His daddy and I were proud of him for this, too!

 Maverick thought he was big enough for the course, too.

We had some lunch at one of the cafes.  The boys did a good job sharing their slushy.  

Check out this brotherly love in the candy shop where we bought some buckeyes and fudge.

God blessed us with a beautiful day.  The weather was absolutely perfect.

 While Jason watched the sleeping baby, Rocco and I played some Putt Putt golf.  Look at the sign along the way.  I'm not far from my old  home town!

 On the first hole Rocco made a hole in one!  He is named after a famous golfer you know!

Later we took the 45 minute train ride around the mountain.  Maverick sure enjoyed it!

Our family...

I just love this candid shot!  They look so happy. 

  Later we rode the tram up on top of the mountain.  Once we were up there, I took off hiking with the boys.  Bad idea...I had to hike back up it!  At least we had some shade along the way.

 Rocco on top of Stone Mountain...Later he told me that he had prayed along one of our stops near the big rocks and shaded trees.  It was a beautiful place to worship.

Maverick on top of Stone Mountain...

 Geyser tower was another adventure we embarked upon that day.  It was a roped in climbing course with spontaneous water jets that soaked you when you were least expecting it.

Before the laser show, we ate at one of the restaurants on site.  I'd say the corn was little man's favorite!

My favorite part was just being with my family all day.  It was a great trip.

Aug 29 - monthly update

Rocco started second grade.  He's in Mrs. Massey's class.  Thankfully Will Cox, Rocco's best friends, is in his class this year. Riley Baker, his former girlfriend, is in there, too.   Unfortunately Hunter, Hayes, and Gunnar were placed in the other second grade class.  So far things have gone well at CSE.

Rocco is a very good big brother.  One day Maverick had been crying and I could not get him asleep.  Rocco sang him his very own made up lullaby.  "Go to sleep, go to sleep, go to sleep little baby...because we love you, and we care about you, and we know you haven't slept all day." And you know what? He went to sleep!

 Seventeen months old and still growing like a weed.  It was back to work for me full time this year.  I was sad, but oh so thankful that I had last year only working part time so that I could be more of a stay at home mom.  I'll forever cherish that time I had home with my babies.  This year I'm at Southeast Elementary teaching math and science to sixth graders.  It's about a twenty minute drive from the house.  I've been working late hours trying to stay up with the pace of being in a new school, new grade, and new subject.

Our boys love to get a bubble bath.  Here they are in our big whirl pool.  (If you look extra hard you can see Rocco's blue orthodontic glue on his back teeth.  Just that little bit of glue has corrected his under bite caused by grinding teeth.  Thankfully braces will come later rather than sooner.)

 I can think of nothing sweeter than my nana interacting with little Maverick. She was feeding him breakfast one morning.  Look at that little bird mouth open for some Cheerios.  Something is extra special about great-grandparents!

 This little man loves a sucker!  He'd almost eat the stick when he's through with the candy.

 I love picture shots from behind.  He was busy playing with his little Disney train that his nana and granddaddy gave him in this picture.