Six Years Three Months Old

June has been a great month for us.  With school out, we've been able to just stay around the house and spend lots of time together.  Having summers off if one of the biggest perks of being a teacher.  August will be here too soon, but for now we're enjoying every day we have.

We've gone blackberry picking two or three times now. We ride the four wheeler to our special secret spots. Rocco is really good at telling me which ones are ready.  Every now and then he'll pick a few himself.  I've made three cobblers this summer; they're just delicious.

Our church's VBS is later in July, but he went to Live Oak (the church Jason pastored for 9 years).  He came home with this super hero outfit.  His mask said, "Powered by God."

We've talked more about heaven and hell lately.  He asks me what heaven is like.  When I told him the part about us having perfect bodies he began to ask questions.  "Like I will have my same skin but no mosquito bites?"  "I guess so..." I responded.  "But, mommy will you have your mole?"  That was the sweetest question.  He loves the mole on my chin and has felt of it often going to sleep.  With perfect bodies I don't guess I'll have that mole.  He was a little concerned about that.

Every night he asks me, "Mommy are you putting me to bed?"  Most nights I do, but when I'm up late doing something he wants to know, "But when are you coming to bed?"  Rocco still sleeps in our bed at six years old.  Jason has told him when he goes to first grade he will start sleeping in his own room.  We will see.

Maverick is just three months old and is not much of a playmate at this age, but he does watch DVDs with his big brother.  This is one of their daily activities.  Rocco has him watching Mater's Tall Tales, Thomas the Train, and Monster Jam.  They are quite the pair watching their shows in Maverick's room.

 Being a big brother comes so naturally for Rocco.  He is so good with Maverick.  Whenever his little brother starts to cry, Rocco is the problem solver.  "Oh he's just fighting sleep!" he'll say.  Or he'll tell us, "He's probably hungry"  or "He needs his paci."  One day he told me, "He's upset because he wants to watch Mater's Tall Tales."

Rocco knows by now that I am a picture taking mama.  When he gets close to Maverick, he'll tell me, "Take a 'pitch-uh'!"  This was probably one of those times.  I couldn't resist.  Just look at him supporting his little brother's neck.

Rocco is very tight with his money.  He just collects any cash he gets and stores it in his secret hiding spot.  We've certainly spoiled him by buying him some little something almost every time we're out at the store.  Lately, I'll tell him that if he wants it he has to pay me back for it.  He'll quickly change his mind.  This has cut down on our toy spending a good bit.    

One morning he woke up and asked me out of the blue, "What's in your wallet?"  This cracked me up.  No doubt he heard this from a commercial.  

One day we were eating out for Father's Day and my dad gave me $10 for something.  As I put it in my wallet, Rocco began to pout because he wanted the money.  "I'll give you this five." I told him.  He wasn't dumb.  He insisted on the ten.  Later after we ate, my dad gave him $10.  Immediately, he turned to me and said, "Where's my five, mom?"  Needless to say he didn't get it. 

 On Father's Day when Jason opened his card Rocco was concerned.  "Is that my money?"  He did the same thing when my nana opened up her birthday card.  I had to assure him that the money did not come from his secret hiding spot.  

Our big guy is all about speed lately.  He loves to race down the hall and back to see how fast he can do it.  Jason and I got in on the fun and tried to beat each other's times.  We're very competitive.  Of course Rocco beat all of our fast times.  When we're going down the road Rocco can spot a car going too fast.  He'll just shake his head and say, "Boy he's gonna get a ticket!"

Baseball continues to be one his favorites.  We'll pretend we're playing for the Braves and going against some other team like the Sand Gnats, Lookouts, or Green Jackets.  Once Rocco tucks his shirt tail in, gets a wad of Big League chewing gum, and picks up his tomahawk (uses it for his bat) we are ready to go.  I'm the coach and the announcer.  When he changes sides with the imaginary team, he'll say, "So, how are we doing coach?"

This month Rocco has really become more self sufficient.  I know I've babied him so much; I guess now that we have a second child he has to do more things for himself.  He now can open the car door to get in and out; he can also buckle and unbuckle himself in the seat.  He's also started getting more brave in the pool lately.  He's been jumping off of the top step.  Every now and then he will go under...not often.  It will only be a matter of time before he's jumping off the side of the pool and swimming without a life vest.

  

Three Months Old

 Look who is another month older. He's certainly grown since May.  He is no longer in size 1 diapers.  I had to pack away most of his 3 month outfits because they were just too small.  Our big boy is wearing at least 3-6 month clothes and some are straight 6 months.  On any given day you can probably bet that his socks are hanging off at his toes because his feet are so long.  At three months old he is about 14 pounds.  This morning when I woke up and saw him, he looked like a little linebacker laying there in his bed.

Oh how thankful I am that I've been able to stay at home with my boys this summer!  Since Maverick has been born I've only had to work six days.  My eight weeks of maternity leave were up the end of May, but by this time school was just about out.  And now I have the summer to spend with them.  I love staying at home and seeing how they change and grow every day.  Just look at what Maverick learned to do recently.

It is so sweet how he grabs his feet and just holds them.  Also this past month, Maverick has gone longer through the night without waking up to feed.  If I nurse him around 10pm, he will go to sleep and not wake up to eat until 2 or 3am.  He's up again at 6 or 7am.  He'll often go right back to sleep and be ready to start his day around 10am.  Talk about a good baby!

He is full of smiles for his mommy and other family members.  He's happiest in the mornings.  Even in the wee morning hours when I first greet him in his pack-n-play sleeper he lights up.  It doesn't matter how tired I am, I just glow inside and realize just how worth it it is.  Every day I thank Jesus for my boys.

Jason is so good to help out, too.  I must say I have it made.  He takes the 6am shift and feeds him milk I've pumped and put in a bottle.  Then he'll get him back to sleep before he goes to work at the church.

The only concerns we've had this month are his reflux and watery eyes.  We've had to increase his dose of Zantac because the reflux causes him to make wheezing sounds, almost like he's having some issues catching his breath.  And his eyes have watered since he came home from the hospital.  I'm really praying that it clears up so that we don't have to take him to an eye doctor.  The pediatrician says it is a clogged tear duct.

Maverick is such an active and strong baby.  Throughout the day he just kicks his legs and moves his arms all around.  If you're holding him upright in your lap, he will lift his back off of your chest and try to sit up on his own.  He's pretty good at holding his head up with little assistance. Tummy time is still important.  He continues to roll over at times, and he's really good at supporting his neck. 

He's said all of his vowel sounds (aah, eh, I, oo, uh, etc).  When I start going through the vowels myself it makes him start talking.  He gets so excited; his legs kick, his eyes get wide, and he starts breathing fast.  He loves interaction with us.  And he gets a lot of it up close and personal with his brother.  I think he likes it, so long as Rocco's hair doesn't get in his eyes.  They watch the TV in the nursery together when I put in various cartoon DVDs.  They are buddies already!

Father's Day

Someone at church took this action shot of Jason loving on Maverick.  This was on Sunday when Jason preached.  You can see his ear piece hanging behind his neck on his coat.  This picture says so much to me.  It shows that Jason is a very hands-on dad.  He takes time out of his busy schedule to spend time with his boys that he's so proud of.  Maverick looks so content and safe in his daddy's big arms. Two of God's biggest blessings in my life are pictured here.  Priceless. .  .

Guess who...

Guess who dressed Rocco for church?  It wasn't me!  I like for him to wear a nice, collared shirt and certainly not a hat.  Guess who dressed Maverick for Sunday morning service?  It wasn't Jason.

This picture makes me smile every time I look at it.  While I was dressing Maverick for church in this top-of-the line outfit that was given to us from a friend, Rocco was in his room for a special assignment.  I had asked him to get his clothes ready for church.  When he came to the baby's room, he was so proud that he had dressed himself.  He saluted and said, "Mommy, I'm in the army for the United States."  And then he wanted to take his water gun to church...I don't think so.

Meeting Papaw for Father's Day

My parents live a little over an hour away from us.  Since Maverick is still so young, we decided to meet halfway for Father's Day and have lunch with my dad at Cracker Barrel.  My dad and my niece, Daelyn, met us for the special occasion.  I had the two boys.  

 This was also a special day because it was Daelyn's first time seeing her new cousin, Maverick.  I must say she did a great job of holding his head and neck.  She was very sweet with him.  Here they are for the first time together - she is 3 yrs and Maverick is 2 months old.

 Along with the gifts and cards this year, I also made my dad, papaw, and father-in-law some homemade blackberry cobbler.  These are fresh blackberries from the woods - not the store bought kind.  Jason doesn't eat cobbler-too sad for him. ;)

 After we ate, we went for a swim.  This was a real treat.  This was the first time Rocco has ever been with all of his first cousins at the same time.  Here they are - Rocco and Maverick with their mom's brother's girl and their dad's sister's two kids.

Then once they all had their sunscreen and life jackets on, they went for a little swim.

  

Summer Reading Program

This is the third year that Rocco has participated in the Summer Reading Program.  Check him out back in 2010.  This was the summer before he began preK.   

                                                 

This is the first year that he's really been able to read a lot more himself.  I would say he knows about 170 sight words and those he doesn't know he can often figure out using the rules that Mrs. Bond taught him this year in kindergarten.  Of course I still read to him a lot, too.  All of that reading adds up, and when you're in the reading program you get certificates for the amount of time you read.  We just got started last week and he's already documented 2 hours worth which landed him a free donut and skating pass.  

The cool thing is that now Maverick has joined us.  He laid between Rocco and me while we read for 20 minutes this morning.  He just looked at the pages.  I read a while, and then Rocco read most of Go Dog Go! to him.  

Today was little man's first trip to the library.  

 And we called Betty to see if she'd bring Will and Weston.  They joined us, too.  Now all 3 boys are signed up.  Let the reading begin!