Thirteen Months Old

He just turned one last month and he's already headed toward his two's.  Slow down little boy!  You're growing up too fast.  From the look of that precious face . . . .

you'd never know that he can already pitch a little fit like a two year old.  He's taught himself how to arch his back, fling his head, and throw a big one.  If you take something away from him that he's not supposed to have or if you put him in his car seat you just might see one of these fits.  But he's much too sweet to throw one for long.  Look at this precious little boy!

 Here he is at his brother's baseball game.  He's already been to several.  Sometimes he'll sit in our laps...

and at other times he'll go down to the fence. Sometimes he see daddy, who happens to be the coach.  He'll  say, "Dada."  That happens to be he favorite word.  He says it all day long.

Jason's cousin, Allison, made us matching shirts.  Colston and Rocco are on the same team together.  Allison and I have "Baseball Mom" shirts and Carlton and Maverick have "Colston's Brother" and "Rocco's Brother" shirts.  

Maverick experienced his first boat ride the first of April.  The four of us went out on Jason's Bumblebee.  He took it all in, and daddy even let him behind the wheel for a while.  It was a nice day but the wind made it a little chilly.  

One thing he likes to do is look in the mirror.  He will smile and pat the baby that he sees looking back at him.  He also loves to explore and open cabinets/drawers.  They say cleaning the house when you have kids is like brushing your teeth while eating Oreo's; I believe it!  I will finish putting the magnets back on the fridge that he tore down when I turn around and see that he's drug out pots and pans out of the pantry.  When I get those picked up I have to put the trash back in the can because he found it. Then, I have to go refold the clothes that he's unfolded on the couch.   It goes on and on. . . I love that sweet little mess! He's cut my computer off several times...and some of those times I've lost some data that I was working on.  He, of course, is oblivious to what he's doing.  He just thinks it's cool to watch the blue light go off and on. 

We used to barricade the living room so that he couldn't get out.  Now that he can crawl, stand, walk, climb, and anything else he so chooses, there's no containing him!  He just gets up on the couch and climbs over it so that he can get into the kitchen.  He's also learned how to turn over on his belly and slide off the tall bed.  Little man is so muscular and has such a tight grip.  There's not much slowing him down. He's even learned how to wiggle his way out of his high chair and stand up. Thankfully we've caught him before he toppled to the hard kitchen floor.   He still stays with nana and granddaddy on Tues and Thursday; he keeps them running!

My mom calls him "Little Moses" because he loves to carry anything that resembles a staff.  Canes, brooms, golf clubs, sticks, you name it.  He will hold it like a staff and walk with it in tow. 

On April 1st, we brushed his teeth for the first time. When I gave him the toothbrush he tried to brush his hair with it.  

With his daddy and granddaddy being cattleman, it is no wonder that his first animal sound was the mooing of a cow.  He even moos at Duke, our dog.  Granddaddy bought Maverick a little toy cow now that he can moo so well.  

If you leave some clothes on the floor, he will wrap it behind his neck like a scarf and walk around the room like that.  If he finds a brush, he will comb his hair.  The other day he found a Qtip and started to put it in his ear.  And he already knows what a remote it.  When he woke up the other morning, he went to the living room, picked up the remote, climbed up on the couch, and he pointed the remote to the TV like he was about to watch it.

Of course I have to brag on how smart he is.  He can point to mommy's nose, his belly, diaper, head, mouth, and eyes.  He's also learned to point.  And he's using the sign language we've taught him for eat, milk, and bye.  When wants to nurse he usually just pulls at my shirt and starts sticking his tongue back and forth.  He's growing healthy!  He measures over 24 pounds at his one year check up and was really tall for his age. He's already in a size 6 shoe; list lastest pair were some sandals made by TEVA.

Maverick is all boy.  He loves to run tractors across the floor.  And he loves to play rough.  He's learned how to tackle his brother down to the floor.  We're having to work on the hitting part.  If he smacks at you and you respond with an "Ow!" he just cackles.  The rougher you play the more he likes it.  He also likes to be tickled, and mommy and daddy know just where his tickle spots are!

Seven Years Old

Rocco now stands three feet and seven and a half inches tall.  He's moved up to a size 11 in shoes, 5 in shirts and 5/6 in pants (as long as they have adjustable waist).

 Rocco is certainly one strong boy.  He began planking with me when I was working out one night to Gilad.  His abs are like steel, and right after he turned seven we were at the park with the Cox boys when he -for the first time- traveled across the monkey bars all by himself.  He was so proud, and I was too!

He is such a sweet boy, and he's still oh so smart!  The other day his teacher was out and he had Ms. Nancy Rogers for a sub.  She had the children line up in front of the room for a spelling bee.  It got down to just Rocco and Hannah.  He won by spelling the words fly, fast, and floor. 

He recently started telling jokes where word play is the punch line.  He gets most of his jokes off of the milk cartons at school.  Here are a few of them:

"Why are basketball players messy eaters?     Because they're always dribbling!"

"What did one plate say to another?     Food's on me tonight!"

"Why do fish not play basketball?       Because they are afraid of the net!"

"What is a boxer's favorite drink?     Punch!"

"How do you keep a bull from charging?     You take away his credit card!"

"Why are you under there?"  After I say, "Under wear?"  he just starts laughing because I said underwear.

Blue glue is still on his back teeth, but his front teeth have naturally aligned over his bottom ones.  Now that he's found his new bite, the under bite has been reversed.  That's one small step towards brackets this summer!

Since Rocco has decided to be a follower of Jesus, he's made some astounding statements.  The other evening he was sitting in the living room floor playing with his little football figures when out of the blue he stood up and said, "I"m going to go read my Bible."  Wow! Where did that come from?  I learned that the previous Wednesday nights Team Kid lesson was about having a quiet time. I followed him to his bedroom so that I could direct him to a book that might be easy for him to read. First John was my pick.  He wanted me to shut his door.  "God wants me to read His Word in private," he informed me.  Later he also told me that he did not need any distractions because he was trying to "read his Father's Word."  

And then another day he told me that he had asked God to forgive him for some sins he had done.  That is what it's all about!  I love the fact that Rocco is so sensitive to God's Word.   I continue to pray that both he and Maverick will grow up to be great men of God.    

Rocco has certain sayings that I hear him say every day, or at least once a week.  When something cool happens, he'll say, "What a play!"  When something ridiculous happens he will sarcastically reply, "Really?"  And he also calls Maverick his buddy boy.

The school counselor has taught the students at our school that spending time together is important. She's explained it in terms of buckets. The other day we were riding together on the golf cart and Rocco said, "Hey mommy, you're filling my bucket and I'm filling yours."

I'll close with a few sweet pictures of the boys that God has blessed us with.