18 month old Brock!

 

 Happy 18 months to you, our little toddler! Oh my goodness is Brock keeping us on our toes these days! He gets in to everything! He has started talking a bit - more imitating what I'm saying - but he understands everything! His favorite toys lately have been Spiderman, the vehicle puzzle from Grandma Debbie and the train puzzle he received from Papa for Christmas - he LOVES sitting there and pulling the wooden dowels in and out. He really spends time figuring out how any toy works and can sit for a long time opening/closing/pressing buttons, etc. Brock loves his water table and playing with his bath toys. He is waving at anyone and everything these days - after lifting him out of the bathtub, he waves goodbye to the water in the tub! He can hear an airplane in the sky before even Diesel or Oscar! We are having a little issue with throwing things - everything! And to Brent's delight, he seems to be favoring his left hand.

Brock and I went to our first Well-Check appointment without Daddy.... only because he's away in China on business. :( Everything looks great and he is a healthy 'little' boy. Brock weighed in at 28.8 pounds (90-95th percentile) and measured 33.25 inches. I think he was doing his head scrunch again here because this time he was only 75-90th percentile.

You'll have to forgive the following pictures - they are scanned copies. 

All about some Spiderman now

East Coast Trip - Part V - WILLIAMSBURG

Brock looked like such a big boy riding some of these rides all on his own!

Here's a cute little movie of his horse ride.

And he enjoyed the Carousel! Surprisingly there were no seat belts for the little ones and the horses went up pretty high! 

On Friday (Grandma's Birthday!!), Grandma, Brock and I headed to the park early while the other ones took their leisure. It worked out well so Brock could go on a few more little person rides before the "big kids" came. It was hot! Brock brought his bathing-suit so he could play in all the fun water activities! 

Soaking wet!

We met for lunch at the Festhaus Hall - very large restaurant offering German food - and enjoyed a little show while we ate. Then it was time for more rides! I can't remember the last time I rode a big person ride.... the last few trips to amusement parks, I've been sidelined due to a certain little someone. ;)

That's us - third row from the back - Brian, Vanessa, & Nancy

 My mother made reservations for the afternoon "London Rocks" show and they put on quite a spectacle. Brock wasn't too excited about a lot of the loud "transition" noise and would turn around and bury his head in my chest whenever something scared him (he enjoyed most of the music and dancing).

Fun times goofing off with Uncle Brian.

After the "London Rocks" music show, Brock and Grandma headed out to have some quiet time at the hotel and the "big kids" got to enjoy more of the theme park late! The crew stopped in Italy for dinner and it was quite a lot of food as my mother had purchased discounted dinner passes. Three types of cake anyone?

We managed to get in a few roller-coasters before it was time to scurry out of the park before fireworks. After tracking down a grocery store, we surprised my mother with a fabulous Carvel ice cream cake to end her birthday day!


We tried to go to the water park on Saturday, but it ended up being cloudy and the water was cold. Also water + mobile phones = bad.... so no pictures. Poor Brock was exhausted from his time at Busch Gardens.

 

The family ended up going back to Busch Gardens that evening, but it was really just for dinner.... and watching Brock ride some more rides! 

I think we all looked forward to Sunday morning breakfast!

We said our goodbyes and Brian and Nancy headed north while we all headed east to stop in Chesapeake to visit with Caroline and Brett (the girls were with their grandparents in Raleigh). After three more hours in the car, we came home to do laundry and pack for our flight home the following day. It was a really fun trip and it amazes me how much we did in two weeks, but like always - we were glad to be going home to Brent, Diesel and Oscar. 

East Coast Trip - Part IV - BIG BIRD

My mother had a big birthday on July 18th - turning 60! Whoohoo! So we all planned to meet up in Williamsburg, Virginia to celebrate her birthday.... by going to an amusement park! :)

Brock ready for the car ride north

David, Brock, my Mom and I arrived a little early on Thursday so we could explore some Busch Gardens before Brian and Nancy joined us that evening. It worked out well to be there later Thursday afternoon because the Sesame Street section of the park was wide open for Brock to explore and have some special time with a certain yellow bird. 

First we went on a few rides - even my mother went on this ride and thought it was a little fast!

Then it was time for Brock to meet a special friend and he was in love!!

He could not take his eyes off of him!

Because we were there at a non-crowded time, there was no one behind us in line so we really spent quite a few minutes with Big Bird in this room. Alas it was time to go around the corner and see the pictures Busch Gardens took (and want you to buy). Brock was a little upset because he still wanted to play!

....so guess who came around the corner to see him!

These pictures are from the hallway. Big Bird got off his stool when he heard Brock whimpering to go back to Big Bird and came to play even longer!

Brock was super excited. He touched his beak, gave him "high five's" and even touched his feet! Brock just loved it!

"Big Bird, you are so tall!"

Of course after that, Elmo was no longer Brock's "go to" when we walked through the gift shop. He went right after a Big Bird stuffed animal. Aww how sweet.

East Coast Trip - Part III - RALEIGH

Brock and I were taking the very short little flight from Charlotte to Raleigh, which made for the perfect opportunity to actually SEE the airplane before boarding. I thought Brock would enjoy this - walking up the steps and realizing we were ON an actual airplane - but I think he was a little scared of the loud noise.

Once we arrived at my mother's house, Brock opened his new gift and couldn't wait to try it out! In the week we were there, it was adorable to see how much he progressed learning how to ride his push trike!

He did pretty well... as long as there were no bugs in his eyes! Poor Brock!

Tuesday morning, my Dad took the day off work to run around Marbles Kids Museum with Brock. Oh my goodness, I think we were all overwhelmed with everything there! Brock had a blast!

Brock and my Dad posing with the indoor pirate ship! Brock loved driving it!

 There were so many rooms to explore, buttons to press, big kids to watch! My Dad and I had so much fun watching Brock. What a very fun kids museum!

Brock also enjoyed showing off his dunking skills after all that practice with his basketball hoop at home!

After a solid morning of activity, Brock needed a nice long nap that afternoon - my Dad said he slept really well that night too!

With all that running around, it was time to refuel and boy did Grandma make some yummy food!!

"Before"

"After - and after seconds!"

A separate occasion enjoying the leftover chicken juice on the bottom of the bowl!

We also had so much fun in the baby pool outside! It was so hot that everyone jumped in the water at one time - even Mia!

Brock enjoying a popsicle

I also had a little time to visit with a few friends - Beck and Will came over and joined us in the baby pool one morning and I was able to visit Jill and her new baby Nathan, just born July 1st! Jessica and her husband, Alex, had me over for a delicious dinner one night too! 

Me and Jessica

Then it was time to pack again - the next day was our trip up to Busch Gardens for my mother's birthday!

East Coast Trip - Part II - CHARLOTTE

Brock and I planned an overnight layover in Charlotte to visit Great-Aunt Carol and Great-Uncle Jeff! It was a perfect little stop to show just how much their home was NOT baby-proof! :)

Of course they did have some spectacularly fun things to play with! Like Cousin Evan's baby blanket we just had to pose with!

 And oh my goodness did Brock enjoy Coco and Caramel!

Yes, this is Caramel hissing at Brock!

Unfortunately I don't think they enjoyed his company as much, as the picture below shows where they were for most of Brock's visit! 

Aunt Carol and Uncle Jeff took us out to an Italian restaurant so they could see just how much my child enjoys his favorite food! Brock was enamored by Great-Aunt Carol's drawing skills!

But then equally enamored by Great-Uncle Jeff's Donald Duck impression! He was belly laughing!!

After dinner, Uncle Jeff showed him how to hold a baseball bat......

....how to properly enjoy dessert outside on the deck with nature....

....finally how to make his own quacking noise!

I think if Brock could talk, he would tell me he would want to always stop in Charlotte before visiting Raleigh!

East Coast Trip - Part I - FLORIDA!!

My sister-in-law Brandi, invited our family to join them on the beautiful white sandy beaches of Panama City Beach, Florida for a week and Brock and I had to go! Unfortunately by the time we looked at airfare prices for Brent (coupled with timing at work), it just wouldn't work, so Brent opted to stay home and keep the dogs company. 

Reagan was there for a softball tournament, so my in-laws were wise to make this a family vacation by renting a beach house! What a location! It was nice to be so close to the water because it was hot!

We managed to get in one softball game and Brock watched it from the comfort of Aunt Brandi's red collapsible wagon and enjoying the shade of a tent. The team did really well - winning that game 5 to 2, if I remember correctly.

Reagan running to first

Some of Reagan's games were not exactly close to the house, but we managed to keep ourselves occupied with other activities (besides sitting all day in that hot sun!) while they were gone. Blaine, Brock and I explored Dave & Buster's indoor arcade - and their fabulous air conditioning.

Brock was not quite understanding how these games worked and tried several times to put the tickets back in to the machine.

The beach house hosted a luau party for the softball team one night and Brock was very excited about it....

 
Maybe more excited about playing with all the beach balls!

Brock and I thoroughly enjoyed the sun and water. The sand was a different story....

It took a little time for Brock to get used to the stuff sticking to his hands and feet (he definitely did not like that part), but he really liked the water and watching as Blaine and I ran after whichever toy he threw in to the wave taking it out to sea! 

The beach house had a few beach toys that were perfect for Brock!

Most importantly, we were there to spend time with the family and it really was such a nice trip to be all together in the house.

I know that Grandpa and Gammy loved watching Brock for the week and saw so much of their own son in Brock's mannerisms. We had so much fun and really enjoyed our visit - thank you so much for inviting us! Looking forward to seeing you again in September and seeing some fun things in Nashville with Toddler Brock!