The Baby Whisperer

Both of the babies were a little fussy on the way to Julie Luce's house when Grandma Cokie was sitting in the back of Bethany's car with them. However, on the way home with RACHEL, AKA THE BABY WHISPERER, in the backseat, they both were sleeping like logs.With my nook/blanket soothing powers I wooed Addy to sleep.

Rock fell asleep easily just by sitting next to me.

Okay so maybe he was exhausted because he was under the weather and hadn't had a nap all day long and it was around three o'clock and maybe he might have felt particularly exhausted after the trauma of busting his lip open on Julie's tile floor after he tripped and fell hard and it bled so much that his mom had to sit down and put her head between her knees while everyone else tended to his open wound. MAYBE that had something to do with it.

Okay and maybe Addy was starving on the way to Julie's house so that's why she was fussy sitting by Grandma Cokie and on the way home she was full and in a fresh diaper and being her typically sleepy newborn self. All I have to say is it was nice to have them both quiet for a change.

Oven Mitt 'Puppets'

The other day I caught someone pretending that his sweatshirt (pulled over his arm but with his hand still inside the sleeve) was a puppet. He would make funny puppet voices (in the style of his Papa John) and then laugh and laugh.
So the other day I gave him some oven mitts to play with. Sure enough he made these into puppets too.

He had a lot of fun putting them on, making noises, taking them off, putting them on again, etc.

He loves these new toys a lot and wants to play with them all the time. Which causes a problem when I need to use them to pull a HOT lasagna out of the oven.

NOT Rock's Halloween Costume

Seeing as how he loves dogs, I ordered Rock a dog costume online. Now, obviously, he couldn't try it on, so I ordered the 12-24 month size figuring that even though Rock is in the the 90th percentile for both height and weight, he should be able to fit in something meant for a child twice his age.

Unfortunately, on Rock, it was way too small.

Especially on his off-the-charts-in-size head.
A (blurry) shot to demonstrate just how small it was -- see the white snaps that are supposed to connect the head to the body? Hard to do when they are 7 inches apart.

Even though it was way too small and I had to stretch it to get it over his shoulders for these pictures, Rock enjoyed dressing up. Which gives me hope for the new monkey costume I bought him (at a store where he could try it on!) for Halloween.

Boy Comparison

And now for shots to compare the one-year-olds!
Here they come! Charging down the hall!

This is what we call Rock's Punk Face. He does it whenever something is happening that he doesn't like. For example, when Clip has his mom's camera case.

He's pointing out the fact that Clip has it and won't give it to him.

Here he took matters into his own hands and poked Clip in the face. So kind.

Clip's wondering what he did this time!
Don't worry -- he told Rock a very funny joke that made up for all his transgressions.
And then we plopped them on the couch.
Both Rock and Clip have now learned what "kiss" means. Hilarious.
Is Clip raising his hand in protest?No one looks very happy here.
Yes, I think this is the best shot I got.
After that, Rock was suddenly very into this pillow.
Gotta pick it up...
And throw it off the couch.
And with that, the photo session was done.

Happy Birthday Sophie!

Our October Monday Night Dinner fell the day before Sophie's third birthday. So we turned it into a party for this little princess.Complete with princess earrings (see above) and a tiara (on her arm in the picture below).
Annie made an AWESOME princess castle cake. It was so impressive... And CORN FREE for Fix!

Getting in a little playtime before she blows out the candles.

Aiden looked on while Sophie opened her gifts. Later he said "When Sophie dies, can I play with her toys?" We told him it would probably be a better idea to encourage her to share than to wish she would die.

Rocket couldn't resist trying on the tiara.

Which prompted us to try it on Rock too.

Judy, Aiden and Sophie hang out with baby Addy.

All this chaos wore out Papa Rabenhorst...
And Baby Addy. In fact, she managed to sleep through most of the crazy festivities.

Park It!

Before Sophie's Birthday Dinner last Monday night, we went to Allen Pond to frolick in the fun Fall weather.

We thought this bird looked very funny/fat. Is there someone out there who can explain why this animal looks like this?

Where's Daddy? Look closely and you'll see Fix.

The park by our house has no swings. Rock loved getting back in one...

Especially because dad was doing the pushing.

At the park (and for that matter, everywhere we go these days), Rock had a lot of fun pushing his own stroller. He'd much rather push it than ride in it and he definitely doesn't want help. But there is one little problem. Steering. Play the video and you'll see what I mean.

Rude Awakening

Apparently, Rock doesn't like being woken up by red-headed boys.

Fall Fun at Patuxent Gardens

So, two weekends ago, we went to Patuxent Gardens to participate in their Fall Festival.

Unfortunately, we got there at 4:55 and it ended at 2:00. Oops!

The good news is, they were having ANOTHER FALL FESTIVAL the next weekend too! And that's when cousin Caleb was coming into town!!! So we checked out the scene to prep for the next weekend.

Rock was particularly excited to discover this fountain.

The water was super fun to play in.

Caleb's gonna like this!!!

So, we brought Caleb there the next weekend for some FALL FUN!

And here he is with Aunt Beth!

Although we were at a Fall Festival, the weather felt much more like Summer.

Family shot!

Content with Dad.

Skeptical with Mom. Or perhaps he was just miserable because he had to wait in line in the heat.

And finally on the hayride!

It was nice to sit down and feel the breeze.

Caleb, peeking over at our side of the wagon.

And Rock was RIGHT, Caleb DID love the fountain!

In fact, he succeeded in putting his foot in it twice.

He wouldn't smile without the cup in his hand.

As far as the creepy witch was concerned, he was curious, but had no desire to go any closer than pictured here.

Still holding his cider cup while examining the baby pumpkins...

and checking out the gourds.

It was so fun to have Caleb in town for a Fall visit.

A DOG (and other gifts from Jessica F.)

Rock was overjoyed to get a package in the mail from Jessica F. He started signing "Please" before we even opened the box.

Now, Jessica sent three adorable stuffed animals. A dinosaur, a frog, and a DOG.

Rock immediately lunged for the dog, picked it up, and kissed it repeatedly.

After awhile we tried to interest him in the other animals in the box...

But he gave them back to Dad...

And continued to play with the bulldog.

More kisses.

Sorry Mr. Frog and Mr. Dinosaur. Rock's in a dog phase. Thanks again Jessica for this sweet gift!

Flip-Flops

It's hard to wear flip-flops when they aren't your size and your pajamas have feet.

My Apologies to Rock

As if he didn't have enough problems (what with falling down and bonking his head as he continues to master the art of walking with an off-the-charts-in-size-head)...

I had to go and accuse Rock of losing our camera. Turns out it fell out of his mom's purse when she was out with Grandma Cokie. Oops. SORRY ROCK!

How could I accuse this poor, continually bruised and banged-up boy of doing anything with my camera but posing cutely in front of it!

UH-OH!

I've lost my camera!

Although Rock looks surprised by this news, I think he may have had something to do with it's disappearance as he was one of the last people to have it in his possession. So, until I find it, these blog posts may be few and far between. Pray that it shows up!

Haircut

So, instead of chopping my hair off, I decided to become a BLONDE!

Just kidding -- I decided to just chop some really ugly bangs and lighten it a little.

Just kidding. I went for hardcore bangs and slick bob.

Just kidding I decided to do some hairpin curls.

Just kidding! It's a pixie cut for me!

Just kidding. Here's the truly shocking style itself!

Yep my long locks are gone! And will soon be shipped to Locks of Love.

But that's not why I chopped them. I was just ready for a change and ready to spend some quality time with my son instead of quality time with my hairdryer! Here's to easier styling and better parenting.

OCEAN CITY! Part II

Okay so the weather wasn't the greatest, but it wasn't so bad that we couldn't ride the bus down to the Boardwalk for some beachside adventures. Rock was stunned by the fact that there were many people in this strange moving vehicle where he needed no carseat and Mom and Dad sat right next to him.

Boardwalk shot.

Okay so who am I kidding? Fix is really the fun parent.

Rock really likes to wear my sunglasses.

Rock's first arcade game.

Please don't tell him that the screen changes if you add quarters.

The next day was looking (as you can plainly see) balmy so we headed out for a little beachtime. Rock found this man searching for metal very interesting. ***Side note for those of you who used to go on the Young Life OC weekend, that's the CAROUSEL hotel in the background. Just seeing the outside of it stirred up so many fond memories!***

A chilly walk on the beach. Have I overused the word chilly yet?

After church on Sunday, Rock had a Risky Business moment. That is not to say that I like any part of that movie.

Toddling around.

What is it that makes a visible diaper so cute?

Trying to get his feet into Fix's flip-flops.

We put his pants on and then went to the beach for some cute family shots. But Rock was more interested in the dogs on the beach.

Yes, this was the best one we got.

Again, the dogs were fascinating.

The aftermath of feeding himself spaghetti.

Finally a sunny day! The day we were leaving the beach!

But we soaked up the sun anyway. Here Rock leads his father on a seagull chase.

Which wore him out so he took a nap with me.

Then woke up for some final fun on the beach with Fix.

Thankfully, the condo had a super cute bell hop to help us take our luggage to our car. He was so cute we took him home with us.
Thanks to Bruce and Carla for letting us stay at your place. It was a wonderfully relaxing week and just the break we needed!

OCEAN CITY! Part I

Last week we packed our bags and headed to the beach for a relaxing family vacation!

Because he's now a one-year-old and he's DEFINITELY over twenty lbs, Rock got to face forward for the first time on this trip! He kept himself entertained by reading some books and waving to everything and everyone we passed.

Day two at our condo, we decided to take a walk down the beach.

Rock and his favorite Daddy! Again, he's waving all the time now.

It was REALLY windy and chilly on the beach.

But, determined to not let Dad be the only 'fun parent,' I forced my way through the wind with the boy on my shoulders.

Even though it was chilly, being in the sun is always wonderful!

Family sand portrait.

Later on at dinner, Rock showed Daddy how to sniff the wine cork to see if we had a good bottle.

Yep. Smells Good.

If only the timer setting on the camera also produced a loud noise or silly face to get Rock's attention.

Part of the view from our condo. This is to show how cloudy it was for most of the week.

But we didn't mind. It gave us lots of time to read together.

And nap together!

Walking

Here's a video of Rock's newest skill... Walking! In this one the ball gets in his way.

And here he is walking on the beach with dad. I know, he's holding Fix's hand so it's not really showing off his walking-by-himself-skills, BUT walking on the sand is hard. And he DOES wave to me while walking! I think that's talented!