Goodbye 2010

Another year has passed and what a year it has been!  I enjoy reflecting back each year on monumental things that occurred in our lives and cherish those memories.  Here are a few of my favorites...

• We had a baby!  It's a boy! - in case you haven't been reading my blog (shame on you!)

• Our friends and family continue to stay healthy and happy, which we are thankful for every day. 

• On Brian's work front, Stewart Audio had a pretty decent year in spite of the economy.  We hope they continue to stay in an upward trajectory in 2011 and beyond. 
• I enjoyed my first school year at BUILD and continue to find an intense passion in what I do.  I hope my passion stays ignited as the years pass. 
• Uncle Bobby had a birthday party that was incredibly delicious.  Yes, you read that correctly.  Celebrating his birthday while enjoying 13 courses at Manresa, how could it not be delicious? 

• Brian celebrated a milestone birthday

• As a trio, we ventured off on the weekends to visit family and friends in San Diego, Costa Mesa (where Brock took his first dip in the swimming pool!), Lodi and the beach (grandma and grandpa's!)

• Brock attended his first wedding in Yosemite.  What an amazing weekend of fun and festivities.  Not to mention, the bride and groom were stunning.  :-)

• Stanford football season started and Brock joined us at many a home game cheering on the team.

• We actually took Brock to visit Santa at the Stanford shopping center - but this picture is from a professional photo session we had for our holiday card (which we never sent out, sorry!)

• On a sad note, we lost an Aunt and Uncle on Brian's side of the family.  It's never easy losing a family member and to lose two in one year was heartbreaking. 

What are we looking forward to in 2011?  More adventures with Brock, of course!  Perhaps he will ring in the new year by crawling (he's soooo close!)?  By this time next year he will be running...yikes!

Farewell 2010 and cheers to a FANTASTIC 2011!!!

Thanksgiving 2010

Brock brought home a nasty stomach virus and cold which struck down the entire household for over a week - and sadly, that week fell over Thanksgiving.  Yikes!  That said, we spent Thanksgiving holed up in bed resting our aching, coughing, sneezing bodies.  On the upside, we definitely didn't gain any weight this Thanksgiving.  On the downside, I'm still waiting for my annual sliver of delicious pumpkin pie. Waiting...still waiting...

The scariest part of this whole sickness was watching Brock feel awful. He never fusses but this bug definitely left him feeling "blah" and unhappy.  He even stopped eating for about 2 weeks, and he lost about 1.5 lbs.  (He's still eating less than normal but at least he's eating again, phew!)

The good news is we are FINALLY healthy again and looking forward to Brock's first Christmas!  To get us prepared, we had some pictures taken of our little Santa...

Changes

Change is defined as making something different; to create transformation.  And in the case of Brock, there is really only one constant in his world - change.   It seems like every day we get closer to figuring him out he makes some radical change to keep us guessing.  Even when it comes to his favorites and his least favorites.  Just last week he couldn't get enough sweet potatoes and gagged when we introduced apple sauce.  This week, the tides have once again turned and apple sauce is the only food we've been able to feed him outside breast milk and Cheerios®.


Change also occurs when things evolve and grow.  Again, in  the case of Brock, he is growing at warp speed and we are just trying to keep up.  The other day we began pulling himself up using the bumper on his crib.  Knowing it would be only a matter of time before he could literally stand up or climb out, we lowered the crib. And with these growth milestones comes gained independence.  Brock is definitely becoming his own person.  He is stubborn to no end (gee, I wonder where he picked that up?), he has a forceful hand when trying to take away his toys or random things he wants to put in his mouth (as I type this he is gnawing on a wine cork...) and will let you know his opinion - usually in the form of a crying spell.  For example, he certainly is opposed to his new crib environment. 


Anyway, my ramblings are really just an excuse to post more adorable pictures of our kid.  So here it goes...


Brock in his "jail cell"

Brock letting us know he can hold his own bottle (although he really can't get milk from it)

And, Brock realizing he can pull out ALL of his toys at once - my personal favorite to clean up!

I love this little bugger!!!!!!!

To puree or not to puree?

I love food. I love eating it, reading about it, looking at it, thinking about it, cooking it - all food, all day long.

Being a new mom, I thought I'd take a stab at making my own baby food.  Seemed easy enough.  Steam up some sweet potatoes or butternut squash until tender and then puree it.  Brock loved it!  My confidence soared so I decided to expand my menu and make applesauce. 


And the verdict is...

I guess I shouldn't quit by day job just yet. 

Poor Brock.  Who knew he could be so opinionated at such a young age?

My Dad

Brock loves his Dad.  In fact, so much that he sports a shirt to pay homage to just how "rad" his Dad is. 

Oh My!

The other night, I found Brock asleep on his stomach. Paranoid, I quickly rolled him over to his back.  Big. Mistake. He woke and cried for what felt like forever before he settled back to sleep. Then, the following morning he was on his stomach again.  Don't mind the frown on his face - it was the flash from the camera. 

Now that he is becoming more mobile, we need to start thinking about lowering the crib and baby proofing the house.  Eeks! 

Rolling!

Brock has finally mastered the art of rolling.  He never took to "tummy time" and definitely was reluctant to try.  Then a few weeks ago Brian witnessed a one time roll.  It was very exciting!  But, Brock never would roll stomach to back continually.  Until now...

This VIDEO speaks for itself.  I think Grandma would concur...he's quite talented! 

Brock is also getting SO big!  We think he weighs about 19 lbs.  He's also wearing size 9-12 month clothes. Sadly, all of his pants are too long and too tight in the tummy.  What can I say?  The kid likes his milk and veggies.