Things at the England Homestead have been pretty busy lately. Here's a little rundown of what's been going on: Rock is still practicing his picture posing. He likes the attention of getting his photo taken. Grappy Dale came down to visit (and if you ask Grammy Rae that's all he wants to do lately...but we're cool with it). Rock decided to bake some sugardoodles, and he even let Mommy help. Grappy drove all the way down here to make sure that Rock had the remote control wheel for his sweet possessed car. Rock likes the car a whole lot more now, and he doesn't even act like it's possessed. Grappy also brought lots of Valentine's Day goodies, like strawberry Whoppers and chocolates. Rock decided that V-Day isn't a totally terrible holiday after all. Grappy also brought Froot Loops. They are just like the Cheerios that we give him, only they are 'yummy'. Rock tried to blog about Grappy's visit, but China kept censoring his blog posts. Rock wanted to go to the park to throw the football around...as long as he got to wear his Mickey hat and Velcro dress shoes. So, yeah...we're still in that stage. Um...did I say Velcro dress shoes? Those are actually looking better all the time. This past week I was up in Salem taking Board reviews and then the Oregon Board Exams. It was a stressful week, so Rock felt that he had earned a massage. Yeah, that seems about right. Rock is definitely a Renaissance man, and among his many talents is playing the piano. He is really good at tickling the ivories and putting on a show. He is certainly a showman.
"Ta Da!"
The little guy knows when it is time to go home for the night, but he likes staying at Grandma and Grandpa's house. His new trick is to try and pretend that he's sleeping, so that he can stay the night. It hasn't worked yet, but I have a feeling that it will soon. After fussing, crying and bargaining, he finally come to grips with the fact that he has to go to bed in his own crib. He decides that he's fine with that, as long as he gets to wear his whole pj outfit. Stunning.
Every once in a while I realize that I have pictures on my cellphone that I've forgotten about. So, they get posted randomly and in no chronological order. This first one is Rock quietly and calmly leaving Grandma Lisa and Grandpa Dave's house. Very orderly.Rock loves nursery. He is so excited about bubbles that he is trying to fly up to the wand. His hands are flapping pretty fast. He also likes to chill in what he calls 'the chair where mommies sit and gossip' and munch on some fake eggs. He thinks they taste better than when Daddy makes them. He likes vacuums, and so do the other kids. It makes clean up a little easier since the kids love to push the small vacuum around.
"Woo hoo!! My turn!!"
DeAndra isn't a fan of repeatedly bending over to care for the kids because of her cute (but big) uterus. But she has no problems stealing their Teddy Grahams and fruit snacks...
The Rogue Valley (that's where we live now. It's called the Rogue Valley because the people that settled here were kind of sissies. That wanted to name their new home something that would make others think that they weren't wusses, and thus the name 'Rogue'...I think) has been blessed with 50 degree and sunny weather lately. Lil' Rock has come down with an acute case of spring fever. He busted out his baseball glove and practiced taking some grounders. Later, I showed Rock a picture of the England side of his family and himself. He was intrigued, but wondered why he wasn't doing the 'look' quite right. We practiced it all morning, and finally he improved to this pose: It's pretty good, but he's still looking the wrong way and smiling a little too much. But don't worry, we'll keep working with him to correct these errors. Your patience is appreciated.
Rock finally decided to tell the people his side of the stair falling incident, but you can tell that he's still afraid of retribution from Mommy for telling his story.:
...He crashes hard. But at least he crashes with his hat and Taco Bell dog.
Or he sleeps and dreams of giant boxes of powdered donuts. When he does wake up, the first thing he does is ask for a 'nack. He has to rock the hat, glove and shoes, even at 6 am. Rock likes to play on the stairs, and one of his favorite games is football. He'll stand on the top and throw the ball down to me. Then I throw the ball back and see if he can catch it. He can't. Today he was playing on the stairs with DeA, and she wasn't happy about losing so she launched him all the way down. Now when you ask him what happened on the stairs he says 'poom, poom poom' and winces. It's cute, but of course he won't do it on camera. If he doesn't start performing on camera, DeA is going to launch him again.
In nonviolent news, Rock has added a new weapon into his arsenal: The leg sweep.
Because, I mean, what else would you come here for? Rock was mad that I forgot to include his glamor shot of DeA. He was pretty proud of it. We were getting ready for church today, and when I went to go put Rock in the car I found him muscling a box up the stairs. He had been able to get it all the way up the stairs, but just couldn't get it all the way to the top. He tried his little heart out, but just couldn't quite get it all the way there. Grandma Lisa is getting ready for Valentine's day by making sugar cookies. Whenever Rock hears her in the kitchen he pushes a chair over to help. I don't know if you'd call what he was doing help, but he was doing something. Once he found out that the dough tasted sugary, he kind of stopped helping and started munching. "Mmm...cookies" "Hey buddy, there had better be some dough left over for cookies!!"
As you may remember, Rock thinks he's some kind of famous celebrity lately. He's still rocking the Disney hat, the glove and awesomely mismatched shoes.He's also started bringing me random straws so that I can make a straw snake. And, just like a celebrity, he'll randomly pull the snake apart and tell me that I didn't do it right. He is a regular at his favorite eating place. He always looks around to acknowledge the public. They really are the ones that make you who you are, so you best keep them happy. And, again just like a celebrity, at some point he throws his food on the ground and demands that someone pick it up. Being a celebrity isn't all fun and games, it also takes commitment and dedication to keep your chiseled figure, unless you are this guy. Rock maintains his slender build by running around the house constantly. And then he runs some more. But man cannot live on cardio alone, so he does a difficult regiment of pushups
Then he does some killer lunges, just like his personal trainer teaches him to do.
It's always important to show your biggest fan the attention that they need, that way they'll let you have some of their juice box (be patient...you'll see where this is going soon). It seems like celebrities are constantly trying to find other things that they can make people buy just because a celebrity did it...so Rock is continuing his hobby of photography. Here is his latest batch of photos (you don't really have to watch them all, he just isn't that good yet...but then again he is only two...)
In other news, Boulder continues to percolate nicely inside his baby whirlpool. This picture shows how big DeA's belly is, and it also is the first time that Boulder has seen highlights of Edgar's Hall of Fame (soon!) career.DeA's massive belly has finally gotten to the point that it is not only cute, but functional. "Hey! Bring my juice back! You haven't shown me enough attention today!"
Grappy Dale came down to visit (and if you ask Grammy Rae that's all he wants to do lately...but we're cool with it). Rock decided to bake some sugardoodles, and he even let Mommy help.
Grappy drove all the way down here to make sure that Rock had the remote control wheel for his sweet possessed car. Rock likes the car a whole lot more now, and he doesn't even act like it's possessed.
Grappy also brought lots of Valentine's Day goodies, like strawberry Whoppers and chocolates. Rock decided that V-Day isn't a totally terrible holiday after all.
Grappy also brought Froot Loops. They are just like the Cheerios that we give him, only they are 'yummy'.
Rock tried to blog about Grappy's visit, but China kept censoring his blog posts.
Rock wanted to go to the park to throw the football around...as long as he got to wear his Mickey hat and Velcro dress shoes. So, yeah...we're still in that stage.
Um...did I say Velcro dress shoes? Those are actually looking better all the time.
This past week I was up in Salem taking Board reviews and then the Oregon Board Exams. It was a stressful week, so Rock felt that he had earned a massage. Yeah, that seems about right.
Rock is definitely a Renaissance man, and among his many talents is playing the piano. He is really good at tickling the ivories and putting on a show.
He is certainly a showman.
"Ta Da!"
The little guy knows when it is time to go home for the night, but he likes staying at Grandma and Grandpa's house. His new trick is to try and pretend that he's sleeping, so that he can stay the night. It hasn't worked yet, but I have a feeling that it will soon.
After fussing, crying and bargaining, he finally come to grips with the fact that he has to go to bed in his own crib. He decides that he's fine with that, as long as he gets to wear his whole pj outfit. Stunning.
