I hope that Thanksgiving was as awesome as ours, but now it's time to get to business. We look forward to corresponding with you over the next few weeks as you plan our sweet Christmas haul. Oh, and to make things easier Rock will tell you directly what he wants.
Rock still loves his rain boots. Thank you Mama Zista!!
We spent Thanksgiving in Manson with the England side of the family. Due to a contagious case of wussitis, people asked for Turkey Bowl to be played indoors this year. Jen was there to take pictures, so as soon as she posts those I'll steal some. I'll just report that domination was on the menu, and I was the server. After exercising like that, it's important to stretch. It's great that I have a good personal trainer.
Rock and Ryker enjoyed the yummy food and the attention from Mama Rae and Papa Dale.
Ryker just knows that there is something tasty in that cup, and he's going to reach it eventually.
DeA made me a delicious lemon meringue pie. It came out beautiful, just like her.
We have this game called "Pass the Pigs" with two little rubber pigs that you roll or spin or something. I've never actually played it, but Rock loves to carry around the little rubber piggy. The other day I discovered where he likes to play with the pig.
I can only guess that Grandpa Dale is the one who taught him this.
It's always fun to upload pictures from the camera and find surprise pictures that Rock has taken. He took some good ones of Ryker, and you can kind of read Gyker's mind as he wonders what Rock is doing.
"How much longer is this going to take? I've got some things to break."
We can't blame him for taking pictures of his brother, we think Ryker is pretty cute.
I also found an old memory card and plugged it into the computer. I got a nice compilation of pictures from Oregon right after Ryker was born.
Rock is a pretty cute kid, too. He knows that with his smile he can get away with a lot of stuff, especially when grandparents are around.
We've gotten to the point where we are letting Ryker come to terms with his impending bedtime on his own. The other night we found him hunched over after choosing to cry himself to sleep instead of calmly laying down and drifting off to sleep (I'm describing it this way so that DeA doesn't continue to feel guilty for leaving her baby in a cold, dark room, alone, and letting him scream at the top of his little adorable lungs until he's so tired he falls asleep...since it was my idea.)
The boys are finally getting old enough to start the rasslin' sessions. Here Rock is trying to bury the reverse arm bar while Ryker tries to roll out of it.
Rock did a good job controlling that arm.
I just can't get over how cute it is to look out the back door and catch a glimpse of this:
DeA's started to put Rock down for naps on the adjusting table instead of the bed. That way he doesn't have as much room to wiggle out of her arms at nap time.
Even though he turned down the Calvin Klein ad, he still likes to show off the goods.
A while ago Mama Zista and Papa Dave ordered Rock some rain boots from Cabela's. Rock kept asking where his boots were, and DeA would try and explain that they were on their way. Well, they finally showed up tonight, and the little guy was excited.
He started jumping up and down and yelling "thank you Mawma Zista!" and "I go in water!!" since Mama Zista told him that he could jump in rain puddles. We didn't let him go out there tonight, but I'm sure he'll have lots of opportunities to try them in water. He hasn't taken them off yet.
Ryker was minding his own business in the kitchen when a light up shoe came out of no where and bonked him on the head. Now he's got this huge, massive open wound on his forehead. DeA was pretty worried about it. Look how big it is!
What, you can't see it? It's right there!
See! There it is! Can you see it now?
We ventured out to Big 5 Sporting Goods to look for some running shoes for DeA. She thinks that since the old shoes aren't as bright and shiny or supportive as when she bought them that they aren't any good any more. In an unrelated topic, I overhead her telling Rock that Daddy wasn't as bright and shiny or supportive as when she first got him...
After Rock gets off the exercise equipment, he does what his mommy taught him and kisses his massive guns. He's getting to be a ripped little boy, and we haven't even started the Barry Bonds endorsed 'nutrition' program.
A few days (or weeks, I'm not sure) ago, DeA sent me this picture of Rock taking Ryker down the slide. Rock seems to love it, while Ryker isn't so sure what is going on.
We have been letting Rock run around the park after our runs in the morning, and he's met a new friend. The friend comes out to play every time, and then immediately wonders why he did that.
Little Gyker isn't a big fan of baby food anymore. He's seen Rock, Mommy and Daddy all eat real food, and isn't satisfied with this pureed plums and cat nip anymore. He wants the real stuff, and he knows when you are holding out. The other night DeA fed him some spaghetti, and he was all about that.
Rock loves to help Ryker eat, and so he fed him some of my breakfast smoothie...without me knowing.
Some of our friends in the ward were getting rid of their toddler bed, so we swooped it up and brought it home. That allowed us to put the crib back up for Ryker. So, now both boys are in the same room. We were wondering if they would wake each other up, but some people told us that isn't the case.
Those people are stinking, filthy, politician level liars. As a matter of fact, right now I am sitting in the hallway while Rock and Ryker are taking turns keeping each other awake. Rock is riding the giant stuffed animal that the same friends included with the bed.
Ryker is in his crib, but earlier he was playing with all the toys on the floor.
When he sees Rock start to drift off he crawls over to the bed and slaps him around.
He loves practicing his responsibilities.
DeA and I finally got tough and are letting the boys put (read: cry) themselves to sleep. Ryker keeps referring to his crib as 'the clink' and is constantly trying to work a plea bargain.
We are making this push for better sleep because not all of us can function on little sleep. Rock definitely isn't a morning person, but neither is his mommy. It's always fun to watch them drive each other crazy being the exact same in the morning.
Oh, looks like Ryker found Rock sleeping, time to slap some wakefulness in him!
DeA and I are really trying to be healthier, and so we've started running together whenever we can. Rock will usually sit peacefully in the stroller as long as he gets to run at the end. Today he ran about half a mile, and with his little legs that's quite a feat!
As we got ready to go running the other day he told me that he had to go pee. I told him to go run over to the tree and water it. Instead I found him here:
In case you didn't notice, he has a cup at his feet that he is trying to fill. DeA had mentioned that Ryker was thirsty, so maybe...
Rock is still working on his career path. He's pretty sure that he'll be a professional athlete of some sort, he just isn't sure what. He's been working pretty hard on his goal scoring and, more importantly, his celebrations.
He also has been sparring with Ryker. He knows that his face is too good looking to go into wrestling or MMA, but it's good to have the tough side. Rock and Ryker are so interesting, that they could punch you in the face and you'd feel the need to thank them.
PS - That is also what it looks like when Ryker wakes up Rock.
