the roque life: November 2012

It's just nuts to me that I have been responsible for the well being of this tiny little person for almost a year! I sometimes can't even wrap my mind around the fact that I'm a mom and to think, from here on out I will be responsible for him for the rest of my life! NUTS! Josh and I always have this conversation and it always begins with "Gosh, can you imagine when Brandon starts to (enter a verb here)? I feel like Brandon has done a pretty good job and checking off those verbs lately. He has grown into such a funny, sweet, and clever little boy. Lately my favorite thing is to just sit back and watch him play. It is absolutely amazing to see his eyes grow big when he first discovers something. He is honing his fine motor skills and has learned to pick up the tiniest crumbs on the floor (and putting it directly into his mouth)! Speaking of which I should probably think about taking a CPR class just in case he decides to choke on something. We have officially baby proofed the apartment from the waist down. By baby proofing we mean that we just use our fancy couch pillows and use it as a wall to keep him out of certain non-baby safe areas. We purchased one of those rubbery table corner things and they worked well up until Brandon wore out the stickiness from them and have now used it as a teether. Hey, a 2 in 1 safety/toy combo, well worth the 15 bucks that we paid. Our living room has become Brandon's play yard, I was talking to my friend Marie today and mentioned that I would love to get one of the whales from the kid area at the Alderwood mall. That would really save me a trip to the mall on rainy days! It's so funny cause I remember before I was a mom...whenever I would pass that play area I would think "Aw, sick, that place is just filled with germs! I would never let my kid play there!!" Now, I look forward to having play dates at that germ pool! I think I may have to thank that place for possibly giving my son a kick-ass immune system!

So since his first 2 teeth that he grew back when he was 7 months, he has yet to get another set! I think that Brandon is convinced that he no longer needs to grow anymore. Josh and I constantly joke that his teeth will only come in every 7 months, so by the time he's 8 he'll officially have all of his teeth! Totally normal right?

I know that I am down to the wire on the boob feeding part and it totally does not help that he has learned to blow raspberries while he's on my boob! He accidentally did it one day when he was forced to breath out of his mouth cause he was a little stuffy and we both thought that it was the funniest thing, now he does it to be funny! This guy!

It's so cute to me how much of his personality has developed over the last few months. I love everything about this kid. Yes, even down to his meltdown moments. Josh and I have noticed that he feeds off of our reactions. Brandon is beginning to test his boundaries in what he should and shouldn't do. For example, the other day Russy was quietly sitting next to him and out of nowhere he decided to just pull on Russy's fur. Russy cried and I grabbed his hand and let out a stern "NO!" Brandon started to cry and shortly after he stopped, he began to reach for Russy again! Right before he put his had on Russy he turned to look at me to see if I was looking! He literally gave me the over the shoulder look-check to see if I was looking! What the heck?! How are kids so damn smart at this age?!?!

He is slowly learning his environment. He loves to explore every little nooks and cranny of our 1000 square foot apartment. I have left him in the living room to play for a few minutes and come back to find him missing and in the kitchen! I officially know what it feels like to have a mild heart attack...Seriously this kid!

Oh, Brandon, you are one funny kid!