Puppy Love

John has really started to pay A LOT of attention to our two yorkies. He loves to chase them around and try to pet them. The puppies, or as we call them, "the boys" look at John kind of scared and end up running and hiding...I have no idea why they would be afraid of a rambunctious 17 month old. :) Well, on Friday night, John caught up to Vito and when he touched him, Vito just froze..he wasn't sure what to do. We have been working with John on "pat gently" so he doesn't just yank out their fur, so he started petting him gently, or at least what he thought was gentle. :) Vito did really well until John tried to pick him up and then he was out of there...lightning fast! He didn't want to be off the ground in a toddler's embrace. After toying with Vito, John then wanted to love on Sal. Sal is very sweet and likes to give lots and lots of kisses...so John puckered up for him and the last picture shows true puppy love. :) Of course, the picture is staged to look like Sal is licking John on the lips...we wouldn't actually let our dog lick John on the mouth or anything...heh! heh!

The Hottest Toys this Christmas!

So, I just had to share my wonderful knowledge on the best children's toys this year for Christmas! I know a lot of you are thinking cool train sets, remote control cars, or even something like a Wii or PlayStation are the best finds this year...but I must say you are all mistaken. The "it" toys for this year's presents are none other than...dum da da dum (that would be the drumroll)....a sun shade for a car and a plastic bib!!! Wooooooooooooooooooooo! Are you as excited as me???? What an awesome recommendation huh? I know you may be skeptical, so I have added photos to show the type of enjoyment your little one can have this Christmas. Enjoy! LOL!


Here is John realizing that the sun shade wasn't quite secured at the bottom and that he can tug on it...this provided quite a bit of entertainment before the good stuff began.

Then the good stuff began when the shade came tumbling down!

Isn't this the kind of smile you want on Christmas morning? :)

Who knew peek-a-boo with a bib could be so great???

See what I mean? Hours of enjoyment! No batterries or

assembly required! Does not include the peek-a-boo game,

mommy and daddy must provide. :)

Amazed at the Christmas Tree

I wanted to capture John's amazement at the Christmas tree after we put it up and turned the lights on...but this was kind of difficult because daddy was out of the house and I had John in one hand and the camera in the other. But, I must say, it does show a little of his "awe" for the tree, so I hope you enjoy. :) I must say, I LOVE Christmas and my son seems to love it too. Everyday when we get home, he points to the front yard for me to turn on the blow-up Santa (yes people, we have a huge blow-up in our front yard for all to see...how could I not get one when John loved our neighbors Halloween blow-ups and it took me weeks of walking down there and showing them they were gone before he would stop pointing over there and wanting to go see them.) Then when we get inside, he points to the tree for me to turn that on, then the light-up Santa at the front of the house...this boy loves Christmas almost as much as his mommy...and yet he really doesn't even know what it's about or that there are some fun presents for him. :) I think I like his innocence and his love for the spirit of Christmas than the things...it's a good reminder for us to remember the Spirit and what God has done for us. :)

So precious!

I just had to share this precious photo of daddy and son walking together. :) John is really enjoying holding your hand right now when you walk around, so we have lots of these moments when we are out and about. But there is nothing more precious than daddy and son strolling along together enjoying a Sunday morning. I sure do love my boys! :)

The newest cyclist in the Brooks' household!

Ladies and gentlemen....John Miller Brooks has officially become a cyclist. Well, maybe not an actual cyclist, but he's wearing the gear now. You see, last night daddy was jumping on the trainer to get a cycling workout in and was getting dressed in the bathroom. While he was getting everything on, John proceeded to pick up daddy's shoes, put them on his feet, and then begin walking around the bathroom. It was so adorable to see these tiny little fit inside these giant cycling shoes and to see him be so proud and happy about it. Of course, mommy and daddy had to hold his hand while he walked since it's hard to keep balance when you're trying to walk on an unstable cycling shoe that keeps flipping sideways and backwards. This was one proud moment for daddy and it was time to alert the cycling world on the newcomer...Lance Armstrong better watch out!!

New Vocabulary

I'm going to copy my good friend Leah and write a few things about John's ever evolving vocabulary. It is amazing to hear him say certain things with some clarity and to understand what I'm saying. I will talk to him about things and then he'll actually respond by doing what I'm saying or showing me what I'm talking about. It is so amazing and wonderful to watch. Here's a breakdown of his full-fledged 16 month vocabulary:

1) Mama - yes, this is mommy...he says it with this soft little voice that mommy has a hard time not giving him what he wants. And, before you say it, we're not spoiling him, just giving him extra love. :)

2) Dada - this is daddy...he says this one louder and more playful...hmmm...does it have anything to do with daddy being louder and more playful? LOL!

3) Jish - this is juice...I will ask him if he wants juice and this juice/fish mixture comes out.

4) Babba - this is puppy...we recently found out that John can tell the difference in our two Yorkies. Barry gave John a puppy treat (to give to the puppies! don't get any ideas on daddy playing a cruel joke on John :))....anyway, he gave him the treat and told him to give it to Sal...he looked at Vito then walked over to Sal and gave it to him. That's my boy...still on the genius train! :)

5) Bix - this is bricks. Mommy tends to talk about anything and everything when I'm with John...just trying to teach him as many words as possible, so we've stopped and touched the bricks on the house several times and John calls out for them.

6) Eat - yes...this word is actually said correctly. We have worked with John on several sign language words and the newest one he's been using is the word eat to let us know when he's hungry. He will bring his fingers together and then touch his mouth and say eat..it's amazing to see! although, now that he says "eat" every 5 minutes, it may not be such a good idea. I don't think my little Buddha belly son can afford to eat that often. :)

7) Mo - this is for "more." This is another sign language word he learned...very early on because the daycare uses this...and he will let me know if he still needs more to eat. Hmmm...I'm starting to wonder if I need to quit teaching him words that all tend to relate to food. A watermelon belly is healthy, right??? :) He also uses more when he wants you to do something again. We went to the mall on black Friday...that's right people...we embarked on the craziest shopping day of the season! Well, we watched a puppet show and when it was done, John kept signing "more"...I felt so bad...mommy was about to run up there and do her own version of the puppet show! He also does "more" when we are playing around...needless to say, mommy ends up doing "ride little horsey" 10 million times because he keeps asking for more. :)

8) Yeyes - this is eyes...he seems to start with a "y" sound, but he says it very quickly. But, beware, it's usually followed by a finger jabbing in your eye as he tries to point it out to you. I'm trying to have him point to himself more than mommy...I might be wearing a pirate patch soon if I don't!

9) Mustache - Yes people, my little boy says this word clearer than anything else! We were at the Turkey Trot on Thursday and Daddy John showed John his mustache and John said that word clear as day...even pronounced the "m" sound correctly. It was the most precious thing and most people would probably not believe me but Barry and our nephew Chance heard it too, so mommy is not faking genius status again, oops....I would never do that...anyway, I wasn't faking hearing it. :)

10) Kisthmas - The number 10 word is a wonderful word...daddy kept asking John to say Christmas yesterday and he would say the sweet sound of kisthmas! It was so funny to hear and after asking him 50 times to say it over and over, he probably won't even speak it again...but it was worth it! :) Mommy loves Christmas so that word is quite special to her!!

A weekend of shoppping

Recently, Barry and I went shopping at the outlets in Allen to get some new clothes..it's amazing how we just don't have time to shop for ourselves like we used to..it seems to have been about 16 months since we had that kind of time...hmmmm...what's happened in the last 16 months? Only the most wonderful blessing in the world!!! :) Anyway, we spent a day of shopping and sweet little John did quite well...he talked to everyone that walked by, grabbed clothes off the racks, and even secretly pulled off some tags from clothes and started chewing on them. Oops! I feel bad for the next person to try on that shirt...they would find a nice, slobbery, wet surprise when they went to look at the price. heh! heh! John entertained himself most of the day...and when things got a little tough, mommy would search her purse and find something to entertain...hence the first photo...keys!! These wonderful metal and clangy devices are quite the entertainer on a restless toddler...he was quite happy with them and proceeded to show his enjoyment by trying to eat them. Sometimes I worry that he's turning my car alarm off and on when he plays with them...that would really freak somebody out in the parking lot if they were walking by...they might think my car was possessed or something! That really is funny now that i think about it! :)

The second photo is a little reward for John being so good all day. We stopped by Starbucks to get him some chocolate milk. Now, like I said, it was totally to reward John..it had nothing to do with mommy and daddy wanting a delicious latte after a hard day of shopping. :)

I love cold weather!!

I just LOVE cold weather!! And, to top off my love of this cold weather, I just love cute hats on children in the winter. I was at Target yesterday and saw several adorable hats and just had to try them out on John. I loved this one with the long "ears"...he just looked so darn cute! So, maybe this blog will turn some of you hot weather lovers into cold weather lovers like us! :)

It's all about the bikes...

You see, the title of this blog is because daddy dressed John this past Saturday...and out of all the clothes in his closet, he seems to zone in on things that are bike related. I have no idea what prompts this..maybe his passion for cycling and the fact that he CHOOSES to bike 112 miles in an Ironman after swimming 2.4 miles and then ultimately running a marathon after he gets off the bike??? That's totally normal, right?? :) Anyway, I thought John looked so cute in his Speedy Bike Club shirt and wanted to share. The second picture is after a day of playing and fun...he totally zonked out! Is there anything sweeter than a sleeping baby...I think not. :)

John taming a Lion!

Ok, I'm sure my title mislead you into thinking he was taming an actual lion..but the stuffed one in his room is pretty fierce looking so he's still a tough boy! :) You see, John and I were playing (yet again) in his room the other night and he thought it would be funny to start riding the lion. Mommy thought it was quite hysterical too and pulled out the trusty camera. I will walk you through our lion fun with some lovely captions. :)

Here he is burying his face because we were playing peek-a-boo with one another. Again, as was described in the picture where he's hiding in the laundry basket, I think he actually thought he was hiding when he buried his face. Of course I can't see him if he can't see me, right?? :)
Well, here is where the fun really begins...he was bouncing around so much on the lion that he toppled over...what an action shot, huh??

The lovely after affects of the toppled lion!

This is John when he got up from toppling over....he was laughing and ready to do it again. Ladies and gentlemen...I think we have a true boy here!

And, as he walked back over to ride the lion again, another game of peek-a-boo just happened upon itself! :)

Toys that rock!

I've decided that on the list of "toys that rock" the almighty laundry hamper should be on there! This simple piece of rectangular plastic has created tons of fun for my boy...of course, it must include an entire basket of laundry to be folded and put away before it can truly be "rocking" status...but nevertheless, it's quite awesome! This past weekend, I attempted to put away some laundry as always and John came in to "help" mommy...of course I was all proud that he wanted to help me clean up and put away laundry. Well, "helping" really means climbing in the basket and playing. :) He had the time of his life climbing in and out....trying to hide...and of course, putting the sheets over his head. This simple 10 minute task, turned into an hour task quite quickly...but it was worth it! You know, I'm starting to worry about writing these blogs, it may be impeding your thoughts on how gifted and talented my little genius is. We'll just chalk it up to creative exploring!

He really thought he was hiding..it was so funny!

What a scary ghost! It actually did scare the dogs..heh! heh!

Mommy saves the day!

On a recent Saturday morning, I got up as I normally do and began doing some odds and ends around the house until John woke up. I looked at the video monitor (oh how I love this monitor!)....and saw that John was actually awake in his bed, but he was tugging on something and his shirt looked really weird. I kept watching it for a few minutes and just couldn't quite figure out what was going on..he was making all these sounds and wouldn't stop tugging...so mommy decided I should go ahead into his room and check things out. Well, lo and behold, my precious little boy had been playing and tugging on his shirt so much that it was caught up under his arm and he had no idea how to get it back to normal. I laughed so hard and had to capture this precious moment. Good thing mommy was there to save the day!!! Who knew exposed shoulder shirts were cool on boys too??!!!

The other funny thing from that day was when John got into my closet and found my swim goggles. He started goofing around with them and eventually put them on his head. He thought it was quite funny and wore these around the house like this for a bit. Please ignore the black dirt or marker or whatever is on his sweet little nose...my precious little boy loves to scavenger through the house and get into things...even if it means getting a little dirty. Hmmm...does that help me answer the question "what are little boys made of?" I think dirt might be one of the ingredients! heh! heh!

Fun at Central Market

So, I've been meaning to write this blog for several weeks so I could show yet another fun-filled moment with our son. :) You see, every Sunday we head over to Central Market (yes, we make this 30 minute commute because fresh fruits and vegetables take up about 90% of what we buy each week and you just can't beat CM). Anyway, we do our weekly grocery shopping and we've started a new tradition with John...whenever daddy is in the checkout line, mommy heads outside to let him play with the fruit statues. :) He LOVES them!! This started one day when John was getting a little restless in the checkout line so I thought it would be good to take him outside...well, he made a beeline to the colorful statues and just ran back and forth between them. It really has become a fun little ritual and I love seeing him get so excited over them. This week when we were heading into the store, he saw them and started pointing with excitement. But we quickly distracted him with some silly song or sound mommy made and got him in the store. He seems to be understanding the routine though...as we headed to the checkout stand, he started getting all excited and trying to pull out of the stroller. Who knew something as simple as a fruit statue would be so much fun? This goes along with my "who knew" comments on ripped paper, empty water bottles, a rubber band, and the list goes on and on.

The funny thing during the trip we took the pictures is John started playing with the plants that are outside and found a leaf on the ground (insert who knew statement here :))...anyway, this leaf was quite amazing...so amazing that a little girl came up to see what treasure he had found and they started playing with it...such a precious site seeing my little one getting along with this older girl...hey, wait a minute, I don't know if mommy likes that! :)

After writing this blog and thinking about the simplicity of true joy, I ask one lingering question...have I mentioned it's the little things??? :)

Additional CM Photos

More pumpkin patch

Lily handing John hay...so cute!!

Lily handing John pumpkins. Ya know, John better

start giving Lily some things or she might break

up with him! :)

Even more pumpkin patch

I love this picture!!!

Playing with the scarecrow