Rock on

Rooke has found a new love: his (my old) rocking chair. He loves to climb up in it backwards, rock for a bit, then stand up and talk about what he sees out the window.

Just ignore the crusty nose. He's been fighting colds on and off for the past month.

How does smoothie get splashed across his forehead?!

I love the Target Dollar bins! Although I almost couldn't bring myself to pay a dollar for this pin wheel. The quality is pathetic. But Rooke loves it, so I forked over 108 pennies for some fun.

A Sunny Day

We caught a glimpse of the SUN this past weekend! Rooke and I headed to one of our favorite parks to enjoy the weather . . .

"Mmmmm . . . I could just sip on this water all day"

"Hey Mom! Let's go down by the water!" Ok.

He was on a mission to transfer all the rocks from his side of the log to the other side.

And then he decided to do a little taste test.

Watching some birds in flight.

And then, on our way back to the car, Bubble Man showed up! Only in the Northwest could an older-aged-hippie-ish man get away with doing a spontaneous bubble show out of the back of his purple van. The kids loved him!

28 years later

It happened again . . . I had another birthday! Although as a mother, I have to say that I don't know why I'm the one getting the attention. My mom is the one who did all the hard work 28 years ago. But as it goes, I did get to celebrate and had a great day!


The party started the day before at my friend, Jaime's, house. She hosted a birthday lunch for some of my friends and their kids. Thanks, Jaime! And to top it off, Aubyn and Evelynn drove down!

The next morning, Rooke and I went to breakfast with Aubyn and Evelynn at one of my favorite local cafes. You can see that Rooke really enjoyed the food!



Then back home for some game-playing. Because it was my birthday, Evelynn agreed to help me win by letting me know what her mom was holding.

"See, Evelynn, you just push this and it makes music . . ."

"If I push your head, will it make music too?!"

Ryan's parents gave me a zoo membership for my birthday! Thank you! Rooke and I decided to put it to use right away and head over in the afternoon.

He's learned where his bellybutton is and likes to show it off whenever possible.

Ryan took me out for a fantastic birthday date (we didn't take any pictures) and the party kept going last night with friends and games - one of my favorite combinations! Yay for birthdays!

Dedication

Since Rooke has been born, we haven't participated in a baby dedication service at church. There are a few reasons for this, but the biggest one was that our church is very big and taking part in a time of dedication in front of thousands of people we still don't know well lacked meaning for us. So last Tuesday, we had a time of dedication with our community group, who we know well and love. Elijah and Clementine's family (the same friends from the trip to the zoo) participated as well.

I don't know how this picture happened! All three of them just standing there in their jammies. My friend said it looks like it could be a picture from the seveties!

The kids were pretty excited they got to stay up late!

The Hurt family while someone was reading a passage of Scripture (meanwhile, Rooke was spinning around in the middle of the circle of our group!)

A friend in the group made these cupcakes to look like candles, symbolizing the children being a light for the Gospel.

Most of the group. They truly are a blessing to us. We are grateful for their friendship and the support they offer as we seek to raise Rooke in a way that honors God.

Zoomasium

Rooke was feeling better today, so I'm hoping one more day of rest will have him back to normal. In the meantime, here are some pictures of our outing to the zoo last week. We met Sarah and her kids at the Zoomasium - the indoor play space for kids (perfect on rainy days!). It was our first visit and I was so impressed!


Sarah and the kids participating in a little animal show.

The room was full of all sorts of incredible toys and climbing things, and what does my son go for? A shinny knob/button that turns.

I'm so excited to introduce our newest friend: Clementine. She's four and came home for the first time last month. Her parents (our friends) started the process of adopting her before they were pregnant with their, now, three-year-old son. Being around her is a complete joy and her adoption is a fresh reminder to me of God's grace in my life. He has adopted me as His own. I pray that Celementine understands and embraces that for herself at an early age.

Rooke was pretty proud of his slanted standing, but Clementine was obviously less than impressed.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Rooke and I went to a Valentine's Day party this week and had a great time! Rooke especially loved their dog.

All the little people at the party.

I got one good shot of the kids before Rooke decided he was too cool to sit on the couch and needed to be by the dog.

This is what I woke up to on Saturday. Notes from my sweet husband stuck all over the apartment!

One of our favorite pastimes on any day, including Valentine's . . .

Ryan and I worked on our "conversation Jelly Beans". It'd be a whole lot easier to write a message if they'd include a few verbs!

And then Rooke got sick. I really don't like it when my family is sick. It came on fast and all he wanted to do today was cuddle.

Life with Rooke

Nana bought this toy for Rooke several months ago and he's finally figuring out how much fun it is to pull it!

Currently, this is our favorite book. Rooke is really into imitating sounds (with his own twist!). Today, he attempted strawberry! It was pretty impressive. His vocabulary list includes (see if you can figure them out!): nanana, dall, up, dapah, dada, mama (only when he really wants something), geez, gup . . .

I "hid" the blueberries under my chair because Rooke had eaten enough. I forgot they were there and he found them later. Not sure how many he had eaten before I caught him!

Sharing a strawberry smoothie at Panera!

Visit from a Friend

This past weekend our friend, Sarah, came for a visit! Sarah spent a semester with us in China and we hadn't seen her since then, so it was great to re-connect. Rooke loved spending time with a fellow red-head.

I like that they seem to be saying the same thing in this picture

Somebody please tell my son that showing off his legs like this looks so nerdy! (Even with the editing on my picture program, I couldn't tone down the whiteness of his legs!)

Tagabah

Rooke's been "talking" up a storm these days. Sometimes we understand what he's saying, but most of the time it's his own language. This video shows both. The prize goes to the best interpretation of the first clip. The second clip will teach you what "tagabah" means. I was in the shower and Ryan heard Rooke banging on the bathroom door saying "tagabah".

Our Weekend

We had some friends over for dinner on Saturday. Rooke was being so cute while I was getting things ready that I had to stop and follow him down the hall with my camera!

showing off his growing belly

edit: as I looked at the above picture today, I remembered I had a similar picture . . . here is Rooke at seven months. It's probably time to retire the t-shirt!

My boys watching the Superbowl with their drink of choice.

Playing peek-a-boo in the car . . . he loves his new car seat and being able to sit facing forward.