Where the wind comes sweeping down the plains

We left early one morning to head down to see some family and friends. Rooke slept most of the way and I caught, what must have been, a pleasant dream!

Once again, Rooke was the star of the show at his Great Gramma's residence

We enjoyed lunch at Aunt Sara's house. Rooke is holding his Big Daddy's old teddy bear!

We got to spend some time with our dear friend, Callie, on our way back to Tulsa.

Rooke got a little time to practice his jumping skills on the Campbell's trampoline!

He loved Grammy Deb and Grandaddy's stairs

We were going, going, going most of our time in Oklahoma and Rooke was always ready for his nap(s) and completely worn out at the end of each day.

Ooooooooooo - klahoma

Last week was Ryan's spring break, so we headed down to Oklahoma to spend time with family and friends. Rooke was a great traveler. Our days were packed and we had a great time!


The Payne men enjoying the beautiful weather

Rooke LOVED being able to play in the backyard! It was such a treat for our city kid to step out the door into a yard. He was pointing to the neighbor's dogs here . . . "doggie!"

"Let me out!"

Struttin' his stuff . . . big gut, no butt.

Grandaddy and Grammy treated us to an Oklahoma favorite: Ted's (mexican food). I brought chunks of tofu for Rooke, but upon seeing all the other food options, he wasn't as interested in his own dinner. Who can blame him, right?! So I gave him his own little dish of queso and let him dip his tofu in . . .

. . . that's more like it!

Rooke had a great time at our friend, Everett's, birthday party. We were at a park with a playground just his size.

Uncle Konnor and Aunt Tana came by for an evening!

Visiting Ryan's grandmother with Grammy Deb. She won Rooke's heart with those two stuffed animals.

Rooke is totally obsessed with wheels. Anything circular becomes a wheel and he loves saying, "wheel, wheel, wheel" when he sees one.

We met some friends at a playground and Rooke started going down the slide by himself! Corbett was a great encouragement.

More pictures from our trip coming soon . . .

This Little Light

Rooke and I do a lot of singing together. Well, mostly I sing and he boogies. This song has a special motion that Rooke has mastered:

Friends

Several weeks ago, Rooke and I went to visit our friend, Scott, and his grandparents. Scott's grandparents are visiting from China and I love getting to spend time with them (not to mention that I hope Rooke picks up a little Chinese while we're with them!). It's hard to tell in these pictures, but Scott is almost as big as Rooke at half his age!

Earlier this week we met up with Averie and James and had a great time! I got together with their moms for a little cooking (go here to see what we made), and the kids played, and ate, and played, and ate, and Rooke ate, and ate, and ate . . .

We played the "drape game". James and Averie were pros, but Rooke needed a little coaxing to hide-and-pop-out.

One of their snack breaks . . .

In an effort to win the attention of the only little lady, the boys tried to convince Averie of their manliness:
James: "Watch this, Averie . . . I have perfect aim and can smash and cram the oranges directly into my mouth with accuracy and speed!"
Rooke: "Oh yeah, well check this out - I just put seven orange slices in my mouth all at once!"

Evelynn comes to town

Aubyn & Scott came to Seattle earlier this week to attend a conference at our church and let me watch Evelynn for two whole days! So much fun time with my beautiful niece!

Just chillin'. Rooke's signaling that we should all live long and prosper.

Hugging cousins

While Evelynn was sleeping, Rooke worked on his first art project! We started small with just a couple crayons. He stayed interested for a bit as I helped show him how to color . . .

Then he started focusing more on the crayons . . .

And into the mouth they go!

The finished product:

Rooke loves getting up on the couch, and I get a little tired of the up and down game we play each day, so I gave him this step stool to climb with and he loves it! He'll use it to climb on the couch, but he also just likes to stand and look at books, or look around as if he's become the king of the living room.

This picture may seem a little random, but it was the first picture I took when Rooke actually smiled for me. I looked at him and said, "Smile, Rooke". He just stood there and when I put the camera up to my face to take the picture, this is what I got!

The Mullet says Goodbye

It happened. The first hair cut! Granted, I had trimmed Rooke's wings a few times. But this was the first full-on, all over, get rid of the developing mullet in the back cut. My friend, Jessie, had used the clippers with her son's first cut, so we gave it a try and Rooke did surprisingly well just sitting there!

Before

Keeping busy with the brush . . .

Losing a little patience . . . hurry up Mom!

All done! It's not that big of a difference, but the beginnings of his mullet are officially gone and he just looks more clean cut.

Daddy

Hi. This is Rooke. I asked my mom if I could do a special post today about my daddy. Last week, he took off from school and spent a whole day with us. I LOVED it! Here is some of what we did together:

Mommy and Daddy like eating at Panera Bread, and since bread is one of my favorite foods, it's a great place for me, too. Mom says to tell you that this placemat thingy is a "mommy-must-have". Whatever. I just like to eat.

After lunch, we went to a nearby park. I wasn't too sure about this spinny thing, but then Dad helped me get on and we had a great time going around in circles. That is, until we both fell off. I cried. Dad told me it's ok for little boys to fall on the playground. I was ok.

My Dad is so funny! He was playing peek-a-boo with me.

And who can resist a good swing?

Dad had some stuff to take care of at the bank, so I decided to try out my coloring skills. I don't know what the big deal was, but Mom kept saying how cute I looked sitting in the chair by myself and coloring. Something about me growing up and being a big boy?

I love my dad. I like it when people tell me that I look like him. I like how he tickles me and wrestles with me and throws me around ('cause Mom doesn't do it as good). I like to scream his name when I see him after he comes home. I would love to be just like him when I grow up.