Maggie's Brother

No we did not acquire another dog but when we were out hiking today we found Maggie's long lost brother. We have never seen a dog that comes close to looking like Maggie but Brutus could be her twin and upon finding out that he was born the same time as her and acquired from a rescue organization, we concluded that they must be related. It wasn't the tear jerking reunion you'd hope for when another finds their long lost sibling and honestly it took everything we could to get them to stand this close together. Maybe they had sibling rivalry when they were pups...who knows. But us parents were sure excited to meet one another. Brutus made Maggie look lean and muscular as he holds the heavy weight title for being 90 lbs (over 40 lbs on Maggie). We had to document this momentous reunion even if the pups were embarrassed by our fawning.

10 months old and this is what we've been up to...

So I am not sure if these videos will play. I was having trouble getting them to load. But Roman has been a busy boy these days with learning to walk, play piano and dance.

I particularly like his dancing video where he has learned that if he hits the toy it will play the next song. The toy is motion activated, so if you touch the objects on it, it will play music. You can see when the music stops how he hits it or wiggles the dog to get the next song to play.

Walking is going well although he still prefers to crawl. He gets easily excited over his accomplishment of walking and will fall over from sheer excitement of it all....or if the dog wanders by and hits him in the head with her tail.

The boy, the dog and the turtle

Meet Webster...the most gregarious turtle i have ever met. Meeting us on our front sidewalk with his cob web covered shell (hence the name Webster) made us wonder where he had emerged from, but regardless of where he came from, he knew where he was going....and that was away from us. Who would stick around with a dog sniffing your hind quarters and a baby patting your shell? But no fear did he show as he briskly ventured down the front yard to reside under the jasmine that swallows our mailbox. It was a good resting spot for him as he waited for his fan club to carry on to another suited distraction so he could finish his journey, wherever that might be. I would have liked Webster to be a regular around our house but I think we sufficiently sealed the deal, after butt sniffing and shell patting, that he'll find another place to call home.






After all the fun with the turtle, we carried on with our walk down the street. It seems to be the quickest way to get Roman tired out before his naps or bedtime.


Away he goes...always on the move- which I think will always be the way of this child. But it seems well suited for our family.

roman learning to descend the stairs...but still prefers to climb up them.

Roman - 9 months

I am usually too busy to run around and take pictures when we are on vacation so this afternoon I decided to take him outside and take some photos. I found this much more fun than he did as it was 100 degrees and the sidewalk was scorching hot. Hence why he retreated to the shady porch and tried climbing to the front door to give me the subtle hint that it was time to go inside.

But in all honesty, he does really like the outdoors but after our last escapade outside, we had bandaids on our knees for a week. So until the walking begins, our time outdoors is limited since the concrete isn't crawler friendly.

This face below is one that I am pretty sure my mom captured on me when i was a baby. I am not sure this bids well for years to come. I see the attitude brewing.







I managed to capture his sheepish innocent grin below. This is the cute face daddy gets every time he comes home. He loves his daddy- so much for the mama's boy.
up at the top of his list of favorite things to do along with climbing stairs and ingesting mulch- is chewing on rocks. Some may call it a diet deficiency, or a new way of teething...I prefer to think that he likes to grind down his own teeth like a gerbil. He gets new ones, right?

My happy boy after his nap. He bounces so much in his crib that catching a still shot is next to impossible.
Well it is hard to believe he is over 9 months old now. We had our first trip away from him last week while his Nanny (Matt's mom) flew in to take care of him. We enjoyed our trip to California for Matt's Crossfit Games and Roman enjoyed his time with Nanny.
Pictures of the games to come soon...

Trouble, Trouble and More Trouble

Roman is 8.5 months and he is always on the verge of getting into trouble...


Below he likes to be like Daddy and work on his truck. He will tip his truck over and work on the tires.

A couple of nights last week he decided to undress himself and meet me in the morning like this (below)...
My little over achiever- just like his daddy...couldn't climb around the dog's toy box, he had to climb over it.
Maggie, below, is really wondering what he is doing with all her toys since she doesn't get that luxury with his toys.


He is a good helper...enjoyed pushing the mop around but really only to hear it bang on the floor.

Nearly 8 months and trouble continues...

Roman is nearly 8 months old and has found himself in all sorts of trouble. He definitely keeps us laughing and gasping over his new found tricks, expressions, and mobility. He gets himself into situations he can't get out of and also surprisingly gets himself out of situations i didn't think he could get in to. If you can crawl over or under it, if you can use it to pull up on, if it is within his grasp than it is free game.






Ascending the stairs with increasing speed... Now to teach him to descend -NOT face first.




"Daddy couldn't fix his computer- so I thought I would show him how to do it."

Maggie and Roman- fast buddies...





All this mobility comes with its fair share of bumps and bruises- and crying- as we find out that some things are not meant to climb on, through, over and around. Some things are sharp, some things are heavy, some things are off limits, and some things don't move. All this exploration made for one busy month. Can't wait to see what happens in his next month of growth.