Rooker

Oh this kid! Man we love him. He came into this world with opinions! He is so busy and into everything.  He cleans out the cabinets and pantry daily. I feel like there is no keeping our house clean while he is around.  Rook absolutely loves being outside. His first word we officially decided was Go! Whenever the door opens, especially to the front yard, he drops what he is doing and makes a run for it.  And if he doesn't get to it before it closes, he has a total meltdown. He used to say, "go, go, go" whenever he had a chance to get out that door. Rook is soooo dangerous right now. He is at the age when we feel like he should be in body armor to keep him from injuring himself. He is so tall for his age that he is able to get into things and climb up things he shouldn't. He has been pulling things off of the table and countertops for months. This does not go well when glass cups and plates are within reach. We are just waiting for his brain to catch up with his height! Not to say that he isn't smart, because he catches on to so many things so quickly. He watches everyone in the house and imitates what he sees. He loves to talk on the phone and watch videos of himself on mom's cellphone. At this point Rook says: go, mama, dada, hi, bye, ball, cheese, balloon (this is my favorite, he rolls his tongue with this one), and bubble. I'm sure there are more that we just don't quite understand. He jabbers all the time and uses lots of arm gestures while doing it. I love it. Rook goes and goes all day long. He is so busy that when it is time to nap or go to bed, he usually crashes out so fast. He loves his soft blankies and his binki. That binki is going to be hard to break. I had planned to wean him at 18 months, but he was sick and frankly, I'm afraid of the fight. This is one stubborn kid. Plus his teeth are pretty crazy already, I don't think the binki can cause anymore damage. Not only are his teeth pretty crowded and crooked, but he's managed to chip his front teeth twice now. Crazy teeth or not, he grins so big and says "cheese" whenever a camera is pointed in his direction. 

When we decided to name this kid Rook, we figured his nickname would end up being Rookie. And I figure that name will be used by his peers as he gets older, but we don't call him that. He is known around here as Rooker, Rookers or Rooker-Dooker. Kind of funny how nicknames just sort of happen. There is so much to say about this kid but there is a phrase I have seen floating around that says a boy is noise with dirt on it. That phrase absolutely fits this kid. So, so noisy and always dirty or sticky. He has brought so much crazy and so much joy into our lives. We couldn't have asked for a better caboose!