Baby's First Easter

After a super busy week, it was nice to have a long weekend. We were excited to have a couple play dates with Maryn, who is the daughter of my college friend Lindsay and just 11 days older than Brooke. Lindsay lives in Colorado, so this was the first time for our girls to meet.

Saturday, we visited Michael's family in Deer Park to celebrate Easter. Brooke got a new swimsuit, puzzle and some fun toys from her Mamaw and Papaw. They were fascinated with her motor skills; she was crawling all over the place. She was definitely more curious about their dog, Duke, and his unstoppable "kisses". She got lots of lovin' while we were there, just as Papaw stated "she is about 3/4 rotten". I would have to agree; she is pretty spoiled!

   

Sunday, we woke up early to attend 8:30 mass. It was packed, as to be expected. She did well, although Michael ended up in the overly crowded cry room for the last half and I made a trip to the bathroom with B before it was all over. She had a bottle in church and passed out on the way home. We had french toast, bacon, sausage and bloody mary's at our house for breakfast. After a short nap, we got a few family photos and Brooke played with her gifts from the Easter Bunny. She had a baby-fied version of our annual egg hunt and got a Rocktivity Station, as well as lots of new summer outfits. She had another nap at my parents before heading to my Aunt Amy's house for dinner. It was surely a long weekend, and I think all 3 of us could have used another day to recoup from the holiday!

We were unable to see Auntie Jen and Uncle Mike this weekend, so Jen made a special trip over to our house Monday evening to see her Goddaughter and shower her with Easter presents (a book, swimsuit and more summer clothes).

All in all, it was an EGG-stra special Easter with our sweet pea. No doubt we are beyond blessed!

Crawling, Standing and...Hopping?

By now Brooke has mastered crawling. I still am in awe when I sit back and watch her go. I often reminisce to the days of her being so tiny that she could barely open and close her eyes while I held her in my arms. Oh...how my precious baby has grown (mommy moment)!

April 10^th Grumpy claimed that Brooke was standing in her pack-n-play after a nap, and the next day Brooke was standing up in her crib during her afternoon nap and pulling up on her toys all day long. She would cry after she got up, because once she stood up she didn't know what to do next. It only took a couple days of fear-induced random crying through naps and nighttime for her to figure out that she could sit back down and be just fine. She is now pulling up on everything – in her crib and on her toys. We officially have a mobile baby on our hands! Time to finish baby proofing the house.

   

   

Easter is right around the corner and it seems like she will have just as many wardrobe changes as she did for Thanksgiving and Christmas. Grammy got her an Easter dress and bunny outfit. Great Ga found her an Easter dress. Auntie got her a "chick" outfit, bunny romper, rabbit ears and a tail! And of course, her Mommy had an Easter dress before she was even born. I don’t think there is enough hours in the day for all of these outfits…although you never know! 

With the introduction of solid foods to her diet, all bets are off. Daddy and I definitely keep score with diaper changes these days. I never thought I would say this but I think I prefer the newborn baby blowouts to these new extremely scented and colorful packages that come from our precious angel!

Moving on to bath time, Brooke has upgraded to the tub from the kitchen sink. While she can sit perfectly fine unsupported, you just never know; we decided to get an inflatable tub to make for an easier transition. Daddy gives her a bath almost every night. She loves it! Now that she can sit up and has a little more room, she is getting more curious about playing and splashing around.

Okay, so she hasn't quite mastered "hopping" in time for Easter, but she surely has crawling and pulling up down to a science. We have plans to see the Easter Bunny and have her first egg hunt this weekend. I can't wait! Holidays are even more joyous having her to celebrate with.

7 Months

Our little sweet pea is 7 months today. I fall more in love with her every day. It also never seems to get any easier leaving her. The older she gets, the more we try to venture out and do things with her. Grammy and Grumpy seem to be more adventurous than her own parents. They have done lots of fun activities with Brooke while they care for her during the week. Fieldtrips include her first carousel ride (at Memorial City Mall), lunch/play dates with her auntie or Great Pa & Ga, and it’s rare if there isn’t a weekly Wednesday visit to Carter’s. Brooke went grocery shopping with Mommy and Daddy recently and rode in the grocery cart for the first time! Nosie Rosie was more interested in what was being put in the cart behind her rather than the toy in front of her, not to mention the bright yellow coupons that she kept trying to put in her mouth! 

   

We don’t get out much; Brooke thrives on routine. We have recently made a few changes, due to her adjusted feeding schedule with added baby food, but she still sticks to it! On a typical day, B wakes up at 8-8:30, eats cereal and fruit. She plays for about 1-1.5 hours, then she has a bottle before her morning nap. She sleeps for 1-2 hours, then eats lunch. After some more play time, she has another bottle before her afternoon nap. She sleeps another 1-2 hours. At 5 she has dinner and plays until bedtime. She gets a bath and bottle at 7 pm before she goes down for a solid 12 hours. She is such a good little girl – great eater and wonderful sleeper! I guess she got both of those traits from her parents. We love to eat and sleep, although sleeping in now is staying in bed until 7:30 am, maybe 8 if I’m really feeling crazy on a weekend!

March 23 her first tooth broke through the gums, and the next day the one next to it had followed. She wasn't too fussy. She seemed a little more sleepy than usual and had some mucus-like spit up, due to the extra saliva, but it wasn't bad at all. Brooke has been quite the drooler for the past few months, and all of the monogrammed bibs from Auntie have been extra handy!

She is really starting to practice talking too. She says “gee-gee”, which I think is a sweet reminder of Grandmere (“Gigi”) looking down on all of us. She says “muh” and “tuh” as well. She is absolutely fascinated with peek-a-boo and laughs out loud when mommy throws her hands in there (touchdown-style) or shockingly gasps for air. She has a breakfast, lunch and dinner – combination of cereal and stage 1 fruits/veggies, along with 4 bottles throughout the day (26 ounces). We tried peas again and…she still doesn't like them. Poor thing tried about 4 bites before she realized it was not getting any better. This time she was spitting it out; it was everywhere – hair, ears, cheek, neck, hands, etc! Our little Sweet Pea does NOT like sweet peas, unlike her momma and daddy who LOVE them! Oh well, maybe in a few more weeks, she will change her mind…

She is over 20 pounds now, wearing 9 month clothes and size 3 Pampers. She still sleeps with her lamb wubbanub, glowing seahorse and duck lovey – she loves them all. Some nights I think she stays up and plays with her “friends” while mommy and daddy sleep; in the mornings, all of them are in different corners than where they started the night. Perhaps in comparison to other babies, Brooke may be lacking locks, but she probably has twice as much hair as she did a couple months ago! She is starting to crawl and getting stronger everyday. She started by scooting on her tummy, which she still uses to pivot around. She knows what to do, but for some reason just loves pushing up on her toes (almost seems to be planking) with her rear in the air. I imagine it won't be long before she is walking too; she is just so strong! If there's a toy, phone, laundry basket...anything that she can get her hands on, she will get there! Our little "baby" is growing up.