8 months

Brooke is 21.6 pounds per our bathroom scale. She is eating 3 meals per day plus 4 bottles = 12+ oz of baby food and about 26 ounces of milk (formula & breast milk combo). She still won't eat any green vegatables, but has recently tried chicken & apples (and loved it!). She has completely mastered crawling and is standing/pulling up on everything. She started saying "dada" within the last week, as well as babbling an assortment of other sounds. She loves to laugh and squeal and has really found her voice. She is clearly attached to mommy, and will follow me out of the room or crawl from her playroom to the kitchen or bathroom, wherever I may be. Daddy gives her a bath every night and she loves it! She still goes down to sleep about 7-7:30 and stays in bed until at least 8 am. She is taking 2 naps per day; usually a longer nap around 10 am and a shorter nap in the afternoon. She may have had her first cold, along with mommy this past week. She wasn't too fussy, but had some nasal congestion in the morning and was sleeping more than usual. Although it may have been from teething; I keep thinking any day her top teeth are going to cut through but not just yet. She is so good with her hands and grabs everything, including the bow off her head (just to put into her mouth). She is nothing short of a blessing from above and I am so proud to call her mine. She keeps me on my toes and is constantly making me laugh. For example, in her monthly chair pictures, she kept leaning forward out of the chair just to crawl up my lap. It made for an impossible photo shoot, but a great laugh and memory for us, which is what it's all about.

She had two play dates this last month. One with Maryn, who is 11 days older and the other with Lincoln who is 1 month older. It is so much fun seeing our babies interact and how different they all are.

This weekend Brooke got in a park swing for the first time. I was so leery about putting her in without the highchair/shopping cart cover, but I guess we have to introduce her to some germs to build up her immunity. As gross as it was to mommy, she loved it and that made me smile!

Brooke is so blessed to have 3 great grandparents still living and 4 grandparents. Here's 4 generations of the Bayer family.

With Mother's Day right around the corner, I am so blessed to have this wonderful women in my life, as well as Brooke's. I continue to learn from them, lean on them for support and cherish the memories we have together. However, with this celebration, I am also grieving the loss of my sweet Grandmere, who left this world just 6 months ago. 

Happy Mother's Day to all of the special women in our lives and in our hearts!