More Firsts

Brooke had her first "real food" today with an entry into the world of
rice cereal. Of course, our little eater took to it like a pro. She
didn't question the spoon or the new substance in her mouth, and
immedietly wanted more. By her third spoon full she was "helping" by
grabbing the spoon and aiming it towards her mouth. She also managed
to get her hand and the spoon in her mouth at the same time. Genius!

Brooke has also decided to try out blowing raspberries today. While I
thought this was something a happy baby would do, this is not the case
with Brooke. She is using the razz sound (and corresponding flying
spit) to signal irritation.

So today is a day for two "firsts": solid foods & blowing
raspberries! All just a few hours before she turns 5 months old :)

They May Have Tricked Me With The PJs...

But if there is a "cutest cowgirl" I'm pretty sure it would be the one
in this pic ;)

Kids Are Funny

Yesterday I was at Kohls doing Brooke's emergency pajama run. A woman and her son were shopping through the boys department and I couldnt help but overhear their conversation....

Mother: Here, try this coat on. If you like it, I will buy it for you for next year.

Son: Its HUGE!

Mother: Its big now, but it wont be big next year. Do you like it?

Son doesnt say anything but perhaps he nodded/shook his head or something, I wasnt looking at them. (I was eavesdropping, not staring!)

Mother: This is a really great deal, but I cannot return it. I need to know if you like it. If you like it, you have to promise to wear it next year.

Son: What does "econ" mean?

This question sparked my curiosity and so I turned to look. The boy was wearing this massive jacket, looking at himself in the mirror. He was reading the logo on his jacket, except he was looking at it in the mirror...thus reading it backwards :)

21 Weeks: Brooke's Busy Day!

Brooke is 21 weeks old today. We had a very busy day planned and I was a bit worried about how it would turn out!

We started off the morning with a weigh in. There was no reason for this, but with her 5 month birthday approaching I figured I would do it while I was thinking about it :) Brooke is 18 pounds and 13 ounces (gaining 1 lb since her 4 month weigh-in)!

Doctor's Visit
We are currently seeing two eye-doctors until we feel comfortable with the diagnosis. Today we had a 10AM appointment, and didnt get to see the doctor until 11:45. Brooke was very patient during the wait and great with the doctor. Today, Doctor #2 changed his original diagnosis to agree with Doctor #1 - Brooke has a cataract. Now that they are both on the same page we can stop playing the two-doctor-game and pick one to go with from now on.

Campus Visit
After spending 2 hours at the doctor we headed down to campus so I could turn in a form that is long overdue. Brooke got to meet some of the other Professors and showed off and flirted a bit. She was in a great mood until I put her back in the car to head home ... at which point she cried for the whole drive.

Repair Guy
Our washer has been making funny noises, so the repair guy was called. He showed up about 5 minutes after we got home from our campus visit, in the middle of a diaper change. Brooke greeted him at the door in only a diaper, and he was here long enough to tell me that "the noises are normal". Great. I dont understand how a washer that sounds like a plane landing is normal, but oh well! In exchange for making me feel like a dummy, Brooke flashed him some big smiles.

Pajama Run
Brooke is at the tail end of being able to wear her 3-6 month clothes. A lot still fit, but she is having trouble with her pjs. I think her width and length combined just arent allowing her to comfortably fit in the whole one-piece-footed-sleeper thing. As these items are 99% of what she wears I was starting to get a bit nervous. I looked at her clothing selection for the next size up and she only has two pajama sleepers! So we went out on an emergency pajama run and she is now officially allowed to grow out of her 3-6 month clothes ;)

Burrito Time!
Today is a beautiful February day, hitting in the upper 50s. We wanted to take advantage of the weather and so we walked to a local burrito place to get dinner. By the time we left it was 6PM, and Brooke was so tired from her day. She kept trying to fall asleep as we walked and we kept trying to wake her up. Poor thing.

High Chair Practice
We made it home with our burritos and had to wake Brooke up. Then we strapped her into her high chair and made her watch us eat. Yesterday we did the same thing and she seemed to enjoy it. Today, I assume because she was so tired, she just sat there with a glazed look in her eyes watching us. She made it though dinner and happily went to bed at 7 :)

Keeping Up With The World

I left a newspaper on Brooke's changing table and her quick little
hands got to it before I could. She still prefers eating her reading
materials over actually reading them ...

Another Day In The Life

Brooke is thinking: "I love Wrigley"
Wrigley is thinking: "What is she still doing here?"

A Baby's Eye View

Brooke is really into Wrigley, and Wrigley is really into Brooke's playgym.

20 Weeks Old!

Brooke is starting to show her age - she is smarter and quicker, and seems to have mastered the art of manipulating her parents ;)

One of the biggest things we have noticed in her development is discussed on parents.com - due to the maturity of her vision, Brooke has increased hand & eye control. Before we would show her an object and put it close to her, and she would grasp it. Now she reaches out for things she wants! This is pretty much everything, but her primary desire is the dog. She reaches out for her every time she is near ... and has a bit of a fit when Wrigley doesnt cooperate.

Babycenter talks about laughing this week - which we are seeing a lot more of as well. Brooke seems to be laughing for our enjoyment though, more than a natural reaction of some sort. She laughs when we laugh (or smile) and we still do not get a whole lot of genuine laughter out of her ... guess she doesnt find us very funny ;)

Brooke's Fun Weekend

Brooke had so much fun with Aunt Jean this weekend! While she is very
excited that her Daddy will be home soon, she will be very sad to see
her Aunt go :(

High Chairs!

Pretty soon Brooke will be starting on solid foods and for that, we need a high chair. We havent yet decided when to start her on solids, but know for sure that one of the first things we need is a place for her to sit!

Consumer Reports last reviewed high chairs in April of 2007 and gave the Graco Contempo 3A00 its highest rating, followed by the Evenflo Epressions Plus.

Consumersearch (a site that pools other ratings) ranked the top chairs in 5 different categories:
Best Overall: Fisher-Price Healthy Care
Budget: Graco Easy Chair
HighChair/Booster that Straps to Dining Room Chair: Fisher-Price Space Saver
Wooden High Chair: Graco Classic Wood
Modern Look: Boon Flair Pedestal

We decided to go with the Graco Contempo for a couple of reasons 1) #1 in safety is important to us and 2) we have a Graco pack-and-play that we love, and that is a permanent fixture in our house ... so now we have a matching set!

Brooke has been practicing sitting in her new high-chair and watching us eat and has been doing great :)

Sleeping Through The Night - For Real!

When a baby can sleep through the night will vary, but Babycenter says most babies sleep through the night by the time they are 9 months. This concept of "sleeping through the night" is a tricky one for most parents, who visualize 8 hours (or more!) of uninterrupted sleep. The thing is, "through the night" is defined as midnight until 5AM!

Honestly, we have been pretty lucky. Brooke is a good sleeper. As a whole, she has been sleeping from 7-7, getting up once in the middle to eat. But last night she was exhausted and we put her to bed at 6:30 ... she didnt get up again until 7! No midnight snack :) Babies love to keep things lively and I'm not counting on this to happen anytime in the near future, but it sure would be nice.

A Visitor!
Brooke's Daddy is gone all weekend, the first time he has had to leave her. While Brooke is really going to miss him, she is actually really excited ... because Aunt Jean is coming to visit her again! Brooke hasnt seen Aunt Jean since Christmas and is excited to show her all of the new things she can do :)

Interesting "Roll Over" Update

Brooke has no interest in rolling from her tummy to her back (the traditional first roll a baby makes). Instead, when she is on her tummy she kicks her legs and flails her arms (like she is swimming) as she tries to move herself forward. She wants to crawl not roll. Too bad her round belly gets in the way.

On the other hand, when she is on her back ... all she want to do is roll over! She desperately tries to get from her back to her tummy but just cant give herself the final push (again, I think the round belly has an impact here). I mentioned before that I "help" her roll ... when she gets about 1/2 way I give her a little nudge so she can complete the move. This was a problem because she kept puking every time I rolled her over.

Good news ... and bad news. Brooke no longer pukes when I roll her over! Why is that bad news? Because now she farts every time I roll her over. Strange baby ...

Updated Startle Reflex
Babies are born with something called the Moro Reflex. Its an involuntary reflex, also called the "startle reflex" causes a baby to extend the arms, legs, and fingers and arch the back. Think of when you are falling asleep and you jerk awake because you have the sense/feeling of falling ... thats exactly what babies experience. Generally this reflex goes away between 3-6 months. Brooke used to extend her arms and legs straight out when she heard loud noises, or we were placing her in her crib. She has stopped that for the most part, but has started something new in the past 2 days or so.

In this video, it looks like she is posing. She is laying on her changing table and has her left arm behind her head. The funny thing is, this is not a pose :) She has been keeping her left arm behind her head for the past two days or so to "brace" herself. (From what, I dont know). 1/2 way through the video she tries to roll over, so you can see her in action. And then her new version of the startle reflex follows her unsuccessful rolling attempt.

Week 19 - Brooke Loves Her Mommy!

BabyCenter is right-on for this week. There are a two things discussed: sleep & "the company of strangers" in week 19 of a baby's development.

Regarding sleep, BabyCenter mentions that "it may be a while before he stops waking at five in the morning". This is particularly on-point, because for the past 7 days or so Brooke has been doing exactly that! Interestingly enough, I decided to read up a bit more on her sleep habits. The last reading I did was when we began "sleep training" and at that point she was 3-months. There is a lot of development between 3 & 4 months, so I figured some updated information was necessary. Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child (by Marc Weissbluth) actually states that 5 AM is too early of a wake-up time and to ignore a baby who gets up at this hour. The principles of this book are not always something I agree with - the author suggests letting the baby cry for up to one hour. But I realized that Brooke was not waking up at 5AM crying, she was cooing and talking. I decided to leave her be instead of rushing in to grab her, and guess what? She fell back asleep and slept until 7:30 :) YAY!

In regards to "the company of strangers", BabyCenter says the following:

Your little genius is figuring out who's who in the world and likes Mom a lot more than most others, and may start to feel insecure in the company of strangers. As a result, you may notice your baby is becoming more selective with smiles - strangers are not welcomed as readily as they once were. He is also starting to develop preferences. Your little one may reach out for his favorite toys and turn from those he doesn't like. He may also become attached to one toy more than others and rely on it for security.

We have definitely noticed that Brooke has become more particular about who she spends time with - and will never shoot a stranger one of her smiles (she actually never really did). She definitely prefers me, which has its pros and cons. Its great that we are forming this special bond, and it took a while for us to get where we are. On the other hand, her attachment to me is making it hard for me to leave her. She often cries when others hold her, and keeps her eyes on me at all times. In addition, she is starting to cry if I leave her eyesight while she is in her bouncer or on her playgym. So I am glad Brooke loves me ... but do hope that she learns (soon) that it's ok if Mommy goes away for a minute - because she always comes back!

62 Degrees!

Brooke is getting a little teaser of her Spring & Summer fun to
come :) We packed up all of her toys and headed out for a walk in the
beautiful weather!

First Playgroup

We went to our 1st playgroup today! Brooke had a lot of fun. So much
fun, in fact, that she passed out without having lunch yet! (If you
know Brooke, you know that food always comes first)

Crystal Doll?

Brooke used to sleep in the car, and sleep at stores when I would go shopping. All that has changed. She has been so interested in her surroundings that she is awake all of the time now - she likes to look out the car window and check out the people, lights and stuff in the stores.

Today I took my weekly trip to Target, pretty much the only place we ever go. It has a Starbucks, so I can get a coffee and we can walk around for a bit. Brooke was awake in the store just looking around. I think because there is so much to look at, she always has this wide-eyed look on her face. She isnt smiling and happy ... I think she almost looks scared (though I know she isnt). While we were walking around this woman peeped into the cart at her...
Woman:OOOOHHHH!
Me: Blank stare
Woman: She looks just like a crystal doll!

I think the probably meant to say china doll? Whatever :) I tried not to laugh and went on my merry way.

How Target Tricked Me
Last time we were at target I bought Brooke another set of sleep-and-plays. As I mentioned, she lives in these things. And at the rate she drools, pukes and poops ... I often go through several in a day. These looked really cute so I grabbed them:
So whats the problem? Well, you cannot see the second one very clearly - but it has a nice, girly pattern. I opened the package when I got home and realized that the 1st sleeper simply says "Cutie" (which is true - Brooke is a cutie) and that the 2nd sleeper says "Cutest Cowgirl". Cutest Cowgirl? Really? No wonder they hid that one behind the other one :(

"Picture of Perfect Health"

Brooke had her 4 month doctors visit on Monday and all went well!
Weight:17 lbs 12 oz
Height:25.5 inches

There were a few other things the doctor wanted to verify:
Is she smiling?
Is she "talking"/cooing?
Does she grab things with her hands?
When on her tummy, does she lift herself up with her arms?

All of the answers were "yes" and the doctor said that Brooke is doing fantastic. She goes back again when she is 6 months old.

4 Months, But 18 Weeks
While Brooke celebrated her four month birthday on Feb 1, she is officially 18 weeks old today.

According to ParentingWeekly, at this stage Brooke "may be able to play alone with her toys for up to 15 minutes now". I would actually say that Brooke can play along with her favorite toys for much longer than that ... when she is in a good mood that is! Her new thing is taking small toys (like a rattle) and passing them back and forth between her hands. Pretty exciting stuff for someone who only learned she even has hands just a few weeks ago!

Socially, Parents.com suggests that a baby is still to young for "stranger anxiety" but that they start to become picky about their company. Again, Brooke may be a highly developed little girl ... I'm pretty sure she was displaying some stranger anxiety just yesterday. She has always been very reserved and cautious around strangers (gives them a furrowed brow look and never offers any smiles), but she went into a full-blown crying episode with a new person yesterday. Don't know if she has keen senses, or is just getting a little to attached to her Mommy ;)

A VERY Important Message

Brooke Has Amazing Talent

Need I say more?

Rumor is...

Brooke has a few squares in a Super Bowl pool. Although we don't really let her watch tv, we generally don't let her gamble either. I figure if she is gambling on the game she might as well watch it. Brooke decided the best place to watch the game was in Daddy's favorite chair, and she wanted her pink doggie to watch with her ... She is rooting for whichever team gets her enough winnings to buy another Gloworm, because you can never have too many Gloworms.











But, either the chair or her pajamas (or both) are a bit slippery...