What Brooklyn has been up to

 

What Brooklyn has been up to this past week!

1. Standing in front of the open window, talking to the outside!

2. Playing in the bathtub after the water had been drained.

3. Playing with her push toy

4. Pushing her toy like a big girl!

5. Teething and only wanting mommy, so we watched Baby Genius on the iPad. 

Ben's 32nd Birthday

Ben turned 32 on October 20th.  I can't believe my husband is 32.  That just sounds really weird to me, and to be honest a little old.  I think once I get in my 30's it won't seem so old, but I feel like our age difference is a lot right now.  I am 26,  so we are only 5 1/2 years apart.

I think Ben had a pretty good birthday! I stayed up late the night before to wrap his presents! In the morning I went downstairs to get one last thing ready....Dunkin Donuts.  I bought them the day before and hid them and hoped they would still be good the next morning!! They were!!

  

I waited until the last minute to do some shopping! I did buy one thing online that wasn't supposed to be here until the Monday after his birthday, but surprisingly it got here the Friday before! Yay!!

My mom, Brooklyn and I went shopping late Friday afternoon, it was a little stressful! That same Friday night, Kim and I went to holiday mart.  I was not planing to buy anything but I ended up buying Ben a gift and Brooklyn a gift.  I was thinking about waiting to give Ben his gift from Holiday Mart on Christmas, but I knew I couldn't wait that long so I wrapped it that night.

Gift from Holiday Mart-a 3D image of Allen Fieldhouse

We went to my dad's for dinner on the night of Ben's birthday and then to St. Joe to Lisa's the Sunday after his birthday! It was a birthday filled weekend!!

This was the first birthday for Ben since he has been a dad! Brooklyn loved helping open the gifts!

Halloween 2012

This was Brooklyn's 1st Halloween!

When I was pregnant last year I looked online for costumes for Brooklyn this year.  I came across this pig and I just knew she had to be a pig.  Little did I know, our little baby girl would be a pig herself! She loves to eat and it a little chubby, so her costume was only fitting!

My Uncle Duane, Ben, my mom and I started a tradition 6 years ago where we eat chili on Halloween night and hand out candy! Something fun and simple!

This year, Ben and I hosted! My brother, his girlfriend and their little boy, Jaxson came over, along with my mom! It was a fun night!

We had chili, cornbread, cinnamon rolls, cheese and crackers, cake and beer!

I bought candy way too early this year, so Ben and I had been eating some every day, but I still had plenty to hand out.  This year I became addicted to Peanut M&M's.  I think I ate a small package every night for the past 2 weeks.  I am so glad they are out of my house!!

Our neighbor across the street, Lisa, came over and gave Brooklyn a Halloween book! I thought it was so sweet and thoughtful that she did that, as she knew Brooklyn couldn't eat candy! Thank you Lisa and Kevin!!

Brooklyn was eating dinner and not in her costume yet when Lisa came over so I told her we would come "Trick or Treat" at her house in a little bit.  That was the only house Brooklyn made it to, but it was perfect!

The rest of the night, Brooklyn and Jaxson sat by the front door and helped me hand out candy and looked at all of the fun costumes!

 Playing with Uncle Aaron after she took her costume off!

 Tried to get a picture with Nana and her 2 grandbabies, but Miss Brooklyn was not cooperating.  Hopefully we can get one soon!

The first year we were in our house we had about 3 trick-or-treaters-we were one of the only houses in the new phase of our subdivision.  The second year was a little better with about 30 or some trick or treaters, last year was the best-we had a lot.  This year wasn't as good as I thought it would be! Towards the end I started handing out A LOT of candy to each kid because I wanted to get rid of it.  

It was a fun night! I am sure next year will be different and hopefully we will get to do some real Trick or Treating!
 

Brooklyn 10 Months

Brooklyn 10 Months- 8/26-9/26

Oops!! Miss Brooklyn is 11 months old and I am just now getting around to doing her 10 month post! So glad that I write everything down during the month, because there is no way I would be able to remember things from last month! I can't believe how fast my baby is growing! She is SO big!

10 Month (Unofficial) stats

Weight: 23 pounds

Height: 28 inches

Clothes

Pajama size: 9-12 months

Clothes size: 9-12 months, some 12-18 months

Diaper size: size 4

 So, what has Miss Brooklyn been up to this month:

• She will NOT eat pureed baby food! She wants big girl food and wants to feed herself. She does like the baby food pouches.  I let her have pouches when we are out but never at home because they are so expensive!
• She has mastered crawling! 
• Her favorite foods are:
• cheerios, blueberries, bananas, spaghetti, cheese, yogurt, ravioli and donuts!

she loves playing in her tunnel

• She drinks 3 bottles a day-all 8 ounces each. 7:30am, 2pm, 7pm
• She eats solid meals 3 times a day: 9am, 12pm, 5pm
• Brooklyn celebrated her first Labor Day-we went to The Glynn's for a BBQ and Brooklyn played in the ball pit!

pretty girl!!

•  Brooklyn is OBSESSED with the i-Pad.  She loves to look at pictures of herself and play games on the baby apps.  She knows how to slide her fingers/hand across the i-Pad to get to a new picture.  It is a bit ridiculous! Ha!

•  Brooklyn has known how to do "So big" for awhile now, but daddy taught her something new.  When you say "Touchdown" she raises her hands up in the air! Too cute!

•  Her favorite spot to play is the pantry! She can make quite a mess in there, but sometimes I don't care.  If I need to clean up the kitchen all I have to do is open the pantry door and she can entertain herself for a little bit!

•  She loves to eat, as long as it is something she wants.  If she could live off of cheese, spaghetti, banana and yogurt I would let her, but she needs to try new things!

•  She started out pulling up to a standing position in her crib, then she pulled up on the ottoman and her Jumperoo.  Then she started pulling up on people's legs and now she pulls up on EVERYTHING!

•  She found the tupperware drawer!!

•  Have I mentioned this girl loves spaghetti!! I let her feed herself spaghetti when I know we have time for a bath right after!

•  We started baby story time at the library and she loves it!! We sing songs, play with bubbles, read a book, have parachute time and then play with toys!! It is so nice to be able to get out of the house and do something for FREE!!

•  Brooklyn attended her first Liberty Fall Festival.  I grew up going to this festival! It was perfect weather and Brooklyn enjoyed her balloon! We didn't plan to stay for the parade but we found an open spot on the side of the parade route, so we decided to stop! Brooklyn loved it!! We will be going back every year!

•  Brooklyn attended her first Goetze company/sales appreciation picnic!

Daddy and Brooklyn

•  She has become very talkative and chatty! It is so fun to hear what new sounds she makes! 
•  Brooklyn still loves Gymboree class.  Level 2 is from 6-10 months but I think I am going to wait a couple weeks to go to Level 3.  A lot of Level 3 kids are walking and Brooklyn is just starting to pull up and walk along things.  
• Speaking of walking along things, Brooklyn walks all along the ottoman and couch, but the other day she transferred from the ottoman to the couch without sitting down! Yay! Big girl!

spaghetti again!! Yum Yum!

• Brooklyn loves her stroller and going on walks.  She loves the swings at the park! I do not know what we are going to do when it is too cold to go outside! 

Brooklyn is such a big girl and makes Ben and me laugh every single day! It is so fun to just sit and watch her interact with her toys.  I wish I knew what went on in her little brain.  I love watching her grow and learn new things each day! I love teaching her new things every day! Some days are more challenging than others, but I wouldn't have it any other way.  I love spending every day with my baby girl and I love that I get to see her firsthand learn new things! I still can't believe she is going to be one so very soon!

More outtakes from her 10 month chair session:

 I love you Brooklyn!!

What Has Brooklyn Been Up To

Now that I have an iPhone it is much easier for me to upload pictures to blogger. I am sure I am like everyone else and take majority of my pictures on my phone. It is convenient and easy! So, each Friday I am going to create a collage in Instagram of what Brooklyn has been up to that week! Enjoy!!

September 29-October 5, 2012
From top left and going clockwise.
1. Enjoying the Liberty Fall Festival parade
2. Playing her "bubbles" app on the iPad
3. Fell asleep on the way home from Goetze picnic
4. First time wearing a big bow with no headband.
5. Golf ball in the mouth. Not the safest toy!
6. Reading books in her room!
7. Swinging at the park on a chilly fall morning.

Finally...

I have finally joined the i-Phone family. Hopefully I can start blogging more since I take pictures on my phone all day long. This app makes it so easy to put pictures on the blog. Yay!!

On another note, I can't believe my baby is going to be 10 months old tomorrow. Crazy.

Brooklyn-9 Months

Brooklyn-9 months (7/26-8/26)

As usual this is a little late, but I have an excuse...kind of... I was waiting for Brooklyn to go to the doctor for her 9 month appointment so I could include her stats.  Over a week after her appointment I am finally getting around to blogging about her 9th month (she is now 9 1/2 months)! Wow!! She is such a big girl...9 months old? Really?! Time, please stop!

9 Month Stats:

Weight: 22 pounds (91st percentile)

Length: 28 inches (60th percentile)

Head Circumference: 18 inches (90th percentile)

She is a big girl! We knew she was chubby but I am so glad that she got longer!! Hopefully she won't be short! After her 6 month appointment and being in the 23rd percentile for length I was beginning to wonder, but hopefully she will be average height if not a little above average, like her momma! One thing she doesn't get from her momma is her head size, sorry for her she definitely got her head size from her dadda! No matter how chubby she is, how big her head is or how long/tall she is we think she is 100% perfect. She is our little Pai (her nickname-pronounced like 'pay') and we wouldn't have her any other way!!! 

So, what has Miss Brooklyn been up to this past month:

• The BIG news of the month is: Brooklyn's clogged tear duct opened up!! NO more green yucky stuff oozing from her eye daily! Such a blessing! Everyone is much happier!! 
• We started 3 meals a day! She loves yogurt! I buy the Yo-Baby organic yogurt and she LOVES it! I think she would eat it every meal if I let her!
• We went down to 3 bottles a day.  7am (or when she gets up, sometimes 7:30-7:45), 2pm and 7pm.   We increased the ounces of each bottle too.  7am and 2pm bottles are 8 ounces and 7pm bottle is 9 ounces! 
• We also went down to 2 naps a day! 10am nap and a nap around 2:30-3pm.  She will sleep for about an hour and 15 minutes at 10 am (sometimes longer) and then usually 2 hours in the afternoon (sometimes longer).  It is perfect!
• She still goes to bed at 7:30pm and I don't hear a peep from her until 7am or after! It is amazing! 
• We did a lot of swimming this past month! She loves the water!!

we went swimming with Demi one day! I used to babysit Demi and she was also a flower girl in my wedding! Demi is so tan and so beautiful!

•  We joined a play group/mom's group called MOMs Club! We love it!! So many kids of all different ages, so many activities to do and so many sweet moms! Perfect fit for us!
• Getting ready for play group at the park and pool!

•  Brooklyn LOVES to swing! She will swing at a park or at home on our swing we put up under the deck! She is not picky! As long as she is swinging she is content!

•  Brooklyn scoots everywhere.  It is like an army crawl on her belly and she pushes with her legs and pulls with her arms! Too funny! Toward the end of the month she would crawl on all 4's if she wasn't going too far!

•  On her 9 month birthday (8/26) she had formula for the first time.  She did not seem to notice a difference and did not care.  She now gets 1 bottle of formula a day and 2 bottles of breastmilk a day, thanks to my frozen stash!  I am officially done pumping!! It is very bittersweet!   

daddy making 1st formula bottle

1st formula bottle

•  Brooklyn loves Mum-Mums! We enjoyed a picnic outside on the front lawn one evening during Brooklyn's dinner time while waiting on daddy to get home from work! 
• Brooklyn loves puffs and can eat them all on her own! She claps each time she gets a puff in her mouth! Too funny!
• I have started to give her more table food, but she isn't so sure about some of it.  If it feels funny or has a different texture then she will just mash it up in her hands and just play with it! 

•  She can use her sippy cup all on her own now! Big girl!!

•  Brooklyn sat up from laying on her tummy in her crib on Aug 7.  I turned on the video monitor to see if she had fallen asleep and she was sitting up! I was shocked and worried she wouldn't be able to figure out how to lay back down, but she figured it out and fell asleep! 
• While scooting and exploring around the house she found the door stoppers and LOVES to jiggle them so they make that annoying loud noise!

• Brooklyn can clap on demand!! If I say "yeah" or "big girl" she also claps! She is pretty proud of herself!
• We lowered her crib.  She was starting to grab onto the slats and try to pull up, so before she could successfully pull up we lowered the mattress.  
• If you say "How big is Brooklyn", she will raise her hands above her head and we say "Soooo big"! The doctor was impressed that she could do this as he said that was something a 12 month old would just start to do!

• Brooklyn loves to give kisses.  It started out just 'kissing' herself in her little mirror, but here daddy has taught her how to kiss everything/everyone else! It isn't a true kiss, but she leans in close to you with her tongue out and that is her kiss.  It is pretty sweet!

swimming at The Lumbards!

• Brooklyn HATES her changing table!  We now change her diaper on the floor in her room. She also HATES getting dressed.  It is a battle each and every time and she always throws a fit.  She has started "bucking" on the floor when getting dressed or during diaper changes.  Hopefully it is just a phase, and it too shall pass! 
• Brooklyn shakes her head "no-no-no-no".  It is pretty funny, but I don't know if I should be laughing! When she starts crawling towards something or getting into something she shouldn't I tell her "no-no" in a calm voice and shake my head.  I think that is where she got it from.  Ben has taken it to the next level and he asks Brooklyn if she can say yes, as he is shaking his head up and down, well Brooklyn shakes her head side to side for "no-no".  We laugh!  
• We joined Gymboree Play and Music class.  It is a lot of fun and Brooklyn loves it! The only negative is it is in Parkville, which is about a 20-25 minute drive for us.  Brooklyn loves singing songs and crawling all around with the other little kids.  It is a little expensive too, but seeing her light up and have a great time is worth it!!

More out-takes from her 9 month chair photo shoot!