Seven Months.

Dear Brooke,

Our gorgeous girl, we've made it to seven months! Time just zooms on by us - you've gone from a baby to a little lady in the blink of an eye. You've gone from stationary to very mobile this month, which means you've also become so much more independent. You are always on the move, rarely sitting still for 2 seconds. You even got your first bruise this month, a reminder that we have to keep a very close eye on your every move. You eat 3 meals a day now, in between nursing, and you love to eat! You've been introduced to some table foods, and while you can't feed yourself little bites, you love to hold onto and chew on big pieces (like biter biscuits, celery, bread, and apples.) Your little world has changed so much in just one month; here's what you are enjoying (and not) this month:

Favorites

Nectarines - This has quickly become one of your favorite fruits! Mommy dices it up for you into little chunks. You quickly learned how to chew it up with your gums and those 2 teeth. You start to get angry is we don't feed it to you fast enough.

Water - You love anything relating to water: bathtime, bottled water, the pool, etc. You love to splash around in the water. You are no longer afraid when Mommy puts you in the pool. And you adore getting in your little blue bathtub. Water bottles are such a fun toy for you; you love to play with them and drink from them!

Your Ball Popper - Oh what fun you have with this toy! Your Aunt Nicole gave this to you for your 1/2 birthday and it so much fun. The balls go flying in the air (and often all around the room - it's a very poorly designed toy, which drives your engineer Daddy crazy!) and this delights you to no end! As soon as we turn it on and the music starts, you start panting, grinning from ear to ear, and waving your arms and legs all around. You also love to pull it down so the air that pushes the balls out blows in your face.

Windows - Anytime Daddy needs to calm you down, he takes you to a window and the 2 of you gaze outside. You have been doing this since you were a brand new baby, so it's no wonder you like windows so much. Your favorite spot in the family room is right by the sliding glass door, where you can watch the birds and pound on the glass. Your tiny little fingerprints are all over the bottom foot of the door :)

Banging stuff together - Apparently being able to bang two things together is an advanced skill for a 7-month-old, but you have mastered it. Balls, celery sticks, toys, Mommy's hands - you love to make noise with whatever you're holding.

Not-so-Favorites

Dogs - It was only a matter of time before you had your first encounter with an animal and it did not go well. Actually, that's an understatement. It was a big fat failure. You were pretty terrified of the medium-sized dog at our neighbor's house that we met this month. You started freaking out in your stroller. Then, you clung on for dear life when Mommy held you, constantly looking around the room looking for the dog. This does not surprise us one bit for one main reason: we are never around animals, as none of our family or close friends have any pets. Daddy's allergic and it's very likely you will be, too, so you won't get much exposure to them in the future either. Mommy was terrified of dogs when she was little - like Mother like Daughter!

Men - Other than Daddy, very few men are met with smiles from you anymore. We're not sure what it is about men vs. women that you are afraid of; perhaps women just have a softer, more maternal nature to them. This is a common phase for little kids that we're sure you'll grow out of soon. We sure do hope so, as you have many, many uncles that love you!

Oddly Textured Food - Avocado is not your thing. Lumpy sweet potatoes did not go over well. So far, any food that has a strange texture to it has been greatly disliked by you. Mommy totally understands, as she also has a problem with weird textures. No guacamole for the Reeder girls!

Anyone other than Mommy - Separation anxiety has reared its ugly head in our house. You are very aware of where Mommy is at all times. When Mommy leaves the room, you get very sad and start to crawl in her direction, getting even more frustrated that you can't get to her fast enough. When we're in public, it's not uncommon for you to flip out if you don't know where she is. This is yet another common phase to be going through (starting now and possibly lasting until 18 months...yikes!), so we're just going to ride it out!

We can't even begin to describe how much fun you are at this age. Your giggle is quite possibly the sweetest sound we've ever heard. You are such an incredibly bright, goofy little girl. Each day with you is a true blessing and we're so thankful to have you in our lives. Lots of love, Big Lady!

Love,

Mommy & Daddy

p.s. Our monthly photo shoots are getting more and more difficult as you get more mobile. Although we did end up with a pretty cute 7 Month shot, you made it quite the challenge to get. Here's the proof :)

Best time of day.

I love mornings. The best part of my day is when I first walk into Brooke's room to get her up and she greets me with a big goofy grin and lots of excitement. I can usually just barely see the top of her head popping up over the crib. However, a few days ago, I found her sitting up in her bed. She has just figured out how to get from the ground to a seated position, and decided her bed is a good place to practice. Subsequently, we will be lowering her crib mattress immediately!

Disclaimer: this video is very grainy, because it was shot in the dark. I didn't have the heart to blind my baby first thing in the morning. It's also kinda long, so feel free to space out in the middle of it.

Tiny babies.

It's the week of tiny babies. Just this week I've met two little boys under a month old. Both were tiny and adorable. And my beautiful sister is at the hospital AS WE SPEAK getting ready to bring yet another precious baby into my life (precious is an understatement - they make gorgeous babies in that house!) Being around all these tiny babies has made me realize that my baby is no longer a tiny baby. (And by tiny I, of course, mean young. The Big Lady was never "tiny" size-wise. Heck, she wasn't even "small".)

Brooke is so old now - almost 7 months! She acts older, playing so independently and even joking around with me. She looks older, getting bigger by the day with her hair starting to grow in fast. She seems to even be thinking older, as her tiny brain is processing so much more and remembering how to do things (like banging this with that makes a fun noise or flailing about in the tub will make the water splash.) She's just old. And it's so awesome.

In honor of Tiny Baby Week, I'm going to be posting videos of my Not-Very-Tiny baby doing "old" things. Like this one, where she debuts her army crawl. She uses her left arm and her right foot to move. And I do mean MOVE. She can be across the room in seconds. This is also a prime example of how she's getting into everything now. And I do mean EVERYTHING. We are currently furniture shopping to get more things off the ground so she can't play with them (i.e. answering machine, router, cable box, etc.) Turns out crawling is expensive. And exhausting, as I imagined it would be. Enjoy!

While Mom's away...

...baby and Daddy have a photo shoot with deer.

Motherhood.

Sleeping soundly. Freshly bathed. Hippo ballerina jammies. Piggy toes sticking out (to air out the sweaty feet.) Snuggles with bunny. Hopefully dreaming sweetly. The answer to every single prayer of mine since I was a little girl. Ah, motherhood.

My kind of town.

I'm exhausted. Still haven't fully recovered from the trip. Well, that and the Big Lady and I have been up from about 11:30 to 2 every night for the last three nights. (If we have night #4 tonight, I'm taking her to the doctor tomorrow because I have no clue what's up with her!) Anyway, it all seems to be hitting me today, making me a bit of a walking zombie tonight. I've been meaning to blog about our big Windy City trip since we got back but just haven't found the time or energy. I know I have some very faithful blog readers just waiting for pictures (hi, Aunt Pat!) so I'm finally getting around to it. Here's our trip (well, the highlights) in pictures:

The boys went to a Cubs game while the girls shopped on Michigan (a good trade-off, I'd say.)

Sitting on the 'L' like a big girl, all by herself. Don't worry, I wiped her hands clean as soon as we got off.

Mmmmm, Auntie Anne's! Loved her first soft pretzel. (Can we talk about those CHEEKS?! Good heavens...)

Lesson learned: Brooke is afraid of costumed characters. Either that or she knows he's made of peanut butter and she isn't allowed to have that yet so she very responsibly stayed away. I'm guessing the former.

A cute little family photo after dinner with some good friends in Bucktown.

So happy to be in the A/C! It was crazy hot the whole time we were there.

The Big Lady was wiped and didn't get to see the big bean in Millennium Park. I bet she would have loved to see herself in the giant mirror, being the vain little girl that she is.

So we took a bag of toys on the trip (a giant bag) and what does she decide to play with in the hotel room? The wipes container. Typical.

Brooke's first taxi ride. We had some crazy drivers, so whoever held her was instructed to hold on tight!

My mother-in-law and Granny-in-law went up in this (tethered) hot air balloon on Navy Pier. We all watched in the shade, as it was yet another blazing hot day!

The trip was a good one, yet a busy one. I'm not sure I'd call it relaxing, as it was packed full of activity and, frankly, traveling with a baby is far from relaxing. But it was nice to get away and experience Brooke's first vacation with her :)

Crawling baby.

So, I've been meaning to sit down all day and blog all about our wonderful family vacay to the Windy City this weekend. But I haven't. And now I'm just too darn tired. I'm 100% drained. So that will have to wait until tomorrow. Your consolation prize is this. It's our favorite Big Lady...crawling.

Oh yeah, this just in: Brooke crawled in Chicago!

Not much, not like across-the-room or anything. We're talking a couple "crawls". (What's the appropriate word here? Certainly not "steps". And she's not "scooting" because, to me, that involves movement on the belly - that's something else she has now mastered. By a "crawl", I mean picks up a hand and moves it, then a knee, then a hand, then a knee, etc. all the while with her belly off the ground. Understand? Great. We'll stick with "crawls".) She's trying so hard to make it further, so we keep practicing.

This was post-meltdown today. A Mommy-left-the-room-for-0.8-seconds meltdown. There's a new angry cry associated with these that is super fun. Like Mommy-needs-a-beer-with-dinner fun. But that's a video for another day. For now, enjoy this little gem :)

See ya!

And we're off! We leave early tomorrow for a family vacation - a long weekend trip to Chicago. This will be Brooke's 1st vacation! We'll be back Sunday with what I can only imagine will be lots of photos to share :)

Where's Waldo?

Can you spot the baby in this picture?

Stuff. We have a lot of it. Specifically, baby stuff. Since day one, our family room has been transformed into a baby mecca, full of all the things anyone could possibly need to raise a baby. Some of the newborn baby stuff has left the room (the swing, bouncy seat, Boppy, etc.), only to be replaced by Big Girl baby stuff (like toys - so many toys!) And some of the newborn baby stuff has remained, even though our newborn baby has been replaced by a Big Girl baby.

Like the bassinet, for example. Brooke hasn't fit in that bad boy since she was, eh, 6 weeks old. She exceeded the weight limit about that time. Not to mention there wasn't really room for her in there with all the stuff that we store in it. So why is it still in the family room 6 months later? Well where else will we store the diapers & wipes? Where would her jammies hang each morning to be readily available that evening? Where would we keep the nail clippers & brush that reside in the basket? (If your answer to all 3 questions is "In her room," I don't want to hear it.) So yeah, the baby stuff is front and center in this beauty. It's on its way out soon, though, as I just can't take it anymore. A bookshelf of some sort will be the new baby stuff storage unit (and might also house some of the toys, too.)

And speaking of stuff, don't get me started on the 10 lb monstrosity that I lug around with my 24 lb baby. (It's a wonder my biceps don't resemble Demi Moore's yet, isn't it?) My diaper bag lives in the family room, too. Easy access to all the stuff that I fill it with before we go out (food, diapers, and the ever-so-popular Sophie.) I'm happy to say this gem is being put away very, very soon as well and being replaced by just a regular ol' purse (well, a big purse with enough room for food, diapers, and Sophie.) I don't use half of what I carry around in it anymore, so it's going to storage.

If Brooke and I were to magically get stuck in our family room (walls would have to appear where there are currently giant openings, but whatever - use your imagination,) we could survive for days without needing a thing. I've got diapers galore in here, entertainment all over the place, and, if I'm here, so is Brooke's food source. I guess I'd eventually need to eat (though I think I saw a container of blueberry puffs around here somewhere...)

And in the end, if we got desperate, Brooke could always just call for help.

(And don't worry, if we were stuck in here for days, so is this. You better believe I'd document the whole adventure!)

A mover & a shaker.

Phew. I'm tired. What's got me so exhausted, you ask? (Other than the fact that I've clocked a total of 9 hours of sleep the last 2 nights...)

Just the thought of Brooke starting to crawl.

I'm not kidding, we are thisclose, you guys. She is rocking on those hands and knees like she's ready for the Cha Cha Slide (quite possibly the worst organized dance song of all time, in case you were wondering.) As soon as she reaches out for something, she plops onto her belly and beached-whales it. It's seriously only a matter of time before I'm going to be chasing her around the house, mostly trying to keep her out of things. And I yawn every time I think about it.

She is already all over the place. If she sees something she wants, she'll roll halfway across the room to get it. She can turn herself 360 degrees while sitting and can even scoot a little bit while staying upright. And her latest feat of strength? Pulling herself up on things. She gets up on both knees, and then usually gets stuck that way. Today, she found the bar stools that are in our family room and decided they were the perfect height for climbing. This was after she played peek-a-boo with the curtains and gazed out the window in her favorite spot in the family room: on the air vent. Such a goofball!

Supermodel.

The Big Lady had her 6 month pictures taken today. They turned out so darn cute if I do say so myself. Brooke hammed it up for the camera, as usual. The photographer said she was one of the easiest babies she's ever had. She just loves to get her picture taken so this was a cakewalk for her. Not to mention she very kindly chose today to take a 2-hour afternoon nap before we went - jackpot! Many many thanks to Aunt Nicole (& Baby T) for coming to help! Without further ado, enjoy!

My absolute favorite (and already hanging on my family room wall!) Love the popped collar on my preppy girl!

Didn't buy any of the beach shots (just not my thing), but they're still cute :)

Of course the dirty prop goes into the mouth. Of course.

The only way we could get her to look at the flower instead of the camera was to put a puff in the center of it. My child will stare down any food that is put in front of her.

Food. And lots of it.

How to entertain a 6-month-old while you eat dinner: a biter biscuit, a sippy cup of water, and a banana.

Messy? Yes. Delicious? Evidently. Quiet? Delightfully so.

Oh and I totally forgot to fill y'all in on Brooke's 6-month check-up she had on Friday. Bottom line - we should feed her more. I know, crazy, right? She's weighing in at 23 lbs 8.5 oz, the size of an average 15-month-old. (Yep, in 2 months she's gone from a 10-month-old to a 15-month-old. "Yikes" is the correct response here.) You'd think more food would not be the way to go. But the pediatrician feels she's more than ready for more food. We have introduced a 3rd meal each day, on top of the 5 times she nurses each day. Honestly, it feels like I'm feeding her ALL DAY LONG. I even called the doctor today (yes, I'll be getting my "1st-time Parent" tattoo tomorrow) to confirm that I heard her right and we are, in fact, to be giving her this much - she reassured me that babies don't know how to overeat so Brooke will refuse it if it gets to be too much. We're both hoping the extra calories will help her sleep better, especially at night.

I'm most excited for her to try table foods - we've been given the green light to try anything that starts out soft (fruits, veggies, etc.) or quickly becomes soft (crackers, cheerios, bread, etc.) I've posted pics of a few on here already and, well, there will be more. Because nothing is cuter than a baby eating pint-sized grown-up foods.

The rest of the appointment was par for the course. Brooke's way ahead developmentally. She's met all the milestones she should have for a 6-month-old, plus some. Her strength still amazes the doctor (as does her chubbiness.) She handled her shots like a champ, crying (really hard) for only a couple minutes. All is well with our Big lady!

A very happy 4th.

The Reeder family had a very happy 4th this year! My birthday was jam-packed with activity, and Miss Brooke was a trooper through all of it. Here's our day in pictures:

We started our day bright and early for the 10K run/walk down at the Rec. I woke the ladybug around 7:30 a.m. to go down (and felt like the worst Mom ever for doing so.) She was an angel as we walked, as usual, and looked like this when we crossed the finish line. Brooke won the award for first baby to finish - her prize was a kiss from Mommy :)

She got to try some watermelon after the walk. How American is that? Hydrating while we waited for the awards to be given out. Such a ham!

Here's the Big Lady showing off her dress at my birthday lunch at my parents' house. I am obsessed with this dress!In honor of such a hot day, Brooke got to try her first popsicle.
"That's oddly cold, Daddy."

Not sure if she liked it or not. We made it down to the Rec for the festivities. Covered in sunscreen, we were ready for a hot party! Surprisingly, the heat wasn't all that bad. Well, maybe that's because we spent most of the night inside in the A/C :) I love this picture of me and my favorite girl. She took a MUCH-needed nap in the middle of the carnival. Thanks again to Grandma Reeder for finally getting her to sleep!After a short nap, it was time to wait for fireworks. Brooke was so excited to sit on the blanket and just play. The 2 loves of my life. She looks a bit like her Daddy, don't you think? Doesn't get better than this, folks.This is how Brooke watched her first fireworks. For about 3 minutes. Then the loud booms got to her and she started to freak out. I ended up taking her inside and watching through some windows in the roof of the lobby. The munchkin got in bed around 11:00, a little later than usual. Today has been a pretty sleepy day for both baby and Mommy, as we're both still recovering from a fun-filled day yesterday. We hope you enjoyed your 4th and that you celebrated my birthday in style :)