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 :)