Ten Months.

Dear Brooke,

Look at you, you big 10-month-old! It's been an eventful month, but we all survived and you are happier than ever. You are so full of life and energy, chickadee. You are go-go-go all day, right up until the last minute of the day and then you just crash. You play and think so hard all day that you're just wiped by the end of it. Your intelligence still astounds us; we constantly find ourselves saying "Should she be able to do that already?" More often than not, the answer is no. Like how you can climb out of your high chair & stroller. And how you can stand unassisted for several seconds before sitting down. You even joke around with us, offering us something and then pulling it away at the last second and giggling. And you even give hugs on command now, even though Mommy seems to be the only one blessed by these hugs so far. Here's what makes you an especially happy girl these days (and a few that make you not-so-happy):

Favorites
Your Playhouse - A very kind friend passed off her daughter's playhouse when she grew out of it and we were the lucky recipients. You spend a significant chunk of your day playing with this little musical house. Your favorite things to do on it are press the buttons on the radio, turn the light on/off, climb through the door, and open the mailbox. You learned to dance bopping along to the music it plays. And playing peek-a-boo with the door sends you into a fit of giggles!
Books, books, books - We have a Barnes & Noble explosion in our family room at all times and you are to blame! You are obsessed with books - big, small, touch-&-feel, lift-a-flap...you love them all! We probably read 25 or more books a day (thank goodness your cousins let you borrow theirs so we have some variety!) You will happily sit on the floor flipping through them yourself. But you especially love to have them read to you. When we tell you to go get a book and bring it to us, you do just that, cozying up on our lap for storytime. Sometimes we read the words and other times we just point at the pictures because you turn the pages too fast. We're thrilled you love books so much; we bet you'll be an early reader!
Food - Oh how you love to eat. Anything and everything. You are an eating machine. We fill your high chair tray with an assortment of bite-sized pieces and you gobble them up in no time. You aren't very picky and will try just about anything we give you. Fruits are certainly your favorite, with baby snacks (like puffs and wagon wheels) a close second. You've just started enjoying cut-up meats and cheese, too. Veggies are a little tough for you to eat as finger foods, so we still do quite a few purees of those, but we're working on it. We're so grateful to have such a great eater on our hands!
Playing Ball - There is hope for you, athletically-speaking, after all! Mommy & Daddy aren't the most athletic people you'll ever meet (especially Mommy) so we were concerned our children would be a bit uncoordinated. But you've already taken a huge interest in playing ball, and you're pretty good at it. So you may actually be able to take advantage of your well-above-average height on a volleyball court!
Tongues - You learned how to stick out your tongue this month. Talk about hilarious! It usually takes someone else sticking their tongue out at you to get you to do it, but once you remember how, that tongue goes in and out at a rapid pace. And you think other people's tongues are hysterical.
"Helping" - You're already trying to be helpful. You are the official Garage Door Button Pusher every time we come in and out. You like to try to turn off the light when we leave your room, just like you do with the giant light switch on your playhouse. You're a big help when Mommy does laundry; you help sort the clothes (i.e. you throw the sorted clothes all over the laundry room) and take them out of the dryer (i.e. Mommy puts the wet clothes in the dryer from the washer and you immediately reach in and take them right back out.) You especially love "helping" us use electronics, like answering the phone, changing the channel, and typing on the laptop. You just love to follow us around and "help" whenever you can.

Not-so-Favorites
Covered Feet - We aren't sure if you hate to have your feet covered or if you just love to play with sock & shoes, but you insist on removing them if we put them on you. Within minutes of strapping you in your carseat, off go the socks & shoes. Most mornings, we find you playing in your crib with your socks in your hands (or sometimes on the floor outside the crib.) You used to love playing with your toes, so maybe you just don't like to have them covered.
Animals - Your fear of dogs is actually a fear of all animals. You're okay with them if they are far away, but once they get in close proximity, you are very afraid. This doesn't surprise us, as there are zero animals in your life, but we are working to overcome this. We took you to the zoo and you did surprisingly well. However, we know we aren't making that much progress because you are afraid of the little stuffed dog we used for your Halloween costume. We'll keep trying in hopes that you aren't deathly afraid of animals until you're 12 like your Mommy was.
Getting in the Car - You really don't like getting into your car seat anymore. It started as just a nighttime thing, but now you don't want to get in all the time. You cling onto us as if you might be strong enough to resist being put in. We're able to distract you 90% of the time with toys or books while we strap you in, but sometimes you require a pacifier to keep you quiet. We think you'd be much happier if you were turned around, but, sadly, that won't happen for a long time (not until you hit 40 lbs, the weight limit for being rear-facing in our seat.)

You are so precious, little one. It's the little things about you that we just adore. Like how you cross your legs when you sit on the floor, proving you're already so ladylike. Or how you look at us each time you start having fun with something, as if you need assurance that it's okay to have that much fun :) Or how, whenever you see Mommy & Daddy hugging or cuddling, you crawl right on over and join in because you think group hugs are better. Our hearts melt minute after minute with you, Cheeks (Daddy's nickname for you.) Love you tons, girl!

Love,
Mommy & Daddy

Off to the zoo!

An animal lover I am not. But I do appreciate a good trip to the zoo, so I wasn't going to pass up free tickets the husband could get for his company day at the Cincinnati Zoo today. My brother & sis-in-law went with us, and we all had a delightful time. It was pretty cold this morning and much colder at the zoo than at our house. Luckily, frozen fingers and noses didn't keep us from enjoying all the outdoor exhibits. (Please don't judge me for not having gloves on her tiny hands. I was guilt-ridden the entire time we were there and kept blowing hot air on them. Lesson learned.) I was a little worried that the munchkin would freak out over all the animals but she did surprisingly well. Only when the animals were close did she grab on tight (i.e. she was NOT a fan of the Children's Petting Zoo.) Free tickets, free lunch, free memories - can't beat it!

Oh, and in case you were wondering, Brooke has the wingspan of an American Kestrel :)

October in videos.

This month has been a whirlwind, but we did manage to catch a lot of it on film. Her personality really shines in these; they are just too cute not to share.

The first one is from Fevergate #1, almost a month ago. We were 3 days in to it, but she was playing like she didn't have a fever of 103. She loves to walk behind this little toy. She's so close to walking without it now.


In this one, the day of one of the Reds playoff games a few weeks ago, Brooke & Daddy are playing with her big red ball. She's really good at catching it (possibly because her sweaty hands just stick to the rubber...) Every time she "threw" it, she'd raise her hands in the air with pride. Playing with this ball brings about some fantastic giggles :)


Elmo is Brooke's BFF and she gets soooo excited when he comes on. This is her reaction to hearing the Elmo's World song. She knows what it is within hearing, like, 2 seconds of the song. Genius baby? I think so. Anywho, the pure excitement of getting to watch her furry friend is quite evident in the wild arm shaking she does. (And I promise the TV isn't broken; for some reason, it showed up that way on the video camera.)


The last one is from this morning. She just recently started "dancing" along to music. It's pretty much awesome. The music is coming from her little house; she is obsessed with pressing the buttons to play the little songs. (I have the songs memorized and find myself singing them all. the. time.) But whatev, the girl adores dancing away so who am I to stop her. Rock on, girlfriend! (Though hopefully not so hard that she literally rocks the house down...)

Extra thankful.

It's easy to be thankful today. I started the day very apprehensive, taking our little pumpkin in for some unsettling tests. Brooke was a rockstar! There were tears, don't get me wrong. First up was an ultrasound, then she was catheterized (again...twice in 2 weeks) and pumped with fluid/dye before getting X-rayed. Plenty of reasons to cry. But honestly? She really was a trooper. And she's already forgiven us for putting her through it. So not only am I seriously thankful that she got through it, but the results are already in....and all is clear! She doesn't have reflux, or any other problems for that matter. She is anatomically great. This is the best news I've heard all month. So, so thrilled. 

Here are a few more things I'm thankful for on this perfectly chilly Thursday.

~ Orange corduroy jumpers and hot pink bows. Heaven.

~ The library of childrens' books my sister lent us for the Big Lady, because she would rather page through books than play with toys (not a bad thing, in my opinion.) And the fact that my sister doesn't care what state these books are in when they are returned. (No amount of crazy glue can fix some of them...) That's godmotherly love.

~ Halloween carnivals that are put together so flawlessly that both kids and adults alike can't help but have a ton of fun.

A little costume sneak-peek. The full reveal of cuteness to come on Halloween :)

~ Chocolate cupcakes with butter cream frosting made on a whim, simply because nothing else in the pantry sounded sweet enough.

~ 3 healthy family members at 10242 Kingsport. Finally.

~ A husband that reads to his baby girl every night before bed and laughs hysterically with her while they bounce the big red ball and whose patience with both his girls is unwavering.

~ Apple cinnamon donuts, and subsequent cinnamon-sugar kisses :)

Excuses, excuses.

Busy.

Exhausted.

Worn out.

Busy.

Sick baby...again.

Call #2938 to the pediatrician this month.

A load of baby laundry almost daily due to this new digestive problem.

Busy.

Tears, mostly hers but some of mine, too.

Crabbiness, mostly mine but some of hers, too.

Busy.

A million and one excuses for not blogging in a week. I wish I could say it'll get better, but it might not. I just don't foresee a break anytime soon.

But I promise Halloween pics and the 10-month post will not disappoint :)

Feeling better!

We are fever-free, y'all! Finally. And this time, it's likely for good.

Because the fever was still high on Friday, I took her in to the doctor again. (In case you're counting, that's 4 trips to the pediatrician in just the first half of October. All the nurses know her. And, not surprisingly, love her.) She sent us to Children's to get a urinalysis, which very sadly meant Brooke had to get a catheter. Thankfully, the nurse was very fast so the tears/screaming only lasted a minute or two. It was heart-breaking, but we all survived.

Results of the test proved that she does, in fact, have a urinary tract infection. My poor girl. We've been on antibiotics since Friday night and her fever has been gone since then. Hopefully, any pain she had with the UTI is also gone. Now comes the bad news. UTI's are very uncommon in munchkins her age, so they're concerned something else could be going on. She may have inherited a condition I had when I was her age. Consequently, we have to take her in for some testing next week. An ultrasound, another catheter, and a few x-rays - it's gonna be a loooong day that day.

Anyway, my pretty girl is finally feeling better so I couldn't be happier. She's back to her old self, getting in trouble and making me laugh constantly. Such a relief :)

(p.s. Doesn't she look so grown-up in this outfit? To die for.)

Thankful...somehow.

It's very hard to feel thankful in the midst of Fevergate #2. Though, I imagine that is the point of this whole deal: to remember to sit down once a week and realize that, despite all the crap you've been dealt that week, life is pretty damn good. So, here's my list on this finally-getting-cool-again Thursday.

~ A healthy family. No, not right now. Brooke was still around 101 degrees when I put her to bed tonight. But in general, we're a healthy bunch. And I couldn't possibly be more grateful for this, that a 5-day fever is the biggest medical obstacle we face. We are blessed.

~ The triple batch of chili that I made this afternoon that is now portioned into 5 frozen dinners for chilly nights when I don't feel like cooking.

~ Lestoil, because no amount of Dreft can deal with this amount of spaghetti sauce. We took her shirt off before she ate, but not the pants... (p.s. This is what 102 degrees looks like. We lucked out in the awesome-baby department, no?)

~ 3.5 hour naps. While I wish it was mine, it was the Big Lady's. And I woke her at that point. (Fever- & medicine-induced, mind you.)

~ Support from family in a new venture that I'm (considering) undertaking. More on this later, but I'm super excited/scared about it. But their support makes it 10% less scary.

~ This face.