9 whole months!

Brooklyn has officially been outside the womb as long as she was inside the womb. She's 9 months old!! Here's a list of some of her favorite things right now:

crawling, standing up, wrestling, books, books and more books, eating, paper, eating paper, getting the mail, water, clapping, raspberries (not the kind you eat), pinching, her glowworm, her first tooth, and finally, her Mommy and Daddy.

She is such a sweet and adventurous little girl and we are so proud of her many accomplishments. Here are some of her stats, as she also had her 9 month well-check visit with her doctor the other day. Since I never posted her 6 month well-check stats, I will also include those so you can see her progress.

Weight:
6 months - 14 lbs 11 oz (25th %)
9 months - 16 lbs 15 oz (10th %)

Height:
6 months - 25 1/2 inches (50th %)
9 months - 27 1/2 inches (50th %)

The doctor had a slight concern about her weight and scheduled her for a weight check in another 6 weeks, but assured me of what I already assumed myself - that she is probably just a petite little girl and therefore do not need to worry.

Here are some photos and videos of her being 9 months old! ENJOY!



Her first tooth!! Look closely, it's there.


She found the monitor the other morning - that was fun to hear.


Watching history!!


She loves eating her food as much as wearing it.


Raspberry fun!!

Standing up!

Would the real Brooklyn Avery please stand up.... please stand up.... please stand up!


Brooklyn's new accomplishment this week is standing up all by herself. She will pull on anything to stand herself up, her bed, the laundry basket, her bouncer, the couches, me, Daddy and just about anything else that won't slip out from under her. Next step... walking!!!


Also, Brooklyn now has one little tooth so far. I've tried to get a picture of it, but she doesn't seem to cooperate with the camera that close. It finally broke through about two weeks ago, and yes... she IS biting me.

Playing games

Now that we are all feeling so much better, we're back to playing games, and we've learned a new one - hide and seek. She doesn't quite know how to hide yet, but she is definitely good at seeking.

Sick, Sick, Sick!

We've been sick! Well, mostly just Brooklyn and I.

This is video of her snoring while sleeping this week. Hey, you get pretty bored at 2am when you can't sleep.


Brooklyn had a little cold the day after we got back from Christmas and had it for about a week. It went away, but came back twice as bad a week later. Last Sunday morning, she woke up coughing like a dying seal, and with a low fever. We took her to the doctor Monday morning - doctor said she had croup along with a pretty bad cold. Of course all we could do is wait it out to see if it got worse. It didn't, but it took a long time to get better. Brooklyn even lost her voice - completely! It was the saddest thing in the world. She couldn't even cry! :( She was all stuffed up, too.

Last night was her first good night's sleep (as well as mine), and today she seemed well on her way to being the happy bubbly baby that she normally is.

I, too, am on the mend - in case anyone was wondering. :)

But now Matt is coming down with it. :(

Resolutions

I have a few goals for the new year that I would like to make public. Making them public like this is somewhat motivating - I guess because I have witnesses, now.

1. Read another series of novels. I haven't picked one, yet, so if anyone has any suggestions, let me know - and chances are, I haven't read it.
2. Cook more often and healthier. I forget that I am still eating for two (I am still breast-feeding). I need to continue to eat more vegetables and fruits and less sugars and sweets.
3. Get pregnant with baby #2.
4. Use coupons when grocery shopping. I wish I could be one of those shoppers that can go to the grocery store and buy $200 of groceries for less than $100. I will probably never be that dedicated to couponing, but if I could just save $30 per trip, it would be helpful.
5. Lose weight - unless goal #3 is accomplished earlier than expected. If that is the case, my goal is to not gain as much weight with baby #2 as I did with Brooklyn.

That's it. It's not a lot, but I am sure it will keep me busy. Good luck with all of ya'lls resolutions!

Late Christmas present

We got Brooklyn a late Christmas present the other day, which she just LOVES. The bumbo we've been using during her meals no longer works (she squirms out of it way too easily now). And, at Grandma's house in Texas during the holidays, she was able to try out my old highchair (which I really, really wish I would have taken a picture of her in). She absolutely loved! So, we went and got her her own chair.

Now that's forward thinking!

Brooklyn has started crawling forward these last couple of days and is getting more and more confident each day, venturing out where no baby has been before... like the fireplace, the electrical cords to the laptop, the wiring behind the other electronics, and even the trashcan. She has become more and more curious about her surroundings too, from investigating every little speck she finds on the floor to discovering new places for her to play. With that in mind, we are finding out very quickly how much more baby-proofing we need to do.

Fun Times at Grandma and Grandpa's!

We had such a blast staying with my parents in Irving, and Brooklyn really enjoyed all that they had to offer a little 8 month old baby... like cousins everywhere, fun toys and a grandma and grandpa that love to spoil grandchildren. :)










Thank you Mom and Dad for being so accommodating and such wonderful hosts. You are such great grandparents and we cannot wait for the next visit. We love you and miss you already.

Christmas Morning!

We spent Christmas morning with Grandma & Grandpa Fisher at their house along with my brother Dan and his wife Tiff and their little girl Kaili (who were also staying at my parents' house for the holidays).



This is Brooklyn's first Christmas present, and we were very excited to find out that she could already unwrap her presents - with minimal help. :)


She got a peek-a-boo book from Grandma and quickly picked up on the idea of the book and was peeking behind all the flaps herself! What a smart little 8 month old.


She got lots more books, but was obviously more interested in the paper they were wrapped in than the books themselves.


She also received a fresh food feeder and immediately began using it... even before we got it out of the packaging. Later she REALLY enjoyed it with pieces of banana in it.


And, finally, she received a phone of her very own with lots of buttons to push and sounds to hear... she LOVES it!


We as a family also received games to play with Brooklyn (in a few years) along with many other gifts. We are so thankful for all that we received from our loving family... THANK YOU!