Wordless Wednesday

Ten Months Old

Brooklyn turned ten months old on Christmas Day. I can't believe in a few weeks it will be time to start thinking about her first birthday. The time really goes by way too fast when you have babies in your home.

This month was also a busy one for Brooklyn. She finally completely mastered sitting up. Hooray! Once she got the hang of that, other things fell into place quickly. She began to crawl, and can also pull up to stand. We have been so encouraged to watch her progress. It has been a hard journey to watch her struggle to accomplish small things, but the triumph when she does is so wonderful. I never knew I could get so excited about a baby sitting up, but after 11 weeks of physical therapy and 12 weeks of developmental therapy, I was ready to throw a party! Things have gotten a lot busier at our house with two little sets of hands getting into everything now. They are also considering decreasing her PT to twice a month rather than once per week since she is doing so well - hooray!

She got her first two teeth this month (the bottom front two) and has started to really enjoy table food. She isn't a huge fan of the pureed stuff anymore, which is fine with me! Now when we go places, I just feed her small bites off of my plate. And she seems to like everything. Her favorites are pasta, mashed potatoes, rice, mac-n-cheese, and bread. She is a big fan of her carbs! And she seriously eats more than her big sister, but that comes as no shock to anyone considering they are only about 8 pounds apart in weight and we have to bribe Savannah to eat about two bites of each meal.

Brooklyn's first word came this past month, and it was "da-da", much to my disappointment, haha. It is pretty much the only thing she says consistently, and she doesn't seem to associate it with her dad... she just likes to jabber. I've thought I've heard "mama" a few times, but I can never get her to repeat it. Her pediatrician wants us to consider speech therapy soon if she isn't doing more babbling. Most babies are supposed to say five words (and associate the meanings) by the age of 1, apparently. I've never paid that much attention, honestly, because it wasn't an issue for Savannah, who practically came out of the womb talking. Haha. So anyway, that is something we are considering this month.

Brooklyn had another ear infection this past month, which makes #5 since October 1. Ugh! If she has another, they are probably going to consider placing tubes in her ears. I'm afraid she got that from me... I still get ear infections as an adult.

Brooklyn gets another antibody shot next week, and we are so relieved that they are working well and she has had no respiratory issue since she began them! We were also so grateful for how God provided for her - insurance covered more than we expected, rendering us with about half the balance we expected, which means her foundation grant will go further and cover more injections. That is always something to be joyful about!

Brooklyn has recently had trouble settling down to nap. I read somewhere that when babies learn a new skill, like standing up, it can interrupt their sleep because they just want to stand up all of the time. So maybe that is the problem. Anyway, she usually fusses for a while before she settles down to nap, and I'm hoping that passes soon.

She continues to be a joy to everyone around her. Her sweet disposition is such a blessing. She adjusts well, shares (and adapts to toys being snatched from her!) easily, and laughs freely. She has a smile every morning and a giggle every day. She is such a blessing, and not a day goes by that we don't thank God for her. Happy 10 months, baby girl!

Ho Ho Ho!

Santa Babies

Christmas Eve started off with a message from Santa. Savannah was so excited!

[If you want to make one for your kids, click here.]

Then, we enjoyed a breakfast of champions.

And reflected on our blessings...

And we miiight have torn into the presents a little early...

Because, you know, tonight we are headed to Gram-B's, and tomorrow morning there will probably be a visit from Santa (although, at the rate we are having meltdowns today, we might need to call and request a move from the nice list to the naughty list... shew!), and then tomorrow evening we will celebrate with Mimi, and then the next day with great-grandparents... so, now seemed as good a time as any.

We sure are thankful for all of the many blessings God has bestowed upon us... two in particular! Merry Christmas to you and yours!

Show-off.

Who called me delayed?!



We got the good news on Monday that Brooklyn may get to reduce her physical therapy to every other week rather than every week...



She is doing really well... see?!

Wordless Wednesday

Date Twenty-Six : Anniversary Date

For our anniversary, we went out to a fancy dinner with friends at Pomegranate.
If you are looking for a nice place to go, we love it!

Pomegranate sweet tea, steak, stuffed baked potatoes, bread, creamed spinach, and strawberry creme brulee... need I say more?!



We enjoyed our time with James and Sara, who also celebrated an anniversary that same week.

Looking forward to many more good times!

Date Twenty-Five

Redbox movie, popcorn, hot cocoa, and cookies... with snow falling outside.
Perfect winter date!

Snow Day!

This past week, it snowed a few inches and we were all kinds of excited around here!



It was Brooklyn's first snow, so we had to take her out in it for a little bit.





And then it was time to sled, so Brooklyn and I went inside while Daddy and Savannah played. She had fun, can you tell?

We are looking forward to more snowy fun this winter!