Brooke: 7 months

It is hard to believe another month has passed.

Brooke is 7 months old!

What can I say about this last month?!  As previously posted, Brooke is eating and moving lots more these days.  She is definitely growing up and becoming more fun to play with every day.  As usual, I have a bajillion pictures to share and I'll try to remember some of the fun details from this last month.

• TEETH! Brooke's two bottom teeth cut thru within 24 hours of each other.  She was chewing on my finger one afternoon and I felt something sharp.  My initial reaction was panic that she got something in her mouth.  I quickly realized it was a tooth.  By the next morning both teeth were sticking out and were sharp as ever.  Over the next few days they grew in and now they are full on baby teeth.  In my opinion, Brooke handled it like a champ.  About 2 weeks prior she was irritable and I could see the bumps in her gums but that phase passed and she gave no indication that they were about to come thru. The first picture below is Brooke "pointing" to where her teeth were coming in the first night I felt them.  

• More teeth.... within the last few days she has turned into the irritable baby that she was about a month ago.  I'm guessing it is her top teeth moving around although if she follows the pattern from last time I bet we won't see any teeth for a few more weeks. In the meantime, Brooke loved chewing on a frozen apple slice to soothe her gums.

• Sitting... we have been practicing sitting but Brooke is still more interested in moving rather than sitting still.  Brett was with her on the bed one afternoon and she sat for about 20 seconds which was her longest stretch to date.  Even today I was trying to get a picture of her sitting and she would straighten her legs and clearly wanted to stand.  So we got some cute standing pictures instead.

• Sleep.... still not our strong suit.  She does have 3-4 hour stretches regularly now, which is great.  But the stretches prior to those are often 30 min -1 hr.  Each night is different and not really predictable.  She is still sleeping in her crib in her own room though!  I look back to the first 5 months and how she would only sleep on me and I can't even believe I made it out of that stage alive.  I've also come to terms (mostly) with her poor sleeping.  For the last 6 months I stressed and worried and analyzed and guilted myself into thinking I was doing something wrong as her mother.  Now I'm beginning to just accept that its who she is and we will just make the best of the situation.

I told Brooke she was getting too big and she pulled her feet up and said "look, I can still be small like the teddy bear" 

• Waking up... One of the best parts of having Brooke sleep in her own room is that if she is happy when she wakes up for the day she will gladly roll around and play in her crib for half an hour before fussing for me to come get her. As someone who has always struggled to get out of bed with the first alarm it has been great to have some time to "warm up" to the idea that it is time to get out of bed. 

Of course, waking up to this smiling face isn't too bad in the end 

• Naps... for most of the month she was on a 2 hour wake time schedule (went down for a nap after every 2 hours of being awake).  Her naps were 30 minutes max and she'd regularly not stay asleep at all.   Within the last week we transitioned from 3 naps to 2 naps in attempt to lengthen her naps. We are now on a 2-3-4 wake-time schedule and she naps roughly at 10 and 2. It hasn't been perfect but we've had multiple 1 hour naps and I'm hoping it continues to improve.  

Since she doesn't nap, Brooke gets to help me do laundry! 

• Mood... As Brooke gets older and more independent she has also become significantly less fussy.  She loves being able to move around on her own!  She is quiet the independent little girl and often will throw a toy away if I try to give it to her.  Instead, if I hold it out and let her grab it she will gladly "choose" it for herself and play with it. 

She thinks she is a big girl in her stroller, but she really needs to grow a little taller so she can see better over the tray. 

• Outings... Brooke still loves getting out of the house.  Somedays it is a trip to the grocery store other days it is going to watch daddy coach the baseball team.  It always amazes me how she can be so fussy at home and yet so happy out and about. One of the best parts of going out is that she now tolerates the car rides.  I particularly enjoy the huge smile I get when I open the back door to get her out too! If we don't get out we will still spend time outside on the patio watching the cars go by or blowing bubbles. We also have a daily routine of going to get the mail and she loves the short little walk and watching the trees as we walk underneath them. 

We went to go visit Brett one afternoon at work.  He was keeping score up in the box and we were able to hang out with him.  He claims Brooke looked like a boy, which is probably true.  I am a horrible mom and always forget to put bows on Brooke when we leave the house.  Whoops. 

• Social butterfly... Brooke still loves people.  She has become a little more selective with her smiles though.  She used to reward everyone a smile just for looking at her and now they have to work for it.  The only thing she doesn't like on strangers is facial hair.  She is okay from a distance but since she is a big "face-grabber" if someone is holding her and she reaches up to their face and finds it pokey she becomes rather upset.  This is even true for Brett sometimes.  

• Mini Brett... Since we've been spending more time at the baseball fields I can't even count the times I've heard "she looks just like coach!"  When they are separated I don't always see it, but if Brett is holding here there is no mistaking it.  Someone at church said she looked like me and we just laughed silently.  She is definitely daddy's little girl. 

• Giggling... Like many moms I spend my days trying to get Brooke to laugh and smile.  Smiles are usually easy to come by but giggling can take a little more effort.  It is so worth the effort though!  A few things that can usually get her going are:  kissing her neck repeatedly, tickling under her chin, repeated sounds like "dadadada", any random noises that come from our mouth, blowing softly in her face, counting to 5 with my fingers and then tickling her (she often starts laughing by the time I reach 3), signing "all done" or "food" when she is sitting in her high chair, anytime another kid looks at her, playing "this little pig", playing peek-a-boo (see video of Brooke playing peek-a-boo all by herself).

• Toys... Brooke is a big fan of anything that is not an official toy.  She has a few favorite toys but anything new is an instant favorite.  The bigger the "toy" the better.  She tries to pick up (and often succeeds) whatever large toy she is playing with.  Big kitchen mixing bowls, large board books, pillows, etc.  She also still loves playing with the side of cardboard boxes and the side of the couch although thankfully she can't lift those up.  She also has to constantly have something in her hands.  This makes diaper changes/getting dressed more difficult especially if it is a specific item she wants.  I always give her a toy during diaper changes but she often throws it and wants to wipes case to play with.  Silly girl.  She also loves to put her toys above her head (as shown below)

• Playing with Dad... Brooke loves when dad comes home.  Usually it is the end of the day and I'm tired and Dad brings home a burst of energy. He rough houses with her and she loves it! He holds her upside down, flips her on the bed, lifts her high in the air etc etc.  She also loves bath time with dad still and has learned to kick her legs with extra gusto to make lots of splashes and get dad (or mom) all soaked. 

• She is also getting a little better at being calm and gentle with me.  I love it when she reaches up and gently rubs my face or plays softly with my hair or sits in my lap quietly while we read a book.  The cuddly baby moments are few and far between but I love each one for what it is.   

However, sometime when she is fussy I resort to Baby Einstein videos on the IPad.  She'll roll around and reach for the screen and watch the video for long enough that I can eat some dinner after a long day when Brett is still at work.    

We sure love our sweet baby girl! Here's to another great month!