We had a fabulous doctor's visit Tuesday and Brooke was so happy not to have to endure any shots. We absolutely love our doctor and the time she takes with Brooke. She hung out with us and laughed and played with Brooke for quite some time and at the end exclaimed how social Brooke is and remarked that she is doing great! Brooke was happy the whole visit with the exception of getting her ears checked. That girl does not like people doing stuff to her that she can not see.
Height- 28 3/4 inches- 80th %tile
Weight- 20.6 lbs- 75th %tile
Weight based on height- 60%tile
Head- 18 cm- 85th %tile
As evident by the numbers shown above, Brooke is growing like a weed. We talked briefly with the doctor about the height concern (she was so low last time) and the Dr's comment was that it was probably an error on the nurses part and that the height measurements are hard to get completely accurate because its amazing what a difference half an inch makes on the percentiles. (Also on a side note, it is interesting the difference between the averages for boys verses girls). Either way, she is growing and that makes us happy. Looking back I can almost pin-point when she did most of her growing too. Right at the 8 month mark she was sleeping and eating like a champ and I wouldn't be surprised if they correlated with growth.
We had another great month around here. Mostly lots of eating and sleeping and playing. Oh the life of a baby!
SLEEP: I'm afraid I jinxed myself with my comments last month about her amazing sleep. Within a day of posting that she started waking up a couple times a night again. We also hit a rough spot when I tried to re-introduce dairy into my diet. I only ate dairy for a few days and it resulted in a week of restless sleep, frequent wakings and a tense uncomfortable baby. We've also been working on not always nursing to sleep this month and she has gotten really good and letting me bounce her to sleep (unfortunately actually falling asleep on her own hasn't been as successful). Its more strenuous for me but its one of the few chances I get to cuddle with her so I'll take it.
FOOD: The lesson I learned with food this month is to trust my daughter. She will eat when she is hungry and I shouldn't worry that if she refuses to eat her breakfast and lunch and only wants cheerios for a few days. First time mom worries, they'll get ya every time. I spent a few days trying to trick her into opening her mouth so she could eat her oatmeal/fruit combo for breakfast and then suddenly one day she decided she was hungry again and wanted it without any coaxing. I felt pretty silly for forcing the issue and decided that I can trust her to eat when she is hungry.
Brooke also gained a strong preference for finger foods this month. She LOVES eating chunks of fruit, grains and even the occasional veggie. I've had a difficult time finding foods that she can successfully feed herself (firm enough to pick up but soft enough to gum) but with a little help she enjoys: bananas, blueberries, grapes, mangos, strawberries, watermelon, peaches, plums, peas, carrots, corn, broccoli, avocado, sweet potato, bread, black beans and some others that I'm probably forgetting. The only food thus far that she has spit out and refused to eat has been a pureed green bean concoction. I say concoction but that is what it turned into. I thawed the green bean puree only to find it very watery. She didn't like it so I tried to thicken it (and sweeten it) by mixing it with the applesauce she was also going to eat. When that didn't work I also tried adding some oatmeal. Gross. I know. Can't blame her for spitting it out
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| Snack time eating a plum. |
She also decided that her sippy cup is for chewing on and that big people cups are for drinking from. Whenever we take a drink at the dinner table she will notice and start her pant; indicating she see's something she wants. We learned quickly to have a cup specifically for her ready to go because little girl doesn't know how not to backwash.
PLAY! Brooke is learning new things so fast that even within the few days since she turned 9 months she has learned new skills. I'll try to keep this section to things that she was doing then (not now). The biggest catalyst for all this growth is a new activity table that we bought. We've had it for a little over a week and every day she increases in her abilities to use it. When we first got it I had to hold her up by it and she was timid to let go of me. It didn't take long for her to gain confidence though. Later that evening she was standing on her own and within the next few days started shuffling side to side, reaching to pick things up on the floor, letting go with both hands, turning while standing and holding on etc. (She is now walking all the way around!)
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| I can crawl around, crawl over and lift this toy! Oh yeah... and I can stand up at it! |
If we sit her up by it and help turn one of her legs she can pull herself up but she isn't consistent with that. Instead what she does to get up shows off her growing brain. Prior to getting the toy we would practice standing by holding on while standing between my outstretched legs. When she was fussy and wanted me she would crawl over to me and I would "lift" her up with my legs. So now, when she falls while standing by her table she will turn and crawl to me expecting me to lift her up. Then she turns around while standing and starts leaning towards her toy. I grab her hands and walk her towards the toy and she giggles with excitement and pride.
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| "mom, mom... I want up!" |
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| Using my legs to walk toward me. |
Brooke has had a little more success in pulling herself up on some other toys/people. Her favorite is when daddy is laying on the floor wrestling with her. If he turns on his side she can use him to pull herself up and stand all by herself. She also loves crawling all over him and gets good exercise that way. If she sees a toy she wants on the other side of his legs she will crawl up and over both legs to get to it. There is literally no stopping this girl. Also, the day we were taking her 9 month pictures she decided that her rocking chair would be fun to crawl up and up to stand. Smart and adventurous girl!
Other cute things: Brett and I spend most of our time with Brooke saying "look look" to each other as we ooo and ahh over every little thing she does. We are quite enamored with her!
- Talking: Brooke's use of consonants had exploded this month. She makes all sorts of b, d, p, and f sounds. What is especially cute is how she usually whispers them first. It is the cutest little whisper!
- Crawling over around and thru things. As Brooke rolls around and plays with her toys she often creates quite the mess. This then turns into an obstacle course when I leave the room and she decides she needs to follow. She will crawl over the pillows, around the larger items and thru anything she can fit under. She has the layout of the house down and knows when she needs turn to get into the kitchen verses which way to go to get down to our bedroom.
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| Crawling all over me |
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| When Brooke wants me and knows I'm sitting on the couch she will come over and literally bang her head into the couch again and again trying to get closer to me. |
- Observing where we go and following us around. With school out Brett has been around more often and Brooke has started following him around the house and leaving me in the living room to play by myself. She is good at knowing where he went (kitchen verses bedroom) and even if it takes her a few minutes to decide to go find him she always ends up in the right spot. She loves crawling all over the house and following us around.
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| Getting ready to crawl away and find dad |
- New faces: One of my favorites is when she scrunches up her nose and smiles/giggles while breathing fast thru her nose. She also scrunches it up and grunts when is frustrated. Also adorable is her proud face; a big smile sometimes accompanied by a little panting.
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| Trying to get a picture of the cute nose scrunch |
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| Proud face because she is standing all by herself (leaning against the couch for support while I took the picture) |
- Teeth: We've been watching the top teeth anxiously awaiting something to break through. Much to my surprise I felt a little one on the bottom first. She now has three bottom teeth and we are still waiting on the top. They are getting close! One is clearly visible and I'm expecting to feel it any day now. Luckily she has handled all this action like a champ. We have some teething tablets on hand just in case but she hasn't ever really needed them. We tried them once or twice but they didn't even seem to do anything.
- Shyness: Not always, but occasionally Brooke will get shy. I think it is adorable! She will stare someone down and be all smiles towards them until they look at her. Then she turns and buries her face in my shoulder while peaking at them. It becomes a game and if they look away she will stare at them again. She is especially shy if someone comes right up to her. But if she has time to warm up to the idea and play with them while in the safety of my arms she will usually warm up and go to whoever will take her.
- Books: She still loves turning the pages and enjoys looking at the pictures if she needs to be calm for a few minutes.
- Swimming: Brooke has been swimming 3 times this month and seems to really like it. She has a little blow-up car that she rides in and gets better at sitting in it and kicking every time we go. She also loves when there is other kids at the pool to watch and "play" with.
Our biggest struggle this month has been a relatively minor one. Brooke likes to grab at faces, pinch skin and bites knee caps. Usually we see it coming and can stop it but occasionally she will sneak it in and it hurts! My least favorite are when she pinches my underarms while nursing. Ow!
And because I'm one of "those moms" here are more pictures of our cutie.
Brooke is a great shopping buddy.
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| She has monkey feet! |
Brooke gives good kisses (if she is in the mood). Here she is kissing her baby doll
Still crawling army style.
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| Going from sitting to crawling. She doesn't last long without her belly on the floor. |
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| Playing with Dad while I finish getting ready for church |
More play time with her table
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| I'm standing... |
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| I'm playing... |
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| I fell.... |
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| We acquired a tupperware that didn't have a lid so I threw it down for Brooke to play with. It didn't take her long to find it and then kept her busy for quite some time. |
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| She is getting some more hair but the front ones are hard to contain. |
We sure love this happy little girl. Every new thing she does just amazes us and I hope we never tire of watching her learn and grow. We are so proud of her and so lucky to have her as part of our family!
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| Dare ya not to smile as you look at this picture! |
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