July 4th 2013

The Fourth of July is definitely one of my favorite holidays!  There is something about spending the whole day with family eating good food and enjoying the summer weather that just can't be beat.  We celebrated in style this year while in Baker.  Having Brooke around make even the littlest things much more exciting.  It also means plans have to be adapted to accommodate sleepy babies. 

The day started off with a yummy homemade breakfast: a Smith family specialty.  Luckily Brooke knew to sleep in a bit because we skipped her first nap and headed out to Haines, a nearby town, for their little parade. 

 Brooke got to practice her clapping

 And her waving

 Note the adorable dog ridding shotgun

 Grandma had a rattle that Brooke loved shaking to cheer with

We got back from the parade and it was still a little while until time for second nap so we decide to tag along with the gang that was going to shoot guns.  I'm told shooting guns is an American tradition that has to be part of the 4th of July celebrations.

Brooke wasn't a huge fan of the ear protection.

 She did a little better with the ear plugs in her ears directly but we ultimately opted sit in the car while the guns were being shot. 

 I came out to shoot Uncle Dekker's new hand gun

 Brooke and I left early so she could get a nap in.  Then it was a yummy BBQ for dinner and some playtime outside. 

For fireworks we decided to stick at home and let Brooke sleep.  I'm sure she would have loved the show but I couldn't justify keeping her up that late.  We did shoot some off at the home before it got dark and she loved all the lights!

Brooke earns her wings

Note: I've heard a few comments about the videos in the last post not working.  They work on my computer so I'm not sure what is going on. Hopefully that doesn't continue to be an issue. 


We flew with Brooke at Christmas time but she was either nursing or asleep for most of the flight and didn't get much fan fare.  This time around, the story was very different. 

Flight from Houston to Baker City:
- Early morning wake up call for Brooke at 5:45
-12 hours total travel time
- One 40 minute nap on the plane
- One 20 minute nap in the car (what baby doesn't fall asleep on a 2 hour car ride after having been up ALL day?  Ours.) 
- Two sets of "wings" (what 10 month old needs a small pokey object?  Not ours, but thank-you flight attendants for the gesture.)
- Lots of new friends! She especially liked staring at the people sitting behind us and playing peek-a-boo.
- Favorite toys were the plastic cups and safety information cards 
- Explored each plane after we got to board early by crawling around in the aisle and climbing all over the empty chairs
- Endless snacking on bananas/avocado/black beans and then puffs/wagon wheels/fruit melts.
- Baby Einstein videos on I-Pad work like a charm for short periods of time.
- One very happy baby to be out of the plane/car and able to play around

 

Drive from Baker City to Portland:
-5 hours in the car
- No napping (again, I ask you what baby stays awake for a 5 hour car ride?)
- One stop for diaper change/leg stretch
- Free kids book from the nice Wendy's lady
- Brooke ate lunch in the car and snacked lots
- Me sitting in the back seat for the second half of the drive trying to entertain Brooke.
- Baby Einstein videos on I-Pad kept her calm the last hour

Flight from Portland to Houston:
- Brooke woke at 540 am
- 10 hours of travel time
- Got to get up close to the commuter plane from PDX to SEA.
- Enjoyed looking out the window and watching the propellers start spinning
- One LONG plane flight from Seattle to Houston
- One short 20 minute nap all day
- Playtime with the stewardess and dad in the back part of the plane after a diaper change
- Endless snacking on strawberries/grapes/blueberries and puffs/wagon wheels/fruit melts
- One minor malfunction of our water bottle that resulted in a stream of water being shot onto the head of a man three seats in front of us.
- Only very minor interest in the Baby Einstein videos 
- Lots of comments after the flight from people on the plane about how cute Brooke is.  One even called her a flirt which I think is completely accurate. 

Brooke learns about grass

In Brooke's short 10 months of life we have not had the opportunity to introduce her to grass.  There are many reasons we have avoided it in Texas: fire ants, hot/humid summer weather and limited access due to living in an apartment. That all changed though! We decided to take full advantage of the cooler days and kid friendly grass while in Oregon this summer.   At first Brooke hated it!  She wasn't sure what to think of the new texture and didn't want to touch it at all costs.  Over the last few weeks she has warmed up to the concept and isn't so opposed to it anymore (although she still hesitates at times).

One thing is for sure, she loves being outside! So much to look at!

pondering the things of nature

baby feet!

Once I left the blanket she wanted so badly to come join me, but everywhere she tried was grass!

Her desire to walk was stronger than her concern about the grass.  It was a good "high knee" exercise as she tried to avoid touching whenever possible.

Good thing Grandma came out with toys! Much more fun.

Starting to warm up.  Having pants on also helped.

 Maybe this grass thing isn't so bad after all...

But if given the option, she will still usually stay on the blanket.  And I won't complain about that! 

Brooke: 10 months

This post is already a day (or 12) late and will be a dollar short.  We have been up to a lot of fun and have had quite a few adventures that all deserve their own posts (so stay tuned for those).  Since we were out of town for the official 10 month photo shoot I improvised and took a few comparable ones that will have to do.

Honestly, I can't really remember what Brooke was doing two weeks ago.  If I were to write the post about what she is doing today it would be so different.  It continues to amaze me how fast babies learn new things! In general at 10 months Brooke was:

-Waving... she would wave but only on her own terms and didn't understand the "wave goodbye" or "wave hello" idea and would often wave a few minutes after the person left.

Loves looking out the window at the cars that drive by

-Clapping... such a cute new skill and so fun to watch her slowly fine tune her ability to successfully get her hands together repeatedly.

-Pulling up to stand on anything she could find... the wall, her car seat, the back door, my legs while I'm standing, etc

So proud!

- No longer willing to sit for short periods of time and play with toys. This photo was taken at the beginning the month and shows her playing with her friend while I helped my friend decorate cupcakes in the kitchen.  By the end of the month her desire to stand/move/walk outweighs almost any toy after a few short minutes and she is off to explore.

- Experiencing separation anxiety.  This started before our trip when Brooke would have minor break downs if I ever had to leave the room.  Being in a new time zone at a new house and with new people only exasperated the issue but it also gave her lots of good practice and she is doing much better now.

- Eating... Brooke is really good at finishing what is in her mouth before taking another bite.  She will turn her head  if I try to offer her another bite while she is still chewing and she will politely hold onto her finger foods waiting until she is ready.Although is is also very good at getting the food all over her face.

- I had to take the picture above because Brooke actually slowed down enough to lay her head down. She was sick and it only lasted for a few moments but was so cute and something we rarely see (although she is becoming increasingly cuddly every month).

- As you can see Brooke's hair is getting longer (and more unmanageable).  It is probably long enough to do a mini pony tail but I haven't tried yet because I'm lucky if I can get Brooke to sit still long enough to stick a clip in her hair.

- The worst part of this month was Brooke getting sick.  She woke up with a fever after a nap.  We knew something was up because she took a 2 hour nap and then laid quietly in her bed after waking up for another 30 minutes.  We were enjoying the down time and just let her be but I felt so sad when I went to get her and she was burning up.  The fever lasted for 24 hours and she was understandably clingy and couldn't sleep. Unfortunately the fever was only the beginning.  After it broke she got a rash on her hands and feet that spread all the way up her legs and arms.   We took her to the doctor and they ruled out Hand, Foot and Mouth disease, which I was grateful for because the idea of painful blisters in her mouth made me sad.  It was still a rough week as she was getting over the random virus. She was more subdued and gave a few extra cuddles.  The rash turned into blisters in some spots that rubbed often on her hands and feet and then they popped and pealed.  It wasn't a pretty sight and my poor heart broke every time I saw them but they didn't seem to bother her too much.   I sure was glad to get over that little virus though!  Unfortunately about a week later she got a cold complete with endlessly running nose.  Poor girl.  Hopefully she'll be healthy for a while!

I took this photo while she was sick with the fever and beginning of the rash.  Luckily for me this girl never stops smiling! 

Google made me this little string of images from our 10 month photo shoot.  I love how it shows that Brooke is ALWAYS looking around to see what there is to see.  We sure love this little girl and our loves grows more and more each day!