10 months

Here she is!  Our 10 month old baby!  Oh what a busy little girl she is....she just took her first steps on Dec 6th.  She has become exponentially more brave in moving around the furniture and has even taken a step here and there in her transitions between the couch and coffee table. 

She has been starting games of peekaboo, but she is all business about it, barely any smiles and we yell 'surprise!' and 'there she is!' and 'peekaboo!' she just keeps a straight face and does it again.  One thing that consistently gets a smile is opening her book that her daddy recorded for her.....as soon as his voice plays, she has the biggest, cheesiest grin!  So cute!

More playtime fun!

This was a present from Mrs D.  Brenna really gets a kick out of it and will look at me and grunt so I can say the command to make the stuffed doggie talk.  So funny!

 

 

 

Brenna is such a smiley baby!  She loves to play peekaboo and will crawl as fast as possible to peak around the corner of the table to see you.  It's been a lot of fun to see her finally understand things and become interested in her own favorites. 

 

 

Who's heart wouldn't melt seeing this little face light up when she sees you?

 

 

Playtime & teeth

 

If the video above doesn't work, try this link:  http://youtu.be/gU-p-WJ750o

 

I tried and tried to get some pictures of all her little teeth....and this is about as good as it gets.

 

 

 

Here's a little toothy grin.  She has been circling the table for days now.  She's getting faster and faster, but it's funny, she prefers to only go to her left.  She can go to the right if enticed by something extra special that she wants (remote, phone, Mr Ducky....) but there are times she will just take the long way around to get to it.  So funny.

 

And yesterday, she actually tried to start a game of 'peekaboo' all by herself.  I was sitting on the couch with my leg on the table and she was standing next to my leg.  Next thing I know she is slightly bent over, hiding her face under my leg and then POP!  she stands up straight and is looking at me with a HUGE smile.  She repeated this over and over.  So cute!  I'm so glad that Nick was able to see her play her first game!

Brenna's looks

Here is her devilish look

 

 

Her 'I'm so innocent' look

 

Her 'I'm sleepy' look

 

Her 'I'm curious' look

 

Her 'what the heck is that' look

day in the park

We had such wonderful weather on Black Friday that we decided to go to the park instead of shopping.  Brenna was pretty interested in the leaves.  I had a good time playing with my camera and some of it's settings to see what it all does.  Such cute subjects :)

We had a hard time keeping her belly in her jacket!

Thanksgiving

For Brenna's first Thanksgiving, we kept it pretty low key.  We just hung out at home and made ham, stuffing, green bean casserole, and au gratin potatoes.  The dinner was yummy and Brenna really enjoyed eating EVERYTHING off my plate :)  She's gotta keep up that girlish figure!!!

 

 

 

As in the usual Thanksgiving tradition, we watched the Lions lose. 

 

Nick and Brenna lounging on the couch :)

 

Happy Thanksgiving!

9 month stats

 

 

For her 9 month check up, Brenna weighed in at 19lbs 7ozs!   That's about the 64%.  She is 27.5 inches tall, which is in the 51%. 

 

Oh and she has 6 teeth!  4 on top and 2 on the bottom.  It's so hard to get a picture of those though! And she has officially made it up a flight of stairs.

9 months

Oh the changes we've seen this month!!  Miss B is really learning to explore and loves to examine everything new very closely.  She will very gently turn an item over and over in her hands just looking at it.  She is getting tired with our living room and really wants to explore the new frontier of the kitchen....unfortunately she wants to climb up everything and with tile floors, we've already had multiple goose eggs on that cute little head.  So, we barricade the kitchen, but the second it's open, she crawls there with a purpose and just as she reaches the thresh hold, she turns to make sure we're watching....and then goes for it. 

Brenna is already a climber.  She pulls herself up on everything (even Bella) and has started to stand on things to get a little boost higher.  Of course her favorite things to climb are Nick and myself.  She is a scrappy climber and will grab and step on anything just to climb.  She has already made it up one step and is very close to step number 2. 

She can balance standing by herself for a solid 10 seconds and can move pretty fast holding on to our fingers and walking.  I think she'll be walking before 10 months....sigh.

She's starting to develop a little sense of humor and will laugh at certain toys.  One of her favorite things to do is read a book.  She loves to sit in my lap and can easily sit for an hour just reading books.  She also loves to have us sing Old McDonald, the Wheels on the Bus and anything else we can think of.  She loves it when we wait at the window for Daddy to come home from work....It's so fun to see her face light up when she recognizes him walking from the car.  It's a trick trying to teach Brenna and Bella that they have to share the window to wait for Daddy....Bella is such a bully!

One thing that remains the same is that she loves to eat.  Other than chicken breasts and pork chops, I don't have to puree things anymore.  She's getting pretty quick with some finger foods (although she won't touch banana's.  She'll eat them if we feed them to her).  She doesn't mind some strong flavors either....she gladly sucked on a piece of sauerkraut.  Nick gave her a couple bites of Jambalaya that had some heat and she didn't even make a face.  And she has mastered her sippy cup. 

Halloween part 2

So, we tried to get creative with the stuff we have at home for our costumes this year.....so, and I know it's a long stretch....but Nick was a fighter.  Brenna was a little cowgirl, when she left her hat and boots on :)

 

 

Bella was a little shy about her ballerina hippo costume. I don't know why.  I loaded up with some gear and a harness and was a rock climber. 

 

We went to our friends Ed and Melanie's and had a nice dinner and saw lots of cute little trick or treaters.  I think we'll have a great time in the next couple years when Brenna really gets into it!

Halloween

Brenna's first Halloween!  She could really care less, of course, but it's fun to watch her reactions  to the big pumpkins (great things to pull herself up on) and the small ones (great to put in your mouth). 

Since she doesn't understand, we decided (I decided) to not carve pumpkins, but to paint them and decorate with tacks.  The ones I had found on Pinterest were all silver, which looked really nice, but we had brass tacks, so that's what we used.

 

She looks so pouty!!!  We were having a good time, but she gets nervous whenever the camera comes out and starts sucking her lip.  Such a serious face!!

 

With her very own pumpkin!

8 months

Ahhhh, where does the time go? 

 

 

Miss B is doing so much now!  She is crawling, just started pulling herself into a standing position, eating cheerios, drinking out of a sippy cup, clapping her hands and waving hi and bye!  Oh and she just cut her top 2 teeth!  Whew!  It's been a busy month :) 

 

It's been fun to watch her develop and play with her toys differently.  She's really into looking at books and turning the pages.  She likes to stand at her play table and even bops a little when she hears music.  It's so cute!

 She's really trying to get into everything, luckily she's not very coordinated yet :)  She can't get up the step, and I'm not really sure that she even knows that she's suppose to want to yet. 

 

She's very ticklish and really giggles when you get to her neck (like her mama).  She doesn't use a pacifier anymore and doesn't suck her thumb, although she does put her fist up to her mouth and makes sucking motions.  Kinda funny.  She LOVES to scream.  Good lord....she's not mad, not trying to get attention, just loves to hear her own voice.  Maybe she'll be a singer?

7 months

So, it's been awhile.....But now that we've moved, I found my camera and have my computer set up, I can start the blogging again!  Here is the Bean with her 7 month pictures.  We couldn't believe how much she's really grown and chunked out!  I guess being in shorts and onesies all summer I didn't realize what a 'curvy' girl she became!  We put her in some 9month clothes when the weather started to get a little cooler....and boy where they tight!!  Only around her little tush and thighs, though.  I'm thinking we're in the middle of a growth spurt (apparently she grows out, then UP!)

 

She is a squirmy little worm, always on the move!  She tries SO HARD to sit and crawl and really get around.  She does get around, but just not as fast as she'd like. 

 

She had a great month developmentally, getting the hang of the sippy cup, crawling, even anticipating some fun songs like 'patty cake'

 

Above all else she likes to eat and drink.  There is not question the way to my baby's heart is through her stomach!

 

xoxo

Daddy's home!!!

Nick came home Sept 3rd!  We weren't sure how Brenna was going to react, but she went to him with no hesitation and was quite fascinated with all his Velcro and zippers on his jacket.  It's such a relief to have him back. 

 

There has been lots of Daddy Daughter bonding time since he came home.... 

 

Ofcourse the quickest way to our babies heart is through her stomach!  As long as she's being fed, she's a happy girl!

 

And Brenna apparently shares her father's love of movies.  Before we had our cable installed, we watched A LOT of movies and she was completely captivated by the screen.  

Here they are watching some TV together.... more bonding!

 

Miss B is really getting into play time and loves to kick her feet up while exploring her toys

 

So Cute!!!

 

Children's Garden

We had the amazing opportunity to go the the MSU 4-H Children's Garden with a wonderful host...Jessica Wright!  Brenna loves being outside, and it was a perfect day for hanging out in the garden.  Who knew there were so many cool plants?  I think Brenna will really enjoy it when we come back in the next few years :)

Everything was so kid friendly, she could touch all the plants and go right up to the water. 

Thanks Jess, for such a beautiful day!

the big 0.5!

I am shocked at how fast the past 6 months have flown by!!  Brenna is still changing everyday and I am constantly trying to find new things to entertain her with.  She's able to sit up on her own now and does very well at it.  I think we still have a few weeks before she starts to crawl although if she wants something bad enough she will find a way to get it.  She is very serious in her explorations and will study things very closely and touch them very carefully. 

She's looking more and more like a big baby instead of an infant!  She's got some dark hair that's really started to grow in the past week. 

Brenna still has a great appetite and usually after the initial rejection of some new foods, she will eat anything.  Especially if it has a splash of apple juice :)  One of my coworkers reminded me of how much I loved apple sauce when I was pregnant....and that is Brenna's favorite food!  It always brings a smile and a "mmmmmmmmmmmmmm"

Here is her half birthday cake for her half birthday!

Bella had to get in on the birthday celebrations.....Can't believe I've had her for 8 years!! 

Our baby girl has really growing and is getting close to sitting up on her own and crawling.  She is super smiley, loves to roll around, she has started to enjoy her Jenny-jump-up and is really exercising those legs!  She is so delicate with her little hands and loves to explore everything....and then puts it in her mouth!  She is eating 3 meals a day plus her bottles and other than peas, she will eat anything.  She loves applesauce!  She likes Eskimo kisses and her ribs are very ticklish!