Happy 2009!

Happy New Year! Here is Brooke at 7 Months + 1 Week.

A second week of grandparents' loving! After Christmas week with Jen's parents, Brooke packed up and spent the next week with Scott's parents (Mom and Dad went to Hawaii to celebrate their 5 year wedding anniversary from October). Here's some playtime with Grandpa Chief.

And with Grandma Karen.

Heather and Brad stopped by for some baby loving.

With Great Grandma Mary.

Great Grandpa Steve gets lots of smiles and giggles out of Brooke!

She also turned 7 Months Old this week. Dad was estatic with the new Blackhawks "toy." Mom, well, not so much. (go Red Wings!)

Brooke was super spoiled this Christmas. Let's just say it is toys galore with all the gifts she received across all the families. Thank you again to everyone!
Maddie also had a great week playing with Cassie.

Merry Christmas 2008!

Merry Christmas! Here is Brooke at 6 Months + 4 Weeks.

Brooke had a great first Christmas, with Mimi (Jen's mom) and Grandpa Jim (Jen's dad) visiting for the week. Here's some floor playtime with Grandpa.

Mimi always smiling while she holds her "little button."

Low and behold, Grandpa's feeding Brooke! We had to be sure to capture this as he didn't think anyone would believe...

Christmas dinner from atop Dad's shoulders.

Lastly, a Christmas tradition of holiday pajamas is started.

Santa!

Here is Brooke at 6 Months + 3 Weeks. Last weekend she met Santa! While we didn't get a smile from Brooke during the quick couple pictures we took, there was lots of HO HO HO'ing. She has also turned into quite the rolly polly. If I look away for 2 seconds she has "ninja-style" rolled 5 feet away. I can't imagine keeping track of her once she starts crawling!

I thought I'd have to keep Maddie away from Brooke's toys. Well it seems it is the other way around. Here she actually pulled the bone onto her mat (I quickly took it away). And here she is reaching for the ball and the bone I had previously taken away.

Wintertime

Here is Brooke at 6 Months + 2 Weeks Old.

As winter progresses, we've been breaking out the sweaters. It's funny, I remember getting these sweaters when she was just born and putting them away (they were marked for 6-9 mos old), thinking it'll be so far away before she wears them. And now she's ready for them. Time is moving too fast! Stop growing Brooke!!! Here is a sweater a friend knitted for her.

Lastly, sometimes when I'm dressing Brooke I feel like Molly Ringwald from Sixteen Candles, when she is trying to put her sister's wedding shoes on at the church (and the sister's feet are going every which way but the right way). Here's a sock dressing attempt...

And she pulls the sock off with her mouth...

So the other sock goes on...

6 Months Old!

Here is Brooke at 6 Months + 1 week. She turned 6 months last Sunday, and weighs 14 pounds 9 ounces.

Last Sunday she was a giggle machine when Dad was reading her a book.

Here she's pondering her Christmas list to Santa.

To mark her "half" birthday, we broke out the rice cereal. Woo Hoo! It was an experience. In the holiday fun, Brooke was excited to see the Christmas tree go up.

Some Brooke and Maddie time.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Brooke at 5 Months + 4 Weeks Old. Trying out the high chair. "What are these straps?""Hmm, I guess this is pretty fun."
Brooke had lots of fun lap time with the family for Thanksgiving holiday. Here she is with Grandpa Chief.

With Grandma Karen. With Aunt Heather.

Though she didn't eat any turkey, she enjoyed sitting at the table with us.

And closing out with her feet: "little turkey"

Quiet before the Holidays

Here is Brooke at 5 Months + 3 Weeks old.

This is what Brooke thinks of Notre Dame this season.

Waking up from naptime.

Meeting Great Grandma Mary

Here is Brooke at 5 Months + 2 Weeks Old.

This week we went to Minneapolis to visit Brooke's Great Grandma Mary, Aunt Caryl and Uncle Randy, and Uncle Bill and Aunt Linda. Aunt Caryl is all smiles holding Brooke.

A few minutes later, as bedtime drew near, some tears were shed while Aunt Linda said goodnight to her (sorry about the wet shoulder!).

Visiting Grandma was a lot of fun.

Grandma sang to Brooke as Brooke babbled along.

And a parting shot of Caryl and Randy.

Election Week!

Here is Brooke at 5 months + 1 week.

Here's some smiling tummy time.
Yet a new piece of baby gear entered the house this week, a Bumbo chair. It'll be helpful to give her a new view and build her abilities to sit. Unfortunately she's a little small for it so she sort of slumps in it right now.
Other fun this week is watching her dexterity continue to improve. Whether she's in her crib reaching for her pacifiers or laying in her changing table grabbing her stuffed animals (which, by the way, these tiny Baby Gund animals are perfect distractions for the changing table),
or swiping at Maddie as she sits by. (that time she came away with 2 fistfuls of dog hair)Lastly, Brooke's first presidential election of her life was an extraordianary one for our country; electing Barak Obama as the 44th President. An exciting change for America!