Rough-housing with Daddy

Untitled from Jaira Grathwohl on Vimeo.

Candy Cane

Against mommy's wishes, daddy gave Brooke a candy cane and she loved it.

Candy Cane from Jaira Grathwohl on Vimeo.

Blogging

Brooke puts a lot of time and dedication into working on her blog.

Bloggin from Jaira Grathwohl on Vimeo.

15 Month Appointment

Brooke had her 15 month doctor's visit. She now weighs 23 pounds and 4 ounces which puts her in the 58th percentile on weight. She is 30 1/2 inches tall which puts her in the 62nd percentile on weight. Her head circumference is 46 1/2 cm which puts her in the 50-75 percentile range.

Brooke is a trooper. She braved a 5 mile run with me when the temp was 36 degrees. When I got home and got her little mittens off her fingers were really cold, but she didn't make a single complaint the whole time we were out.

Too Cool

Long car ride

Brooke was a trooper on the way home from Poplar Bluff. What should have been a 4 hour trip was a 5 hour and 20 minute return trip. The traffic from St. Louis to home was stop and go the whole time with several long stretches of not moving at all. Brooke was tired when I put her in the car and I was pretty confident that she would sleep for a long time, but I was wrong. She slept for a total of about 25 minutes. She was pretty funny for most of the way. She entertained herself for a while by sticking her pacifier between her toes and laughing. I adjusted my rearview mirror to look at her which was obviously not the safest thing to do, but it kept me pretty entertained, too.

I wasn't entertained however when she had her fingers in her mouth and it looked like she gagged. So I'm looking in the rearview mirror reaching backwards to grab her fingers out of her mouth and that was a big mistake . . . it turned it into a game. She kept sticking her fingers in her mouth and gagging herself and I kept grabbing her arm and telling her no and she would laugh. She kept doing it no matter how forcefully I told her to stop I decided to just let her do it and not react since that's what she was going for. So I watched her gagging herself and her eyes were watering and I decided I couldn't take it anymore. So I was reaching back again to tell her to stop and pull her hand out of her mouth when she threw up all over herself. LOVELY! I had to pull over and wipe her off. Luckily she didn't do it anymore after that.

So as we were nearing Columbia and it was 6:45 PM, my mom said she would have some food made for Brooke and that Poppy would bathe her if I wanted to swing by her house. That sounded great to me since Brooke and I were both tired. When I got Brooke out of the car the poor little thing had pottied threw her pants and had a poopy diaper. So the poor little trooper had a wet shirt (from her throw up) and wet pants and she didn't even complain very much! She was so excited to be out of her carseat. Here she is doing a little dance with Nana after getting out of the car.

Fancy Feet from Jaira Grathwohl on Vimeo.

Visit to Poplar Bluff

We made a 4 hour trip down to Poplar Bluff the day after Thanksgiving to stay for the weekend. Ryan and I had to drive separately so he could go straight to work on Monday so Brooke rode in the car with Ryan on the way down since I would have her on the way back. We took her to the park before coming home in hopes to wear her out for the drive home.

Playtime at Park from Jaira Grathwohl on Vimeo.

Robe

Passy Wars

You might be wondering how the passy battle is going, so here is an update. There was definitely a passy battle but it wasn't between mommy and Brooke, it was between mommy and daddy. Daddy doesn't want to take the passy away from his little baby, so I guess we are going to have to wean daddy off the passy before we can start weaning Brooke off of it! :)

Expanding Vocabulary

I know every parent thinks so, but Brooke is sharp. She seems to have a pretty big vocabularly for a 14 1/2 month old. She says a lot of words - more, hot, passy, knock (when she is knocking on a door), back (when we tell her to put something back), duck, baby, milk (she was trying to pick up a gallon last night and it was hilarious), basket, bucket, eye, nigh night, cracker, Baxter (Jen's dog), Men which is how she says Fin which is my sister's cat, . . . The list goes on and on. It is getting more and more fun to watch her learn. She also knows all of her facial features (even though she doesn't act like it in the video) and she's learning animals sounds.

Learning from Jaira Grathwohl on Vimeo.

No Passy

Yesterday my babysitter, Jen, was offering to try to put Brooke down for her naps with her pacifier and I laughed and told her that I shouldn't make her suffer. It should be my job as her mother to take it away. So she inspired me to not give it to her last night so Brooke slept her first night without her "passy". It helped that she played with Poppy last night so he wore her out and she got to bed a little later than normal so she was very tired and went down without a single fuss without her passy. I hope it continues to go so smoothly, but I doubt I'll be that lucky. This morning she did ask for her "passy" a few times and I told her she didn't need it! We'll see how it goes!

Big Girl on a Big Wheel

Brooke had a lot of fun with Poppy this weekend. He played outside with her, took her to the park and pushed her around on a big wheel!

Imitate a Chicken

I wish we could have gotten her to do it longer, but she would only do it for a second or two in this video, but Brooke moves her mouth like she is making a chicken noise, even though she doesn't make any noise. The other day Brooke picked up this little box that had a chicken in it and she brought it over to us and she started moving her mouth like the "bawk bawk bawk" of a chicken. Ryan and I both died laughing. She doesn't perform that well in this video, but maybe we'll capture it better another time.

Chicken from Jaira Grathwohl on Vimeo.

14 Months Old

Our little baby is growing up so fast. She was 14 months old today and she just gets more and more fun. Daddy let her celebrate by giving her a marshmallow (much to mommy's disapproval)!

Halloween

Brooke was a bumblebee for Halloween and when I first put the costume on her she went and pranced in front of her daddy showing it off. It was hilarious.





We went down to Christian Fellowship for their fall festival and she loved all the action. Ryan took her in a bounce house and she enjoyed it.

Halloween 1 from Jaira Grathwohl on Vimeo.

When he got her out he set her on the ground and she took off and shoved in front of some other kids to crawl back inside. So then daddy coaxed mommy to go in there with her, but I felt dizzy after getting out! I'm definitely getting old.

Untitled from Jaira Grathwohl on Vimeo.

Brooke also liked this baby pool that you were supposed to pick a frog out of, but Brooke just kept sticking her hand in the water and never picked up a frog.

Untitled from Jaira Grathwohl on Vimeo.

Overall, Brooke loved all the excitement. As we were trying to leave she kept trying to run back in to all the action!

Untitled from Jaira Grathwohl on Vimeo.

Helpful in the Kitchen

For some reason Brooke loves my salad spinner. She loves to take it apart and play with it as you can see here . . . she has the inner basket on her head!



She calls the basket she is playing with a "bucket" in the first few seconds of the video. Her vocabularly is expanding so quickly. My favorite word is how she says the word hot. Brooke drags the H out and says "hhhhhhhhhot!" It is so precious.

Bucket from Jaira Grathwohl on Vimeo.

Learning to Throw

Throwing a ball from Jaira Grathwohl on Vimeo.

Stop and Smell the Roses

On Sunday, Brooke was playing at Nana and Poppy's house and Nana showed Brooke how to smell the roses at her house. So Brooke was outside playing at home and she walked right up to our rose bush and stuck her nose in it just how Nana had showed her two days ago. It was priceless!

Stop and Smell the Roses from Jaira Grathwohl on Vimeo.

Mattress Play Time

Brooke loves when I change the sheet on her bed because she gets a kick out of playing on her mattress. As soon as she saw me pulling it out of her crib she got really excited. She is such a monkey!

Mattress Play Time from Jaira Grathwohl on Vimeo.

Reading

Brooke has really started to love books. She wants to read the same books over and over and over again. She doesn't really wait for all the words on the pages but she still loves it. She will cart a book over and won't be content until she's sitting in your lap. Daddy is more creative with his reading style.

Daddy Day

Daddy day meant that Brooke got to experience her first McDonald's pancake!

McDonalds pancake from Jaira Grathwohl on Vimeo.

Fall Fun

We took Brooke out to visit this farm that has pumpkins and animals. It was windy and chilly but Brooke didn't seem to mind. She particularly loved the roosters.

First Bruise

Brooke got her first big boo boo on her forehead. I hate to even say how it happened because it sounds so terrible but she was walking around in the school parking lot at Christian Fellowship and she fell and her head hit the curb! OUCH! She is very tough though because she didn't even cry very much! These pictures were taken the following day and don't even look too bad!

Stroller

Brooke got this stroller as a birthday present from her Auntie Jan and its made for this little doggy to ride in it, but Brooke and her daddy have other ideas for it!

Stroller from Jaira Grathwohl on Vimeo.

Bed Head

Brooke woke up with a crazy hairdo this morning. The picture just doesn't do it justice!

One Year Doctor's Visit

At her one year doctor's visit, Brooke weighed 21 pounds 4 ounces and was 29 1/2 inches long with a head circumference of 45 cm.

Birthday Party

Birthday Girl from Jaira Grathwohl on Vimeo.

Birthday Girl

Brooke was playing with a birthday balloon given to her by a sweet friend Rebecca.

Untitled from Jaira Grathwohl on Vimeo.

Brooke's friend Cayden came over to give her a birthday present and some birthday hugs and kisses.

Walking Improvement

Brooke finishes this little stretch of walking with finesse. Normally she ends in a face plant.

Walking Farther from Jaira Grathwohl on Vimeo.

Mommy's First Time Away

So I left Brooke overnight for the first time ever, except it wasn't one night, but three. Ryan and I went to Big Cedar lodge outside of Branson with 3 other couples. We left Brooke with Nana and Poppy and they said she did great. I did okay until the last day I kept crying when I saw babies. I had originally planned on staying a fourth night but was dying to get home. I was quite disappointed when Brooke wasn't overly happy to see me. I picked her up at 9:45 PM so she had been asleep and I took her home and put her in bed. But I was hoping the next morning that she would be thrilled to see her mommy. Boy, was I disappointed. She took her bottle and then immediately wanted off my lap to play. Then a few minutes later I picked her up to change her clothes and she went limp indicating that she didn't want me to pick her up.

I then dropped her off at the babysitters and sat through work all day dying to be able to spend more time with her. So after work I raced over to the babysitters. She has a dog and it started barking when I came to the door and the babysitter said that Brooke was still asleep upstairs and I could go get her. At that point I hear Brooke crying and it sounded like it was a startled cry that the dog awakening her had scared her. So Jen and I went upstairs and Jen scooped Brooke up first since she was ahead of me. I then took Brooke from Jen but Brooke frantically wanted to go back to Jen . . . it broke my heart! She was upset and didn't want her mommy. So Jen carried her dowstairs and Brooke calmed down and quit crying. Then I took Brooke from Jen to leave and Brooke started crying again and wanted to go back to Jen!! Brooke was just twisting the knife! So I marched out the door with a crying baby! Mommy felt like crying, too! I don't know if Brooke is punishing me or what!

Poppy showed me this picture of Brooke in the nursery at church on Sunday when they took her and my response was . . . what is Brooke doing at church in her pajamas??? But I guess if that's the worst thing that happened while I was gone then I could be happy! (Nana's defense was that it was the only thing warm that I had packed!)

Trying to Walk

She's getting a little better on her walking attempts. The farthest she has made it is 12 steps.

Trying to Walk from Jaira Grathwohl on Vimeo.

Kissing on the Cousin

Brooke and I went to Kansas City to visit her cousins. And yes, Brooke's cousin, Hadley, who is a month younger is already walking . . . and has been for a few weeks!

Cousins from Jaira Grathwohl on Vimeo.

Our Dancing Queen

I couldn't decide which one to post so I posted them both. Her serious face when she "dances" cracks me up!

Dancing from Jaira Grathwohl on Vimeo.

Dancing 2 from Jaira Grathwohl on Vimeo.

Playing with Daddy

Playing with Daddy from Jaira Grathwohl on Vimeo.

Brooke Trying to Walk

Brooke is getting close to walking but she hasn't quite figured out the whole balance thing. She is able to string several steps together so she has definitely officially taken her first steps. She has started to let go of furniture and venture a few steps on her own. It's really fun to watch her try and then do a face plant! Luckily she's a good sport about it.

Brooke trying to walk from Jaira Grathwohl on Vimeo.

11 Months Old

Our precious peanut is 11 months old today and the time has flown by. She is pulling up on everything and cruising around but she isn't steady at all on her own. She'll probably be walking before we know it. But she is definitely getting into everything. Her new favorite thing is to turn the tv off and on and mess with the dvd player . . . neither of which we approve of!

Baby Madness

The Virginia lake trip was so much fun because there was always a baby to love on!

First Trip to the Beach

While in Virginia we also made a trip to the beach in Wilmington, NC to see Brooke's Aunt get married. Brooke enjoyed her first trip to the beach.

Fun at the Lake

Brooke really enjoyed swimming at the lake. In fact I think she felt a little too comfortable in the water. Ryan and I were down at the water and Poppy brought her down in all her clothes so we just decided to take her swimming in the buff. Ryan was splashing around in the water with the other kids and Brooke and I were towards the shore. I was sitting in the water and Brooke was standing in it about to her waste. All of a sudden I see some suspicious round balls float up around me. It took me a minute to realize what they were. I think picked Brooke up and she had a guilty brown smudge on her rear end!! Better in a lake than a pool! :)