Smarter than Mommy

(I let Brooks get into the toilet paper the other day just so you could see the fun.)

I don't have any pictures of this particular story, but I'm sure your imagination will suffice. Brooks really enjoys standing next to the toilet and banging the lid of the seat. A couple months ago he discovered the toilet paper roll. He would hit it and the paper would unravel, so I flipped it which seem to solve the problem. Until. Tonight.

Brooks and I were playing in the living room and he bee-lined it for the bathroom. I knew where he was going so I let him trek to the toilet for a little seat banging. It turns out he knows how to hit the toilet paper until a little piece unravels from underneath. Then, he can grab it and stream it to the toilet seat where he can hold onto it while he bangs. Unfortunately, this was a short lived game because he kept trying to put the paper into his mouth. I quickly ended that and moved him back into the living room... which he did not like. I closed the bathroom door to help deter him from returning.

Well, Brooks pulled the clever card. He crawled right into our bedroom, took a left turn and headed right into the bathroom. That little booger. Needless to say, now both doors are shut.

Mini Milestones

Brooks turned 11 months old on Sunday. It's hard to think we will soon have a one year old, but I can't say that time flies. I've really enjoyed watching Brooks grow and reach all of the little milestones.

He is not just a crawler now, he has the most incredible upper body strength and can pull up on anything in less than a second. Those little feet just roll and pop him up. He likes to get into the basket of DVD's and pull them out one at a time. The couch is another favorite hang out as well as any window sill.


We are still in the phase where everything goes in his mouth. It really lets you know when it's time to sweep. :) Brooks is slowly learning a few other things like how to pump the spinner to make the balls swoosh around, how to put his hands in the air to say he's all done with dinner and the "Indian" call will soon be heard. I did get to see him clap the other day for the first time. His motor skills need a little refining, but it's still a clap.

Brooks' personality is also fun to watch. He's way more interactive and expressive. This goes both ways... bad when he tries to eat the dirt out of the plant and I won't let him and good when Daddy comes home from work to play with him. This is video of Justin playing chase with Brooks.

In four weeks we'll be talking about Brooks' turning a year old and I can't wait.

The Magical World of Disney

Brooks took his first trip to Disney World about a month. Justin's company had a trade show at one of the resort hotels and we went along for the ride. We drove halfway to Orlando Friday night stopping in Jacksonville and finished the trip Saturday morning. Brooks slept the whole way and I got to nap with him! It was probably the most sleep I had in the last year.



Saturday afternoon we went ahead and bought passes to the Magic Kingdom. Unfortunately, Brooks missed out on the Welcome to Disney train b/c he fell asleep on he walk to the park. It was the first super nice weather in the area of the year and.... that, led to big crowds and long lines. Brooks didn't seem to mind. We took him on just about every ride except Space Mountain which was not my favorite. Despite the fact that most of the rides are in the dark, Brooks could have cared less. Here is a picture of him on the It's a Small World ride.

Sunday we went to Downtown Disney. It's a neat place to walk and shop. We found Brooks some Mickey Mouse ears and bought a pair for cousin Wyatt as well.


We also stopped and ate lunch at a Cuban restaurant. Brooks enjoyed eating some chicken soup and plantains.

Also Sunday, we went to the Animal Kingdom hotel. There is a big backyard with a few animals on site which is pretty neat to see giraffes walking nearby.


On Monday, the final day of our trip we went to Epcot. We went on a few rides here as well. These are a little more educational based and less of a thrill. We did go on one Dinosaur ride that thankfully Brooks slept through. It was very loud and potentially scary. Plus, once you are in there is no out until it's over. Disaster averted.

It was a great trip, first family vacation together. I can't wait until Brooks is a couple years older and can really enjoy the characters of Disney. He did better than expected riding in a stroller and being carried around everywhere. Once we returned to the hotel he would let loose and his personality really blossomed over the few days. He started talking more saying dada, baba and laughed a lot.

All I want for Christmas...

In true Christmas carol fashion, Brooks now has his two front teeth. The first one broke through Christmas Day and the second followed exactly a week later. I'm pretty sure Brooks hit every 8 month milestone in the one week we took for vacation. It started out a little rough with the teeth coming in, but he turned that frown upside down by the end of the week.

We spent the first three days in Myrtle Beach with Justin's family. Then we drove (3.5 hours) down to Bluffton to hang out with my parents, Rachel, Joanna and her family. During that time we also celebrated Lena's (Joanna's daughter) first birthday. We spent three days at the house and headed back to MB for what's becoming our annual New Year's Eve party with the Konkel family.

Here are some of the highlights of Brooks' first Christmas. I now need to buy a "toy" basket because Brooks received enough gifts to entertain him for at least three months. This is Brooks with Dad and then playing at his activity center Christmas morning.



The next day we went out to a restaurant for dinner where Brooks drank from a cup for the first time. This was quite surprising b/c he tried to grab Justin's glass and lick the side of it which seemed normal, but then he tried to hold the glass and drink from it. He seemed so proud afterwords.

In Bluffton, Brooks had the chance to actually open some presents. I thought for sure he wouldn't be interested in it only because I figured he wouldn't "know" how to open them. It turns out he really enjoyed it... or at least trying to eat the wrapping paper.


We also celebrated Lena's first birthday in Bluffton. I think Brooks might have had more fun than Lena. Ha, ha. We bought some pink and white streamers to hang in the kitchen and we decorated Lena's chair. Joanna also bought some tiara's which she, Rachel, Joseph and Brooks wore. Brooks looked so cute in his pink crown. Lena opened presents, we sang and then most of us ate some cake. Again, Brooks loved every minute.





A couple more things Brooks picked up over the holidays.... he can sit, say "mama" and do the Indian call when prompted.

Finally, Brooks can crawl. It's not pretty and I'm not sure you can classify it as a true crawl, but he can certainly get from one side of the room to another with no problems. I call it the "inch worm."

(I've tried to add video of his Indian call and crawling, but it won't process. :( I'll try again later)

Bathtub Surprise

We had our first experience of having a "snickers" bar in our bathtub the other night. Actually Brooks just pooped while taking a bath. Yes, I know it's gross. But, I found it hilarious. Mostly for two reasons. One, I remember this traumatic event happening quite a few times as a child and two, I couldn't wait to see Justin's reaction. Good times for sure. It didn't catch me off guard b/c I watched Brooks' face turn red a couple times during his bath, but I figured it was just a bit of discomfort. He had already pooped that day and he rarely goes at night. He's a before noon kind of a guy. I did laugh pretty hard to the point where I almost cried listening to Justin clean it out of the tub. He used one of Murphy's pick up bags to fish it out. Surprisingly Brooks managed to do it again the next night only this time I was quite shocked. That time I pulled him out of the tub like lightning. Here is a picture of the first night's aftermath and then I captured look on Brooks' face... who me?

Our Baby Seal

Yes, I'm talking about Brooks. He became our baby seal late Friday night when he came down with croup. It's a horrible upper respiratory virus young children get from colds. If you aren't familiar with this virus, wait until your child coughs. It sounds like a barking baby seal. We ended up taking a trip to the Emergency room Friday (November 26) night.

He woke up around 11pm coughing (like a seal). He had such a hard time breathing that we decided to load him up and quickly (no speeding) drive to the hospital. When we arrived the nurse used an external thermometer which said Brooks had a 104 fever. The nurse then said, "this thing never works." Nice.

They whisked us into the back where Brooks received his first rectal temperature. 101.5. A few minutes later we went to room 18 where we would spend the next 2 1/2 hours. During that time the nurse gave Brooks some Tylenol, a steroid which caused him to spew all over the floor, more Tylenol, a breathing treatment and then another type of steroid. Brooks took it like a champ.

This first picture is when we first got into room 18. In the hustle of leaving the house we forgot his diaper bag. Thank goodness the hospital had a diaper to spare... unfortunately, no change of clothes for the massive amount of throw up that ended up down his front side.


This is video of Brooks during his breathing treatment. He was so tired and not too happy with steam blowing into his face.

The second video is Brooks shortly after his breathing treatment and a 15 minute nap. Most of the time you would rather not see your baby hyper at 1am, but everyone who passed our door stopped to say hello to him. What a ham.

We finally left the hospital around 2am. We had to make a quick stop at CVS to pick up a medicine cabinet for Brooks. Not bad for our first trip to the ER.

Good Doggy

Brooks loves Murphy. He obviously can't understand me when I say "No Murphy or Get Murphy" 100 times a day. I do take the time to let Brooks say hi to Murphy when he comes home from daycare. He gets so excited to see her. The other night Justin tried to let Brooks pet Murphy and he went crazy. He laughed for a good 10 minutes as Justin helped him chase Murphy around the house. Murphy took it in strides, but she's not a super fan of the "petting" or rather grasping of her hair.