Another Milestone - Pull Ups

Milestones are funny. They happen before we realize they are even happening. One second you are sitting watching your baby as she plays in her crib, pawing at the keys on her wall piano. Then she grabs the crib railing and pulls herself to a standing position as if she's done it for years. And you are like "Wait, did that just happen???"

You call for your spouse, who comes running. Then you sit your baby back down and see if she'll do it again. And she does. And your spouse says "No way! We need to take pictures!" He comes back in with the camera, I set it to burst mode, and we sit her down again. Baby obliges. She is very proud to show off her new skill that apparently makes her mommmy & daddy silly with amazement. And together with your spouse, you celebrate. "Yay! *clapping* Look what you did! Aren't you such a big girl!" And your big little girl just beams.

Capturing the milestones is important to me because when we get down this road a ways, and things become difficult or trying, I want us all to be able to look back and see how much Brooklyn is loved and how much we enjoyed every step of the way with her. It keeps things in perspective.

Highs & Lows

High
Giving Brooklyn a big hug before dropping her off at daycare.

Low
Feeling dampness on your arm right where her bottom is.

Lower
Looking to see that the dampness is brown.

High
Realizing that none of "it" got on your work shirt...YAY!

Pre-Mommy Delusions

I'll admit it. I had preconceived notions on how some aspects of parenting would be. No matter what I read in books, I just couldn't imagine the reality of some things.

For instance, feeding a baby from a spoon. My delusion: Soft music would play in the background as the baby would sit perfectly still, totally engaged in being fed, willingly opening their mouth wide enough, with their hands quietly resting in their laps, NOT blowing a mouth full of squashed peas all over you because they just learned to do that and think it is hilarious.

The reality: The TV blaring in the background as the baby wiggles and squirms, trying to look everywhere but at you, dodging the spoon at every turn, trying to bat your hand or the spoon or the container of food, not at all interested in the process OR opening her mouth for more than a nano second, an opportunity which of course you miss because you are picking up the container of food that has spilled all over the floor because you didn't expect your sweet little Jackie Chan to karate kick it out of your ill-prepared hands.

Brooklyn @ 9 Months

Right now you like:

investigating the tiny details of your toys

splashing around in the bath

trying to 'grab' the water as it comes out of the faucet

blowing raspberries

to not sit still for even two seconds unless you are sleepy

bubbles

walking while holding onto our fingers

other kids

going to daycare, although this morning was the first time you started to fuss as I left. Hmmmm, are stormy days ahead?

to smile at EVERYONE!

your cousin Caleb. He makes you laugh no matter what he does.

your ball

slobbering on our cell phones

strawberries

Right now you dislike:

being left alone to play. You would much rather have us sit in front of you while you jump around in your bouncy seat.

mashed potatoes!!!! Boy howdy! Luckily it's the only food that we've found that really disgusts you. Otherwise you are such a good eater!

wearing headbands. You've started pulling them off recently. However you have enough hair now for me to sneak a clip-on bow to your head if you aren't looking.

your pediatrician

letting us sleep through the night

What you can say right now:

Mama

Baba

Up

What you can do right now:

You sit up very well. I don't worry about you tipping over as much. And you prefer to sit up over lying down and rolling around.

You are beginning to more accurately mimmick our motions. When I wiggle my fingers at you, I see you try and do the same thing with your fingers without even looking at them. When I raise my hands in the air, you put one arm up.

You can wave hello. It's more like a frantic flailing, but I believe you mean 'hello' when you do it.

You have begun making the motion toward crawling though it frustrates you when you can't get your legs and feet to do the right thing.

Daycare Update

Today when I dropped Brooklyn off, she squealed with utter delight at the sight of her teacher. I'd say things are going well. I LOVE that she is so close to my office and I can go visit her at any time during the day. Which I don't (anymore) cuz that would make me a spaz. Which I'm not. Well....kinda.

The teacher talked me in to giving Brooklyn cereal again. Something about breast-fed babies needing extra iron after a certain point. So I brought some in and Brooklyn loves it mixed in with her fruit. That's my good little eater.

Wow. This post is extremely boring.

Our Little Rock Star

Remember how we did our first portrait sitting a couple of months ago? Well it was a pleasant experience for us since Brooklyn was so cooperative and smiley that day. Apparently we weren't the only ones impressed. JCPenney's photo studio called tonight and wants us to bring Brooklyn in so their new hire photographer can practice taking photographs. The manager told me that she specifically remembered what a great experience it was to photograph our baby. *HUGE GRIN*

We put Brooklyn in a nice dress, clipped a bow in her hair (wow! Didn't think she had enough hair for that yet. Sweet!) and drove down to the mall. As soon as we walk into the place the manager treats Brooklyn like a celebrity. Brooklyn responds with a thousand huge smiles. As I had hoped, the shoot goes splendidly. Again, I had to resist the urge to buy every photograph. And as a thank you for the hassle of us coming down on such short notice they gave us 3 sheets of photos free of charge.



To top things off, there is a huge display of pictures from Brooklyn's previous photo shoot plastered on the wall of the studio. Yes, I was stoked. Am I making too huge a deal out of all of this? Probably. But my baby rocks and it is just great that complete strangers recognize!

You never wake up thinking

today is the last day I'm going to be able to hug and kiss my daughter. That is just what happened for some sweet precious friends of mine. I found out this morning that their 2 1/2 year old daughter Reagan passed away Tuesday, 3/30 after contracting bacterial meningitis. They had less than 24 hours with her after she became sick. Nothing could be done. They held her as she slipped away, from this earth and into the arms of Jesus.

I'm shocked. I'm horrified. I'm heart broken. I can't stop crying. I have too many thoughts. And I feel guilty for feeling any bit of grief and sorrow. Her parents probably feel that all the grief in the universe is theirs to bear. That no one has the right to share in any of it. I wouldn't blame them if they thought that.

I went to visit Reagan's parents as soon as I found out. What do you say? What could anyone possibly say? What words could bring even a fraction of comfort? I scrambled to try and find a silver lining. There was non. I said nothing. I just cried with them. I let them share what they wanted to share. We cried some more. I prayed with them. They asked about Brooklyn. And we cried some more.

So how were they? I have so much respect for how these people are leaning on their faith in God rather than blaming Him for their loss. Both parents are doing what they can to comfort Reagan's twin brother, who at 2 1/2 years old most likely has a hard time understanding what has happened.

And so I leave their house to go to work. My life goes on. Business as usual. The world keeps turning. The red lights continue to change to green. The DJs on the radio keep babbling. But I can't forget about the people who's lives were just ripped into two.

Lord, please comfort them. I beg you.

And when I got home I hugged Brooklyn. More than I ever have before. And I thanked God for every minute I've been able to enjoy.