Thursday, June 25, 2009

1 year stats

Brooks had his one year well check today. Since we moved, we obviously saw a new doctor today. And the doctor that is usually there was on vacation, which means next time we'll probably meet another new doctor. But we might be switching insurance companies, so that might also lead us to meet yet another new doctor. wow.
Brooks looked great and right on track. He weighed in right at 20lbs (10-25%), 31 inches (75-90&) and his head was somewhere in the 10-25% range. All that means is that he is longer and still skinny with a slighter larger head compared to our last visit. He is definitely growing. He had 4 pretty painful shots today. This nurse was not near as fast as poking him with the shots...it seemed to drag on forever. He definitely cried harder this time. And the poor kid was already a little grumpy because he was so hungry since we were in there for over an hour!! I took him to Chick-fil-a for lunch as a special treat, which just means that mommy is really the one who got the special treat. We shared.
Let's see...what is Brooks doing these days now that he is one...He totally knows how to say please. It just clicked the other day and now he says it all the time. I try to get him to say it before I give him food or something to drink. But Brooks does it all day to try and get things. He says please when we're doing something that he doesn't like; like changing his diaper or putting him in the carseat. He said please alot today in the doctor's office.
He is "swimming" like a champ. He absolutely LOVES swim class.
He is labeling things. He points to dogs a mile away, "duh", he'll say. He also happens to think that any animal that has four legs might be a dog...squirrel or deer. My favorite is that we have this cow in our kitchen that he has recently noticed. He'll point and say, "duh". And I'll say, "No, Brooks. Cow. COW. C-O-W. Moooooooo." It's located way up high, so he'll go below it and reach up as high as he can (not even getting close to the cow), and he'll point and he's starting to say, "mmm". That's pretty cute.
He doesn't say a lot, other than babble, but he knows things. You can ask him to find things like fan, mom, dad, or ball, and he usually points and says some kind of sound like he's telling you about it. He loves to talk.
He still loves books. I think books could keep him entertained all day. Sometimes I have to hide the books during nap time because otherwise he'll stare at them and not go to sleep.
Here's a recent picture of my little man. I think it's my new favorite. It only took me about 30 shots to get this one. I think I might have to frame it. (Although I just realized that it looks like he has boogers, but really it's just dirt. He was filthy that day. It's still my favorite.)

So, now Brooks is just one and two days...not as exciting. But it's still weird to tell people that he's one. One seems so much bigger than 11 months.

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Brooks' Birthday

We had a great day! Brooks and I went for a walk in the morning to the little park down the street. It's fun to explore the neighborhood. We hung out at the house for a bit and then ran some errands: I signed him up for swim lessons and picked up some cupcakes. Brooks decided that since it was his birthday, that an afternoon nap wasn't all that important. So, after sleeping for only 45 minutes or so, we picked up daddy from work. We had to rush home, eat dinner, and get ready for swim lessons. There were only 2 other kids in Brooks' swim class, and he is the youngest. He was SO happy to be in the water. He loved "jumping" off the side and sticking his face in the water to try and blow bubbles. He splashed and talked and smiled the whole time.



After swimming, we came home and opened some cards and presents (is it so bad that we didn't get Brooks anything?).
THEN came the best part of the night...THE CUPCAKE!!! At first Brooks wasn't sure what to do, but once he figured out that it was food, he dug right in. He ate it all up!






So, now my little baby is a big boy and as cute as ever. This has been such a fun first year with Brooks, and I am looking forward to this next year and all the new things he will learn.

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Happy Birthday Brooks!

On June 23, 2008 at 12:39am, Brooks Bryan Hoffman entered this world...

...weighing just 4lbs 15oz and 18 inches long.

And now a year has gone by...


(Let me preface this by saying that today Brooks started saying please all by himself. I've only been working on it for 3 months now.) While taking this picture I was saying, "CHEESE! Brooks, say CHEESE!" And he starting saying please...so cute!

Monday, June 22, 2009

What were you doing a year ago?

A year ago...right now...I was laying in a bed at St. Joseph's hospital. By this time almost 24 hours had already gone by since the initial "induction". Nothing was happening. No dilation. No progress. Baby's heart rate dropping.
About this time I think the doctor was coming in and talking to us about our options. She recommended a c-section since Brooks was experiencing stress and I was still only dilated to a 1. She left and Chad and I talked and prayed for a minute...it didn't take long to make a decision.






But the best part didn't come until 12:39am on June 23, 2008...

Cousins

Brooks was so lucky that his cousin Brodie came to hang out for a bit. I met my sister-in-law, Jill, and her son, Brodie, at Chick-f-la last week for some dinner, and then we came back to my mom's house for some fun. Brodie was very sweet to Brooks, always wanting to give him kisses or pick him up. We did have to explain to him that picking Brooks up was not a good idea. Brodie showed Brooks how to work some of his toys, and they even "wrestled" around a bit. It was so cute. One of the biggest reason to move back to Texas, was so that we could get together more with our family. This was just one time in many to get the cousins together...




Thursday, June 18, 2009

4 states down...46 to go!

Brooks visited a new state this past week. Since we are hanging out in Arlington right now, we thought we should take advantage of the close driving proximity to Grandpa's house...and drive out to Shreveport, Louisiana. On the way we stopped in Tyler to visit with my good friend from high school, Jennifer, and her family. Thanks Carlile Crew for putting us up for the night. Brooks and Mollie are about 5 weeks apart, so they played pretty nice together. And Jenn's older daughter, Maddie (4 years old), was a wonderful friend to Brooks as well.

Brooks showed Mollie how to hang out in the garden and take all the mulch out and pile it up on the sidewalk...sorry Jenn:


It is not easy to get 3 kids to sit still and smile before nap time...this is as good as it gets:


After our wonderful visit there in Tyler, Brooks and I loaded up and headed to Louisiana to visit Grandpa. We had such a nice time. We got to swim in Grandpa's neighborhood pool, play by the lake, and Grandpa and Brooks played tag all throughout his house. It was so cute to watch my dad get on his hands and knees and chase Brooks under the kitchen table and around the furniture.

Grandpa and Brooks swimming in the saltwater pool:

Just hanging out in the grass together:

I don't know if you can tell from this picture, but looking at my dad's baby pictures, I think Brooks looks a lot like his Grandpa:

"I'm gonna get you!" I think this is Brooks' favorite game:

Pounding on the table with Grandpa is a pretty fun game, too:

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

"Well, I've got friends in low places..."

This month we said good-bye to our friends in Colorado...






...and hello to our friends and family in Texas.






It already feels like home.