Monkeying Around

Brooks went to his first day of daycare today. We found this awesome in-home daycare just down the street. The woman who runs it is super qualified - including having education in early childhood. There are about 6 kids in her care, and they are all teachers' kids (plus her daughter). Brooks is only able to go part-time right now until his 18 month birthday...which works out great, since right now it's just for Chad to use that time for job searching and interviewing. This woman's house is so clean and organized and adorably arranged for children. Right now they are studying the rain forest, so there are pictures of toucans and monkeys all over. She provides breakfast, morning snack, lunch, afternoon snack, and milk throughout the day! I just pack his blankie and a change of clothes...it's such a relief not having to get his stuff ready for the day. Everyday she provides a half-sheet explaining his day, including his overall mood, poops, nap time, etc. She said that he had a great day and just fit right in. He is the youngest right now, which works out great. I've heard that he will learn a lot from the older kids. He seemed extremely happy when I picked him up, and he even reached back to give Ms. Kelly a hug before we left. That made me feel so good to know that he is happy there and having fun with some new friends. I'm excited for him to learn how to socialize while learning his ABC's, counting, etc. She will be sending home pictures and artwork, so I will make sure and scan them to share. I can't wait to hang his artwork on the fridge! He is growing up way to fast! This week he learned how to help Mommy sing, "EIEIO" when singing "Old McDonald". Today he also learned how to say, "home", as we were driving home. He is like a sponge these days, and I can't wait to see what he soaks up at daycare!

15 Months

Time is flying by faster than I ever imagined. The other day Chad said, "Before you know it he'll be in preschool." I feel like he is growing up too fast and I have to saver every moment! Brooks is more fun than ever right now. Many moms say how much they love this age, and now I see why. He is learning things so quickly and is really able to understand what we are saying to him. He is growing into a little boy who is totally curious about the world around him. A little boy who loves to play outside and get dirty. Not a day goes by without dirt under his finger nails and toe nails. Brooks is a little boy who loves to run and play, but who also remembers to stop and give out hugs. But don't let those hugs fool you - he is also growing into a tough little guy. Daddy and Brooks love to wrestle and practice tackles. They are really fun to watch. There is a special bond there that is growing everyday. Here are some recent pictures of some of the fun things that Brooks is doing these days.
Brooks can blow bubbles:

Check out how happy he is (and how excited Birdie was, too):

Brooks is also really interested in animals (he always has been.) He's getting pretty good at naming animals and the sound that they make:

And of course, his traditional chair picture. I have decided that after this month I won't take another picture until 18 months. He doesn't really want to sit still for the picture, and the changes aren't as drastic. But the changes are definitely drastic when you compare this month's picture to his chair picture a year ago...WOW!
This time last year. B was only 3 months old:

Brooks sitting in his chair...15 months old:

We're still here...

Since the move we have not had internet at the house until today. I have felt totally disconnected from the world. And by "world" I mean blogs and facebook. So, sorry if I haven't commented on your blog or facebook lately...it's not that I didn't care. In the meantime, we've been having all kinds of fun in our new house:


Brooks got a new chair from Birdie. He totally loves it and sometimes he'll just go sit in it for fun:

Brooks found this bag of animal cracker crumbs in the trash. I guess he thought it would be a good idea not to waste any. He got the bag out and started digging the crumbs out and eating them:

B just chillin' after another rough day:

Gammy and Pops came to visit and were a HUGE help while we went shopping for furniture. Here's an early morning pic of Brooks with his Gammy:

Sometimes we even get a picture together:

The Big Move

Well, we moved...again. For those of you keeping track of our moves in your address books, I'm sorry. I hope you're writing our address in pencil. Anyways, Chad's folks and Jill, my sister-in-law, and her son, Brodie, all came to help. It was so nice to have that kind of help considering we were moving furniture until about 10:00 on Friday night. We are renting a house about 6 miles from my school, and it is absolutely perfect. We love the house and love the area. It is way bigger than anything we're used to. This is actually our first place (in the eight we've lived in) that has 2 bathrooms! We definitely don't have enough furniture to fill the rooms, but we are getting there. We found solid oak bunkbeds, dresser, and desk for Brooks' future room/current guest room. It was a great find and an even better deal. It's so cute to see that furniture and try to imagine Brooks sleeping in that big bed. Crazy!
Well, we spent the weekend moving, cleaning, and unpacking, and a little playing inbetween. I can't imagine what it would've been like without our family here to help...we'd seriously still be unpacking today. It's not easy moving while trying to chase after a toddler. Good thing cousin Brodie was here to play with Brooks. See how much they love eachother:




Scoops kept the boys pretty busy, too:

We also found a little time one night to escape the boxes and go for a swim:



Brodie is turning into a fish!

Thank you, family, for your help!

14 Months

Another month has gone by in Brooks' life, and with it comes more adventures! Brooks is totally confident walking and "running" all over the place. He loves playing hide-and-seek and tackling Kansas. Daddy also taught him how to play in a tent. By that I mean that Chad holds a blanket over their heads and Brooks just laughs. So now, if you ask him to make a tent, he'll take the blanket and hold it over his head...it's pretty cute. He still loves reading his books. He even has one Baby Einstein book with "wormy" on every page and he can find him on every page. Sometimes "wormy" is really small! He is starting to repeat things that we say by just repeating a sound of the word. We were in the bath tonight and I asked him to get his blue octopus. He found it and I kept saying, "OCTOPUS, OCTOPUS, OCTOPUS". Brooks watched my mouth closely before he said, "/O/, /O/, /O/", and then he said "octa". We took turns:
Mommy: "OCTOPUS"
Brooks: "octa"
Mommy: "OCTOPUS"
Brooks: "octa"
Well, you get the idea. I was pretty impressed.
He says "dada" really well when he says Chad, but only really says "mama" when he needs something or he's upset about something. Being away from him at work is still incredibly hard, but I love it when I come home and he runs into my arms (he never did that before).
He is definitely changing daily and growing into a fun little boy!