Another month has gone by, and this is the first one with no chair picture. Remember...I decided to just do that every 3 months since he doesn't sit still any more and he doesn't change as much by the month anymore. Although, I do think he has matured a lot this past month. He is saying more words and more responsive to everything that we say. The only time he seems to have a hard time understanding is when we're telling him not to do something...imagine that?! He is having a great time at Ms.Kelly's. He comes home with artwork and all kinds of fun stuff. She said that he eats more than any other kid (and he is the youngest). He has a snack there around 3:30, and we usually pick him up between 4:00-4:30. After walking in the door at home, he looks for daddy and then he goes straight to the pantry and bangs on the door and says, "NAC! NAC! NAC!" So, yes...he gets another snack when he gets home. The other night for dinner he ate a hamburger patty, fries, green beans, a string cheese, a clementine, and a cookie. When we think he can't possibly eat anymore we'll say, "All done, Brooks?" And he'll put his hands together and say, "Mur. Mur." (for more). Some times we just cut him off because I can't think of anything else to feed him. He sure is a good eater! His favorites right now are asparagus, green beans, peas, berries, clementines, peaches, chicken, meatballs, veggie burgers, fries, feeding himself yogurt, and cookies of course. He's down to one 2.5-3 hour nap in the afternoon and still sleeps great at night. He loves playing peek-a-boo and wrestling around with daddy. He pretty much is head-over-heels in love with his daddy. It's so cute! He is also getting pretty good at singing "Old McDonald"...take a listen...
On a family walk the other night I turned to Chad and mentioned how much I love this age, and I can only imagine how much better it's going to get from here. Here are a couple of cute pictures of Brooks at the age:
Taking a swim in the hot tub at Birdie and Scoops': Brooks and Daddy playing: Sniffing the flowers: Driving around:
Well, the fall air in Austin is slightly different than the fall air in Denver. But we are having fun enjoying fall activities with friends and family. We had a great time in Corpus at the pumpkin patch with Birdie, Scoops, and Mimi:
There was also an octoBOOerfest in our neighborhood, so we joined the fun. Jess came along and we had a great time. Brooks was the cutest skeleton there. He tasted his first bite of cotton candy and met some new friends. One thing we love about our neighborhood is that it is such a family friendly place to be.
I got so excited about posting again, that I missed a couple of things, so I'm going to need to backtrack a minute. My parents came to visit a couple of weekends ago. It's so nice being back in Texas and being able to see family so often. We went to a pumpkin patch on a drizzly fall day, and we took some great pictures. Unfortunately, the resolution was set low on the camera, and the pictures are all pixelated. I was so bummed! We seriously took some REALLY cute pictures. Good thing there are pumpkin patches everywhere for us to visit and take some more pictures. Anyways, we had a great time with Gammy and Pops. Brooks practiced saying, "Paaa" all weekend...it was so cute! And Brooks totally loves his Gammy. He learned real quick that she was always there to pick him up when mom wouldn't. Gammy spoils Brooks just a little bit. She also brought him a new Halloween outfit..so cute! Brooks loves talking on the phone:
Chad and I also took advantage of the grandparents being here, and we scored some tickets to the UT v. CU game. It's the third time we've seen these two teams play eachother, but the first time that we've seen it on Texas soil. It was so much fun being surrounded by so many Longhorn fans - Just another benefit of living in Texas!
What happened with my blogging? I am totally behind and feel so sad that I can't keep up my blog like I used to. Part of it is that I'm not home all day to take millions of pictures, and the other part is that I'm not home all day to blog during nap time. I miss my blogging days. This weekend we are in Corpus just having some fun with Birdie and Scoops. Today we went to a pumpkin patch at Mimi's church and then came home to watch the game. We have tons of pictures on our camera, but these are a few from Birdie's camera. I just realized that I couldn't stand that I've had the same post for almost 3 weeks! More to come...I promise.
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!
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:
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:
