He's E.V.E.R.Y.W.H.E.R.E

Well the past couple months have been pretty routine for us.  Michael goes on one of his rotations (4 down and I can't remember how many more to go, but hey 4 down), Brooks goes to daycare, and I go to work.  I usually pick him up, we all play, eat, sleep, and repeat.  Livin for the weekends!  I started my new job and I really like it.  I prefer this caseload compared to my last job and the people I work with are really nice.  I miss my old coworkers like crazy though!  We catch up over Friday lunches though so that is always fun!  

Brooks is everywhere these days!  He loves other kids, dogs, and men (Michael hates when I say that, but it is so true)...it's not that he doesn't like women, but if given a choice of who he wants to hold him he will go to a man any day.  He absolutely loves dogs and even says daw if he sees one.  His vocabulary has really taken off lately...of course it is modified, but we know what he's saying.  

Word bank thus far...

Baw=ball

Daw=dog

Dada (he still doesn't say this purposefully though)

Uhoh 

Mama...oh wait he STILL doesn't say this

Shakes his head for "no"...the little smarty pants will crawl over to THE plant (this plant has given us more trouble than it is worth), look at us and shake his head no all while smiling...then slowly proceeds to stick his hand in the grass, pull it out and shake his head no again.  Little stinker!  Eventually when he catches us not looking he pulls all the grass out and eats it.  Mom/dad pull grass out from mouth and then about an hour later we do this all again.  Sometimes if we start to walk toward him while he's pulling the grass out, he squats down and crawls away as fast as he can as if we aren't going to catch him.  It's cute, but it's messy which makes it less cute.  :)

Outside of work and daycare...

We went to the pumpkin patch which was so much fun.  Brooks even had his first pony ride, first apple dumpling, and first ride down a BIG slide

We had another trip to Nashville where he swung on the swings and played with Peppy and his friend Jax

We had our annual pumpkin carving party at Nanas

Played in the leaves with Aniston and Harrison

New things and Favorite things...

*Brooks stands on his own and has now for the past month, but still no steps by himself.  He loves pushing his radio flyer toy around that Aunt HaHa and Uncle Dave gave him.  

*Lots of new words (see above)

*Crying in the middle of the night while sleeping...sometimes we actually have to wake him up to calm him down because he's so upset.  Nightmares?  

*Lots of trips to the doctor...since I stopped breastfeeding I swear this child stays sick (I'm a little disappointed I didn't make it to a year, but it was so hard to keep up with work and since I wasn't getting much when I pumped over my lunch break I just decided to stop. 9 months isn't too shabby though).  He took right to the first formula we tried, which was a free sample we had gotten from Similac.  

*Brooks eats people food now along with baby food.  I still make a lot of his food, but we also buy him jar food too.  He eats anything, but he's not a big eater if that makes sense.  Basically he doesn't mind the taste of anything (except avacodo...threw it up both times I fed it to him), but he doesn't eat a whole lot.  He's never been the kind of kid who can't be fed fast enough.  

*He still uses his passi at night and for naps sometimes

*He's not too fond of his sippy cup...he takes a few drinks out of it and then pushes it away...loves his bottle (this may be our toughest challenge yet)

*He loves playing peek-a-boo and will even initiate a game if you're not paying attn to him by bobbing up and down behind the coffee table.  It's so cute!

*He loves going to Aunt HaHa and Uncle Dave's house...so big and open!  

*Brooks had his first taste of ground beef...day old on the floor ground beef might I add.  YUCK!  We must have dropped a piece on the floor the night before at Haley's and he found it the next day.  We noticed him chomping down on something and when we went to see what it was all of this gray/mushy/nasty meat came out and kept coming out.  It was disgusting.

*Sticking out his tongue especially when cruising around

*First pair of real shoes

*Wrestling with his lion...out of nowhere he will just pounce on him

*Loves playing with Shooter and Scout even if they do push him over...the rougher the better...he just sits back up and goes right back after them.  

* 9 month check up he was in the 25% for weight and 10% for height and if they put a percentage on hair he'd be in the 10% in that category too.  

*Brooks is going to be his favorite thing for Halloween...Daw of course.  :)  We've been practicing barking, haha.  

 Playin with momma at work...obviously it was a slow day!

 Church

 Justa swingin

 Dad teaching me how to chip

 Brooks the apple, Aniston, Papaw, and Harrison the dog

 Papaw had more fun than Brooks did

 He loves his Aniston

6 month pictures

My good friend Lucy took Brooks' six month pictures and they turned out great!  Can't believe I forgot to post them.

Summer fun all in one blog

We had such an amazing summer! Here's a few things we did in the Summer of 2012!
*Michael played in his first (I'm sure of many) Memorial Day golf tournament and did really well.  He won the first two days and then lost on the third day in a playoff hole.  Not too bad for his first big tournament.
*Lots of pool time!  Brooks loves the water and even went under a few times.  A friend told us to blow in his face and it would make him hold his breath and then take him under.  Typing it out it sounds cruel, but he actually enjoyed it!
*DESTIN!  I was so looking forward to vacation and it surpassed all my expectations.  Brooks was SO easy...he slept, played in the pool, sat in the sand, let the waves hit his feet (cried the first time, but got over it quick).  Everyone just seemed to have such a good time and of course we ate lots of good food.  We went to the Broken Egg three times...by far my favorite breakfast place ever!  Michael's dad (grandaddy) even got to come and visit since we were somewhat close.
*We landscaped the front yard and oh my it looks so much better.  I think we even launched a landscaping frenzy in the neighborhood as it seems our neighbors soon redid theirs as well.  :)
*Michael started his rotations and has completed 2/12; 10 more to go and it's graduation time kids, which means paycheck...woohoo.  Can't wait to be a dual income family!
*Speaking of jobs, I recently accepted a job at an orthopedic office.  It has great benefits and on paper I just couldn't pass it up.  Unfortunately it means I have to say goodbye to my kiddos (I kept two kids, who I will continue to see after work) and the best coworkers ever.  I can only be so lucky that my future coworkers are half as fun and kind as the one's I've spent the last five years with.  Hard decision and I hope it works out!  I start in one week.  :/

Milestones
*Brooks began sitting up around five months and had it mastered (meaning I would leave him alone without fear of him toppling over) by 5 1/2 months.
*He started crawling at 7 1/2 months and at 7 1/2 months and one day pulled to stand and is cruising furniture.  Unfortunately we hear lots of thumps followed by crying these days...even got his first pop knot on his forehead the other day.  :(  He absolutely loves standing up and pretty consistently can stand for 3 seconds on his own before he falls.
*Dadadada was his first word and continues to be his only word.  He sometimes makes mama sounds when he's upset though...I"ll take it anyway I can get it!
*Brooks eats anything!  When we got the okay from the doctor to start food she asked if I was going to make his food or buy it and I said I was going to try to make it.  This was followed by Michael snickering in the corner...I showed him though and I have made 95% of what he eats and I love doing it! He eats squash (least fav), plums, peaches (papaw always brings us peaches from the farmer's market), sweet potatoes, pears, bananas, etc...pretty much anything I can blend up, he eats.  We are still breasfeeding...shew one good thing about him turning one is there will be no more pump.  So over the pump!  Four more months!

Likes
*tickling his tummy, standing up (he's so proud of himself), fish one and fish two (his pets from one of my baby showers), looking in the mirror, baths, outside, people watching, walks with momma, playing with his friend Landon at daycare (today however he bulldozed Landon to get to me when I came to get him after work), sitting in his big boy seat at restaurants (we eat and he people watches...stays in it the whole time!)
Dislikes
*getting into his carseat, diaper changes (hates), that's it really.

He is still so easy and I'm just waiting on the hard stage to hit; it's just a matter of time I'm sure.  Here's a few pics of our summer...we were so blessed to have a great first summer as a family of three!

 Mother's Day #1...he was tired after slaving away on my breakfast!

Off to O'Charley's

1st day at the pool!

Lovin on Papaw 

 1st time at the beach! Destin, FL

 The "I'm so excited I've made a double chin" face.

 Peppy and Aniston

 A veeeeerrrrrry long bike ride!

 Who needs clothes?

 He loves his dada!

 Peppy and the grandkids...love her!

 2nd favorite picture of the trip

 Harrison is flippin crazy

 FAVORITE picture of the trip!

We drove home on Father's Day so we lounged around ALL day!