Brooks: Week 21

Brooks officially turned 5 months old on the 19th. He continues to change and surprise me every day. Brooks is now trying really hard to sit up on his own. He is still not great at it but he likes the idea. He is so funny because he is so proud of himself and just grins from ear to ear!

I mentioned last week that he woke up on Valentine’s Day with his very first cold…it was so sad. It stuck with him for a while and he even developed a little cough. I ended up taking him to see the doctor just in case (new mom jitters) and they told us it was just viral and that it would just have to run its course. Well a week later he was still snotty, irritable and pulling at his ear…YIKES! We packed up the diaper bag and went back to see the pediatrician Monday morning. No ear infection, thank you Lord! He just had some persistent cold symptoms and sure enough yesterday he was perfectly normal! Kids! Well I say better safe than sorry and I know it made ME feel a lot better! We did find out that we need to avoid the YMCA nursery for the next month or so until Cold/Flu season has passed. The doctor said it would be best and I totally agree…it is not worth him getting sick again…that was rough on ALL of us!

Brooks’ sleeping patterns have definitely changed since getting sick and that has been hard on us all. He is waking up at least 3-4 times a night, crying out and fussing until you put his passy back in. He must also be going though a growth spurt because he is ravenous come 5:00am. I try and hold him off until 6 or so but some mornings that just doesn’t work. Needless to say Mark and I have been exhausted…it feels like it did when we brought him home from the hospital! I hear this is considered “normal” for the next 18+ years! Ha!

We started the weekend off with a bang by going to the airport here in Orlando to see my dad. He was on his way to another missions trip down to South America so Brooks and I decided to have a quick visit with him before he departed. Mark had to work on Saturday so Brooks and I decided to have a slow morning and then we drove over to daddy’s jobsite and took him to lunch. PG came along too and it was nice afternoon. For dinner we decided to have a cookout and to have both of Brooks’ grandmothers over. Oh what fun! His GJ (Mark’s mom) even brought him some fun gifts…lots of new cloths, a HUGE Easter bunny that talks and some fun books! Thanks GJ!

Sunday was a good day too…even though mommy was exhausted! We all went to church and then to brunch afterwards at the White Wolf…yum-o! Mommy and daddy even got to go on a “date” to Wal-Mart by themselves! Wow…fun and exciting I know!

This week has been eventful too. I had to work at lot this week but that is ok…Brooks just comes along and so does my mom. It is a fun “outing” that usually ends with a yummy lunch! The only snag that we’ve encountered is we are usually out and about during Brooks’ normal “pooping” time and thus he is in his car seat and there is something about the angle that he sits that makes those poopie diapers EXPLODE! Yesterday he had poop everywhere…up his back and out to his arm pits! YUCK! It is an issue to say the least but I guess as long as we pack enough wipes and a change of clothes we are ok! My poor mom is the one that is usually stuck cleaning it all up too! Thanks mom!!!

We had Mark’s cousins Heather and Michael over for dinner on Tuesday night. We had a really yummy dinner and even more fun just hanging out…teenagers are SO much fun!

Yesterday was Ash Wednesday and we all went to the special service at church. We all received our ashes and Brooks even got some too!

We also started Brooks back on solids this week. He is not too fond of his cereal and it is hilarious to watch him eat…poor guy gets laughed at the entire time he is trying to “eat” his dinner. Mommy and daddy think he is pretty funny. Take a look at the video and you be the judge!

Brooks "enjoying" a little dinner after the Ash Wednesday service!