Brooks: Week 22-23

Brooks officially turns 6 months old tomorrow! Yay Brooks! I can’t believe that he is already half a year old…thank is crazy! I was looking back at the hospital pictures the other day and it is quite amazing the difference between now and then! He looked so small and fragile and today he seems so “beefy” and all boy! According to the pediatrician visit this past Monday he weighs 19.9 lbs and is almost 28 inches long! That puts him in the 80th percentile for weight and the 60th percentile for length. He is a growing boy that is for sure! He was such a trooper for his shots this time…yes he did cry but not for too long and he was easily distracted…thank you Lord! One good thing is he slept through the night Monday night…thank you 6 month shots!

Speaking of sleeping through the night…we have hit a wall when it comes to sleeping more than 5 hours straight. We asked the doctor about it and he pretty much told us that “Brooks has our number” and that if we want him to sleep solid then we need to take some action. Last night was our first “action” night and man it was miserable for ALL of us! He woke up about 2:30 and I tried just putting his passy back in but that didn’t work. For the next hour and 45 minutes we had a battle of wills…and ultimately momma and daddy’s will won! It was truly the hardest thing that we’ve had to do as parents so far. I cried, Brooks cried but in the end we feel like we are doing what is best for our family. Cross your fingers and say a prayer that tonight will be better than last night and the next night will be better than tonight…we are on a mission…a sleeping through the night mission!

Brooks, daddy and mommy have been very busy over the past few weeks. There has been work, the daily grind and lots of playing going on. It is now officially Spring here in central Florida and we are all enjoying the gorgeous weather minus the pesky allergies and tons of pollen. Brooks and I have been taking advantage of the beautiful mornings and we’ve been hitting the pavement early. Our runs and walks have been great! Brooks is such a big boy now that he can actually sit in the jogger like a big boy…he loves it! He really likes that he can see out and he really enjoys the cool breeze. It makes my time much more enjoyable too…there is a lot less stopping and “mommy entertainment” during our outings. The weather here has been so nice that we are starting to take advantage of the “heated” pools in Celebration. Brooks LOVES the pool! He is so funny…he just splashes and then he relaxes as we both enjoy the sun and water. Don’t worry we lather him up good with a 60+ sunscreen and he wears a sun-proof hat. We don’t want that baby white skin to burn! Come August he will be as brown as a bear!

Some of Brooks’ recent mile stones have been his improved sitting up. He is so proud of himself when he sits up big and tall. He is so stinkin’ cute! He is still barrel rolling and is much more tolerant of being on his tummy. While he is on his tummy he is pushing up big and strong with his arms (sort of like the cobra pose in yoga). Next thing you know he will be up on all fours! He is reaching for EVERYTHING now…nothing within his reach is safe especially when you are holding him! He is so much more aware of his surroundings and he is like a little sponge taking it ALL in. Mark and I bought him a jumper-roo at a yard sale for 10 buck and it has been our best baby investment yet! Brooks LOVES to jump and will entertain himself in that thing! It is great for when I am making dinner or trying to eat my cereal in the morning…a real lifesaver sometimes! Another first for Brooks this past weekend was he went on his daddy’s boat for the first time. It was a short trip but well worth the pictures of him in his life vest! Poor little guy was all scrunched up but safety first! I actually just bought him a new vest today at Target and I hope that it fits a little better than the last one! Solid foods are getting better every day. He LOVES oatmeal but gags on rice cereal. He really like it when I mix in banana, apple or pears and he eats sweet potatoes straight up! We experiment as much as we can and he is definitely taking a liking to it!

I ran my first 10K since having Brooks this past Saturday. It was a really nice morning and then run was a lot of fun. I ran with a girlfriend and she and I did pretty well considering that neither one of us were really trained up for it. It took us just under an hour to run the 6.2 miles…Mark and Brooks were waiting at the finish line cheering us on! This Friday is our 5th wedding anniversary and Mark surprised me with a trip to the beach! We are all leaving tomorrow for some fun in the sun. I’ll be sure to post some fun pictures of that trip next week!