Back to School

School started last week, so I went back to working half-time. I'm really thankful that I not only have a job that I really love (I'll give OT a little shout-out here), but we also have Grammie who's able to watch Brooke most of the time when I'm at work.


These photos and this video have nothing to do with my going back to work, but I mentioned that Brooke is really into her stacking cups lately. What's funny is that she's more excited by our building the tower than knocking it over.

10 Months

What to say about Brooke at 10 months? It continues to be so fun to see her develop as a little person. She LOVES her food and is actually quite self-sufficient at meals now - except that after taking a drink from the sippy cup she throws it over the side of her chair. EVERY TIME. She now says, "Num-Num" to indicate wanting food or drink (which we find extra funny as Lexi did the same thing). There are times that I would swear she says "Dada" deliberately, but there are also times that I'm convinced I'm giving her WAY too much credit.


She's now mobile enough to be dangerous. No more leaving her on the couch or bed unattended. She's also started sleeping on her tummy sometimes, which she never used to do. Her favorite book is "Where is Baby's Belly Button?" and she's really excited by her stacking cups. She always giggles when daddy throws her up in the air and she loves walks, bath time and cuddling. I keep forgetting to mention that her blocked tear duct cleared up about three weeks ago, which we were very happy about.

She's the light of our lives and we're thankful everyday for her!

And Now, a Word from Our Sponsors...

The football season officially began a few weeks ago, but the Tigers had their first game last Friday. Even though Brooke didn't attend, she dressed up in her orange as a sign of solidarity.


This is Matt..... This paragraph was originally butchered by Jaimie. She wanted me to contribute, so I'm doing it. I also thought I'd post some links, although most of the girls that read this probably aren't all that interested! I guess the way to get me involved in posting is by making errors regarding Wheaton Warrenville South Football.

This is Matt's third year coaching the QB's there and even though I give him trouble for it, I'm really proud of his dedication and how much he pours into the kids there. Did I mention that they won the state championship last year? Did I mention that his QB this year is getting a full ride to University of Illinois? Did I mention they're ranked No.1 in the state of Illinois and No. 37 in the nation? Did I also mention that they're going to be on ESPNU this Friday, September 3 at 4:00? Make him (me) happy by tuning in. Then I guess I also forgot to mention that we're selling advertising space on Matt's shirt that day. (Since he's only a volunteer coach, we're looking for some ways for this to pull in a little extra cash.)

As you can imagine, this headband no longer fits Brooke's head.

Told You!

Here's Brooke hanging out in her favorite new chair reading her favorite new book. And this wasn't staged at all.

Trick and Treat

The other day, I was eating a nectarine and letting Brooke take nibbles of it. I knew she was enjoying it, but didn't know quite how much until she started crying when I went to throw it away. I decided that then was as good a time as any to try her little fruit-in-the-mesh-holder thing. I put a chunk of nectarine in it and she munched on it for about 10 minutes until it was virtually all gone. That's my girl! I got a video of it because she was being so vocal in her enjoyment. This video also shows her new trick of "sharing" her food -this time with Ozzie. (Sorry for my obnoxious baby voice. I really don't realize when I'm doing it.)

Statement Piece

Since before Brooke was born, I've had a gift certificate for The Stork's Cradle, a very cute (but also somewhat impractical) boutique in downtown Wheaton. We stopped by there yesterday and found this kiddie-sized chair. I love it and Brooke seems to, too.


Ozzie isn't so sure, though. Not sure what this chair has been through but he cannot stop sniffing it.

I'm not a big fan of decorating (I hate it, actually), but if we ever sell our house and I have to decorate a new room for Brooke, I think I'm going to design it around this chair.


I love that I can picture her sitting in it for the next few years, just chilling and reading a book. Plus, her future sisters will be able to use it, too - right, Matt?

Family Style

We decided to take advantage of the beautiful weather and a "free birthday dinner" coupon and have dinner out as a family this past weekend. Our table was smack in the sun for the first half hour or so, so Brooke got to rock this stylish hat/dress combo.

Nothing too exciting to report about this meal, except that maybe Matt thought that he could outsmart the restaurant and use the coupon for his expensive steak rather than my fish. I was okay with going along with it until the waitress asked, "Oh! Whose birthday is it?!?" and I panicked and fessed up. Matt went with a smaller steak than he had originally planned.


It was a little windy...

Later, I opened my gifts from Matt. He got me this AWESOME bottle of wine, Rombauer Chardonnay. I first tried it when we were in Tahoe and I guess I had been talking about it a lot. Oops. And he also took my hints about wanting a cute little bag to go with my new neon outift that I've been saving for the first day of school. Not really. He bought the purse as a joke to avoid his picking one out and my returning it the next week. He knows me so well.

If I Ran the Zoo...

So, this title doesn't really fit the post, but I try to keep the post titles creative and this is the only thing that was coming to me related to zoos (that and Zumanity, the Cirque du Soleil show that's pretty risque and inappropriate to reference in a blog about my child).

ANYWAY. Brooke's been to a couple of zoos in the last few weeks. First, we checked out the St. Louis Zoo with my dad, brother and Lexi. Of course we picked one of the hottest days of the year and I was a little distracted so this is the only photo I got of that outing. I will say that visiting that zoo again made me realize how amazing (and FREE) it is. Brooke loved the penguin exhibit. The combo of cold air, water, and close proximity to animals is a no fail equation in my opinion.

Then yesterday we checked out Cosley Zoo in Wheaton with Grammie and Aunt Jamie. It was free for everyone but me (Non-resident...I even tried to flash my District 200 employee bling but they weren't impressed) and is a great place for younger kiddos. It's fun to see Brooke actually checking things out. She especially likes the exhibits where the animals are big and close up (duh). Of course, she was also just as entertained by the little girls running around, but I didn't get any shots of that.


There's really something about viewing the world through the eyes of a child that gives you a renewed appreciation for how amazing and creative God's creation is. It excites me to continue to rediscover the world through her eyes. Here's another example of my stellar photography skills. Sorry, Jamie!

I've never been one to want a lot of photos of myself, but I've decided that for posterity it might be nice if I'm in a few shots with The Girl, even if it means explaining to her why I sometimes look like I have 5 chins.

Twinkies

Grammie found this shirt that looks like Brooke's, so they donned matching ensembles for lunch the other day. We had to be selective about where we ate to ensure that they didn't blend in with the tables.

Back That Thing Up

Brooke is really beginning to get around - she just can't seem to figure out how to shift out of reverse. I haven't been able to capture it on video yet, but I hope to soon.

She'll have her eye on something ahead of her...then steadily back away from it. The good news is that true to her easygoing personality, she's content playing with whatever comes her way as she backs up. Unfortunately this is often dog hair or crumbs of dog food, thanks to Oz's neurotic eating habits and "no shed" coat.



The other day, she was on the floor on her purple blanket playing nicely with her toys. The next time I checked on her, I found her here. She wasn't yelling or crying - just chilling. I've decided that I'll enjoy this transition period before I have to fully babyproof.

Getaway

*Warning: no Brooke shots and lots of landscape shots in this post*

Each year, Matt and I have been able to take a trip for our anniversary. This year, we took a belated trip to Lake Tahoe, CA. I was not looking forward to leaving Brooke, but I knew that she was in good hands with my parents. Aside from choking up at the airport and spending at least 50% of the trip talking about her, I think that I did pretty well. I had forgotten what it's like to be able to read and sleep while on an airplane.

Matt's been to Lake Tahoe to ski a couple of times and told me how beautiful it was. I was eager to enjoy the beauty - minus the snow - in the summer. He did not undersell. It was gorgeous. I forget how FLAT the Midwest is.


After some debate on where we would stay along the lake, I won - I mean, we agreed - to stay on the northwest side instead of at a casino on the north shore like Matt wanted. We stayed at a beautiful, somewhat rustic B & B with beachfront access (thanks for the reference, Auntie Di!).

We went to dinner on the lake our first night there.


On our second day, we headed to Squaw Valley for some hiking. We decided to tackle Squaw Peak, the highest point at the resort.


It was only a 4.5 mile hike and we were feeling pretty good on the way down when we came to this sign:

(sidenote: the little boys behind the sign decided this was a good place for a bathroom break RIGHT after I took this photo)

Looks like you should be able to take a quick .8 mile hike down to the mountain lake, right? WRONG. We somehow got on the 2.7 mile STEEP trail down to the lake. Lake Shirley was beautiful, but by the time we got there, Captain Safety was so worried about the horrible climb back up that I barely had time to snap this shot.

Even with our detour, it was a great experience. That night, we headed to the casinos where we were up, went to dinner at the (gag) prime rib buffet, and proceeded to quickly lose our winnings after dinner. It was probably God punishing Matt for trying to ignore the 2-slice per trip maximum. Again, no photos so enjoy another one from our hike:

On Friday, we went white water rafting. I didn't get any pictures of this for obvious reasons, but it was a lot of fun. We rode some class 2 and class 3 rapids and our boat didn't flip over, despite the fact that the family on the raft with us were less athletic than I am (but very nice). You might think I'm exaggerating, but in the first 10 minutes of the ride, when we were just floating along not even paddling, Dad falls out of the raft and Junior loses his paddle. At that point, I was sure we were doomed. But, we got everyone back on the raft and while we definitely weren't the All Star boat, we had a great time. Here's another shot of Squaw Peak. Hey, with Brooke not around, it's amazing that I took any photos!

On our last night, we had dinner at Wolfdale's. I love restaurants where I feel like the dishes could be on Top Chef and this was one of those places. As usual, we had a ton of fun and it was great to get away with my hubby. Thanks for planning another great trip, Matt!

Flavor of the Week

Brooke's had the opportunity to expand her palate in the last couple of weeks. Last week, she tried prunes for the first time. Without getting graphic, prunes are NOT something that Brooke has needed in her diet, but my cousin's baby decided she was done with baby food, so she gave us her leftovers and I decided to try them. I think they were a hit!

When my parents came in town the week before last, we decided to try a place called Hackney's. Brooke didn't eat anything particularly exciting here, but I love this photo of her cracking up:


I was at my parents' last week and Brooke was being a little fussy before bed. I noticed that the whining had stopped as I headed in to get her. This is the scene that I came upon: