Christmas Morning

Brooke had lots of presents under the tree. It wore her out and she is napping now. Merry Christmas to all!

SH

Seattle!

We had a fantastic time in Seattle. A brief recap - walk along the waterfront, trip to the aquarium (where Big Girl walked around holding our hands), fantastic five course dinner at a fancy (and kid friendly!) restaurant that Blake chose, shopping downtown for Mommy and Brooke, and to cap it all off, the Seahawk game!!!!




Brooke was an absolute trooper through it all - nothing fazed her, not even seats at the very last row of Quest Field, surrounded by screaming Seahawk fans. She just ate her garlic fries and popcorn and made friends with the folks around us.


We had such a good time. Now we look forward to Grandma Yoo Hoo and Santa coming!

Strolling Along and Looking Snazzy

Brooke wore her super duper cute birthday outfit from Grandma Mary today. She kept pointing at her tights-covered legs. She also has really been cruising around the room! Such a big girl!

Looking Forward to the Holidays

A Christmas miracle happened at my work - they decided to close all of next week. I will have a fantastic eleven days off in a row. Blake will have two four-day weekends in a row. We need this time! Brookie is so busy at school that by 4:45 when I pick her up she is tired, hungry and crabby. She is in bed most evenings by 6:30! Not much time to spend with our sweet girl. So, hooray for quality time over the next two weeks!

Brooke has been pointing at everything and she is hugging things (and sometimes us) now. I was showing her my zoo membership card that has a picture of a tiger on it. I was making "meow" sounds and Brooke was resting her cheek on the card. She did this over and over. Not sure what goes through her mind at times, but it was SURE cute!!!

Here are some candids over the last few weeks. Look for fresh posts on Monday - we are heading to Seattle for the weekend to catch a Seahawk game!

Christmas Traditions

Brooke "helped" Blake hang the stockings above the fireplace. Then it was time for the Christmas card photo shoot - which ended when The Talent fell off the couch.....

The Tree!

Blake and I set up the tree last night while Brooke was asleep. This morning we turned it on and brought Brooke down. She loves the tree! Just a few days ago she began really pointing at things - you can see her new skill here!

In the Ring

I put Brooke in her play area tonight and I turned around and she was sitting inside this ring. The ring is her crawling tunnel in a folded up state. She sat in it for a good 20 minutes - reading books, handing me things and, um, filling her diaper spectacularly.....

New Chair!

Brooke has her own chair now! It also doubles as a jungle gym.

On the Move

Brooke Marie Rose has started taking some steps! We will have video footage soon. In other news, she can crawl up the stairs, has a new top tooth, got FIVE shots yesterday, is in the 75th+ percentile for weight and off the charts in the 97th+ percentile for height (32")! She is doing great. Dr. Mary said she has to be off the bottle in a month and we have to start brushing her teeth at night....I can only imagine how that is going to work out...

Brrrr!

Hard to swallow that last week we were sweating at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena and here we are today, walking to Safeway in 30 degree weather! We got home before the snow swirled down. Quite pretty, but I am glad it turned to rain - I don't like it when it is icy on the roads. The rest of today was spent making jambalaya in the crock pot, napping and playing with Brooke! The best way to spend the day!

Here is Princess having a snack and watching the snow fall outside with Blake while I washed Thor at the fancy-pants dog salon.

Back from California

We made it back Monday night - just barely. Brooke was a wild baby on the plane - obsessed with taking off my glasses and Blake's visor. She had reached the end of her travelling rope.

We were not very good about taking pictures this trip. Hopefully, those who did take photos will share with us!

Thanksgiving dinner was lovely (thanks Rosanne!), good to see the O'Brien side of the family and to see the cousins' kids play together.

Then, it was off to Ventura for two days, which included another turkey dinner, a high school football game and the UCLA/U of O football game at the Rose Bowl. Very nice day in Pasadena and a yummy dinner at a steakhouse afterwards - thanks Grandpa! Thanks Grandma Mary for watching Brookie while we were out.

Sunday brought us down to San Deigo for a visit with Grandma Julie and the Chargers/Ravens game (Go Bolts!). A big Thank You to Barry and Erin for inviting us! Monday we walked around the waterfront and had some much-missed Mexican food at a local Oceanside spot called Johnny Mananas.

Then it was time to head home!

Turkey Day Flashback

We are off to So Cal for the family world tour visit, including the Charger game on Sunday! Be back on Monday night.

Here are two photos from last Thanksgiving:

Silly Goose

Today Brooke decided to chew on magazine insert cards. Then she decided to just hold it in her mouth and shake her head back and forth. She is silly.

Her other new trick is to hurt your face (scratch, pinch, etc.) and when you grab her hand and say "No, Brooke", even in a very quiet and gentle voice, she cries with crocodile tears. Naughty!

Ouch.

Not many photo ops this week. Brooke has been sick and/or teething most of this week. She stayed home from school on her birthday and then was sent home from school with a fever the next two days. Luckily, Blake has tomorrow off and she can spend the day with him. She has been drooling and chewing her hands like crazy. She has her two bottom center teeth fully in, and the next two on either side of those are juuuuust peeking through. Other kids her around her age in her class have lots of teeth. I think she is going to have a tooth explosion over the next few weeks....

Birthday Girl Ofoto Link

Pictures may be found at the following link (cut and paste address into your browser):

http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLandingSignin.jsp?Uc=158pbefj.b93m4p8v&Uy=-xw5w47&Upost_signin=Slideshow.jsp%3Fmode%3Dfromshare&Ux=0

Early Birthday

Tonight we celebrated Brooke's birthday - a few days early due to Blake's upcoming business trip. She had a very full day of playing at the park and a long walk. She also decided to only take ONE small nap in the morning. Despite numerous bottles, placement in her crib and desperate pleading, she refused to take another nap. Thus she was in fine form by present and cupcake time at 5:30 p.m. She was not interested in the presents at first, she preferred to play with the balloons. Eventually she got in the spirit of things and checked out the toys and very cute outfits. Thank you very much everyone! For now, a few photos - later on, a Flickr album with all the photos.