Hanging out

Brenna is getting much more active in her sleep lately. When she first starting napping in the crib, we moved the bumper so that we could easily see into the side of the crib to make sure she was doing ok. Now, when she sleeps in there, we find her in all sorts of positions, some of which require that the bumper be put back! I have found her with her feet through the slats, as in this picture - and one morning she bonked her head on them and woke herself up! So, now the bumper is back and all the hard parts of the crib are covered. No more bonks on the head allowed!

Overcoming a hurdle

Brenna is not a big fan of traditional tummy time, so mommy figured out (with some help from Jody and Jacy) that the Boppy can be a great help with getting that tummy time in. You can see in the first picture that Brenna is learning to hold her head up really well - she has a very strong neck (as she shows us frequently by tossing her head around when we are holding her). During this tummy time activity, she decided to climb over the Boppy. It took her a few minutes, but I could see her little legs and arms working to push her body over the top of the Boppy. After a little struggle and a little bit of fussing, she managed to get herself almost all the way over it - into the position on the 3rd picture. Then, mom came to the rescue. We are very excited to see this kind of activity in our little girl already - we think it's a good sign of her strength and abilities!

Favorite Pastime

Everyone loves this picture, so I thought it would make a good blog post. Brenna has definitely inherited one of her daddy's favorite pastimes - napping. This picture was taken one weekend when Justin had worked hard out in the heat and needed to catch up on his sleep. During a very messy diaper change, Justin never heard the calls for help, so Brenna was plopped on to his chest while mommy cleaned up the mess. She instantly fell asleep with him and stayed that way for quite awhile.

Say cheese!

Well, here it is, Brenna's first official smile (on camera anyway). She's been smiling for about a week - real smiles, not just the kind associated with gas or other bodily functions. Today, after this afternoon's bottle, Brenna was in a playful mood, so mommy decided to try to capture a smile on camera. You can see mommy's hand in one of the pictures - after a pinch/tickle on the cheek to solicit a smile. Gotta love that little grin!

Road Trip!

This weekend we took a trip to Show Low (and stopped in Globe on the way home). It was an exciting weekend - lots of people that got to meet Brenna for the first time! We had a small open house at Grandma and Grandpa Pearson's house and Brenna got to meet lots of family friends who live in Show Low. Unfortunately, she was not at her best. A gas bubble (or something horrible) got the best of her for most of the party and she was fussy and crying the entire time. But, she did get to meet her buddy Colton who is 9 days older than her. This is a picture of them with Colton's mommy and brother (Meghan & Sean). The weather was a bit chilly in Show Low (compared to the 100+ degrees here in the valley) so we didn't venture out too much. It was a fun weekend and a nice getaway!

On our way home, we stopped in Globe to visit Great-Grandad Pearson and Aunt Sandy. Brenna is Gran's 5th great-grandchild and it was very fun to visit.
This picture represents 4 different generations of Pearsons! Fortunately, Brenna was in a pretty good mood during this visit - once she was fed. The ride home from Globe was sort of noisy, but overall, Brenna handled this road trip well. And she should, we'll be making it often!

Is crying contagious?

It would seem so after seeing Brenna spend a few hours with her friend Jason. This weekend, we had dinner with our friends the Martins and experienced what appeared to be contagious crying episodes. If Jason was content and Brenna started crying, Jason would soon start crying. This phenomenon also worked the other way around. It also seemed that once we got one baby calm, the other one would pick it up! Needless to say, we had a pretty noisy night, as indicated by the picture of them crying together. But, we did have fun!


Brenna also discovered a new toy while we were there. Jason's swing has 2 different motions and during one of her crying spells, we thought we'd try out the cradle mode to see if it helped her. And . . . it did! So, that has been our most recent purchase. Although Brenna had a swing already, the cradle mode makes a world of difference for her, it really seems to soothe her, so we gave in and bought one. As you can see, it will probably help mom and dad stay sane.