Birthday parties and standing

It might not seem like those two things have anything in common, but in Brenna's world they do. Both were big events in her life this week! Last weekend, we attended two 1st birthday parties. One was for our friend Sydney (her daddy is Justin's friend from college) - we had fun watching the other little kids play and watching Sydney eat her special cupcake with lots of frosting. Then, we left that party to go to our friend Maya's party (she goes to daycare with Brenna) near our house. We got there just in time to wear a princess hat that we personalized for Brenna, get a special blow-up wand, and watch Maya tear into her cake, and dance in it too. Brenna is learning new things every day and standing is one of them. She has had strong legs from birth, but now can hold herself up for short periods of time without any support from us. This picture was taken tonight when daddy let her stand at the table while he was close behind. She is definitely more of a wiggle worm than ever before. It is getting more difficult to change her diapers since she squirms around so much, she doesn't want to sit still in our arms, she rolls all over the place when she is put on her floor mat, and her baths are soaking mommy - so much splashing and kicking! But we are having so much fun with her - we can't wait for more!

First snow

Brenna saw her first snow this weekend when we took a trip up to the mountains to see Grandma and Grandpa Pearson. It was very COLD there so we spend all of our time inside, but she got to see it from the windows - in nice warm grandparent arms. Brenna spent the long weekend entertaining everyone with her babbling, funny facial expressions, giggles and rolls. She played peek-a-boo, tickled Grandpa's beard and tried to eat whatever letters/pictures she could find on someone's shirt. She even got a bracelet that mommy wore when she was a baby. We got to visit with Meghan, Sean and Colton too - it was lots of fun! Tonight was our first adventure into the world of oatmeal. Since the rice cereal didn't seem to be making it into her belly, we tried the oatmeal cereal and it went very well. We think she actually ate it instead of rubbing it all over her face. After she ate, we gave her the spoon to play with and she chewed on it for awhile. Maybe tomorrow it'll be more familiar and the food will go down easier.

Another surgery update

We've just been rescheduled - again. But, this time it is moved up a week - to February 14th, Valentine's day! We are still working to get our little angel healthy, she can't seem to get rid of this yucky cough that caused her surgery to be postponed in the first place. She's back on antibiotics and we're hoping it'll work. We might have to take some extra time off with her to get her healthy, but whatever it takes will be worth it! Even sick, Brenna is a pretty happy baby. She is becoming more mobile - rolling around all over the place. Sometimes we'll find that she's rolled from her floor mat/toy to under the coffee table or next to her swing (both about a foot away from the edge of her mat). She continues to wiggle in her sleep and we find her in all sorts of funny positions. She is much easier to get a laugh out of now. Sometimes just talking to her in a silly voice elicits a squeal or giggle. Since our last post, we've stopped trying the rice cereal. She just wasn't doing really great with it and would get pretty mad when we came close with that spoon. So, we took a short break (continuing to let her play in the high chair while we ate) and starting early next week, we'll try out the oatmeal. She is sleeping well - she almost always sleeps through the night for us, which is a great relief (then nobody is cranky due to lack of sleep). Check back soon for more updates!

5 months old

Brenna is now 5 months old! Based on the home scale she weighs about 15 pounds (her next checkup isn't until next month). She is growing and changing so much every day and we can't believe that our baby is almost half a year old. As we've mentioned in earlier posts, she is learning new things each day and has recently started making new noises and puts EVERYTHING in her mouth so we think that teeth are on the horizon. She really seems to enjoy paper and books - those are almost always what she reaches for first (and of course brings them straight to her mouth). I hope she likes books this much when she learns to read! Now that she is 5 months old, we decided to introduce rice cereal to her diet. She was giving us signs that she was ready for food (eating A LOT, eyeballing our food, reaching for our cups, etc.) so we thought we'd try it out. So far, we've tried it 4 times and most of the cereal ends up on her chin, cheek, nose, hands, bib, etc. But, we figure the longer we try, it will become a part of her routine and she'll learn to eat it. It is also an attempt to get her used to the new high chair (and attached toys) that she got for Christmas from Grandma and Grandad Pearson. She has moved into a bigger car seat and has been sleeping through the night most nights (hope I didn't just jinx it) and it is nice for us to get some rest!

Happy 2006!

We started off 2006 with . . . well, with sleep. You know they say babies change everything! Our family has been suffering from coughs, stuffy noses, and all around yucky feelings for awhile now and New Year's Eve was no exception. We are hoping to just kick this junk out of our house soon!! Anyway, our evening was quiet. We started off the weekend getting to see Aunt Jamie and Uncle Josh and then Grandma Diane came to visit too. Grandpa Dave couldn't make it since we were all sick and didn't want to get Great-Grandad Alvin sick. We got to open more presents (and paper for Brenna to eat) and hang out together. It was a fun time. We helped Great Aunt Debbie and Cousin Chelsea move into their new house on Saturday - it was a busy day. Brenna treated us to a couple of new things this weekend. A new noise that she makes sounds like she's clearing her throat, but she does it when she laughs, before she cries and sometimes when she's just hanging out. She's also discovered her tongue and chews on it and sticks it out all the time. It is so fun to see each of her little discoveries! We are definitely looking forward to what new things she will learn as we move into 2006!