13 Months....I'm a big boy now!

Mommy made me take this picture of my last "ba-ba"

-Brooks turned 13 months on the 20th. Boy that sounds old! He had no problem stopping his evening bottle this past week. I was the one that was holding on. I was a little sad that our special bottle time was coming to an end, but he has to stop sometime...so why not now? He has not asked for it since stopping it. Go figure! What a big boy.

-He has been a little crabby at times since Thursday. I did not know if he was getting sick or having a tummy ache from all the dairy or what! I just knew this whining had to stop. Well...I decided to look into his mouth on Saturday and found the problem.....4 new teeth had popped! He got 1 more incisor on top, 2 more incisors on bottom and 1 new molar on bottom!!! His other molar ridges are swollen too! Poor guy! I would be whiny too. He has since been coughing at night and has another runny nose. This round of teething has been tough on him. I heard those molars are bad...and they are!

-Brooks is really enjoying walking everywhere and has gotten so much better walking with shoes. He loves to parade around the house carrying his two balloons. This boy is obsessed with balloons...so weird! But, it makes him happy and that is what matters. Don't get me wrong...he still loves his balls, cars, trains, etc....but nothing can beat the balloon! Grandpa Lee was in town this past weekend and brought him a heart balloon for Valentines day. He loves it and had a great time hanging out with Grandpa. Those times are always so special. Grandpa Lee gets a kick out of the sign language Brooks uses to get his needs met. He is now using signs for "more, please, all done, milk, thank you, eat, brush teeth" and is even using 2 signs together! He surprises me with all the things he picks up. He has not added too many new words or sounds in the past month. He is still around 15 or so word approximations/signs/environmental sounds. He loves to give hugs and blow kisses. He melts our hearts when he lays his head on our shoulder to cuddle. He has all of us wrapped up around his finger when he does that! He is getting more opinionated as well. He spits out food he does not want and is swatting at food/drink we present to him if he is not interested. What a stinker! Got to love it though! He is eating well and usually eats most of what we give him. He is beginning to get a little more picky with his veggies. His favorite is avocado and eats almost a whole one at a meal! He likes his meats and of course fruit. His favorite snacks are cheese, yogurt melts and "pirates booty". He just can't get enough of them!

Randomness ...

Mommy is silly

I LOVE to climb on stuff

Hanging out at Cousin Cameron's 7th grade

B-Ball game with Cousin Cassidy, Mommy,

and Aunt Tammy.... I LOVED it

and would not take my eye off the ball.

-I don't have any new pix this week so I decided to post some random ones.

-Brooks finally had his 12 mo shots today and was so brave! He cried lots more when the doctor re-checked his ear. No ear infection and no meds. It cleared on its own. I think it was inflamed due to his teething. He has been coughing at night and another tooth popped through...so I think it has been all related to that. Fun stuff!

-Brooks decided today was the day to start walking all the time. He is walking everywhere when yesterday he would have just crawled the 2 feet to get to a toy. He is falling often of course, but transitions back up to stand and going at it again. He is so proud of himself and I still am not used to him upright! So crazy.

-We went to check out a mothers day out program today. We plan to put him in a class come fall time. It will be good for him to follow a routine and be with other kids. I think he will love it. Now we just need to decide which one and hope we get a spot. It is crazy out there in the preschool world!!

It's in the Blood....

Check out my new moves!

He Haw.... He Haw... I love bouncing on my donkey.

-Well....you can tell there is definitely some McCarroll in his blood. He already loves kicking a soccer ball! Too cute.... He also loves riding his Rody and is learning to bounce himself. However....as you can see he has not perfected it yet. I think that is part of the fun....falling! (no babies were hurt when filming this video;) )

Just Hanging Out

Hey...how did that balloon get over there?

My new play area

I love my special spot!

New experiences are so fun....and funny!

-Sorry I have not blogged in several days....been busy. Brooks seems to be over his cold but it took about 1.5 weeks. He never ended up going on meds...but still has not gotten his shots because he was sick both times. Still have that to look forward to next week! He continues to be so much fun and learned a new sign..."please". He is also saying "meow" more consistently for a cat. He is walking more and more each day but still not walking 100% of the time. He is standing for long periods of time to play and can transition up to stand without support. The most exciting change the past week was starting milk without any reactions (knock on wood)!!! He is transitioning down to 1 bottle this weekend and takes milk the rest of the day. He seems to really like it too! That is a huge relief for now. I keep prolonging stopping the bottle because I am going to miss it! (probably more than Brooks!) He is eating SO much more now that he decreased his bottles. He loves food and eats pretty much anything. I know I should enjoy it now since toddlers can be picky! He LOVES to brush his teeth. We finally switched to a child's toothbrush and flouride-free toothpaste. He gets SO excited when getting ready for bed and starts the "brushing teeth" motion as we walk up the stairs. It is so funny. He is really proud when brushing his own teeth....ah...the simple joys of life!!!

12 mo checkup

-Brooks had his 12 mo checkup today (well..actually 12.5 months). It went well but we held off on getting shots because he is still not feeling 100% today. He is fever free...but I did not want to take a chance with his immune system down. He still has a bad cough at night and has a little fluid behind his right ear. We are going to keep an eye on it, but no need for meds right now. He weighs 22.8 lbs (50th percentile) and 31 3/4 in long (95th percentile). I thought he weighed more...but still long and skinny. Everything looked good though. Doc said not to sweat getting him off bottle and to wean over next month. We plan to try whole milk and then go from there if he has a reaction. Next checkup is at 16 months. I thought he would be walking more consistently by now, but he is taking 10 steps, lets go to stand for up to 1 min, and is coming up to stand without assist at times. He is close...but just not ready yet. It freaks us out to see him let go, turn and walk by us. We are not used to it yet. Our little guy is growing up right before our eyes!

-Brooks LOVES balloons and is really been working on blending the sounds. He is getting the "L" sound off the balloon and loves to drag it around everywhere! Even if it is deflated! We caught him on tape today talking about his balloon and saying "bye" at the end. His bye cracks me up! Whenever it is time to go "sleepy night night", he reaches for me, immediately waves and then says "bye" to Daddy and the dogs. He is too much!!

Happy New Year!

Bringing in the New Year in style!

-Happy New Year to everyone! We hope 2011 brings you happiness, peace, joy, love and of course wealth! We did make midnight...but barely! We had been taking care of a sick son (bad cold, teething, diaper rash, and fever). It has been the sickest Brooks has been...but he is a trooper. I enjoyed mommy time with LOTS of snuggles. It is so hard to have a sick kid. I wish I could have taken the discomfort away from him. We had hoped to wean another bottle or stop it this past weekend...but with him being sick....it was impossible. He needed the bottle for hydration and comfort. Oh well....not the end of the world. He has his 1 year checkup on Monday and we will figure it out then.

-Here is the link to his 1 year birthday slideshow that I posted on youtube. It is about 12 min long...so if you have the time....enjoy! I think you have to copy and paste as it won't link to the video for some reason.....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n9wlJ9Gz--0