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

Merry Christmas to All!!!

We went to mommy and daddy's friends house.

I like watching the older kids play

I loved all their toys!

They were all so silly! I had a hard time keeping up

with them all.

This is my cousin Miranda. I had fun hanging out with her.

I got cool toys at Grammy's house!

And more cool toys at Grandpa Lee's house!

Pulling on my Great Uncle Tom's hair was WAY

more fun than opening all those presents!

I got to spend special time with my Great Grandpa.

My Great Aunt Marsha let me have this snowman

that goes in the fridge. I loved listening to it talk to me.

-What a wonderful Christmas break we had! We started off the trip to St. Louis by visiting with family at Grandpa Lee's home. We then went to our friends' (Mandy and Toby) home Thursday night. It was so fun to see Brooks play with the older kids. He loved watching them play around him and sat there taking it all in. By the end of the evening he was reaching for Addison's hand and getting tackled by Nicholas and Vinny. So fun! We then drove to Josh's mom's house the next day. Brooks really enjoyed getting tons of love from his Grammy and PaPa Videmschek. He got to spend time with his Aunt Tracey and Cousin Miranda too. He had a special Christmas morning with them all. All the food was so yummy and it was great to catch up with everyone. Later that day we drove back to Grandpa Lee's home to spend time with Great Grandpa, the Postols and Fairburns. Brooks was spoiled with gifts and plenty of "sugar". He had so much fun pulling Great Uncle Tom's hair, singing the bumble bee song with Great Aunt Marsha, getting slipped money from Great Grandpa, chasing after Great Aunt Chris, thinking Great Uncle Ham was Santa, playing with his second cousins, and giving Grandpa Lee hugs! He was so exhausted from a day full of festivities that he slept 13 hours that evening! Brooks, Josh and I had a wonderful trip into St. Louis and want to thank everyone for all their generosity. We are blessed by wonderful family and wish we got to see them all more often. Merry Christmas to all our family and friends!

I'm ONE!!!

My invitation to my birthday party

(mom blurred out details for posting on blog)

Cupcakes to match

Details....

I love balloons and mommy had TONS there!

Party favors for my friends and family

Bookmark with a cute owl saying and yummy s'more owls

What's a party without a pinata?

Not too sure about this hat

Yuck...this feels weird

Nice! Right in the face and hair

I had icing in my nostrils for days!

PRESENTS!! and all my friends to help me unwrap them

I'm having so much fun!!!

Daddy gave me my first sucker and I got lots of pizza for lunch.

Could this day have gotten any better?

-Well...it's official....our Brooksy is ONE! I woke up feeling a little sad because our baby is no longer a "baby". There are so many changes and transitions coming up and I just want him to stay little!!! He is just getting so big and changing everyday. He is adding new words weekly and his new animal sound is a pig. I love it! My favorite animal sound he makes is an elephant...we worked hard at that one. He is picking up things so quickly and I'm just not ready for it yet. I know Josh is looking forward to the fun toys and games in the year ahead...but I am sad to let go of my bottle/bonding time with my Brooksy. It kills me when he looks at me asking for his "ba ba". We are down to 3 bottles a day with hopes to wean him to 2 in next few weeks or so after transitioning to milk. I am not going to push it too quickly because he is on all table foods and drinks from straw cup. (Can you tell I'm trying to hold on as long as I can?)

-We had his "owl themed" birthday party on Sunday at my parents home. Thanks to everyone who came for making his day so special. He LOVED hanging out with all the kids. He was in heaven with friends, balloons, food, balls and toys. We had pizza/breadsticks, salad, fruit, veggies, chips, cake/cupcakes, and drinks for everyone. He had fun watching the kids take swings at the Owl Pinata and even got to taste a sucker! He was not too sure of the cake and icing. He did not put any to his mouth and was quickly over the sensory overload. I was proud of him for tearing into it at least for a little bit! He then opened presents (or had help opening them) while we played a slideshow video of his first year of life. I'll try to upload it to the blog later. All that followed by the McCarroll Christmas in the evening....wow...I'm exhausted again just writing about it! He slept until 9 the next morning:)

-Again...thanks to EVERYONE for all your love and support this past year. We could not have gotten through it without you all. We have had some ups and downs...but this first year was better than I could have ever imagined. Being a mommy is one of the BEST things in life and so fulfilling. A special thanks to Josh for putting up with me the first 4 months of Brooks' life and to my mom for watching Brooks 3 days a week. I always know he is in the best hands at Grandma's house!

Birthday Surprises and Snow days....

Uh...Who is this hairy bearded guy?

And why are you leaving me with him?

Ho..ho..ho...help me!

Finished product...classic!!

Not as bad with my cousins near by, but I won't

take my eye off of mommy.

My birthday present for mommy

-Today is my 34th birthday...UGH! That sounds old!! I had to work all day in this snowy mess and it did not feel too much like my birthday during the day. But when I got home...Josh cooked me dinner and Brooks decided to take a few steps as my birthday present. I was SO excited. I called Josh in and we were to capture a few steps on video. Later in the evening he was taking up to 4 steps. Looks like he will be waddling around on Christmas. He was so proud of himself. He just makes me so happy;) Thanks for all the birthday wishes everyone.

-This past Monday was a snow day and Josh got the day off. We took advantage of it and had Brooks visit Santa. At first he was just staring and even gave him a shy wave. But as soon as I placed him in his lap...he started crying. It was hilarious. It was the classic crying baby. Little does he know that there will be MANY more Santa pictures to come. Growing up, one of the family traditions was to have our picture taken with Santa until we got married. So...sorry Brooks...the tradition will live on!!

One Week Away....

Hootie Hoo....

-Brooks will be turning 1 in one week!!! I can NOT believe where the year went. I was super prego one year ago and anxious to find out what we were having. I could never have imagined I would have been blessed with a son as wonderful as Brooks. Ok...I know I'm being the typical mushy mom...but life really is better with him in our world. I thought at one time I would never get the chance to be a mom. And now my little man is getting so old! He is not going to be my "baby" anymore. We have started weaning down on the bottle and offering less formula in hopes to encourage him to eat more solids. He may be eating plenty...I just don't have anything to compare it to. I always forget his stomach is really small still. When he signs "all done" in the middle of the meal...I just can't believe he is full. He really enjoys food and is trying more and more everyday. Today he had some sliced roast beef (yuck! I know) and pizza (minus the cheese). He LOVED the pizza. He also had his first sandwich yesterday. He ate half of a toasted turkey and avocado on wheat. He did not get all the bread down..but did a good job on the rest. I just need to try different things for breakfast. He is so over the cereal with fruit and puffs. I am so sad that he will be giving up the bottle soon. We plan to tackle the switch to milk and stopping the bottle after the holidays. Why mess up a good thing during a hectic time?? His 12 mo checkup is not until after the first of the year anyways. He is looking so much older too. The posted pix are from our family photo shoot a few weeks ago. He is going to have an owl themed birthday and I just could not pass up the chance to get a few pix of him in this cute hat. Some of the other pix will be on our Christmas card and I'll post more later.

-Brooks had his first sleep over with my sister Tara and her family on Saturday. Josh and I had both our work holiday parties to attend. We had so much fun and it was great to get out. However, the recovery the next day is never easy. I guess Brooks did really well but cried a little when going to bed. I think he was confused as to why he was going to bed in a different place. I feel really lucky to have family close by to help out. Brooks loves them so much and has a blast with his cousins.

Obsession.....

Watch out!!!

-Brooks was introduced to the push toy today. Oh boy...watch out. Here comes trouble! He LOVED it! He was laughing up a storm while running into everything. It took him a few trials to figure out how it works and to get his balance behind it. He wanted to practice...practice..practice! We must have gone up and down the hall 100 times! By the evening time he was figuring out how to turn it and avoid obstacles. He is obsessed with his new toy. Christmas is going to be fun!!!!

Lots to be Thankful for...

I'm thankful for my family

And turkey!!!

And that Mizzou beat KU for Daddy

My first time hunting down our X-Mas tree

Burr...it was cold

Grandpa Lee was there too!

I'm trying to figure out this train thing...

All aboard......

-We had a very nice Thanksgiving holiday. It started with Grandpa Lee coming into town Wednesday. Brooks enjoyed his first Turkey Day at the McCarroll's with the rest of my family. Unfortunately my sister Tara and her family were out of town this time. We missed them! Brooks ate some turkey, sweet potatoes, green beans, and pears. He seemed to enjoy it! Grandma always makes the best stuffing and pies! None of that this year for Brooks.

-Friday was so nice!!! I went shopping for 4 hours!!! I have not gotten away like by myself since Brooks was born. It is usually only for a few hours. He had a blast with Grandpa Lee and Daddy.

-Saturday we loaded up the dogs and took Brooks to cut down his first X-Mas tree. We go every year to the Millbrook Tree Farm in Yorktown. It is a fun tradition we have started. This year Grandpa and his dog Kap'em joined us. After several (cold) minutes of tree hunting....we found the perfect tree!! Brooks was taking it all in and thought it was funny that dad was lying on the ground cutting down a tree. He was even more confused when he woke up from his nap to find a tree in his play area!! Then imagine after his second nap, he woke up to a decorated tree with a choo choo train whistling around the tree!! He was a little taken back and pretty scared of the train. He crawled over to me and would not let go. However, gradually he started to think the train was pretty cool. By the third day he would ask for the train by pointing to it, saying "choo choo", and pulling the "air" horn. He is starting to think it is pretty cool! The train is so special because it is 60 years old and belonged to Grandpa Lee when he was 5. I love starting these family traditions with Brooks. This is what family is all about to me. Creating memories and sharing in past memories. It warms my heart to see him sitting in his daddy's lap playing "choo choo".