Brooklyn's First Haircut

Doesn't this before and after totally remind you of a weight loss one? Not smiling and close up in the before and smiling and a little further away in the after.

Lovely baby locks

Thomas of Salon Tomas working his magic.

Brooklyn got her first haircut this Sunday.  I was going to take her to the salon where I get my hair done but it seemed like such a hastle.  I was too chicken to do it but Thomas was brave and got the scissors out to give her a little trim.  Just the very top of her hair was really long and looked uneven so he evened it out with a few snips.  I saved the little locks to put in her baby book. 

Chores and bye-bye

As a kid I remember thinking that the reason my parents had four children was so that they wouldn't have to do any chores, they could just have us do it for them. Ha ha! I guess I'm following in their footsteps and getting Brooklyn use to doing chores at a young age. She loves to sit next to me when I am doing laundry and copy me. When we vacumm with her she likes to hold the cord up for us. That's pretty much the extent of her chore helping at this point but I'm sure we will add to her repertoire of chores as she gets older. Cause I mean that's the whole reason you have kids right? ;)

Sitting up and Playdate

Just in the past few days Brooklyn learned how to get from lying down to sitting.  Today when we put her down for a nap we heard her fussing for awhile so I walked in to her room and she is sitting up in her crib with her legs in between the bars trying to reach for her binky which had fallen out.  We are seeing progress towards crawling too.  She will move her hands forward and then try to move her knees but ends up on her tummy.

Check out Brooklyn's cheeks! This picture wasn't even planned.  The blinds were just being closed and they all looked.

All girls!

In other news this week we went on a play date.  These are so good for both Brooklyn and myself.  It gets us both out of the house and allows me time to chat with other mamas and Brooklyn can interact with other babies/kids. 

8 Months

At 8 months Brooklyn:
- Scoots on her bum and reaches to get what she needs to.

- Will go from sitting to an almost crawling position, stays there for a bit but then ends up on her tummy.

- When on her back will roll to her side and try to push up into a sitting position.
- Likes to sleep on her side for naps and bedtime.
- Sleeps for 11 hours before needing to eat at night.
- Takes 2-3 naps a day.  First one around 9am second one around 1pm both about two hours. Sometimes she needs an a hour nap around 5pm.  
- Likes the juices we make in our new juicer. Loves my Camelback water bottle and I'm totally impressed she can use it cause it has a bite valve so you have to bite it and suck at the same time. 
- Loves to feed herself cereal, peas, butternut squash, apples, and pears that are steamed and cut into bite sized pieces. She's doing really well with her pincer grasp and hand-eye coordination in order to feed herself.

- Wears 6-9 month clothes.
- Weighs 16.5lbs
- Loves to pull things out of boxes.
- Loves books and has started to want to turn the pages herself when being read to.
- Is very entertained by other kids. If kids are sitting by us at church she is a happy camper.  She loves going to play dates and being around other little ones.
- She has a mobile on her crib that plays music if you touch a certain part of it and she is a pro at getting it going when she first wakes up to entertain herself for a bit.  I love hearing her cute little babbling over the baby monitor. 

I seriously fall more and more in love with this little girl everyday.  I miss her sometimes when she goes to bed and is just in the next room. 

Mad Hatter Tea Party

My friend Jillian was inspired to host a Mad Hatter Tea Party after going to tea with her sister at a local restaurant/tea shop.  There was a great turnout and it was so nice to get out and chat for a few hours while snacking on yummy treats. Jillian and her sister found all of the tea kettles from local thrifts stores.  They were so creative with the decorations it was adorable. I'll let the pictures do some of the talking.

Random shots

Just some random shots from this month.

The things that most entertain Brooklyn are books.  Part of our morning routine is after I have fed and dressed her I set her down in her room next to her books while I get my breakfast made.  I can see her from the kitchen and it's so funny to hear her babbling away and checking out all her books.

She loves cords (what baby doesn't) and so helping Thomas hold the cord while he vacuumed was a productive solution.

I've always wondered how mom's get pictures of their kids while they are sleeping in a dark room. I was always too scared the flash would wake her up and nap time is way to precious to take that gamble. But the other day I needed to wake her up anyways so I took the gamble. And ironically it didn't even wake her up.

I love her in jeans.  She looks so grown up in them.

Thomas was commenting how she almost reaches from side to side.

I don't remember if I posted these pics of this canvas I had made from an Etsy vendor.  It's a quote from the book "The Help"  (except I fixed the grammar).  I had a really pretty mirror above the crib but I was worried it might fall on her.  Paranoid mom.

Snowshoeing

This past weekend we went up to Bogus Basin to try out hand at snowshoeing.  And........ we loved it! Since it's hard to rationalize spending money to go snowboarding and get a babysitter for Brooklyn this was the perfect compromise.  We were able to get up to the mountains and all spend time together as a family.  And for all three of us and our equipment it was cheaper than one lift ticket, can't beat that.

Jilian and Kevan

Checking out the trails

We went with our friends Jilian and Kevan and enjoyed getting in our excercise and catching up with them. It has been super cold in Boise because of the inversion so it was about 10 degrees in Boise but 40 degrees up in the mountains.  We worked up a sweat!
Thomas pulled Brooklyn in the chariot most of the way but I took over for a bit on the way back and that certainly adds some burn to the workout.  Kevin also volunteered to haul her part of the way.

Pulling our little babe

First time snowshoeing for all of us

Those are some studly men right there

The princess and her chariot

The little princess slept most of the way and woke up the last five minutes and wanted out so I got in an arm workout too holding her while snowshoeing.We all agreed we will be continuing this new hobby.