My 6 Month Old Sweetheart!

Brooke is actually 7 months old now! And I just want to stop her from growing, freeze her at this sweet and adorable age forever!!! No more getting bigger, Brooke! Stop!

Here are some things I always want to remember about my little 6 and 7 month-old Brooke:

*Brooke is the best baby in the world. . . uncontested, no doubt about it. She has SUCH a happy, content, sweet and patient personality. Everyone just loves her to death, and she never gives anybody the slightest bit of trouble. You'd never think the baby would be the easy one, but she is our easiest child by a long shot. We're always saying, "thank goodness we have Brooke!"

*Seeing her bright, big, joyful smile is the best part of my day, every day!

*Her six-month stats:

-17 pounds- 58%
-90% for length (yikes, she's tall now like my other girls! At every doctor's checkup she just climbs the height scales more and more. Here I was thinking she wouldn't grow out of clothing as fast as her sisters have. Guess I was wrong!)

*She's pretty much right on track with clothing sizes. She fits into the 6-12 month size, and she wears size 2 Pampers Swaddlers diapers.

*She doesn't sit up yet without support. We practice it every day, and she can sit for a few seconds by herself but always falls over. But we're working on it!

*She still loves her infant seat. She sleeps pretty well in there (although usually wakes up when we move it), and she's often very content to sit in it and smile or play with toys.

*She rolls over once in awhile, but isn't really a big fan of it. She usually rolls onto her tummy and then starts crying after a few minutes because she forgets that she knows how to roll back over, and thinks she's stuck. She does it in her bed at night too. This girl will lay happily on her back for a long time playing with dangling toys, and likes to sleep on her side. But she sure doesn't like being on her tummy!

*She's such a flexible and adaptable baby, and really goes with the flow! Which is awesome, since we're always running around going places. She usually takes one nap while we're out and about.

*Brooke has a good sleep schedule! She usually goes to bed around 7:30 and wakes up close to 6 or 7 in the morning to eat and then often goes right back to sleep. She takes two naps a day, unless one is very short and then sometimes she will squeeze in an extra one. My favorite is her long afternoon nap.

*She gets baths every other day in her Rainforest baby bathtub (that she's outgrowing, sniff!), and she is a BIG splasher. She kicks hard and sometimes soaks me and the whole bathroom floor! She also loves sucking on wet washcloths in the tub, and that's one of the few things that can distract her from splashing.

*She hardly ever cries, and has a sad little whimpery cry when she does. Not loud at all like Natalie is!

(Baby soup!!!)

*She has crazy bed-head hair that often sticks up in all kinds of directions, especially since she still spends so much time laying down. Her hair is long and soft! The times she cries the hardest are when we have to comb the tangles out of the very back after her baths. It's the saddest sound!

*Goes to sleep by herself in the crib, and has been falling asleep on her own since she was four months old, earlier than any other baby we've had!

*Her sisters both ADORE her, and they sometimes fight over who gets to play with her. Kirsten loves to hold her, and she makes funny faces for her and gets right up in her face. Brooke thinks Kirsten is hilarious. Kirsten and Natalie both like trying to jump on Brooke, so we constantly have to be on the watch and reminding them to be gentle. The funny thing is, Brooke loves it and laughs hard when people are jumping around her and acting like they're going to squish her.

(Love this picture of the two sisters together!)

*Brooke started eating solid foods right at 6 months!
Here she is in her high chair, ready for some grub. . .

*We had lots of feeding helpers the first time she had food!

*She liked her first food. . . carrots!

*Brooke still eats baby food once every day, usually around dinnertime. Soon I'll probably give her food in the morning as well. She drinks four 6-oz. bottles each day.

*So far she really likes carrots, sweet potatoes, squash, green beans, all the fruits, and only hates one type of food (the same food her sisters hated as babies). . . peas. She was spitting them out and wanted nothing to do with them! What is it with peas???

*Brooke can hold things and switch them back and forth between two hands. She likes to sit in her swing and watch the mobile spin, and she still likes batting at toys that hang down from her jungle play mat. She loves peek-a-boo, and loves to be played with and smiled at.

*She looks a whole lot like Kirsten did at this age, with her big blue eyes, round face, and long dark hair. Brooke's hair is getting much lighter already though! And the differences in personality are huge. Kirsten was extremely sensitive, cried a lot, and was scared of a lot of things. Brooke is happy, patient, and goes with the flow!

*This Easter picture was taken when she was exactly six months, and you can see how bad her excema was. Her face and skin all over her body were constantly red, and she would scratch herself at night and make it even worse, sometimes even making herself bleed. It was so sad! Her skin has finally cleared up and gotten SO much better over the past few weeks, thank goodness! But we still cover her hands at night so she can't scratch herself.

*Doesn't she make the most adorable bunny anyway? I love this picture!

It just kills me to think there will ever be a day when I won't have a baby Brooke to smile at me. She's such a sweet and special baby, and our family is incredibly blessed to have her in it. I will be forever grateful for Brooke, and consider myself so lucky to be her mommy.