Brooke's 6-Month Checkup

Today I took Brooke to the doctor for her checkup. She weighed in at 17 pounds, 9 ounces and she measured just shy of 28 inches. Crazy, huh? She's in the 80 percentile for weight and in the 97Th of height. I just can't believe how big she is! Oddly enough, they said that her weight gain has slowed down a little bit, according the growth curve chart that they have. Everything else checked out great. The doctor does, however, want to rescreen her poop for blood because the reflux is still an issue. He said that if there's blood in her poop than that will be an indicator that there could be some irritation to her esophagus. Our pediatrician is SO thorough, which is great.

I have some more encouraging things to report about our whole sleeping challenge. Last night Brooke fell asleep in a little over 10 minutes!!!! I followed the prior night's routine of having her bath time followed by rocking and nursing her and singing to her. I then put her in her crib wide awake and she didn't really even scream all that much. She screamed for maybe two minutes and then the rest of the time she was just fussing to keep herself awake. I hopped in the shower and by the time I was out, she was asleep. When I turned the water off and didn't hear her crying I just assumed that John was in there with her calming her down, but to my total shock she was completely passed out.

In addition to Brooke going to sleep by herself, she also is in a deeper sleep using this method. When I was spending hours in her room with her each night, she would usually wake up 30 minutes to an hour after I would put her down. Brooke slept until 1:30 last night before waking up, which is just under 6 hours! I can't believe how quickly she has caught onto all of this!

A final improvement I've seen with Brooke's sleeping is in her nap times. I used to NEVER be able to put her in her crib for nap times. She would only sleep in my arms. I am now able to put her down and even if she wakes up in the transition from my arms to her bed, she will be ok and go right back to sleep. When we get back from vacation I am going to work hard on helping her to nap longer. Like I said, I'm trying to do this one step at a time.

I am so amazed that this whole process hasn't been agonizing on us all. I haven't lost my quiet moments with Brooke that are spent prior to her sleeping and most importantly, I haven't lost her trust. I am so glad that we've buckled down on this and tried to fix her sleeping issues!

Well I'm off to Hudson's birthday party. Happy 1St Birthday Buddy:-)

Success in Sleeping!

I am on cloud nine right now! Last night I was VERY nervous about how the whole sleeping ordeal would pan out, but let me tell ya, it couldn't have gone any better, in my opinion. This is how the night went-

~ From 7:30-7:30 we had bath time and story time.
~ We rocked, sang, and nursed until 8:10, which is the most precious time of day to me.
~ Brooke was sound asleep so I put her in her crib.
(Everything listed above is the typical night for us. The rest of our night is what's difference)
~ Brooke woke at 8:45 wanting play. Usually we would give her a second to let her go back to sleep, but then determine that she wasn't tired so we would play with her (I know, stupid parenting move). However, last night we turned her back over onto her tummy and left the room.
~ She played for about 10 minutes until she got MAD and wanted out of her room. That's when the screaming started. I couldn't handle it so I went into the basement and did some laundry. John took care of it all. He patted her back every two minutes.
~ At exactly 9:06, we had a sleeping baby and that was the last we heard from her until 1 o'clock! She woke up in her bed a few times but she somehow managed to put herself back to sleep.
~ At 1 I nursed her (It had been 5 hours) and put her back into bed with me (Putting her back into her crib is the next step after this), where she slept through until 8:50 this morning.

Last night was SO hard because I hate the sound of Brooke crying like that. Those 10-15 minutes were torture for me. I was looking through her baby pictures just sobbing. However, I was prepared to have her scream for an hour, but the whole process was done in under 20 minutes, so I really can't complain! I think that that's awesome! I really feel like we got somewhere and because it went so well I am determined to keep it up.

I was worried that Brooke would "lose my trust" or be "mad" at me for doing that to her, but this morning she was all smiles and I realized that she won't hate me for this. This is just a form of discipline that I'm trying to instill in her to HELP her, not to harm her.

I'm going to focus on getting her go down by herself at night, then focus on her night wakings, and lastly, I will try to work on nap times. I really feel like that's the best way to do this whole process. One step at a time!

I will also admit that those 5 hours she was sleeping were so weird for John and me. We are so used to have a wide awake baby during that time period. We were able to watch a movie, do our devotions, and talk.. Baby free, for a change. As much as I love Brookie, it was refreshing!

Well I'm off to take my parent's to the airport. I like them so much that I'm not sure I'll really let them get on the plane and leave me! Ha! We'll meet up with them in Florida in LESS THAN A WEEK!

Re-Thinking Sleep

John and I have been really, really stessed with Brooke's sleeping issues lately. For the past two nights I have tried rocking, nursing, and singing her to sleep for at least an hour, only to have her wake up wanting to play. I could see using that long, annoying method if she actually stayed sleeping, but it seems like this whole system is accomplishing absolutely NOTHING. Seriously, in my opinion, my baby's sleeping issues shouldn't be causing tears, frustration, and anxiety.

I am not for the "Ferber Method," where you let your baby cry and scream for hours until they fall asleep. I think that that cruel and so completely unnatural. However, after talking to a few other moms (Tristyn and Lisa), I really feel like I have come to happy medium between what I'm currently doing and the "Ferber Method." Both of these ladies suggest that I put Brooke in her crib and let her cry for small intervals. Every couple of minutes I am to go in and rub her on the back and reassure her of my presence. Each night I am supposed to gradually allow her to cry for longer extended periods of time (such as every 5 minutes, 10 minutes, and so on). Both Tristyn and Lisa have reported that their babies are able to self soothe and put themselves back to sleep upon waking. In addition, they both said that it's VERY hard and sad to listen to a crying baby without going to their rescue, but the results are remarkable.

I really am not looking forward to this whole process because I love Brooke more then life itself and the thought of her being sad PAINS me. Lisa gave me great advice though and I told me to think of the long-term picture. Do I really want to have sleep problems with an older kid? I really need to nip this problem in the bud right now.

I have been studying online about this whole sleep issue. I have truly done my research and I really feel like this is the best thing for us. I just want to focus on being consistent with this. I'm extremely nervous and apprehensive. Wish me luck. I'm sure as heck that I'll need it!

Exploring New Territory!

Ever since Brooke has been on the prowl she's been very apprehensive of going into the kitchen. I think that it scares her because we have wood floors in there, which are cold and hard, as opposed to the plush carpet she's accustomed to playing on. Anyways, yesterday she came into the kitchen to explore a box of water bottles I had on the floor. That captivated her for about 10 minutes. Today she came all the way to the dishwasher, which was a huge feat for her. She even ventured back in the kitchen later on tonight. She somehow found her way under a chair and she seemed to be intrigued by that as well. How exciting the world must be to her! In a baby's eyes, there are so many new things to figure out.

Brooke gagged on her green beans yesterday. I'm not really sure why because she tolerated them prior to that. I had always mixed her veggies with some rice cereal because the cereal is enriched with iron and it's supposed to help the reflux. Well, today I tried them without the cereal and she ate almost half a container. Yay! I was very impressed.

Well, speaking of Brooke, she's screaming in the other room now. I don't know what her deal has been today. She's been extremely grumpy and fussy. I looked for signs of more teeth but I couldn't find any. Hopefully tomorrow will be a less tiring day for me! We go to the doctor on Friday so it's good to know that if she doesn't perk up then we already have an appointment to check her out.

One week from today we will be in FLORIDA!!!!!! We're so, so excited! We're going to relax and have such a wonderful time.

John's days off are tomorrow and Thursday. I'm going to go watch a movie with him now. It should be fun!

Baby Beauty Secrets

***Before I type anything more, I would just like to say that Brooke just deleted my whole entry so I'm typing the same thing completely over again. Man, she just loves keyboards!***

As I have mentioned before, Brooke has really spikey hair. Ever since she came out of the womb I have been patting it down and trying to make it sit flat. Nothing has proved successful though! I've tried wetting it down and then brushing it, but unfortunately that just makes it frizzy. Though she's gorgeous, spike hair and all, I would love for her hair to sit down every once in a while. Anyways, last night I was putting some Johnson and Johnson's tear free leave-in-conditioner in my hair (Which is great for detangling, by the way), so I decided to spritz some in Brooke's hair just for the heck of it. When she woke up this morning, not only was her hair shiny, but MUCH to my surprise...IT WASN'T SPIKEY! At last we have found a solution to her crazy hair:-)

In other exciting news (Well exciting to us, that is), Brookie had her first green beans today! She didn't love them like she loved the squash, sweet potatoes and carrots, but she didn't gag on them. With the other veggies she would open her mouth for more, but these green beans were an uphill battle. John had just gotten home when I tried feeding them to her so I'm thinking that that was a contributing factor to her distraction. The poor girl just wanted her daddy and I was shoving green crap down her throat! HA!

Well I am going to go enjoy my husband for a bit. I think we're going to pop a movie in and relax together. It's been a busy couple of days.

A Total Daddy's Girl

Whenever I watch John with Brooke it just amazes me how much he adores her. He's always been a sensitive, compassionate guy, but I never in a million years would have imagined that he would have been as crazy over Brooke as he is. It's so cute to watch because the feelings are totally mutual. Brooke laughs and smiles the most for her daddy. She loves me and she and I have great fun together, but the second John comes in from work, Brooke lights up completely. He's definitely the "fun parent" while I'm the one who's running around trying to meet her needs.

John comes up with most hilarious songs for Brooke. He sings her "The Brookie Woogie," where they dance. Then he sings her another song called "I'm Brooke.. I Have Acid Reflux," which has me in stitches every time he sings it. The funny thing is that he remembers the words to these outlandish songs. Then there's my favorite song.. "May I Have This Dance?" Since Brooke came home from the hospital John has sang that to her every night while he tries to settle her down for bedtime. It truly makes me fall in love with him even more every time I hear him sing that to her!

John also likes to brush Brooke's hair. It's so precious to see my manly, sports-loving, gun-carrying, paintball-playing husband sitting there with a bright pink brush. He always repeats over and over again to her, "We're making Brooke beautiful!" How sweet is that?

I could go on and on about how amazing of a dad John is. I really could! He reads her a special book every night, he "wrestles" with her on the ground, he loves to pick out her clothes with me, and he's there for every doctor appointment, every meal, and any other important time. However, out of all of the things, I have a sure favorite. Every night after I put Brooke in her crib, John goes in her room and prays over her and then he makes sure she's safe and sound and plenty warm before he leaves the room.

Man, if these two are so smitten over each other now, I can only imagine how she'll have him wrapped around her little finger when she's older. It should be a blast to watch! I just hope I'm not the rigid disciplinarian. I'm so thankful that Brooke will have a daddy that adores her just like I had growing up and that I still have.

He's Got the Whole World in His Hands!

Our nighttime bed routine consists of singing a melody of songs. I sing "My Girl," "Jesus Loves Me (except we say Jesus loves Brooke),"Cheer Up Sleepy Jean," "He is Able," "I Cast All My Cares Upon You," "Welcome to the Family," and finally "He's Got the Whole World in His Hands." Anyways, the last song is my favorite because we go through all Brooke's family members. We sing about Baby Brooke, Cousin Nathan, Aunts and Uncles, Grandmas and Grandpas, and Mama and Daddy. Last night, as I sat there rocking my beautiful little girl to sleep, I looked down at her as I sang those words and it hit me. God really DOES have all of us in His hands! Those words are not just words to a lullaby.. They're true!

Isn't it so humbling and amazing to know that the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords cares about our needs, our fears and our families just as much as he cares about anyone in the universe? It is so incredible to me to think about how special we are to Him, even though we often feel like just a tiny, sometimes insignificant, speck in this enormous world.

I always put Brooke in her crib apprehensively because I worry about SIDS and about her being in her bed by herself. However, how can I sing "He's Got the Whole World in His Hands" and not trust and allow God to take over and watch Brooke through the night? I want my children to SEE my faith in me first hand and not just to HEAR about it. I suppose that this is the first step toward that goal of giving my children to God.

All in all, I'm sure glad that God has a plan for my life and for Brooke's life, too. I don't know how people do it by themselves without the help of God. It's so scary to raise kids in a world where kids get shot a school, do drugs, and engage in all types of other horrific behaviours. Isn't it good to know that we're in His hands?