Happy Half Birthday to our little Brooklyn! She turned 6 months old on July 30th. She was 15lbs 15.5oz (48th percentile) and 26.25" long (67th percentile).
Now when she goes to sleep, she immediately rolls onto her tummy to fall asleep (sometimes even with her face straight down in the sheet).
She can hold a bottle on her own.
She began trying to sit all by herself - YAY! It's crazy - one day she couldn't sit on her own for 5 seconds before toppling over, the next day she sat for 2 minutes and the 3rd day she sat for 15 -20 minutes. Daniel and I love, love, love this sweet spot where she's sitting up and entertaining herself but isn't yet mobile! The mobile thing, however, may come sooner than we hope. 1 week after she began to sit up she started trying to get up onto her knees. She scoots backwards when she does this, but she hasn't yet realized she can do this to her advantage to get places (and we haven't informed her of or encouraged this activity). She still only rolls from her stomach to her back when she's absolutely desperate.
Her pacifier-to-mouth success rate is increasing. It's fun to see the improvement in these little things!
I think she is starting to pick up on the "milk" sign. She definitely knows what it means, and I swear she has signed it herself a handful of times...but I also think it's possible that I may have misinterpreted an unintentional similar hand movement for a sign in hopes that she was really communicating with me. ;-)
Brooklyn's eyes are changing color. They were blue-grey to start, then more grey, and now they may be turning brownish. We'll see where they end up in a few months!
Grammie recently went through the boxes in her attic to find my old baby clothes for Brooklyn to wear. Some are very, very cute, and others (for instance the bonnets) are...well, let's just say they're not really my style. She still looks pretty darn cute though!
As you may know, I have been forced (via wedding vows) to raise Landon as a Northern California sports fan, BUT Brooklyn's fan fate was not destined. This means that she wears more Dodgers than Giants gear, since I am the one that usually dresses her! Sadly, on the day of the Padres/Giants game, I caved after she spat up all over the Dodgers outfit on the way to the game...I convinced Daniel, though, that I changed her because I was a nice wife. ;-)
We've found her happy place - the swing! It certainly seems to relax her, and we're fortunate to have one right in our backyard (for fun as well as especially rough days).
She also seems to really like the pool.
And her toes...both playing with and chewing on them.
Landon (2 years 3 months) continues to keep us busy and smiling.
His curly hair is getting longer and curlier. We don't quite know how to tame it, but we're working on it and love it!
He repeats everything!
He loves swimming, dancing, cooking, reading, older (4-6 year old) women, Brooklyn's toys, singing (especially while playing his guitar), being goofy, frozen yogurt, talking, putting, stickers, popping bubble wrap, telling jokes, things being in their places, asking "what happened to...", dipping ANY food into ANY type of sauce/dip/salad dressing/liquid (but "barcoo (BBQ) sauce" is his favorite), water features, copying others and so much more!
He is such a fast learner - it's going to be hard to keep up soon! Thank goodness for Google - the internet teaches us what Mama and Dada don't know. :) His favorite things he's learned July are the months of the year, that "manta rays are cartanagalish (cartilaginous)," oh, and that "yight bulbs are hot".
Nothing has changed on Brooklyn's end as far as her relationship with Landon - she's still completely enthralled with him. Landon is coming around to her more and more. He asks me to put her in his crib with him when he wakes up from his nap, he brings her all (yes, ALL) of her toys when she cries, he randomly goes over and hugs/kisses her, and (best of all) he sometimes doesn't refuse to sit next to her in a picture! He even said "I want my sister to come" the other day when we were loading up the car and hadn't put Brooklyn in yet. We accept his "baby steps" as long as they're in this direction!
We took our annual 4th of July trip with friends to San Luis Obispo/Pismo Beach again this year. We had a blast! Although we had 10 adults and 9 children in 1 house, we managed to do almost everything we had planned with very few meltdowns along the way. Next year will be our 10th anniversary of the trip, and we've already got our house booked!
We went up to Mission Viejo for a couple of fun events. The music event that we thought Landon would LOVE was canceled due to the very unexpected rain, so we made a playdate with a friend that I grew up with and her son (a year older than Landon). He had a great time playing with new, fun toys, especially the pretend kitchen! The following day, we took the kids to a place that has a model train to ride on. Daniel, Grammie and I each took a turn riding with Landon. The adults weren't all THAT impressed, but Landon seemed to love it so it was worth it to us all (except, perhaps, Brooklyn, who just sat in the heat since she was not allowed on the train).
A couple of days later the Giants were playing the Padres, so we headed down to San Diego for Brooklyn's first baseball game. Landon was happy to play with Addison and ham it up to the row behind us, Brooklyn had a wonderful 20 minute nap in Auntie Melis' arms, Addison and I enjoyed our ice cream and Daniel got to watch some of the game (although he missed the Giants' grand slam while standing in the ice cream line - oops!).
The next day we were on our way to Carson to cheer on a friend in a competition when we got in a car accident. Nobody was hurt, but we spent 3.5 hours on the side of the freeway waiting for a tow truck. Thanks to Auntie Gail and Uncle Fred, we were able to make the crummy day a fun adventure with tow trucks, police cars and all sorts of vehicles passing on the freeway!
Landon had his last day with Miss Kendra, his very first daycare provider (when I first went back to work as well as a few hours once a week recently). He loves her and loved his time there so much (as did I!). It might be tough when he realizes he's really not going back. We hope to see her as well as his little buddies that he met there just for fun every-so-often!
Landon and I went to both a music and a "messy play" class. Of course he enjoyed the music class, but he had a BLAST at messy play! He did several activities there, but he favorite was the "push push" (squirting paint onto a paper plate inside a salad spinner; putting the lid on and push, push, pushing the button to make it spin the paint around on the plate.) Brooklyn tagged along as well, but she most enjoyed the baby pool full of pom pom balls. (The big kids would throw the pom poms across the room, and each time, from her car seat, Brookyn's eyes would follow them up and over.)
We can't wait to see what adventures August holds!
July Bloopers:
She can hold a bottle on her own.
She began trying to sit all by herself - YAY! It's crazy - one day she couldn't sit on her own for 5 seconds before toppling over, the next day she sat for 2 minutes and the 3rd day she sat for 15 -20 minutes. Daniel and I love, love, love this sweet spot where she's sitting up and entertaining herself but isn't yet mobile! The mobile thing, however, may come sooner than we hope. 1 week after she began to sit up she started trying to get up onto her knees. She scoots backwards when she does this, but she hasn't yet realized she can do this to her advantage to get places (and we haven't informed her of or encouraged this activity). She still only rolls from her stomach to her back when she's absolutely desperate.
Her pacifier-to-mouth success rate is increasing. It's fun to see the improvement in these little things!
Brooklyn's eyes are changing color. They were blue-grey to start, then more grey, and now they may be turning brownish. We'll see where they end up in a few months!
Grammie recently went through the boxes in her attic to find my old baby clothes for Brooklyn to wear. Some are very, very cute, and others (for instance the bonnets) are...well, let's just say they're not really my style. She still looks pretty darn cute though!
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| Handmade by Great Grandma Foster |
As you may know, I have been forced (via wedding vows) to raise Landon as a Northern California sports fan, BUT Brooklyn's fan fate was not destined. This means that she wears more Dodgers than Giants gear, since I am the one that usually dresses her! Sadly, on the day of the Padres/Giants game, I caved after she spat up all over the Dodgers outfit on the way to the game...I convinced Daniel, though, that I changed her because I was a nice wife. ;-)
She also seems to really like the pool.
Landon (2 years 3 months) continues to keep us busy and smiling.
His curly hair is getting longer and curlier. We don't quite know how to tame it, but we're working on it and love it!
He repeats everything!
Nothing has changed on Brooklyn's end as far as her relationship with Landon - she's still completely enthralled with him. Landon is coming around to her more and more. He asks me to put her in his crib with him when he wakes up from his nap, he brings her all (yes, ALL) of her toys when she cries, he randomly goes over and hugs/kisses her, and (best of all) he sometimes doesn't refuse to sit next to her in a picture! He even said "I want my sister to come" the other day when we were loading up the car and hadn't put Brooklyn in yet. We accept his "baby steps" as long as they're in this direction!
We have been going one morning on most weekends to "the fountain". Daniel and I enjoy a Starbucks drink while Brooklyn naps and Landon runs around and around the water fountain. We love this new little tradition. My favorite part is when we give Landon 2 pennies. The first time I gave him the 2 pennies I said 1 was for him to throw into the fountain and 1 was for the kid he was playing with. The next week I told him he could throw both OR give 1 to his new friend and throw 1 himself, and he chose to share (yay!). :-) Each week since then, we haven't said anything about it and just give him 2 pennies, and every single time he has shared 1 of his pennies with another kid (sometimes he tries to force it on them if they're shy and don't accept it right away). One time he gave both pennies away since there were 2 other kids he was playing with (cue Mama's proud tear!).
We took our annual 4th of July trip with friends to San Luis Obispo/Pismo Beach again this year. We had a blast! Although we had 10 adults and 9 children in 1 house, we managed to do almost everything we had planned with very few meltdowns along the way. Next year will be our 10th anniversary of the trip, and we've already got our house booked!
We went up to Mission Viejo for a couple of fun events. The music event that we thought Landon would LOVE was canceled due to the very unexpected rain, so we made a playdate with a friend that I grew up with and her son (a year older than Landon). He had a great time playing with new, fun toys, especially the pretend kitchen! The following day, we took the kids to a place that has a model train to ride on. Daniel, Grammie and I each took a turn riding with Landon. The adults weren't all THAT impressed, but Landon seemed to love it so it was worth it to us all (except, perhaps, Brooklyn, who just sat in the heat since she was not allowed on the train).
A couple of days later the Giants were playing the Padres, so we headed down to San Diego for Brooklyn's first baseball game. Landon was happy to play with Addison and ham it up to the row behind us, Brooklyn had a wonderful 20 minute nap in Auntie Melis' arms, Addison and I enjoyed our ice cream and Daniel got to watch some of the game (although he missed the Giants' grand slam while standing in the ice cream line - oops!).
The next day we were on our way to Carson to cheer on a friend in a competition when we got in a car accident. Nobody was hurt, but we spent 3.5 hours on the side of the freeway waiting for a tow truck. Thanks to Auntie Gail and Uncle Fred, we were able to make the crummy day a fun adventure with tow trucks, police cars and all sorts of vehicles passing on the freeway!
Landon had his last day with Miss Kendra, his very first daycare provider (when I first went back to work as well as a few hours once a week recently). He loves her and loved his time there so much (as did I!). It might be tough when he realizes he's really not going back. We hope to see her as well as his little buddies that he met there just for fun every-so-often!
Landon and I went to both a music and a "messy play" class. Of course he enjoyed the music class, but he had a BLAST at messy play! He did several activities there, but he favorite was the "push push" (squirting paint onto a paper plate inside a salad spinner; putting the lid on and push, push, pushing the button to make it spin the paint around on the plate.) Brooklyn tagged along as well, but she most enjoyed the baby pool full of pom pom balls. (The big kids would throw the pom poms across the room, and each time, from her car seat, Brookyn's eyes would follow them up and over.)
July Bloopers:
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| Landon on the left and Brooklyn on the right, both when they first started to sit. |
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| I, Nicole Kelepouris, promise not to proudly display these adorable pictures of my daughter's bare booty when she is 13 years old and her friends that come over can see them, like Grammie did to her daughter. (For now, I will just share them on the internet.) ;-) |
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| ...or of my son in some USA flag tighty whities. ;-) |
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| So happy to have a Brooklyn Dodger! |
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| How quickly a 2 year old mood can change! |
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| Guess which parent is responsible for this picture. |
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| Nope, that's not her thumb that she's chewing on; it's her big toe! |
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