8 Months

Last week, Brooks turned 8 months old!  Sometimes, I really wish time would stand still!  Even though this time in my life is crazy and there are days that I wish I could just escape to a tropical island where there is no whining, crying, spit up, tantrums, bottles, diapers, etc., I absolutely LOVE LOVE LOVE being at home with my two boys.  This is such a fun time with my boys, and I love the ages that my boys are at right now.  I love watching them learn and grow and become who they were made to be!

I remember that when Reives was about 15 months, I said to Trey that I thought 6-12 months were
 the "golden months" of babyhood.  Brooks is in those months right now.  I just love this age.  Mine were both sleeping through the night, napping well, smiling alot, babbling, learning to crawl and pull up, and discovering their world around them.  And, there isn't too much discipline involved at this point :)  So, I am soaking up these "golden months" with my sweet Brooks.

Where do I even start with Brooks?  He is just so sweet and happy!  I just love him to death.  He has the sweetest smile that will melt your heart and these big, bright blue eyes that just capture your attention.  He LOVES his big brother, Reives and is starting to laugh at him alot!  Brooks is super easy to take anywhere and just kind of goes along for the ride.  Right around 8 months, he was getting up on all fours and rocking.  And now, a week later, he is crawling!  Here are some other things going on with my sweet boy:

-loves to eat.  favorite foods are any fruit, carrots, squash/zuchinni, and puffs
-is just starting to crawl
-can now go from lying down to sitting up on his own
-likes his pacis (but not as much as his big brother did)
-his comfort item is a square of an old Tshirt of mine that I cut up.  He has about 5 of them that I rotate in and out.  He looks for it immediately when you lay him down and snuggles with it and rubs his face with it to go to sleep.  So sweet!
-gets 4 bottles a day and 3 meals a day
-drinks water from a sippy cup
-has babbled mamama and dadadada a few times
-loves to swing in the backyard
-has 3 teeth (all on the bottom)
-his hair is growing in pretty thick and is blonde.  It seems to be a little blonder than R's was at this point
-still wears his orthopedic shoes to help with his toes curving inward (does not seem bothered by them)


Here are some 8 month pics that I took:

And just for a little comparison:

Reives-8 Months                                                                              Brooks-8 Months

Reives-8 Months                                                             Brooks-8 Months

"Zebas, Gaffs, and Elfelfants"

Since Trey had Veteran's Day off (gotta love banker holidays), we took a little excursion down to the Jacksonville Zoo.  All in all, it was a great day for all four of us (minus the two tantrums in the zoo when someone did not want to stop running back and forth across the bridge.)  We had lunch right before heading into the zoo and then spent a good three hours walking around and looking at all of the "amals." There was about a 5 minute rain shower while we were there, but nothing that a clump of bamboo trees couldn't fix.  Reives LOVED looking at all of the animals.  I think his favorites were the zebras, giraffes, and the really cool fish that we saw.  He loved riding around on Daddy's shoulders and running around saying, "Go, go, go, go!"  Meanwhile, Brooks just chilled in his stroller and went along for the ride.  He also seemed very entertained by all that was going on at the zoo.

 About to head into the zoo

 Checking out some really cool ducks

 Brooks had a great time!

 Riding on the gorilla

 Daddy doesn't need that eye anyways

 An anteater has to be one of the strangest animals God created

And, this video cracks me up!  I LOVE that little voice :)

All Aboard

Reives is still very into "choo choo's," so we thought it would be fun to take the boys to The Savannah Railroad Museum.  There really isn't a whole lot there that is interesting to a toddler besides the electric train exhibit and the train ride that you get to take.  It was still a fun experience, though.  We did make the mistake, however, of telling Reives that we would get to take a train ride an hour before we were scheduled to ride the train.  So, for an hour, we walked around the museum, listening to Reives say "ride choo choo" over and over, mixed in with alot of whining!  I think the train ride was worth the wait, though.  Reives LOVED riding the train, and he still gets so excited when we talk about riding the choo choo!  

 Sitting in an old train car

 Someone (as usual) did not want his picture taken

 Riding the choo choo

Love how Brooks is smiling in the corner of this picture!

Under the Weather

The boys were both sick last week.  I guess once you have two kids, sickness lasts twice as long.  As soon as one gets it and starts to get well, the other one gets it.  I know getting sick is part of growing up, and that babies and toddlers have to build there immunity.  Even though they will inevitably get sick,  it is still no fun.  We missed out on a good friends birthday party (well Brooks and I did), missed a week of church and a Wednesday morning Bible Study, but we did have some nice "relaxing" (as relaxing as you can get with 2 sick kids) days at home just hanging out.  I am working on "deep cleaning" my house.  For me, deep cleaning includes, wiping baseboards, fan blades, blinds, faces of cabinets, etc.  So, I was able to check off deep cleaning our bathroom last week, so that was nice.  So far, I have deep cleaned the whole downstairs and our bathroom.  I am making progress!

It is funny when babies and toddlers are sick.  Before I had kids, I guess I imagined that they would lay around like adults want to do when they are sick.  Ha...not the case.  Reives has only "laid around" once when he was sick for 1/2 of a day when I think he was nauseated.  Otherwise, they go about their normal stuff, just in a fussier way since they don't feel well :(  Here are some pics from last week:

 Sitting like Daddy and watching football

Glad everyone is well and back to themselves :)

Trick or Treat

Ahhh!  So behind on the blog!  Halloween 2012 was alot of fun!  This year, we had a little lion and "Dandan Boone" (complete with a coonskin hat and cardboard knife).  It started with a costume party hosted by some friends from church.  Reives actually won a prize for his costume in "The Most Accurate" costume category!  Then, on Sunday, the boys went to the Fall Festival put on by my parent's church.  Reives LOVED jumping in the bouncy houses and riding on the hayride.  Then, on Wednesday, we went out to Dutch Island (the neighborhood where both sets of grandparents live) for supper and a little trick or treating.  Reives got much more into trick or treating that I thought he would!  Notice I haven't mentioned Brooks.  Well, he wasn't too into Halloween this year.  He screamed all of the 3 times that I had to stuff put him into his lion costume that was 2 sizes too small.  He also cried alot the night of Halloween.  He was apparently getting sick and wasn't feeling too well.  On Thursday he started running a fever and on Friday we took him to the doctor only to find he had a double ear infection.  Poor baby :(

Halloween 2012 in review:

 Having fun in the bouncy houses 

 Reives with two of his cousins, Anna Kate and Angelina

 Brooks and Uncle Don

 On of the highlights was that Frances, one of my very best friends, was in town!  Such a treat to see her :)

 Anna Kate and Brooks

 Grandaddy and Reives chewing hay

 Sharing a graham cracker with "Dandan Boone"

 Trick or Treat time!