1st week of daycare for Brooke

This was a big week for the McSpadden family; Brooke started two day a week daycare. She is going for 6 hours on Tues/Thurs to Beulah Christian Preschool. It is just at the edge of our neighborhood. I really love the staff there; it is such a cute little school. Brooke seems to like going there too. She doesn't even cry when I drop her off. Her teachers asked me to bring in some family photos. They make a little family tree for all the babies in her class. There are 5 babies that go on Tuesday and Thursday. I do miss her while she is gone, but I am enjoying the 6 hours of dedicated work time. At the end of the day I can't wait to go and pick her up.

Bath time with Daddy

We struggle with having good daddy/daughter time in our house. Keith works a TON of hours and is not home very much. I want them to spend time together every day, so we decided he would take over bath time. Brooke gets a bath right before bed and Keith is usually home by then. She loves time with her daddy. She is even saying dada now. I think he is enjoying this time with her too. He took a video of her splashing in the tub last night. She is getting too big for the whale tub. We should be moving her to the big tub but we have these annoying shower doors that are attached to the tub. It is very awkward to bathe her in the bigger tub. We'll be there soon enough. She can sit up and grab things over the side in her whale tub and she splashes tons of water.
I also started showing her the Signing Time video's every afternoon. She LOVES the TV. She is glued to anything that I put on the TV or DVD player(Don't worry, we are limiting our TV/VIDEO time to 30 min per day). I am interested to see if she will pick up any of the signs from this video.

Brooke 7 Months

I dressed Brooke in this cute western outfit from Dan and Shelly. She also has on a pair of knitted cowboy boots from Twyla.






Our little girl is already 7 months old! She is definitely growing and changing all the time. She is more interactive and playful too. Keith and I are really enjoying reading and playing with her. She seems to be more aware of what is happening around her. She loved to watch the dogs and look out and window at the falling snow. After several stright months of traveling, we have enjoyed being home the last few weeks. Here are some of the things about Brooke as a 7 month old baby:
*She is eating solid foods; oatmeal, bananas, apples, sweet potatoes, zuchini, carrots, squash, and avacado.
*She says Mama! Mama was the first word she said. She also makes the Ba, Da, and Ga sounds. Keith is working on dada with her.
*She can sit up on her own for an extended period of time.
*She weighs 15 pounds and is wearing 6 month baby clothes.
*She takes 4 naps and sleeps 12 hours at night.
*She likes to watch the signing time and baby Einstein Mozart videos.
*She loves to be held and will go to anyone.
*She has two bottom teeth.
*She wears size 2 baby shoes and size 2 diapers.
*She laughs the MOST when her daddy plays with her.
*She loves the peekaboo boooks from Grammy.
*She likes to put her feet in her mouth.
*She is not crawling yet but she's trying hard. It kind of looks like she is swimming.
*The jumparoo is still her favorite activity.
*She can sit in a highchair at restaurants and in the shopping cart at the grocery store.
We can't wait to see what she will do next. Happy 7 months Brooke. We love you!!

She said Mama!

Brooke said her first word on Monday January 10th. I went in her room in the morning to get her out of the crib. She looked up at me and said Mama. I was suprised and excited. It was so sweet, I even teared up a bit. Since Monday she has been saying Mama to anyone we see. Keith is working hard to make sure dada is her next word.
We went to Brooke's daycare/preschool yesterday to meet her teachers. I am looking forward to her starting there in a couple weeks. I think she will enjoy being with the other babies and having new things to play with. There will be 4 other babies with her in the class on Tuesday and Thursday's. I will definitely miss her during those 6 hours on Tuesday and Thursday, but it will be nice to have some dedicated work time.
Brooke also turned 7 months yesterday. Stayed tunes for her 7 month post and pictures.

Week after Christmas

I am a couple weeks behind on my posting. This post is for the week after Christmas. Keith, Brooke and I flew back to Pittsburgh on Sunday the 26th. My mom flew in later that night. Then my brother Ryan and his wife Kelly drove in on Monday night. We had a great week of playing cards, eating, watching movies, and playing with Brooke. My mom could not get enough of Brooke. The last time she saw Brooke was in October. Brooke loves her Grammy. I think she recognizes her voice because we talk to her on speaker phone every day. She also enjoyed her time with Ryan and Kelly. They fed her sweet potatoes for the first time. They were a big hit!
Ryan and Kelly taught us to play Penuckle. It was kind of tricky to get all the rules but once we played a few rounds, it was tons of fun.
We opened our Christmas presents from each other on Monday night. Ryan came up with the idea that we should give a speech about the gift before we gave it to the person. It was funny to hear everyone's speeches.
My mom took all of us for breakfast at Pamela's. Ryan had never been there. I think my favorite thing to order is their California French Toast, so yummy!!
On Thursday night Keith and I went to dinner to celebrate our 4-year anniversary. It was really nice of my mom and Ryan to watch Brooke for us. We enjoyed a kid-free dinner.
Another big thing happened this week; Brooke got her first two teeth. Both of the front-bottom teeth came in at the same time. She looks so cute when she does a big smile. You can barely see them poking through the gums.
I used the Baby Cook for the first time this week. I made Zuchinni, Squash, Carrots and Sweet Potatoes. I am glad to have this cooker. After each batch was done I divided them up into little plastic containers that stack in the fridge. In just a few hours, I had three weeks of baby food made.
We had a quiet evening at home for New YEar's Eve. Keith popped a bottle of Champaigne and we rang in the new year at 10 PM. Keith was on-call for NEw Year's Day and I had to get up early to take my mom to the airport at 6:30 AM.
We had a great week with our family. It went by way too fast.

Sitting on Santa's Lap

We took Brooke to see Santa with a group of our Podiatry resident friends. She was in a great mood and dressed super cute. By the time we waited in line and actually reached Santa she had fallen asleep. I woke her up to put her on Santa's lap. She was not amused and would not smile. I guess it was good that she wasn't scared. We'll see how next year goes.

Christmas in Texas

We traveled back to Texas for Christmas this year. This was the 4th airline trip for Brooke and she did great. At one point the flight attendant came by and took her to sit with the other attendants in their section at the front of the plane. We spent the whole week at Keith's parents' house in Sunnyvale, TX. We really enjoyed our time there relaxing and hanging with family. The Saturday before Christmas we met the Hurst family in Southlake for a late lunch. They were in Dallas for the Cowboys game. We had a wonderful lunch with them. Their daughter Lauren had recently taken care of a "baby" for her child development class. Her computerized baby woke her up every hour for a feeding, etc. I know she was glad to be done with that project. Even after all of that headache she was still excited to be around Brooke and Claire. She did a great job entertaining them at the restaurant.
On Thursday Mark, Shevawn and Claire came over to Keith's parents to stay. I love to watch Brooke and Claire play together. Claire is always on the move and Brooke tries to grab her. Twyla had a big blanket spread out in the family room with the boys toys from growing up. They are still a big hit! Twyla worked with Brooke on her crawling every day. Brooke was able to inch along a little bit. She doesn't quite have it figured out yet. I am kind of glad for that.
On Thursday night, Josh and Steph drove in from Phoenix. Keith was so excited for Josh to finally meet Brooke. They brought their two dogs Ajay and Charlie. So, we now had 4 dogs in the house. Crazy!
On Friday morning we went to the shooting range. I had never shot a gun before and Keith wanted me to learn. I was pretty scared of shooting a gun; but I know it was important to learn. I can't say that I loved it; but I feel much more comfortable shooting now.
We spend Christmas Eve at Keith's grandma's house. There were 8 kids ages 6 and under. IT was a zoo. Brooke enjoyed eating all the wrapping paper. She looked so cute in her matching dress and hat. By the end of the evening she was hot and tired so we stripped her down to the diaper. She loved it!
We woke up on Christmas morning to our favorite holiday song; "you gotta get up, it's Christmas Morning" Santa brought the girls a lot of great stuff. My favorite gift was a Sing-A-Ma-Jig doll from Twyla. I was definitely more entertained with it than the babies. We got to see Keith's grandparents from Oklahoma and his aunt Jean Jean. Keith got me a kindle for Christmas. It was the perfect gift. I can hold Brooke and read. Plus it has a built in light that is great for reading in the dark. I am already on my second book.
We packed everything up on Saturday night and flew back on Sunday afternoon. It is nice to be back home but we really miss being with family.