Happy 1st Birthday Brinleigh!

Today was The day.  The day I have not been looking forward too for so long.  My little love bug is a year old.....

 

Kolt and I decided that we should both get Brinleigh from her bed this morning so that we could start her birthday with big hugs and kisses from Mommy and Daddy.  We then went downstairs and had a huge breakfast, thanks to Kolt's dad, Jim, and his girlfriend, Lidia, who are currently visiting.  Brinleigh had bananas and her very first pancake, which she absolutely loved.  She also received her first gift of the day, a rocking rider pony from her Grandma D.  She was so excited about it, bouncing up and down as we played the music and rocked her back and forth.

 

After breakfast, Brinleigh opened a birthday gift from her Great Gma and Gpa.  We played for a little bit and then it was nap time.  Brinleigh's nap time, turned into everyone in the house taking a nap.  So after we all woke up again, Brinleigh at some lunch and we got ready to head out of the house.

  

 

It was absolutely gorgeous out today, sunny skies and seventy degrees.  A complete 180 compared to a year ago when she was born and came home from the hospital.  We took Jim and Lidia to the Coast Guard hangar to look at the helicopters and Brinleigh was able to sit in one for the first time.  Then we headed to Totem Park to walk around.  I was able to get a lot of really good scenic pictures with my Cannon DSLR camera, and of course some of Brinleigh making this incredibly cute face which she just started doing yesterday.

 

 

 

When we came home, Lidia cooked us an amazing taco dinner and Kolt and I let Brinleigh open a few more birthday gifts.  (Grandma Jen and Papa, Brinleigh loved her musical Minnie mouse.)  Brinleigh ate dinner and then of course we had more birthday gifts to open.  While playing, Brinleigh took a tumble and went head first into the corner of the sliding glass door, which we had open with the screen door shut.  She immediately developed a huge purple knot on her forehead.  So after Brinleigh, Daddy AND Mommy, all calmed down from this traumatic situation, we decided Cake would make things better!  We cut out a few pieces for the adults and then sang "Happy Birthday" to Brinleigh, who almost looked terrified of all the noise.  When we put the cake in front of her, she daintily picked at the frosting and it took her a while to get down to the actual cake.  There were a few moments of crying, she was tired and her head probably hurt.  So after cleaning up the cake, we played with a few birthday toys and opened the last of her gifts.  (HUGE Thanks to her Grandma Deana for basically stocking her closet full of the cutest 12 month clothes.)

 

 

 

Then of course, it was bath, bottle, and then bed time for the little one.  She had a long, busy, exhausting day and crashed about half way through her bottle.

 

So now... we look forward to her Birthday Party, which Mama, has been preparing for for several months now.  Her party will be on August 11th (a lot of our friends are out of town right now so we are waiting until my sister, Mandy, comes to visit).  I got to practice making her Birthday cake and learned what needs to be done and what not to do for next time.  I have made almost all of her party decorations myself and can't wait to put them all up and see how they look.

We also have her One year photos scheduled for August 6th and can't wait to do those and see how they turn out.   

Get Your Shine On

While we were in North Carolina for a few months, we kept hearing this song called "Get Your Shine On" by Florida Georgia Line.  It's quite catchy and Kolt started a habit of singing it to Brinleigh..... often.  I never thought much about it until recently.  Brinleigh and I don't watch tv during the day but at dinner time I turn it on and put it on a country music station so we can listen to music.  Well, that song kept coming on and I started to notice that every time Brinleigh heard it, she would start bouncing around and became all sorts of excited.  Even when she hears it come on in the car, she starts waving her hands around.  So now, we think it's the cutest thing ever and anytime that song comes on we stop whatever we are doing to watch her, in all of her adorable little 11 1/2 month old glory, bouncing up and down and waving her arms around. 

Video of Brinleigh Dancing

Rain, Rain.... Go Away!

We have been so spoiled with such amazingly beautiful weather this summer, so it was only a matter of time before the crappy rain came along.  This last week we were stuck inside because of the rain and so Momma had to improvise. 

I had ordered Brinleigh a couple of toys more suitable for her age, even though she still thoroughly enjoys most of the baby toys.  I didn't go overboard since her birthday is in just a couple of weeks, so I'm quite proud of the self control.  I bought her a little pink laptop which has some buttons and a mouse.  Each button does different things depending on which settings you have the laptop set on.  It makes noises, lights up, plays music, and helps to teach her shapes and colors.  I also bought her a picnic basket which came with four different shaped blocks which fit in their appropriate holes into the basket.  This as well, makes noises, plays music and teaches shapes and colors.  She has seemed to enjoy carrying each of these around the house and learning how to open and close them.  She also picks them up and throws them on the floor to get them to make noise.

A few days ago, I decided to give her an early birthday gift from her Grandma D, a little stuffed baby doll.  Brinleigh loved it!!!  Her eyes lit up when I gave it to her and she proceeded to carry (or drag) it all over the house for the rest of the evening.  She would give it to me so that I could love on it and hug it and then I would give it back to her.  She would stand up and dance with the baby doll and of course, throw it on the floor as well.

  

Growing Baby Girl

Brinleigh is learning so much these days and I swear, it seems like every day she does something new.  And of course, ALL of her new talents are the most amazing things ever in our eyes.

As of recently, Brinleigh has learned.........

The word "No" - She has found the photo albums and figured out how to get them out of the bookcase and open them.  Then she proceeds to grab the plastic that holds the photos in place and rip, tear, pull, and destroy.  We also have a speaker that is part of the surround sound that sits on the entertainment center under the tv.  Brinleigh is obsessed with this one speaker and is constantly pulling it off of the entertainment center.  She likes to carry the tv remotes around with her (well she crawls around with them in her hand) and then she likes to slam them into the kitchen and hallway laminate flooring to bust the backing off so that the batteries fall out.  All of these things happen on a daily basis and she hears my reaction of "No No" and then I redirect her to another toy or activity.  After I have relocated her or distracted her with another baby friendly item, she will turn to me and say "MmmmnnNO."

Dancing - This is so cute and makes me laugh every time I see it.  It's always when I'm not expecting it and I just kinda walk in on her in the middle of a dance session.  Or she just starts randomly dancing while we are sitting in the living room.  Either way, it's so damn cute and funny that I can never grab my camera or phone fast enough to record it.  And of course, when I'm prepared and ready to hit the record button..... Nothing.  But, she does seem to like country music, especially the song "Get Your Shine On" by Florida Georgia Line.  

Walking along the furniture - She not only crawls at a rapid speed now, but it also getting the hang of walking along the furniture and even letting go of one piece of furniture to grab another.  This is so cute but makes me nervous for her to start walking.  She always looks pretty damn proud of herself when she does it though.

Sharing - People closest to me know that I DO NOT like to share anything of mine with anybody, aside from Brinleigh (I will share anything with my little love bug).  So I am gonna guess that she either picked this up from her Daddy or she is just naturally a sharer.  I mean, she is the happiest baby I know, so maybe it's just second nature for her.  Sometimes she offers up her toys or food to us, in which we reply "OH THANK YOU!!!!" and then give the toy or food back to her.  But sometimes when playing with her, we will ask "can Mommy/Daddy have it?" and she will hand the item to us.  Of course it's only fun if we give it back to her so she can repeat the process all over.  

Throwing toys onto the floor - She has several stuffed animals and one with a little blankie attached that stay in her crib at all times.  But when she wakes up every morning or from naps or when she is trying to entertain herself while fighting sleep, she likes to throw these things onto the floor.  When I have her in her play yard downstairs she also likes to toss her toys over the side onto the floor.  I read that this is normal behavior at her age and it's part of a learning process about separation.

Weaning herself from her pacifier - We have started to notice over the last few weeks that Brinleigh no longer wants anything to do with her paci during the day.  ONLY at nap time, bed time, and then some times while driving in the car.... usually if she's tired.  If we do give it to her during the day she takes it from us (or out of her mouth if we stick it there) and throws it on the floor.  When she wakes up in the morning or from naps, she throws it out of her crib and onto the floor.  We are not complaining about this.  At.  All.  This actually makes me really happy since I was originally hesitant about giving her a paci to begin with.  I didn't want to deal with having to wean her from it in the future.  But her suck reflex was so strong from birth that after she turned a month old (and established breastfeeding), we gave it to her.

I can't even choose which of these new recent developments are my favorite because they are all either cute (right now, anyways, maybe not in a few years from now) or make my life a little easier.  We are so blessed to have such a smart and happy little girl.

 

Happy 4th of July

I hope that everyone had a fun and safe Independence Day.  We had an awesome day, celebrating Brinleigh's first 4th of July.

  

We started our day with our usual morning routine and after Brinleigh's morning nap and some lunch we got ready to head out of the house.  Kolt had to march in the parade and Brinleigh and I were going to watch.  There was a cruise ship in town today so we decided to head down town about thirty minutes early so that we could be sure to get a good spot.  It was also raining off and on and I wanted to get a spot on the sidewalk under some cover so that we weren't getting rained on.  Brinleigh and I met up with our friend Kate and got a great spot.  The parade was fun, probably the best I have seen in Sitka so far and definitely the longest.  Brinleigh seemed to enjoy the parade and was content watching everything that was going on around her.  She didn't seem to get bored or tired of sitting in the stroller and even the loud noises didn't upset her.  I was very happy with how well she did.

After the parade was over we came home and put Brinleigh down for a nap.  Then some friends came over to BBQ.  We of course had hamburgers, hot dogs, potato salad, beans, and then some festive 4th of July cake pops (made by Kate).

The fireworks show is usually done the night before the 4th.  Since it doesn't get dark until about 10:30-11pm, they can't do the fireworks until 11:30pm.  Most everyone has the 4th off, so they do them the night before.  Thankfully, it didn't rain, so the fireworks show went on as scheduled.  Unfortunately, we couldn't see all of the fireworks because of the trees in the backyard and since Brinleigh was sleeping, we ended up not really watching them.

11 Months

I can't believe that in less than a month our little love bug is going to be a year old!!!  She is learning a ton and growing so fast and we are loving every moment of it.  So now that Brinleigh is mobile, she also knows how to get into things.  Like the bathroom cabinets.  Last weekend Kolt baby proofed all the kitchen cabinets and was going to do the bathroom cabinets the next day.  Well that never happened.  I got tired of having to clean up this mess every day so I finally put the cabinet latches on tonight. 

  

I'm not sure why, but Brinleigh has some sort of obsession with the dishwasher.  As soon as she hears it open, you can hear her little hands slapping the floor as she scurries as fast as she can to the dishwasher.  And then she always wants to climb inside.

I think Brinleigh is saying "mama" but I'm not 100% positive yet.  When she is upset, crying, whining, etc. and wants me she says "mehmeh" or "mahmah" and so I respond "what" and she will calm down or come to me.  She is also understanding when I tell her "come here."  She is always right under me or wrapped around my legs when I am in the kitchen trying to cook or clean, but it is quite cute.

I am slowly feeding her more and more finger/table foods.  She gets spaghetti or macaroni noodles, cut up fresh fruit, macaroni and cheese, cheerios (soaked in apple juice because I'm still paranoid about her choking) and today we tried some noodles and soup.

Brinleigh is still obsessed with Gunner and she absolutely loves when he is anywhere accessible to her.  She gets excited and makes her noises and then crawls as fast as she can to wherever he is laying so she can crawl and climb all over him.

 Since Brinleigh loved to swing so much while we were in NC and the weather has been amazingly beautiful here, I decided to order her a swing to hang on the back porch.  She loves it.  Any day that it's not raining we try and spend at least a few minutes pushing her in it.  

We are currently at this stage where Brinleigh hates being laid down, whether it be for a diaper change or getting dressed/put in pajamas.  She has learned how to bend her body sideways making a C shape and locks up making it difficult to lay her down.  
She is also getting smart enough that when we take something away from her she will watch where we put it.  If it's low enough, she will crawl over to it and stretch her little arms as high as she can and try her hardest to reach the object.  This is how I learned that what I thought was high enough, really wasn't.