Promoting and Growing UP!

This past Sunday was Brynn's last Sunday in the BABY ROOM!  WHAT???  I can't believe my little baby is promoting to the next room!  She has had the most amazing group of ladies watch over her and we have been so blessed by them!  They have been taking care of her in the nursery since she was about 6 weeks old!  The fact that they give up going to a Life Group class to care for these little ones is so selfless and such a blessing.  (Quick story to share how amazing they are - when we told Sherry that it was Brynn's last Sunday Sherry started crying!  It was the SWEETEST thing ever...and of course it made me start crying!  I hope she doesn't care that I'm sharing that!  But you parents know how much it means when other people love your kids, and I'm so thankful they love her so much!)  I know she will have great teachers when she promotes, but I am going to miss her teachers SO MUCH! 

Mrs. Sue, Mrs. Velda, Mrs. Sherry, and Mrs. Jessica
They are seriously the BEST nursery workers EVER!  We LOVE them so much!

 Speaking of Brynn growing up, she has been doing a lot of "major things" lately that I don't want to forget.  She has been STANDING all by herself (just for like 5 seconds at a time...sometimes more sometimes less...ahhhh!!!!!!!!!)  She is also imitating things she has seen us do.  If she is holding her comb she will put it on her head and try to "brush" her hair.  She also knows where the drawer is that has her shoes, and she likes to open it up, grab out a shoe, and she will put it by her feet (she can't put it on her foot obviously but she knows where her shoe is supposed to go).  I just think that's crazy...she is really learning things!

This picture doesn't really have much to do with this post, but I was taking pictures and thought she looked so cute!

Oh my gosh...isn't she just getting to be such a big girl!

Pardon her "spaced out" face!  She was "brushing" her hair!

 After so much playing and "learning" Daddy came home from work!  She loves her Daddy time!

Just for the record I think her face looks a LOT like my baby pictures.

Kisses for daddy!

Cracking up!

As I'm blogging this, Ryan and I are watching a Modern Family episode we had on the DVR and the dad is taking his daughter on a college visit.  I know before we know it we are going to be taking Brynn on a college visit....ahhhHHH!!!!!!!  She's growing up so fast!

Saturday Morning Pancakes

Saturday morning we got up and decided to have some chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast!  We didn't have anywhere to be, and it was so nice to just have a slow, lazy morning and take our time eating and playing around. 

Brynn must think we need a skillet...she loves to pull them out of this drawer!

Playing around in the kitchen while we make pancakes and get her breakfast ready.

Helping make daddy's coffee...

She is getting really good at drinking from her sippy cup! 

Sorry for Ryan's lack of clothing...he just doesn't really like to wear a shirt around the house!  He told me not to take a picture of him, but I had to get a shot of those amazing pancakes he's flipping!  (And clearly he didn't mind too much because he smiled for the picture! HA!)

She hasn't ever used a plate before, and we ended up taking it away because she tried to pick it up and flip it over and play with it!  Ryan made her a little baby-sized pancake (without chocolate chips) that she ate!

YUMMY!

We hadn't had pancakes in FOREVER!

Who's the best helper cleaning up the dishes?  Brynn! 
HA!  She LOVES the dishwasher! 

Hanging Out with Grandma Sally

A couple of weeks ago we went to visit my Grandma Sally.  She hadn't seen Brynn since Christmas, and Brynn hadn't been to her house since she was super little, so it was fun to take a little trip to Perryvile to visit her. 

Great-Grandma and Brynn

My dad went into my grandma's basement and dug out this old highchair.  It was the one
HE USED when he was a baby! 

She has several old baby dolls and stuffed animals...Brynn was in heaven!

She LOVES Curt so much...I think she's going through some type of "boy" phase! HA!  When Lindsey and Curt were in town this past week she wanted Curt more than Linz...it was hilarious!

Heel stretch...we are already practicing for her Mizzou cheerleading tryout...HA!

Thanks Grandma Sally for a great visit!  We love you!

10 months

 Yes, I know I sound like a broken record every month, but I just can't believe she's another month older!  TEN months...that's just crazy!  I still feel like a kid myself, so how is it that we have a child who is getting ready to celebrate her first birthday and will probably be walking in the next couple of months!  I've been having these moments lately (especially when I'm at my desk at school looking at her pictures) where I just think "I can't believe she's our daughter!" 

• She weighs about 20 1/2 pounds, but not really sure about her length.
• She is in size 3 diapers.
• She wears mostly 12 month clothes, but I have bought a couple of pairs of 18 month leggings because if I buy any smaller they just ride up to her knees!  (And this little thing has a macho belly...so the bigger sizes fit fine around the waistline too! HA!)
• Typical daily schedule is to get up around 7, take a morning nap around 9:30 (we only let her sleep about 45 minutes tops), lunch around 11:45ish, afternoon nap from about 1-3:15, supper around 5, and nurse at 8 and then bedtime.  Breakfast is milk, oatmeal, and fruit.  Lunch is milk and veggies.  She usually has a little snack at Nonna's after she gets up from her nap.  Supper is milk, and then meat, veggies, and fruits.  Usually when we eat supper (which is around 6:15) she eats some of our table food and feeds herself puffs.  This little thing can PUT IT AWAY!  She likes everything...spaghetti, green beans, bread, etc..
• She still drinks breast-milk only.  I pump before we get her up in the mornings, and I pump over lunch at school, and then she nurses before supper and before bed.  I still can't believe my body is still doing this!  If it's the weekend I don't have to pump, so I don't dip into my supply, but during the week I'm getting into my supply almost everyday.  We usually give her 5 oz. bottles for breakfast and lunch, and I'm not pumping that much anymore (usually around 4 each time). 
• She is quite the little jabberbox...she babbles away but says "dadadadada" way more than "mamamama" right now (tear, tear).  She also says "nananana" (which Nonna says is probably because she hears "Nonna" all day long). 
• Some of her new "things" include raising her hands when we ask her "how big is Brynn?", semi-pointing at things, and blowing a whistle (she loves to do this and it's hilarious!)  She is getting pretty good at waving to people.  She likes to patty-cake and does the clapping, rolling it up, and then raises her arms up for the last part.
• She can WALK WITH HER WALKER!  It used to go too fast for her, but now she can pretty much do it all over the house.
• She is the fastest little crawler...she is quick!  Lindsey says we need to enter her in the Super Kids race because they have a crawler division and she says Brynn would cream everyone! HA!
• She is into EVERYTHING...I turned around for a second tonight and she had unrolled the roll of toilet paper all over the bathroom floor!
• She has a "lovey"...her little soft baby.  We put it in her crib at night and a lot of times we will find her arms wrapped around it when we get her up.  She also takes her paci more now...we usually only give it to her in the car, but she doesn't always enjoy car rides and it is amazing how quiet she is with it! HA!
• She's become quite a fan of her daddy...she loves to follow him around the house and even cried once when he left!
• The last 3 Sundays at church she has cried when we've dropped her off, although they said it only took about a minute before she stopped crying. 
• This was the first month she got really sick...her first ear infection.  It took 2 rounds of antibiotics and a couple of weeks to finally get over.

 

What an incredible 10 months it has been!  We've been to see 2 friends newborns lately and it just boggles my mind how tiny they are and how much they grow in just a few short months.  Babies are truly miracles from the Lord!

Book Exchange

Quick ear infection update...Brynn started the stronger antibiotic last Monday and slept well Monday and Tuesday night, but was up Wednesday night.  We didn't know if the ear infection was still there or if she was just in a weird sleep pattern because of it, so we had them check her ears on Friday and he said it looked much better.  She slept well this weekend so we are praying that it is finally gone and everyone's nighttime sleep can go back to normal!

A few weeks ago a friend at school gave me a letter about participating in a "book exchange."  It is kind of like an old school chain letter.  All I had to do was buy and send one book (and mail letters to 6 friends) and Brynn is supposed to get 36 books!  Isn't that fun?  (Don't make me explain how that works, but it does...if everyone participates).  Brynn got her first book in the mail last week and we were so excited when we found it in the mailbox!

YAHOO!  My first book!  We didn't even take off our coats before we were tearing into the package!

Let's open it!

She got slightly distracted in the kitchen...

An animal board book!

It is such a perfect book for Brynn!  It has lots of pictures of animals and pages that talk about their colors, their stripes or spots, etc.

Oooo...Brynn makes this noise a lot "ooo, ooo, ooo." 

We hope we get several more books in the mail! 

Nosy Girl...

Oh this little child...she loves to get into EVERYTHING!  This weekend we put cabinet locks out in the family room because she likes to open the cabinets and pull everything out! HA!  Nonna said she is one of the nosiest little ones ever!  =)  Here is a 30 minute sneak peek into what Brynn likes to do on a random Tuesday night.

I think I'll go into the guest bathroom and open all the drawers and pull everything out.  (This is one of her favorite activities by far!)

Gee...what's in here?  Oh I found some mouthwash.  Cool!

Then I'll sit down and shake the mouthwash container with a big smile all over my face! 

Okay, the mouthwash got old so I'll go stand up by the tub (seriously she LOVES to stand here and play with the fabric and vinyl shower curtain and shake them).

Ooo...what happens when I push the door shut?  (Another favorite activity right now is shutting doors and opening them and watching what happens when she does that).

YAY!  It's finally bathtime!  (She LOVES sticking the letters and numbers to the tub wall and pushing them around.)

Yumm....letter X is so tasty!  (She LOVES to put them in her mouth and chew on them!  Then again, right now there isn't anything she doesn't love to put in her mouth and chew on!)

So there's just a little 30 minute peek into the fabulous life of Brynn Bandermann!

Go Away Ear Infection!

Well..it's finally happened.  I figured the dreaded ear infection would eventually hit, and it has.  Actually, it happened last week (and I meant to blog about it but never got around to it).  A couple of weeks ago Brynn started waking up in the middle of the night.  Every other night she would wake up and NOT want to lay back down.  I realize now that it was probably pressure and pain in her ears.  Well finally last Tuesday I was talking to some girls I teach with about it, and wondered if it was a weird sleep issue she was going through when they suggested maybe it was her ears.  I hadn't seen her touch them or act fussy really, but figured that could be it.  The more I thought about it I really felt like we should take her in.  Ryan was off work that day so I made an appoinment, which he thought was crazy.  But an hour later I got a text from him that said "mama was right, double ear infection."  POOR THING!  We got antibiotics and thought we were good to go.  She seemed more like herself and slept fine from Tuesday until this Sunday.  Then Sunday she was really fussy, and I saw her messing with her ears, and she woke up again in the night really fussy and wouldn't lay down.  So...we took her in again today and it's BACK...or rather never fully went away?  We are on new antibiotics so hopefully this will take care of it for good.  Ahhhh....I think that's one of the hardest things of being a parent, especially at this age.  You just have no idea what is wrong...I'm wondering "is she teething?  Does she need tylenol?"  I think God is probably getting tired of hearing the same prayer from me ALL DAY..."God give me wisdom to know what to do."  It is also really makes me thankful I live in this century...you guys are going to crack up but since she's had her ear infection it really makes me think "wow, what did the pioneers do?"  They had to wait on Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman to come around once every few months...yikes!  Thank you Lord for doctors and medicine!

What post would be complete without a picture?  I think I've posted this one before, but can you guess why I am posting it again?  OUR MIZZOU TIGERS ARE NUMBER 2 IN THE NATION!  Woohooooo!  Go Tigers!