He's Already Having an Effect!

I should take a picture of Brooks in a superhero suit of some kind since he's already wielding power over others. Remember this? Well, I choose to believe that Auntie Lindsay just had to give B a playmate, and we are so excited that she's going to! Congrats to the Safran family on the little one expected in mid-November!

Playgroup Fun

Our New Moms Group got together again yesterday outside of our official Thursday meetings. The babies are really starting to interact with each other more which makes it so fun to watch! We managed to get a pic of the 7 who were there:

(For those of you who are interested in 2008 baby names, we have pictured here going clockwise from the Brookster: Christian, Andreas, Morgan, Jocelyn, Jack, and Cadence.

Brooks got to spend some time next to Cady, who was born on the very same day at the same hospital! He kept showing off his roll-to-the-side move so he could rub her head and pull on her ear but it's clearly all a sign of affection. The twins:

After I got home, I uploaded these pics and sent them out to all the mothers. As soon as I hit "send", I looked over at the playmat and watched Mr. Brooks roll back-to-front for the first time and then, while that was registering with me, he did a bonus front-to-back roll to end up on his back again. I'm sure he just wanted to get some new moves to show the gang at the next gathering! And he's getting good practice...I found him on his stomach this morning in his crib.

Deep in the Heart...of Arlington?

Brooks and I were able to get in some good Texan visitin' time yesterday without having to fly across the country. David and Opa G have been friends since the 2nd grade so David, Ola, and their 4 daughters have been dear family friends seemingly forever. The youngest daughter, Ruth, lives in Arlington, VA, so Brooks and I drove down there yesterday to take advantage of a parental visit. It was so great to spend some time together! (Shout-out also to second daughter, Margaret, who is a loyal reader! Hope you're enjoying some downtime now that tax day is behind you!)

The Paternity is becoming More Clear...Sigh

I've been so happy that Brooks seems to be taking after his maternal unit in the smiling department. He even lets out some fabulous giggles. Unfortunately, he also seems to have inherited the paternal belief that photographs rob one of his soul. We can be in the middle of smiles and laughs galore, but as soon as the camera makes an appearance, it's over. No wonder a comment was made about B looking like he was haunted in the pic from the last entry-- and that was the LEAST scared-looking one!

For 8+ years now, I've wondered what a product of the Kentobean genes would be like. I always thought it would be hysterical if the child looked like Seth but acted like me. (And really, I mean Baylor Chamber-era Seth--or the persona he projected to the younger members--rather than the real Seth.) Picture it: dark, foreboding, intense, never-smiling...but then asking, "Are you mad at me? Can I give you a hug?"

Now that we have such a cuddly Brooksie, however, it's hard to imagine any other kind. Of course, based on the research that just came out last week about the correlation of pre-conception diets to sex of babies, I'm sure future child #2 will end up being a boy, too, so it could still happen. (I do love me some breakfast.)

ANYWAY, we had a very relaxed weekend. Seth had a temporary respite from Saturday track obligations so we did a whole lot of sitting around. Well, and hanging upside down:

You Know What's Much More Fun Than Work?

Well, lots of things, really, but boy do I love the time I have to play around with photo editing tools!

Oooh, "View" Ladies...You Are So Pretty!

Yes, that's the TV he's looking at so intently. Sigh. I didn't let this last long...

(PS-- in honor of opening day for Seth's softball league, B is sporting an appropriate onesie)

(PPS-- does anyone else see red hair?)

Make Way for Babies

This afternoon, I hosted a gathering of moms and babies from the New Moms Group-- we had nine mother/baby combos hanging out in our living room! It was such a nice opportunity for everyone to get out of the house (well, except for the two of us who live here!) and do something different! We didn't get a pic of all the babies, but after everyone else left, Brooks and his friend Jack played a bit more:


Brooks isn't used to hanging out with peeps his own age. I see we need to do some working on how not to stick our feet in the faces of others:

Some More Fun Pics from the Weekend

Just hanging out:

I always encourage Geoff to play around with my camera since he seems to have some talent at getting fun angles with my little point-and-shoot:

I think he's plotting something:

No, you can't take him back with you to California!

The gnomes (Festus Aloysius and Keswick) took care of some important business while they were together:

We'll just pretend for art's sake that this pic was taken while Geoff and Nicki were leaving:

Next Step in Bathing

Who needs the infant sling component of a baby tub? As of Friday night, not Mr. Brooks. And sink baths were SO January! I'm sure before we know it, he'll have completed the developmental bath process and be soaking in the big ol' tub!

We Know a Weenie Man...

HAPPY FRIDAY!

A REAL Aunt and Uncle!

Geoff and Nicki arrived this morning from Los Angeles to meet Mr. Brooks. As you can see, lots of fun is already being had!

A Special Message for a Loyal Reader

Brooks worked really hard on creating a visual birthday greeting for our favorite Seattle resident, Annie Kate. (So hard, in fact, that he didn't have the strength to look at the camera.) Here's how it breaks down: first of all, we have the coffee mug, of course. And then we have a fish that has just been thrown at him as if we were at Pike Place Market. Also, approximately 3 seconds after this picture was taken, I spritzed some water at his head to simulate rain.

He worked really hard on the card itself, but clearly we still have some work to do on spelling.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ANNE!! We'll definitely get him to smile better when you come to visit in 2.5 weeks!

The Swirl

Although B is 3 months old today, I figured enough has been seen recently of his precious face. So behold the swirl! He's still working a bit of the Terry Bradshaw look but there's definitely hair coming in around his whole head. AROUND being the operative word:

One Cool Cat

Oh yeah.

Sundays are for Sweats

After a few quite warm days, it's a bit cooler today. Perfect time to introduce Brooks to the family tradition of Sunday afternoons in sweatpants!

(He also seems to be adopting the family tradition of good eatin', as evidenced by his chunky-monkeyness, but hey, at least he's not starving anymore, right??!)

Happy Friday!

Our Rearranged Wednesday

Brooks got over his protest funk yesterday long enough to agree to go to Ethan's for an impromptu visit. (Still wore the footie pajamas, though!) Ethan can do all kinds of big boy tricks:

Brooks was so mesmerized that he couldn't even smile at the camera:

NO FAIR!

I got a call early this morning from my parents who had gotten all the way to DFW Airport (after checking the AA website before they left the house) to discover that my dad's flight up here was cancelled. He was going to spend the day with us before flying out this evening on a business trip, but all our fun plans were dashed because of those darn airplane inspections. In protest, Brooks asked that he sit around and wear footie pajamas all day long. He did, however, want to read some poetry in honor of his Opa G.

O, Canada

Brooks received this super cool Canada shirt in the mail recently from AKH, who had visited our neighbors to the north on a ski trip to Whistler in British Columbia. He's now really excited about making his own trek northwards (via Seattle, of course, AKH!)--especially when he can enjoy the bubble tea and all-you-can-eat sushi on every corner!

Already Have the Orthodontist on Speed-Dial

Another Fun Outing at "Auntie Chisty's"

Brooks and I ventured over to Christy's "office" late this afternoon for a little visit. As you may recall, the last time we went there on a Friday, Little B found himself ready for a snooze. Must be something about that place because it happened again:

It's hard to see above, but Brooks's onesie is doubly-appropriate for him as the son of his father. Check it out:

Biological organisms? Check. General message about people staying away? Check.

After some fun playing and the nap, the entertainment continued with shadow puppets!

What a great way to start the weekend!

Don't Mind My Giant Gorilla Feet, Dad

And in case you can't really see the giant gorilla feet, here's another view:

No More Photos, Mumsie!

Tummy Rumbles and other Thoughts

I generally have made it a point to stay away from potentially controversial baby-rearin' topics, but I'm going to forge ahead in order to muse a bit about us bigger people...

So we've been very lucky to have a baby who, at least up to this point, sleeps really well for long extended periods during the night. Last night, however, the raucousness of our dinner at Fuddruckers with some Glen Mar crazies must have done poor Brooks in and he awoke in the middle of the night many hours before he normally has been waking up. As I went into his room, I was thinking about how the pediatrician told me at the 2-month appointment that, at this stage, we shouldn't automatically feed him if he wakes up during the night. I tried several other soothing methods unsuccessfully and finally decided to see if perhaps he was indeed thirsty. As he was gulping, I realized I heard his little tummy growling and I felt bad that he must've been so hungry.

After he was fed and went back to sleep, I tried to go back to sleep myself. Lo and behold, what do I hear but MY stomach rumbling! I find myself rationalizing that darn it, I must be hungry, too. As I was contemplating whether I needed to get myself a bowl of cereal, it dawned on me that there was no way--given what I ate at Fudds--that I should be hungry. It was all a matter of me being awake, like my body would act hungry at any point I arose and it's just usually a more appropriate breakfast time. This, of course, begs the question that perhaps the situation is the same with the little mini-me in the nursery. Was he really hungry or did he just wake up for some reason and then become "aware" of some tummy rumbles? If everyone slept all day long, would we ever be hungry? Or would all that sleep lower our metabolisms and we'd end up really chubby anyway? All of these are things I ponder at 3 AM. I didn't ever get my cereal, by the way, so one point to Emily in the battle of the bulge.

Totally unrelated PS: Did you happen to catch the last scene of How I Met Your Mother last night? Neil Patrick Harris, as Barney, did a hilarious send-up of his first famous TV character. Just like Doogie Howser, Barney was shown typing (well, it was blogging on a 2008-appropriate laptop), but when they showed the screen, it was the classic blue one with a huge blinking white cursor. The Doogie Howser, MD theme music played over the scene while he typed his entry-- and he even had one of those patently cheesy moments where he stared off into space and then shook his head and smiled as an insightful thought came to mind. Ah, nostalgia for the old days wondering what Doogie's episode summation would be on his computer!