I.O.U.S.

If you can guess the meaning of this blog title by the end of this post - I like you. Hint: It has nothing to do with an "I owe you."

So it's been a while since I updated, and I apologize for my blog slackage. Brooklyn and I took a week-long trip to Bakersfield to see my family. It was fun, but sad to leave. I guess it makes me realize how much I miss my family when we are so far away. I was going to post pictures of the trip, but I opened up my camera and the SD card is missing. It's not in the computer, either, so I guess I'll have to wait until Jason gets home and see if he knows where it is.

Since I don't have any pictures, my main purpose in writing is to give you an update on Brooklyn's progress. She turned 9 months on the 12th, but because of our trip we didn't get to go to the doctor until Monday, the 28th. She didn't have to have any shots this time, yahoo! They did prick her toe to test her iron. I thought she would scream her head off about that, but she didn't even react! The doctor told me that babies usually don't even feel it because the nerves in their finger and toe tips aren't fully developed at this age. Anyway, she bled quite a bit. She had her band-aid off in about 10 seconds so I was stuck waiting for the doctor holding a squiggly, bleeding baby and wearing khaki shorts. That was interesting. I kept wiping it and then putting her up on the table and letting her crawl around. Then, I'd clean up her blood trails. When the doctor came in, there was blood all over the crumpled up paper on the table, all over the baby wipe I was using to clean, and all over Brooklyn. (Luckily, none got on my shorts!) The doctor came over to help me and wrapped Brooklyn's foot all up with cotton and tape. It looked like she had broken her toe or something. The doctor said "Let's see her get out of that!" It was off 30 seconds later. Brooklyn is surprisingly strong.

I got to tell the doctor all the things that Brooklyn is doing and learning. She can pull herself up and walk along furniture. She knows how to clap. She has six teeth grown in, so she can eat almost anything I give her. She says two words: "Da-da" and "tick-tock." The tick-tock comes from her moving her head back and forth when she's happy thing. We always say tick-tock when she does it and now she does too! If you buzz your lips at her, she will buzz back. She has enough hair for a ponytail on top, although she won't hold still long enough for me to put one in. And the most exciting thing: she takes naps!!! On our trip to Bakersfield, she all of a sudden turned into a normal baby and it is no longer a battle to get her down for the night. She whines for a minute and then goes right to sleep from about 9 pm to 8:30 am. Then, she takes a nap at 11 and again between 3 and 4, depending on how long she slept the first time. It is WONDERFUL!!!

So now for the stats. She is TALL!!! She is 30 inches tall which is above the 97th percentile for her age. She weighs 23 pounds, 3 ounces. The nurse told me that was the 85th percentile, but the doctor said 75th. Either way, she is taller than she is heavy. We got together with my family for FHE on Monday night and my cousin Alicia was there with her little girl, Ava. Ava is 5 weeks older and almost 7 pounds lighter! It was so strange to think that Brooklyn was the younger baby. She has all this hair and a mouthful of teeth. Which brings me to the explanation of this blog title: Infant of Unusual Size. Like R.O.U.S. (Rodent of Unusual Size) from the Princess Bride. =) Did you get it?? Oh well... at least I thought it was amusing. More with pictures later!

Lunch

Today for lunch, I decided that I was tired of my usual turkey sandwich. So.. I got creative with some stuff I had on hand and this is what became of it:

I just threw together a can of black beans (drained & rinsed), a can of chicken, about a cup of frozen corn, and some purple onion. I sprinkled on some lime juice, salt, cumin and cayenne and poof! There was lunch! As you can see in the picture, I spooned it over some romaine and served it with fat free sour cream. It was indeed yummy, nutritious, fast, filling, and low-calorie. Everything you could want in a lunch. (Makes 3 servings of 4 points each!)

Then, of course, it was time for dessert. I have to do a product plug on this one. Jello Dark Chocolate Raspberry Sugar-Free pudding cups (with a squirt of Cool Whip!). Found in the refrigerator section. They are usually expensive, but they were on sale and I had a coupon so we tried them out. They might become a must-have for me. Very yummy and cool on a hot summer day with only 60 calories!

Tootsie Pops are another low-cal treat we enjoy around here. Brooklyn knows them by sight and always comes rushing over to have a lick when one of us is eating one. She doesn't usually get her own, but tonight was an exception. She was whiney, I had housework that gets neglected with me working so much, and Jason was studying for a test tomorrow. So, the baby got stripped naked and put in her high chair with a Tootsie Pop. She LOVED it, of course. It kept her entertained for an entire HOUR!

She even got to try a bite of the tootsie center before I took it away for bathtime!

Let Freedom Ring

We found out on Wednesday evening that Jason didn't have to go into work on Friday the 4th of July. I have been picking up a lot of extra hours lately, but since we didn't know he would be available to watch Brooklyn on Friday morning, I hadn't picked any up for that time. So, we found ourselves unexpectedly (and temporarily) liberated from our normal responsibilities. We slept in late. It felt soooo good. Then, we went to the mall and shared a Subway sandwich for lunch. Then, Jason gave me the greatest gift ever: and hour of complaint-free shopping!! I've really been wanting to get some new clothes that actually fit and aren't maternity, but I have nobody to shop with so Jason gets dragged along. It is certainly not his favorite activity. On Friday, he agreed to give me an hour with no whining. (If I am being completely honest, I have to admit that there were a few snide remarks... maybe about 10% of the usual, so it was still a nice break!) Guess how many things I bought?? Zero. That's one of the reasons he hates shopping with me... I'm way picky. I have to like it, it has to fit me perfectly, AND it has to be CHEAP!! Not always easy to find. I did find a dress that I liked, but they were out of my size so we went to a different mall the next day and picked it up. Hallelujah! Anyway, the shopping trip wasn't a total bust. We ran into my two cousins, Michelle and Heather, that I hadn't seen in a while. After the hour was up, we also went to See's candy and got some chocolate to celebrate. The See's lady gave us our samples and then handed Jason a caramel and said it was for Brooklyn. He opened it right then and handed it to her, whole. Needless to say, we had a caramel-covered chica 5 minutes later. She got it all over her little star-spangled shirt. Oh well... I changed her into a blue and white Dodgers dress and she and Daddy went to watch the fireworks that evening while I worked. Apparently, she was really good and liked watching them. What a brave little one we have. Here are some pictures of what I missed:

We took a picture outside of the mall so you could see our festive outfits. It ended up being the only picture we got before our little one was a sticky caramel ball. Too bad because we kept telling her to smile and this is what she did in like all 6 pictures:

Goofball!

Fourth of July Torture

I just have to say how much I am hating my headset right now. We live right across the street from the BYU stadium in Provo which is where they are currently hosting the Stadium of Fire. I have been to Stadium of Fire before and they are the BEST fireworks I have EVER seen in my life. And I'm not even a fireworks fan. Anyway, we have a terrific view of the festivities right outside our window. Where am I? Sitting at my desk, working. I can hear them booming and popping and I'm just sitting here... argh!!! What makes matters worse is that it's not even busy so I have nothing to do. I can't get up because a call can come through at any second and there is suddenly a person on the line needing attention. At least Jason and Brooklyn got to enjoy them...