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!