10 months

We never can seem to get the new pictures up on the 24th, but hey, we're close.  Another month has flown by and as you can tell from these pictures, we have quite a little ham on our hands!  Brooks is getting more personality every day, and we think he's pretty funny!

He is "talking" all the time - da da da da and ba ba ba ba are his favorite phrases, and he especially loves when we say it back to him.  This month he has been working on holding his bottle by himself, eating more finger foods like cheerios and soft fruit and veggies, and the ever-elusive crawling!  That big belly just sticks to the ground as Brooks rolls and spins around all over the house.  He has no trouble getting where he wants to go, but hasn't quite figured out how to get up on his knees.

This month Brooks and I also took a trip to Dallas to visit Mimi and Grandad Fuquay.  We had so much fun!  Brooks has also moved to his big boy car seat and seems to enjoy not being so squished! 

a lover and a fighter

as most of you who follow our silly little family blog know, we usually keep it light and funny and try to focus on brooks and our adventures in colorado.  but today our hearts are heavy and our house is sad. 

five and a half years ago, on a whim, i decided to get a dog - a cute, fluffy, white little dog - arnold palmer, or arnie as everyone knows him.  my roommates were gracious and richard (my boyfriend at the time) helped me pick him up, put together his first crate and take care of him from day one.

over the years, we loved arnie for the crazy, energetic dog that he was and also had many moments of frustration with him as he did silly things that we couldn't understand.  while he loved us so well, licking us every chance he had, he always had a part of him that we couldn't get under control, a scared and aggressive little dog, that would come up unexpectantly once in a while.  even after working with trainers and dog whisperers for the last few years, arnie bit one of our neighbors on friday afternoon coming home from a walk.  we had seen such improvemnt in his behavior, but as our trainer told us on saturday, his problem isn't going to be something we can fix. she commended us on our work with arnie and the loving home we gave him.  after much thought, converstaion, and tears we decided that the best and safest thing for our family was to put arnie to sleep. 

thank you to all of you out there who loved arnie over the years.  we spent the weekend remembering old stories of him, fun trips he had taken and the countless things he had eaten that he shouldn't have.  we want to remember the loving and licking dog that brought so much joy and laughter to our house and we pray that wherever arnie is now, he is not anxious or scared or sad. 

Arnie's 1st christmas in Denver - he loved the 3 feet of snow we had for much of the winter!

Arnie loved having more dogs at our house, but always wanted to take their beds instead of his own. 

Arnie on a hike at Cherry Creek Resevoir

Arnie hiking and playing in the water at Booth Falls in Vail, CO.

Arnie on his first and only 14er.

Arnie and Xander

Arnie and Brooks - lots of kisses all the time!

we miss him already.

Roar

While too young to enjoy Halloween (obviously) Brooks did allow us to put him in a costume and take him out past his bedtime!  I had my heart set on him being a little lion and luckily found a costume just a few days before Halloween. 

Brooks and his best friend, Xander (the puppy). 

The dads with Brooks and Elliott (the elephant).  Both up well past their bedtimes, but enjoying the party and concert on the porch with friends.

9 months

It's official, Brooks is a whole 3/4 now and really dwarfing the little bear in his chair - no contest really!

This month was another great one for us.  Brooks took his first sailing trip to florida with nana and grandpa phil and loved every minute of it! he had a little bed on the floor of the boat and slept so well with all the rocking at sea.

here are some other highlights of the month:

- 20lbs 8oz - 48%

- 29 1/8 in - 77%

- really making a lot of talking sounds - ba ba, bo bo, and even a few da das although we don't think he really knows what they mean!

- first flu shot (and second)

- first red eye flight - thanks emily for the tip to create a little bed under the seat in front of me - worked like a charm!

- not really crawling yet but scoots backwards and rolls all over the place to get things out of reach
- eating like a champ still - we added black beans, brocoli, pineapple, mango, peaches, and apricots

- favorite toys of the moment - an old deck of cards, mr. penguin from aunt kathleen, books, mom's computer and the tv remote control!

This stage might be my favorite so far.  Brooks is so much fun to hang out with during the day.  He seems to love everything we do - eating, bath time, shopping carts, moms group at church, starbucks, walking the dogs and waiting for daddy to come home.  He continues to be a great sleeper - about 12 hours at night and still 2 naps during the day.  He is most excited when he is standing up and when daddy comes home at night.  He loves being tickled while he's getting his diaper changed and makes friends with everyone when we are out in public.  a total attention hound!