Dear Brooke Allen: August 2012

Oh my goodness.

It is unbelievable how busy we have been.

I'm doing your four month and five month post together, which means that it is technically 1 month and 11 days overdue.

But you will see why I'm just now getting to it...

(I apologize for the photo dump...we did a lot!)

Right after your three month birthday, you and I visited GiGi again for the weekend. We joined her first at the beach where she had been vacationing for the week.

You touched the ocean for the first time.

You also tried to order a drink from the cabana boy.

I've already blogged about your first Independence Day.

July 10th was Your Daddy's birthday. We celebrated him with lunch at Johnny Rocket's!

You love him oh so much.

You came to mommy's work pool party.

You finally got the hang of this tummy time thing. It's not so awful now.

You stayed overnight without Mommy and Daddy, because I had a work conference in Las Vegas. Daddy tagged along.

GiGi kept you for the few days we were gone, and you had big fun together.

We missed you oh so much.

You turned four months old the day after we got back.

That day, we packed up the car and headed to GiGi's house for the night. That next day, we went to Claire and Bill's wedding in Grayton Beach.

You were a hit at the party. It was HOT, but we had fun singing and dancing with you.

After the wedding, we headed to Perdido for a few days at the beach with the Parrish/Murphey clan.

Here, we got your first real giggles while doing crunches with Your Daddy.

We also ate at LuLu's for dinner, and Uncle Willie decided he wanted to wear you.

We went to the outlet mall, and you rode in your big girl stroller for the first time!

At your four month checkup, we got the go ahead to start feeding you solids. You weren't a big fan of cereal at all...

So we tried applesauce. You liked it a bit more, but were having a hard time getting the hang of the spoon, so we gave that up for a little bit. You're doing much better now.

You had your first little cold. You got it from me. :( So we used your humidifier for the first time! Steam comes out of his ears. :)

You are obsessed with your hands.

I decided I wanted to learn how to sew, so I started working on a little pillowcase dress for you. It turned out super cute...

But a little big. Maybe in a few months you'll grow into it.

Your O-Ball is one of your favorite toys.

You went to your friend Johanna's first birthday party. It was a ladybug theme.

You pooped out at the party.

Lily was sick, so you came to work with me for the first time. You would only nap on me like this.

Good thing my desk chair rocks and I have my own office so I can turn the lights out.

I got a new car to help with the gas mileage and the old car was falling apart.

We went to a baby shower for our friends, Rob and Ginny, who are expecting Baby Anna very soon. These are all the babies of our Sunday School class, who were finally all together for the very first time.

The Lord blesses and multiplies in numbers.

We had church directory pictures made, and you were ADORABLE. I had totally planned not to buy any, but they were actually good, so I had to.

This is a picture of the computer screen. I can't wait to get the real ones in.

And then you turned five months old.

Whew. We have been busy.

At your four month appointment, you weighed 14 pounds, 7 ounces, and were 27 inches long.

You are right on track with development, hitting all your milestones.

You have no intention of rolling over ever again. You've done it twice. Once in your swaddle (still not sure how you did that), and once laying around in bed with me. It took ten minutes, lots of grunting, and you immediately flipped out when you landed on your tummy. So you gave up on that.

You'd much rather try to sit instead.

Your Daddy's favorite thing with you now is making you smile. He does this silly little voice that makes you smile and giggle every time. You look to find him in the room and when you see him, you grin really big.

You love Daddy. You are two peas in a pod. You are his Widdle Buggy.

My favorite thing is singing songs with you. We sing all the time. Old hymns, praise choruses, popular music, and silly made up songs about Charlotte. I can always calm you down by singing "To Make You Feel My Love" or Charlie Chaplin's "Smile." Your favorite is still "When The Roll Is Called Up Yonder."