Hey Batter Batter

Saturday, January 23, Marty had his Palm Beach Atlantic University Alumni baseball game. The alumni play the current PBA Sailfish baseball team. This is something Marty looks forward to every year. He loves to re-live his college glory days when all he had to do was wake up, work out, play baseball, and sleep.

Brianne and I had a great time cheering Daddy on as he got up to bat and played the outfield. There were so many alumni there participating that he only got up to bat once, but he still had a lot of fun catching up with old friends. There were also a ton of little kids running around, so we had fun watching what they were doing while waiting for Marty to play. It's scary to think that Brianne will be as old as those little kids in the blink of an eye.

Our friends Emily and Adam live up in the Palm Beach area, so they came to visit us at the game. It was a fun day for all!

Here we are hanging out in the stands while Marty was waiting his turn to play.



Here is Marty at his one at-bat. He hit it out of the park (well, almost).

Grandma Mimi and Grandpa Monroe came with us.

Life's a Beach

We celebrated our day off last Monday at the beach. One of the great things about living in South Florida is being able to enjoy some sand and surf in the middle of January.

Once we parked and lugged our million beach bags onto the sand, we spent the majority of our time just taking everything in. It's a lot of fun seeing a place you've been hundreds of times through the eyes of someone who's seeing it all for the very first time. For example, Brianne was fascinated by the beach umbrella, and the way the sun showed through it, and the edges fluttered in the breeze. She thought the sea gulls swooping down to eat a little kid's Cheetos was the funniest thing ever (we thought it was pretty funny too). The most mesmerizing thing for her was the ocean crashing against the sand.

We took a walk to see what was around, and found an awesome play ground with barbecue area, beach volleyball and basketball courts (for those of you local - the area of Ft. Lauderdale beach across from the Bahia Mar, south of Las Olas). I think we may have found the site of Brianne's first birthday party! We didn't do any of the things we normally did (lay out, take a nap, read a book), but it was one of the most fun beach days ever!

It was still a little cool out, so we didn't put Brianne in one of her 20 bathing suits. Here Brianne is wearing a super cute outfit given to her by her friend, Kylie Lum. Thanks Kylie!

Brianne was fascinated by the sand, but she didn't try to put her sandy hands in her mouth! Genius baby!

Here we are taking a walk down the beach. We invested in some baby sunscreen (spf 60). It was like liquid paste, which is why she looks a little whiter than normal in this picture.

Short and Sweet (Potato)

To mark her turning 6 months old, we decided to try some real food - sweet potato! Brianne wanted some birthday cake to celebrate her half birthday, but we convinced her that sweet potato was just as delicious (wonder how many birthdays we can keep that fib up - i'm guessing not many). Also, I decided that it was time to stop pumping, but I dont feel as guilty not giving her breast milk if I can give her some other tasty options (side note: she still drinks bottles, they just have formula in it).

I am determined to make all her baby food from fresh veggies. I actually got this nifty machine that is a steamer/food processor combo. It is so fast and easy, and you can make a week's worth of food in one shot. The only problem is, the loud sound of the food processor freaks Brianne out, so I have to make sure she has a Baby Einstein video on to distract her.

The first batch of sweet potato turned out great. I waited until dinner time to give her the first bite of sweet potato, which turned out to be a bad idea, as she was in a bad mood and ready to go to bed. Though she managed a few bites and seemed interested. I got a report from Aunt Joan that today (Jan 19), she really enjoyed eating her sweet potatoes for lunch. Another funny side note, when Brianne eats solids now, she will only take a bite if she can grab the spoon (with you still holding the end) and put it into her mouth. What a smarty pants!

I'm looking forward to experimenting with other foods in my handy dandy new food processor. Lucky for me, Brianne seems to be a willing guinea pig!

Here is Brianne waiting patiently for her sweet potatoes to steam.

Six Months Old

Holy smokes. Half a year has gone by, and as of January 17, Brianne is 6 months old. I know I say it every month, but where does the time go? We have been trying to soak up new parenthood as much as possible and enjoy every single minute. With little babies, you really do need to pay attention, as they are doing new stuff every day.

Brianne is no exception, and seems to learn new tricks before we've had a chance to fully appreciate the old ones. Also, when she does something new, she may do it once, then not again for a few weeks. For example, she has completed a full 360 roll (from back to stomach to back again). She did it a few times a day for about a week, then hasn't done it at all this past week - at least that I've seen. I think she gets caught up in something new, and gets too distracted with the new activity to remember to do the old ones. Gee, I wonder who she gets that from? You can't spell Daddy without ADD :o)

Brianne is more and more curious about the world around her. She does her best to learn as fast as she can. Her favorite method of learning? Putting it in her mouth. I've read that babies at her age learn the most by the things they can put in her mouth. At this point, she may be on her way to being a Rhodes Scholar, considering everything she gets in her hands goes in her mouth.

She continues to roll, and has been improving on her assisted sitting. She still kind of falls over if you dont prop her up, but you can tell she is getting steadier. She has started "swimming" when you put her on her tummy - kicking her arms and legs with a fury - getting ready to crawl. Also in prep for crawling, she is starting to dig her knees in under her, as well as push up higher on her hands. It will only be a matter of time before we are chasing after her! She is developing quite a sense of humor and loves to laugh. Her favorite thing to laugh at is Cooper. She loves to watch whatever he's doing, and thinks its the funniest thing ever when he plays fetch. She also loves to make us laugh and has fun making faces at us and laughing when we laugh at her. We are having so much with Bree and look forward to each day and each new discovery!

What a serious face!

Bree practice crawling. You can see she's trying to get her left knee under her and push up on her arms.

She actually scooted herself underneath our ottoman all on her own.

It's All Relative

Brianne has had a lot of exciting visitors lately. This past week, she was thrilled to meet her Aunt Jeanie, who is Mi Ma Debbie's sister. Our Uncle Mike (Mi Ma Debbie's brother) and Aunt Diane came the week before. They all live in South Carolina, so it was a big treat for us to get to visit with them.

They aren't the farthest from us though. My cousin Lisa (Aunt Jeanie's daughter) lives with her husband and three sons in Australia. In second place distance-wise is Marty's Aunt Irene, whose family all live in Israel. It definitely makes us appreciate how close our immediate family is to us, and how convenient it is for us to see everyone!

We miss our family who live so far away, and hope we can visit them soon!

Brianne enjoying some time with Aunt Jeanie.

A Lazy Sunday Afternoon

The first Sunday of the new year had us back to downtown Ft. Lauderdale for the Jazz Brunch. Brianne and I met Granddad Steve and Grandma Janet at their house, and took a nice stroll over to the Riverfront area. This time, we were prepared with our own chair and a picnic blanket so we had somewhere comfortable to sit (last time, we had to rig some plastic bags and a tiny towel). Also, it was wonderfully cool outside, which was much more pleasant than the sweltering heat we had back in October.

We had a great time just relaxing, enjoying the cool breeze mixed in with some nice jazz tunes. Jazz brunch is definitely a great way to spend a Sunday afternoon - I wish it were every weekend!

Brianne spreading out on the picnic blanket, wearing her super cute purple sweat suit.


Another fun cold weather accessory - shoes! This was the first time Brianne wore shoes. The pair she wore this day had shoe strings, which is just stupid. All baby clothing items requiring a fastener should either have zippers, snaps or velcro. Otherwise, you are just constantly tying and re-tying, which is cute for maybe the first 20 times. Then it's just annoying.


Here is Brianne and Granddad Steve enjoying the cool weather. We dug out a little knit cap someone gave her when she was born to keep her head warm outside. You don't realize how fast a baby's head grows until you try to stretch a newborn size hat on a 5 month size head. It's still adorable!


Here is Brianne taking a snooze while the band was on break.

You Gonna Eat That?

Brianne is getting more and more curious about food, particularly whatever we happen to be eating. And now that she's getting more control of her hands, she tries to grab the spoon right out of your mouth. She has been getting cereal for breakfast for the past month, but I guess we need to get a move on to the next step.

We went to lunch with Mi Ma Debbie, and Brianne wanted to get in on the fun. It's a good thing Mi Ma is a good multi-tasker - entertaining Baby and eating at the same time!

Who knew the Olive Garden could be so entertaining?

Brianne may not have gotten to eat grown up food, but she still enjoyed spending time with us and learning by watching.

When the Weather Outside is Frightful

The past couple of weeks, Florida has seen record cold temperatures. And I'm not talking Florida-cold (anything below 75 degrees), but real, legitimate cold. We've been enjoying day time temps in the 50s and night time as low as in the 20s. I heard that a town near us actually had snow flurries. It was probably for 10 minutes at 3:00 am, but still - snow in Florida!

Brianne has accumulated a few cold weather outfits, and I was worried that she would never get a chance to wear them. Lucky for us this cold front hit when it did so we could parade her around in super cute snuggly outfits. I've included some of my personal favorites below.

Here is Brianne in her one heavy jacket. It was so padded that she couldn't put her arms down.

No one has ever looked this cute in stripey pants!

It was super cold this past weekend, but I learned a little trick from my Mommy and Me class. Put them in footy pajamas, then put their outfit on top of it. So when their little pants or top ride up, the jammies keep their legs and tummy warm. Genius! Bree is wearing footy pajamas in under her sweater below.

Happy New Year!

It's funny to look back over 2009 and see how much my life has changed. Obviously, the biggest change has been Brianne. I try to think back to where I was this time last year, and cant believe Brianne was just a little fetus swimming around inside me. Last New Year's, Marty and I were in Sanibel, and in bed by 10pm. Mine was a pregnancy-induced exhaustion, and Marty was sympathy-tired.

This year, we got to ring in the New Year with Brianne in person. We went over to our friends, the DiPaolos, house for a party. Alona and Frank's son, Bradley, is a few months older than Brianne, so it was a baby-friendly party, which was nice. They have a super play room full of toys, and Brianne had a great time hanging out with Bradley and just taking it all in.

We put the babies to bed around 8pm, and got to enjoy some adults-only time, which included great conversation, good music, and Peanut Butter and Jelly shots (a mix of frangelico and chambord - it really did taste like PB&J!). Thank goodness for designated-driver Marty! We actually made it all the way to Midnight, and welcomed 2010 with hope for an amazing new year!

Brianne trying to break into Bradley's play room.

Mom and Brianne getting festive for the New Year!

Brianne was concerned that she didn't know to words to Auld Lang Syne. We just made it up as we went along any way.