Four Months Old

Brianne is 4 months old as of October 17. I can't believe how fast the time has flown! Brianne had her 4 month check up, and had to get some shots. Brianne measured 26 inches long and 13 lbs, 10 oz. She's in the 50th percentile for her weight, and is in the 95th (!) percentile for her height. That means she's on track to be super tall. She must get her height from her dad's side - Marty is 6'2" and her Uncle Marc (Marty's brother) is 6'5"! She is overall very healthy, and is doing very well.

Developmentally, she can lift her head and shoulders off the floor when she is on her tummy. She has started laughing, which is the greatest sound ever. She grabs at things (including my hair), and tries to put it into her mouth. She is starting to get mobile, and scoots herself around on her back. I think she has started teething. No teeth yet, but she is extra drooly and constantly chews on things. This weekend, we'll start experimenting with solid (well, semi-solid) foods - baby cereal! Stay tuned for more on that!

Here we are in the waiting room at the doctor's office. Brianne isn't nervous at all!

Here we are waiting for the doctor.

Brianne right after getting her shots. She took them really well, and only cried for a few seconds (and I didn't cry at all!)

The Greatest Ship Ever Built

This past week, I left Brianne for the first time ever. Yes, it was really hard, but the reason I left was to attend my National Sales Meeting on the Oasis of the Seas. So while I missed her like crazy, I was distracted by getting to see first hand the most incredible cruise ship in the world. Those of us at Royal Caribbean have been anticipating the arrival of Oasis for years now, so it is still a little unreal that she is here. Words cant even describe all the wonders on this ship. The 3 days I was gone was not nearly enough time to see everything, so I think we will be booking our vacation on the Oasis sooner rather than later! Check it out online at http://www.oasisoftheseas.com/.

While I was gone, Marty was supposed to watch the baby all by himself. He ended up getting a lot of help (and I mean a lot), and probably saw Brianne less than when I am home. My mom came over Monday night and Wednesday night, picking the baby up from day care and then watching her until she put her to bed (Marty had meetings). She even made him dinner. Then on Tuesday night, Marty should have had some daddy-daughter time, but was fortunate enough to have his wonderful sister, Casey, come and help so he could go for a run. Lucky dog. We are definitely lucky to have so much support around us!

When I got home, Brianne was super excited to see me, which was such a nice feeling. I thought she'd for sure forget who I was after not seeing me for a few days. I had a great time exploring the Oasis, but I missed my little family and am so glad to be back!

Here is the view from my balcony on Oasis. I had a room on the Boardwalk, and this is the back of the ship. That's the Aquatheater, an outdoor amphitheater where they will perform shows.


Here is me and my team at our awards night. I didn't win any awards, but my managers Tricia and Kevin did - go team!

Here is Brianne spending some time with Grandma Mimi while I was gone. I'm sure she had a great time, but I can tell she is missing me :o)

Take Me Out to the Ball Game

Marty played baseball throughout college, and loves to re-live his glory days by playing softball. He is trying to instill a love of sports in Brianne by showing her the mysteries of baseball, like the pros and cons of aluminum versus wood bats, how to pitch a no hitter, and the best way to get out of a pickle. We had to start out slow, but she already seems really fascinated by the ball and bat.

Looks like we'll be signing her up for tee ball sooner rather than later. I cant wait, since its the cutest thing ever to watch the little kids all running after the ball together. Marty is really looking forward to coaching, though im sure it will be a bit different trying to direct 2 year olds versus 20-something college men.

A quick fun fact - my Granddad Jim (my dad's dad) coached Marty in high school baseball, before I even met Marty. So baseball definitely runs in our family!

The proud dad and Brianne, collecting soft balls after some batting practice.


This bat is taller than she is!


Brianne enjoying some break time after running drills and shagging flies.

Fun On Our Feet

After I went back to work, I moved to a Mommy and Me class on Saturdays. In this new class, Brianne is the oldest baby there, which is kind of weird to me, since I am used to her being the youngest. I love looking at the tiny babies and remembering when Brianne was a little lump like them. It seems like she's come such a long way, though it's only been a couple months.

Now that she's holding her head better, she can spend more time up right (which is good, since the back of her head is starting to get flat from laying down all the time). In the class, they have this exer-saucer thing which props them up right and has all kinds of cool toys. Brianne was mesmerized by this one toy in the shape of an hour glass that had little colored beads in it. She sat there gawking at it for a good 10 minutes, which is like a year in baby-time.

Brianne in the exer-saucer, staring away at the hour glass.

Bubble Bubble, Bathtime Trouble

Our night time routine is one of my favorite times with Brianne each day. We follow the same pattern pretty much every evening - bath time, put on jammies, eat a bottle, fall asleep. The tricky part of this process is bath time. Not because Brianne doesn't like baths - she loves them. It's the transferring a naked baby from her changing table to the bath tub without getting pooped or pee'd on that's the hard part.

A few nights ago, I had gotten her changed out of her clothes for her bath, and we made it into the bath tub. All of a sudden, I noticed some little bubbles in the bath water. We both thought this was really funny, until she did number 2, right in the bath. I started shrieking, and Brianne just kept on laughing. I whipped her out of the tub, put her on her towel, hosed out the tub, then refilled it. Then I put her back in, and a minute later, she did it again!!

So I had to do the whole process again, and finally, on the third try, I got her completely clean and poo-free. Marty was very unhelpful and only came upstairs to laugh at me before going back down to continue watching TV.

What a little stinker!

A Day of Discovery

This Sunday, we decided to take a journey over to downtown Ft. Lauderdale to visit the Museum of Discovery and Science. Of course, we wanted to show Brianne some cool stuff, but mostly, admission was free this weekend for Bank of America customers (which we are), so we thought, hey, why not. On the way, Brianne started fussing and fell asleep. When we got there, she was still sleeping, so Marty and I absorbed some knowledge for her. Luckily, she woke up in a good mood and was ready for some learning. We looked at some animals, and watched other kids exploring the museum. Brianne is still a little young to fully appreciate the museum, but I think she had a good time seeing something new.

Here we are checking out the aquarium in the museum. Brianne loved watching the little fishies swim on by.


Brianne looks really excited by the crazy loops on this toy. She is probably just trying to figure out the best way to put it in her mouth.

Baby's Best Friend

Brianne has recently started to take notice of Cooper. She loves to watch whatever he's doing, and cracks up when he starts rolling around, playing with his toys. Cooper is mildly interested in Brianne, and is more interested in getting our attention. He will sometimes sit directly on the baby to get himself in between us and her. Luckily he only weighs 7 lbs, so he doesnt hurt her, and Brianne thinks it is some fun game.

Poor Cooper is definitely feeling some jealousy, but I think he is warming up to Brianne, especially now that she has started petting him and giving him attention.

Brianne checking Cooper out.

Cooper actually layed down and rolled over on his own and Brianne started petting him. No lie, they did this all on their own. I can tell they will be best friends!

We Miss Daddy!

This week, Marty is up in Tallahassee for his legislative committee meetings, which means I have had Brianne all by myself. Well, sort of by myself. My mom has been a huge help in taking care of Brianne and shuttling her to day care and back. I will admit, I do feel a little inadequate that I cant do it all myself, but I just swallow my pride and thank my lucky stars that I have someone (besides my husband) who gives so selflessly of themselves and their time to help us.

We've been managing pretty well, though we miss Marty a lot. I miss him especially, since the time change has messed Brianne's schedule up, making her extra fussy in the evenings. Trying to explain to a 3 month old that its actually an hour earlier and that she has to stay awake when she's ready to go to bed hasn't worked out so well for me. So I have been putting her to bed almost an hour earlier the past few days, but she's still sleeping through the night, so Im sure it will all just work itself out.

Marty comes home on Friday, and we can't wait to see him!

Brianne is practicing her Tummy Time, so she can show Daddy some new tricks when he gets back. She achieved an all-time record for staying on her tummy without screaming - 5 minutes straight!

The key to Tummy Time? Distraction with lots of brightly colored toys.

Trick or Treat!

Brianne was Minnie Mouse for Halloween. She was a watered-down version of Minnie, since she didn't have the official costume. One of our family friends gave her a cute Minnie Mouse t-shirt and red tutu set, so we added some home-made Minnie ears (thanks Mi Ma Debbie) and some Mary Jane socks, and voila - the cutest little Minnie on the play ground.

Brianne had a great time trick or treating, though I think she enjoyed chewing on her pumpkin candy bag more than the candy itself. We had so much fun celebrating Halloween with Brianne, and cant wait til she's a little older and can get more into the "spirit" of the holiday.

Here is our little Minnie Mouse.

I think Brianne was a little confused. We tried to tell her you are supposed to eat what's inside the pumpkin - not the pumpkin itself. But whatever makes her happy....

Cooper was Mickey Mouse.

A Spook-tacular Morning

This year was the first time we really celebrated Halloween, thanks to Brianne. We wanted to make it special for her, so we tried to do lots of fun activities. We started the day with a 5K benefiting Women in Distress. Daddy ran (and placed second for his age group) and Mommy and Brianne walked (no medals for us, unfortunately).

We participated in the event with our good friends, the DiPaolos. After the race, we came back to our house and had breakfast. Brianne and Bradley had a fun hanging out together and sharing Bree's toys. After that, Brianne and I went to a Mommy and Me class, and had a great time singing spooky songs and looking at the other kids in their cute costumes.

Later, we carved Baby's First Jack-o-lantern. Brianne supervised and had fun playing with the gooey pumpkin insides.

Here we are before the race. Brianne slept through most of it, but she still broke a sweat since it was 90 degrees outside. Hopefully we'll get some cold weather soon!

Here is Bradley and Brianne having fun after breakfast. Brianne got to wear her Baby's First Halloween onesie - she made one cute little pumpkin!

Mom and Brianne deciding what kind of face to give our Jack-o-lantern. We actually looked on the internet for carving ideas - definitely Halloween in the digital age!

Welcome Daniel Wilcox!

Brianne is no longer the youngest in the Kiar/Robbins clan. Marty's cousins Kristen and Rich welcomed a new baby boy this past Monday, October 26 at 8:02pm. They named him Daniel Wilcox. Daniel weighed in at 9lbs, 3 oz, and was 20 3/4" long. Wow, what a big boy!! That's the size Brianne was when she was over 1 month old! Mom, Dad and Baby are all doing great, though not getting a lot of sleep from what I hear. My biggest piece of advice - unless the baby isn't growing (which doesnt sound like he's having that problem), do NOT wake him up to eat in the middle of the night. Let him sleep - he will wake up when he's hungry.

Also, enjoy every second, even the hard parts. Before you know it, he will be 3 and half months and starting to grow teeth! We wish Kristin and Rich all the best with their new bundle of joy. Brianne can't wait to meet her new little cousin!

Meet Daniel Wilcox Kennedy! What a cutie!

In the Navy

On Monday, October 26, Brianne's Uncle Jonathan (my brother) left for the Navy. We are so excited for him, and hope he will enjoy meeting new friends and doing some incredible things. Jonathan joins several of our other family members who served (or are currently serving) in the armed forces. Both my grandfathers Jim and Ed were in the Army, my Uncle Mike and my cousin Robbie were Marines, and my cousin Tyler is currently serving in the Army and is stationed in Iraq (he comes home this Thanksgiving). I am so proud of all my family, and am excited for Jon and the adventure he is about to begin.

Here is Jon and Brianne. We had lunch with Jon last Sunday before my parents drove him down to Miami to be processed. This is actually the first time Jon held Brianne. Apparently, guys dont like holding small babies, but I forced him since the next time he sees her, she will be a toddler.