A Week of Firsts

Well, this week brought a lot of firsts to the Carlson household.

#1 - The Hair: Can you see it? The first mohawk! Look closely...its there...really. We'll do more with her hair when she has more of it (pony tail, pig tails, barretts, short-longs, etc.). "Hair today, gone tomorrow," says Dad.

#2 - The Hands: Brielle decided her parents just weren't cutting it in the feeding department. So she took matters into her own hands (literally) and starting taking control of the bottle. She takes her feeding very seriously...there is no messing around. This is now a hands-free zone!

#3 - The Legs: Brielle decided to try a new sleeping position...the side. She really loved the leg thrown over the blanket sleeping position. (For those of you concerned individuals wondering why there is a blanket in the crib...it was for her not to fall onto her back...not for use as a foot stool). Some days she's so leg-adaisical.

#4 - The Body: Our little girl officially rolls over both ways! She made the big move today...oh man this opens an entirely new world for her! Good thing we saved up a our rollover minutes.

And after all these firsts she was worn out and decided to take a nap in her swing. (Yes she is in fact sleeping in this position) Any time we put her in a swing or her car seat she instantly sticks out the chicken wings because she wants to be sitting up and seeing whats going on. If she sleeps a lot during the day, does that make her "nappy?"

Chad has officially started his very first full-time job and will be receiving his very first full-time paycheck. Can you see the excitement on Brielle's face? You should've seen the excitement on Mom's face!

What I've Been Up To...

Hi Everyone - its me Brielle. Mommy and Daddy have been a little negligent in keeping this blog updated so I decided to take it into my own tiny 3 month old hands to update you on what's been going.

Mommy, Daddy, and I took a trip back to Michigan for a week and a half to see family and friends and for my baptism. What a great time I had! Let me tell you about it.

My Grandpa & Grandma Grotenhuis were camping out at the State Park again for the whole time I was there so I was able to spend a lot of time in the sun (well, actually the shade - my skin can't handle UV rays yet). As you can see Grant and Brooke sure wore me out most of the days but, man, did I have a lot of fun with them.

And of course Grandpa Grotenhuis had to show me the Jeep! What's a trip out to Michigan without a ride in the Jeep! I can't wait until I grow enough hair to blow in the wind when the top's down.

We were able to stay all week at my Grandpa & Grandma Carlsons house which was a lot of fun! In between my naps with Grandpa and my indoor stroller rides (it was raining, don't judge us) with Grandma, we went to Saugatuck a couple of nights and had a lot of play time. I am beginning to edge out Aunt Bethany for the title of Princess of the Family. Grandpa would say that we share the crown, but I know that I have him wrapped around my finger.

I was baptised this past Sunday in front of all of my family. Boy did I like that - it felt just like a bath except that the water was colder. I wonder why that is. Good thing I wasn't totally immersed. That would've been freezing, and then I would've made the experience miserable for everyone by crying my eyes out. Instead, my mom told me I looked and acted like an angel. Then I spit up on her nice clothes.

The ride home to Altoona went pretty good, but boy was I ready to be out of that car seat. Can you tell by the look on my face that the 8 1/2 hour trip really did a number on me? I guess you can only look at semi-truck grills through the back windshield for so long until your eyes go dry and your cheeks puff out.

Lets see...what else...well I've been rolling over like crazy for the last couple of weeks. I'm getting to be really good at it. When I wake up in the middle of the night I usually roll over, but since I can't get back to my original position I wake Mommy and Daddy up to help me (mostly Mommy - Daddy suddenly became a VERY sound sleeper. Oh well, his breath usually smells when he gets me in the middle of the night anyway).

I have become quite the chatter box. I love talking with anyone that will listen to me, but I hate talking to myself. My favorite words are "ow-oo," "ga (with a gurgly voice)," "eeee (high pitched)," and "Penn State."

My Mommy has gone crazy over these bow bands for me. As you can tell...I don't have quite the enthusiasm as she does. I think they're bow-ring but she thinks they're band-tastic. My Daddy thinks their cute (not his exact word) but that they make me look like I have a costume on. I keep telling him, though, that I need to wear it since this pathetic lack of follicles on my head comes from his genes - just look at the resemblance between my peach fuzz and his.

I absolutely love my bath time. I'm starting to master the art of kicking my feet in the tub and sending water flying. Daddy thinks I'm going to be a soccer player...Mommy just hopes that I stop peeing in the tub...And I just hope that they stop drizzling my urine-saturated bath water on top of me.

I love my activity mat and my exer-saucer. I can actually reach for things...and play with them instead of grabbing for them, missing them, and bonking myself in the face! The other day I decided to spit up a load of my breakfast in my exersaucer which somehow ended up in the bottom, where I proceeded to stomp my feet throughout it. I liked the feeling of it in between my toes...Mommy on the other hand was not a fan of the clean up.

I kind of like my bumbo...the only problem is that its a little bit of a tight squeeze for me...all my "chubs" seems to merge into one and when Mommy and Daddy try to get me out my thighs get stuck! With a little work, maybe I can one day be on "Biggest Loser (Children's Edition)," "Lost (Weight)" or "Jon and Kate Plus 8 (creases in my arm)." Isn't it nice that I can joke about this kind of stuff. My parents will have to delete this post before I can read so that I don't develop a complex.

Anyway...sorry my parents are so bad in updating...I'll try to stay on them. I miss everyone in Michigan - thanks for a great time!