16 Months!

I remember thinking that when we left for Philly, Brooks would still be a baby, but when we were all done, he would be a toddler. Well, it's official, this boy is definitely a toddler. It's crazy how fast the time has gone, and how much he has changed.

Brooks is 16 months old and full of personality. He is sweet, sassy, and silly all at the same time. He still likes to cuddle, but pretty much only with me (and sometimes Jon), and only when he is nervous. When it's convenient for him, he still likes to give big, sloppy kisses. He clearly has a mind of his own and always knows just what he wants. When he isn't getting what he wants, he is full of attitude. There are temper tantrums, pushes, grumpy grunts, and sometimes wrist slaps when he isn't happy. We've started time-outs already, not that they are working, but geez! I have a feeling this little, sass-pot is going to give me a run for my money when he's a little older. Brooks is a silly little munchkin too. He loves to make us smile and laugh with funny faces and sounds whenever he can! His appearance is changing too. He is growing longer and leaner, and losing some of those thigh rolls. His hair is getting thicker and shaggier. He still has the biggest, most beautiful eyes (in my biased opinion) I have ever seen on a human! People are constantly commenting on the size of his eyes! Watch out, ladies!

Brooksie's opinions are becoming easily identifiable these days! He LOVES playing with cars and trucks. Even when he is playing with other things, he can almost always be seen with a car in the other hand. He still likes legos and trains as well, but they pale in comparison to the coolness of his silver firebird or red ambulance! He also still LOVES the pacifier. It's becoming a problem. We are trying to only give it to him when he is in the crib, but once he realizes he doesn't have it, a massive scavenger hunt ensues. When he finds it but can't reach it, the "poop" hits the fan and major temper tantrums occur! For the most part, we are ignoring the tantrums, but when he's feeling really persistent, he can cry for, well, forever. Sometimes, I give in. :( Maybe I am part of the problem!?! His other LOVE in this world is...me! :) It's partly good, partly bad. I love that he likes me...especially when I think about the fact that I'm probably (hopefully) going to be replaced by some younger, cooler girl someday. But he really does have some extreme attachment issues. Dropping him off at church day care or someone's house is out of the question. He just wails the entire time I'm away. Having a babysitter at our house is okay. He usually cries when I leave, then calms down for a little while, and then cries some more, then gets distracted, and so on until the sitter finally puts him to bed! :) I know it's just a phase, but I'm really hoping it's short-lived! Some of the other things that he enjoys right now are playing with Kylie, pretty much all fruits, wrestling with daddy, riding in the stroller, and taking baths.

Equally as obvious are the things that Brooks dislikes. First and foremost, he still HATES getting his diaper and clothes changed. This war is actually getting worse as Brooks gets stronger. Jon calls him "country strong," and I'm not going to disagree. I'm not kidding, I think he's stronger than me. This boy can wriggle, bend, and fight his way out of everything. It's not fun, but you should see his back arch! It's amazing...and impossible to get a diaper on him when he's performing it! I will be very surprised if he's not a wrestler. That's the main thing that angers him, but there are a few other things that clearly annoy him. Taking his pacifier or toys away, being told "no," pretty much all vegetables, and being given something/anything that he doesn't want at that moment are some reasons why he might push your hand away or grunt annoyingly at you. :)

First hair cut!

In the past two months, Brooks seems to be developing many new skills. Most exciting for this impatient mama is that he is FINALLY walking. We have decided that he's not really "a walker" yet, because he still prefers to crawl, but he can walk. YAY! For better or worse, he's still a super fast crawler, which I still blame for his lack of desire to walk more. He still likes to climb on everything. I often turn my back for a few seconds, only to turn back around to find him on the table or the desk. Oh, another cool skill that he apparently inherited from Jon is that he can wink...a true, one-eyed wink! It's really cute! He is starting to try to use a spoon to eat, though I'm a little stingy with practicing because it's so messy. He mostly communicates in grunts and points, but he is saying a few more words...I think he probably has 10-15 words, but my favorites are "cookie" and "oh, wow." He knows some animal sounds, and two body parts, ears and belly button! His receptive language skills are the most exciting to me. It's so fun to tell him to do something, and then actually watch him go and do it. It makes me realize that there is something going on in that little brain of his! :) Brooks had his first hair cut on Valentine's Day. Daddy buzzed off some of the longer hairs around his ears and neck, but he is definitely getting close to needing a "real" hair cut! That is going to be an adventure! He has officially dropped his morning nap, and is taking one 2-3 hour afternoon nap from about 1:30-3:30/4:30pm. He still sleeps well at night from about 8:00pm-7:30am. He had his 15 month appointment a few weeks ago, so we do have some numbers to report. He measured 31.75 inches long, which was the 60th percentile, but he hasn't gained an ounce since his 12 month check up. He weighed 21 pounds, 10 ounces, and has dropped from the 50th percentile to the 15th! Ahhh! Needless to say, I've been a little stressed out about that. Though I know that most babies plateau at some point, I've still been trying to get a few more calories in him each day. It's hard to tell, but I think he is eating more, so keep your fingers crossed that he gains weight for his next check up in June! Mostly because of his height, he is wearing all 12-18 month and 18 month clothes. He's also wearing size 5 shoes and size 4 diapers.

This little man is such a joy! We love his spirited personality and we know it will serve him so well someday! Watching him grow from a baby to a toddler is so much fun...We can't wait to see what the future brings! We love you more than words, Brooksie Boy!

A Barlow Weekend!

Last weekend, Grandma Kriss, Grandpa Doug, and Uncle Greg flew out to Philly for a visit! We had so much fun touring the sites, eating at awesome restaurants, and just hanging out! They arrived on Friday around lunch time, and we immediately found a place to eat. We went to Marathon on the Square, which is a favorite of ours because it's yummy, it's close, and it's kid-friendly! Friday evening we showed Jon's family around our neighborhood a little bit before heading to dinner at an Italian restaurant called Sotto! We called it an early night because they had gotten up early to travel and we had big plans for Saturday! :) Saturday morning was warm and spring-like, so we headed out for a tour of the some of the major tourist attractions. We walked through Washington Square, past the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall, up to China Town, and over to Reading Terminal Market. We had lunch at a fun restaurant called Smokin' Betty's, and then headed home for nap time. After that morning, everyone needed a little shut eye! Saturday evening we walked around down by the Schulykill River, which is where we like to play and run! Later, we got a babysitter for the kids, so we adults could go out to a fancy restaurant in celebration of Jon's birthday! We went to Fork in Old City, and Jon decided it is his new favorite in Philly! Because it was a late night, we slept in a little later on Sunday, and then met at the Adventure Aquarium across the river in New Jersey. We saw every kind of aquatic animal you can think of, and it was a hit with everyone! We had lunch at Garces Trading Company, which is a more affordable Jose Garces (iron chef) restaurant! Then is was nap time again. That evening I played volleyball while everyone else hung out and tried out a pizza joint called Nomad! Monday morning, the kids and I walked over to the hotel to say good-bye to grandma, grandpa, and Greg. The trip was super fun and went way too fast! We are still missing them!

Kylie was so excited to see Grandma Kriss and Grandpa Doug.

I don't think she let go of grandma's hand all weekend!

Washington Square.

The tomb of the Revolutionary Soldier.

There was a track club doing a running scavenger hunt for their work out.

They had to get someone to do a cheer with them.

They asked Jon and he happily participated! :)

Independence Hall.

Both the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution were signed there!

China Town.

Reading Terminal Market.

Can you tell she really wanted some candy?!

Reading Terminal Market.

Loving the spring flowers!

Like father like son!

Adventure Aquarium.

Greg and Jon touching string rays.

How happy does she look?

This was so cool.

Looking into an aquarium from the inside.

Kylie and Grandma Kriss.

Jellyfish.

Playing in the shark's mouth.

Garces Trading Company.

It was a wonderful weekend! Thank you Kriss, Doug, and Greg for making the trip out to visit us! We had a blast! :)

Doing work.

We are all just working away around here. :) I love watching Kylie learn and work so seriously during our "preschool" time. She seems to love it, and I hope she continues to enjoy school and learning! Brooks is playing hard and developing some new skills. I've been working on a few sewing projects during my moments of alone time. And Jon is chugging along with his fellowship training. He's on his third of four rotations! The time is flying by!

St. Patrick's Day!

A spontaneous trip to The Please Touch Museum.

Preschool.

The number 11 and the letter V.

Brooks wants to do preschool too.

He will sit and watch Kylie the whole time!

Modeling her new swimming suit! 

Can you believe it's a 5T?!

My latest creation for Catherine's baby boy who is due at the beginning of April!

Happy Birthday, Jon!

Happy Birthday!

 Kylie was in charge of sprinkles! :)

For as much as I love birthdays, Jon equally dislikes his own. He doesn't like getting older, or more specifically being older than his peers/colleagues. For a long time, he was the youngest. It's a spring birthday so he is on the younger side of his high school class. He's also younger than me. And because he finished undergrad in 3 years, he was on the younger side in both his medical school and residency classes. Even as he went through residency, he was often younger than many of his junior residents. Now that he's a fellow, he feels like he is so much older than the other residents, even though he's younger than his fellow classmates. It's weird and complicated, and pretty much the only thing about Jon that disturbs me. :) (I would guess that my equally strong LOVE of birthdays disturbs him too!) Anyway, Jon's birthday was on March 10th, and I tried to celebrate him as much as I possibly could considering he won't really let me publicly celebrate. Unfortunately, it was a Monday so he had to work. Luckily, he finished early and was home in the middle of the afternoon. I asked him what he wanted to do, and in true Jon Barlow fashion, he said he wanted to sleep. So sleep he did...For 2.5 looooong hours! After he woke, or I should say, after I woke him up, he opened gifts and we went for a walk which is another favorite activity of his! I cooked a favorite meal and baked a carrot cake (from a box). He pretended to enjoy both! We ended the evening with some family snuggles on the couch, and went to bed early! I think it was one of my home-body husband's favorite days ever! :)

March Madness...Philly Style!

We've been waiting not so patiently for some nice spring weather. Thankfully, March arrived just in time, and brought some pretty great weather with it. Not everyday is perfect...We still have some cold days and some snow days...but we've also had several 50 and 60 degree days that have been absolutely wonderful and completely refreshing! They've helped me remember some of the things I love about Philly (the parks, the running path, walking everywhere, eating outside), and they've given the kids a much needed reprieve from our teeny living conditions! Here are some pictures of our March activities...

Some indoor activities:

 Cooking. :)

Stacking.

Reading.

Getting sick.

We started the month off in poor form.

Colds for Jon, me and Brooks.

A stomach bug for Kylie.

Jon and I went to a Flyers game!

Outdoor fun:

 Lots of park time.

No coat! Wohoo!

Visiting some of our favorite statues:

 Mr. Lion

Turtles.

Froggy.

We also had two fun play dates with our friends Ashley, Natalie and Holly.

 We went to Fox Chase Farm.

They had lots of animals and showed us how to make maple syrup.

 L to R: Natalie, Kylie, Holly, and Brooks

 We also went to Smith Playground.

They have an indoor play space with several rooms and lots of toys.

The outdoor playground, however, looks even more amazing and we can't wait to go back when it's open!