It’s about time we balance things out on this blog. The middle child cannot be forgotten. She wouldn’t let us!
Don’t let those smiles fool you. Brooke demands attention, and she gets it :)
She wouldn’t have it any.other.way.
Spunky! Energetic! Just a few words that describe Brooke:
Big Sister: Nothing gets her more excited than her sister, Baby Ry-Wee (as she calls her).
She’s constantly loving and hugging on her…and I can only hope this is the beginning of a lifetime of friendship and love.
Dancer: Who dance moves were once reminiscent of a sumo wrestler, but now involve many more twirls and spins. Thankfully, a step in the right direction. She still loves to captivate audiences with all her graceful, energetic spunkiness!
Reader: Brooke loves to read stories. Actually, I should re-phrase that. She loves to pull all the books from the book shelf and bring them to me, and after that, there’s only one thing left to do with them – READ! Her favorite stories are always those that have hand motions that move along, like her and Grammy doing “The Itsy Bitsy Spider!” 
If you’re happy and you know it – shout HOORAY!
If you’re happy and you know it, then you’re face with surely show it [pointing to her dimples as she smiles]
Eater: Some days Brooke doesn’t touch her food, and yet other days, I find herself eating all of her food, and then later helps herself to Tanner’s leftovers.
It takes 100% of my energy to keep her out of the pantry and cupboards, thanks to her unquenchable appetite and her amazing climbing abilities. With the assistance of the kitchen island bar stools, she can reach any height.
The other challenge is getting her to sit down while she eats. She’d love nothing more than to carry [the entire package!] around the entire house, leaving traces like Hansel & Gretel wherever she goes.
But there’s a limit…she can have food…but she has to sit and eat it. One day I gave her some yogurt and reminded her he had to sit in her chair and eat it. Meanwhile, I go into the family room to nurse Rylee, and no more than a minute later, Brooke is bringing a chair from her kid-size table, perches herself up to the couch, and proceeds to sit and eat her yogurt. Her listening skills are commendable, so I’ve learned to be more specific. She must now sit in the KITCHEN to eat!
Climber: Of course, Brooke loves to climb. She knows how to maneuver the stools and chairs to reach all of her favorite destinations, including the kids craft supply in the kitchen desk cupboards, and the goody bin in the pantry. The junk drawer in the kitchen is another favorite place, but for this, pulling out the drawer and reaching on her tippy toes seems to suffice.
Brooke, may your ambitious always match the heights you love to climb!
Helper: Brooke is also my little shadow and loves to follow me around the house, helping along the way. This includes:
- cooking in the kitchen (and yes, she loves to help herself to raw vegetables which may have included mushrooms and zucchini, just to name a few). She gets mad when pasta noodles have to be cooked first, and is learning patience
- carrying Rylee in her carseat, or at least attempting
- doing dishes, dishes, in which case we were both soaked, and when I turned away, she was the dirty scrubbers and sponges.
- pretty much the same story when we’re bathing Rylee. everyone is soaked.
- And my personal favorite, throwing away trash and dirty diapers, putting her dirty dishes in the sink, and
Most days, she’s amazingly good at sharing. When she does get a snack, always makes sure to get an extra plate or serving for Tanner, and delivers it to him before claiming her own. She’s so thoughtful like that!
Runner: Brooke only knows fast and faster, and typically chooses the latter, even for small ordinary tasks, she’ll run at full speed. Before she takes off, its as if she’s winding herself up first – she does this thing where she tilts her hands behind her back and leans her chest forward, then takes off running at full speed. I LOVE watching her run!
Dresser-up-er: I think Brooke’s least favorite part of everyday is getting dressed. But when it comes to dressing up herself, she loves to do it. She usually is finding some hat or accessory to wear.
But her shoe obsession is over. she cried when she tried to wear her pretend high heels (don’t we ALL) and refuses to wear UGG boots. Unfortunately, she definitely has a say in what shoes she wears.
And when it’s time to go outside, she always has to have a jacket/hoodie, zipped up, and with a hat of sorts. She insists upon it.
Counter: She’s mastered counting to three, but we’re working our way up to ten. As she goes down the stairs, she likes to count them, and it usually sounds something like this – one, two, thhrreeee – weee!!!, five, six, nine, Nine, NINE!!!!
Whiner: It seems like this age is accompanied by an obsessive amount of whining.
Enough to drive me crazy! Finally, we started putting her in time out until she could be happy. And one day she started throwing a fit, and she went and put herself in time. When she returned, she was happy. Just like that. On and off. I was SO HAPPY I may have shed a silent tear!
Now we just threaten with time out, and she turns to us and says, “I Happy!! I Happy!!!”
Stink face… 
Works like a charm [and hoping I didn’t just jinx myself by saying that outloud!]
Talker: Brooke can say many words, but my new personal favorite, is all the animal sounds! She has a few books and puzzles with animal sounds, and has quickly learned most of them. Except no matter how many times we tell her a cow goes moo, she goes BOOO!!!! Makes me laugh every time, which is probably still why she does it!
And sometimes, a little crazy!!! She’ll refuse to wear ANY bow in her hair, but then will put these headbands on like a complete hooligan.
And when she wakes up from her nap, I’ll find her playing with her socks…that are now on her hands!
And she loves nothing more than to tickle you, which is how she usually greets people with her crinkled up face, fingers going nonstop, and little bursts of giggles escaping from her mouth.
I LOVE this girl, and all the adventure she brings to our lives.
[This post is a collection of all of Brooke-isms from 18-21 months]
