Brooke turned 2 this past week. But shhhh, don’t tell her. Cause if you ask her, she thinks she’s 5. Just like her older brother Tanner!!!
This little Brooke, just 2 years ago…
Except she never was little. And she tries to do BIG things.
Like if you say “Can I help you?” she gets terribly offended. “No HELP mom, NO!”
Climbing into the van and into her car seat has to be done all by herself. And getting out, she closes the door behind her…except she’s fanatical about it…and has to do it every.single.time.
Even if she’s climbing up a rock at the playground taller than me. “Brooke, you can’t climb up things you can’t get down. See, you’re not going to be able to get down by yourself and I’m holding Rylee.” Brooke looked down to the ground, then back to the rope. “I do it!” And she got done.all.by.herself. Determination and spirit is a deadly combination, at least at the age of 2.
After putting Rylee down for a morning nap, I came into the kitchen to find Brooke making herself a piece of toast…like it was no big deal. She would live in my kitchen pantry if I let her!
And today, she insisted on riding the scooter all by herself. Around the whole neighborhood. There was no pushing or helping of any kind allowed. She was so proud and happy!
Even if her handle bars were in reverse, she did it her own way. And don’t worry folks, she does have a princess “girly” scooter, but thankfully she was fine with a friend borrowing it.
And she’s terribly intelligent.
She can count to 10, if you ignore the fact that she skips the numbers 4 and 6.
She sings her ABCs, yet when she recognizes a letter, she yells out, H!
She’ll listen to a song just a few times and have the tune/words down. Like the song “Let it Go” she learned just from listening to other people sing it.
She LOVES to sing songs, finger plays, and rhymes. Her current fav is “I”m a Little Teapot” but “This is the Church” and “Johhny Johhny” are close seconds.
Oh, and let’s not forget “Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes.” Thanks to this song, she now knows her most of her body parts…except she calls her elbow ELMO!
There is nothing better than listening to her sing. Along to a CD, or completely on her own. Every time, I stop what I’m doing and it makes my heart skip a beat! I LOVE IT!!!
Lately, she has a Super Why fascination. She loves to spin around in circles and say “Super Why” just like the character does on the show. And in case you’re wondering what we do on Sundays morning, this gives you a little idea :)
The way to her heart…is food! Aunt Kristan happens to know this…and brought her a yummy treat just for her :)
And the day after Easter, I let the kids have some candy. The faster it’s gone, the better. Well, I didn’t notice until later in the day that Brooke hid some away in the stash of her dress. She outsmarted her own mama! Anything for chocolate!
We’re just learning to channel it into useful things. She can do this hard elephant puzzle in just a few minutes, and I bet she could beat most adults.
She’s super motherly to her baby dolls. I had a pile of clothes I was sorting through for Rylee, and later that day, she was sorting through it, inspecting each one individually and then putting it back in the pile. Trying to find an outfit for her doll.
And for her bday, she got a baby doll that has a sleeper on. Well, guess what Brooke HAS to do a million-ca-jillion times a day? Get that baby undressed.
The best part of being a mom is seeing them love on their siblings. I was putting Rylee in her car seat when I had to quickly grab one more thing. Rylee was NOT happy about the situation, and when I came back, Brooke was rocking her and signing to her, “Lead me, guide me, walk beside me, help me find the way!” Brooke’s favorite song, I am a Child of God.
But don’t worry, she’s not that perfect angel all the time. She has lots of opinions and attitude, and if she doesn’t get her way, she’ll storm off and put herself in time out (yup! you heard it right!!!)
Most days, she’s a LOT of wild and crazy with oober amounts of energy. Her favorite game is…Ready…Set…Go! And then proceeds to run around in circles all around the house. Even Tanner joins in.
Yet, she loves nothing more than climbing into my lap, snuggling and getting cozy. For dinner, for stories, for any time of the day. I’ll take it…anytime! There’s nothing better than Brooke’s cuddles and kisses.
On her birthday, we did a family trip to one of our favorite places –Deanna Rose Farmstead. Gorgeous weather with sunshine and great company—Keith and Kristan’s family and animals included :)
A very uneventful fishing day…and in case you didn’t MEMO…it wasn’t wear patriotic color day.
Brooke’s first go with the Tractors…not impressed!
But she was loving giving the tiny baby goats some milk…
until they started “loving” on her. She did NOT like them eating her sweater!
And some kids doing some pretty intense drawing…
For their Earth Day Flowers. Brooke was SUPER excited about her own flower!
But Tanner still talks about this play ground…and not the animals or fishing or anything else.
And when we got home, it was time to celebrate some more. Tanner decorated Brooke’s birthday mini-Bundt cake and couldn’t wait to show her, “Look Brooke, it has flowers and grass and garter snakes!” How did he know…it was just what she wanted!!!
