Additional Photos

And I realized that I never included any pictures of Bree & her tricycle in the Christmas post! So here it is. She's not quite gotten the hang of pedaling yet, but she likes to sit on it and say, "Mama, GO!" which is usually my cue to push her. I give her a few more months before she figures it out.


I may have mentioned that Bree has a chair that she'll push around the house so that she can climb up on to other things. Well, recently, she's decided that dishes are fun! Washing dishes is the ultimate in fun! Must! Wash! Dishes! Unfortunately, she can only reach the sink by standing on the arms of her chair. Not the safest action in the world.

But then to REALLY get into the action, she has to brace herself completely on her arms. Again, I wish she had even an ounce of caution . . . . .

And here's a picture of me & Bree on her birthday, with her mouth stuffed full of cake. Yum!

And here's Bree enjoying her birthday cake. This year it was a yellow cake with chocolate frosting.

Notice that her hair is growing! Yay! I was telling her that she might have enough for a pony tail by the time she's 4.

Birthday 2008 - Bree Is TWO!

How did it happen that Bree is TWO? How?! I was just saying the other day that I didn't feel like I had her as a baby for very long. Scott reminded me that she's never been one to be content in the "here and now" - she's always looking ahead to the next milestone that she can achieve.

So Bree has her birthday tree, and we would sing happy birthday to her and she was getting into it. When I brought in the cake with the candles on it, she actually started to blow them out - so she had that part figured out somehow. Must have seen another child do it - because we haven't done birthday cakes at our place since last year.

In this first picture, you can see her blowing out her candles.


Earlier in the day she had opened her presents. In this next picture she's clearly multi-tasking - sitting on her new scooter while reading a new book.

And as per the childhood standard, the box is ALWAYS more fun than the present that was inside.

It wasn't long before "present fatigue" set in and she needed to take a break. She is playing with her two new baby dolls on the couch. One crawls and the other cries and waves its arms.

We started a growth chart on the wall in Bree's bedroom. Maybe one day I'll get a "real" growth tracker but for now I'll just write on the wall. She's 31 inches tall. We then put her on the scale. Apparently she's only 18 pounds and some change. The official stats will be recorded next week at her two year check up. I'm not looking forward to it. I looked at her one year stats - she was 15 lbs at her 12 month check up. So she's only gained three pounds over the course of a year. Yikes. But those of you who have seen her in action know how busy she is. The girl just never stops.

I would close with saying, "and now the terrible twos commence!" but she started her terrible twos about four months ago. I wish she weren't so eager to get to the next milestone so quickly! But our next milestone will be potty training . . . . . oh, that should be loads of fun. I'll keep you posted. . . . .

Christmas 2008

It's somewhat embarrassing to inform you all that I had to wake Bree up at TEN O'CLOCK on Christmas morning. TEN. Granted, we went to Christmas mass the night before, and since there is no midnight mass, we went to the ten o'clock p.m. mass. So Bree was up quite late. But this girl is just not enticed by Santa Claus. At all.

Bree was not happy to be woken up that morning. She wanted nothing to do with the Christmas tree or her presents for about an hour. Then she spotted a tricycle under the tree and tried that out.

Her next present was a baby doll that cries and waves its arms. It kind of freaks her out, so we've turned off the sound & motion. She does like her baby dolls, though.

In this first picture, she's giving her new baby a bottle. Because it's crying for one.




In this next picture, Bree is trying out our new popcorn bucket. Which, as you can tell, she loves. But not as much as the baby.

This next one requires some explanation. Uncle Shaun and Pam got Bree a beach chair with an umbrella attached. Bree LOVES this but was bitterly disappointed to find out that the umbrella does not come off the chair. So, to try to deal with this, she figured she could make it work if she set it up on top of the coffee table. (I know, that makes no sense - but who can make sense of the actions of a two year old?)

Then she decides that she's not actually going to sit in the chair, but her baby will. And she'll also put her sippy cup on the seat.

Then Bree started to share her milk with the baby. Which is a very nice gesture, but a little messy in the implementation.

I'll try to find some of the pictures of Bree on the tricycle. Around 3 o'clock, she was really getting the hang of opening presents and was starting on the birthday presents from under the birthday tree. She was not happy when I told her that those had to wait until the next day.

There was a bit of "present fatigue" going on, but in general she did really well. We went to see the light display at the botanical gardens later that night. Bree really enjoyed it - but it's hard to say what she loved more: getting out of her car seat so she could see the lights better, or the lights themselves. After all, she did get to see a dragon, a pumpkin, a spider and a snowman. A GRAND SLAM of favorites.

Maybe next year she'll be excited on Christmas morning. I hope so. Sitting around waiting for your child to wake up feels SO WRONG on Christmas morning!

Random Happy Girl Photos

Since I have my parents here to, uh, occupy Bree, I can post lots of pictures of Bree. Or at least the ones that I've been meaning to put up!

In this picture, Bree is in her shopping cart and being pulled by my dad. She's having a great time.

Bree & Beary are having fun in the shopping cart.

Thanks to Aunt Amy & Uncle Greg, who sent a wonderful goodie package, complete with pumpkin bread. There are a few foods that Bree goes bananas for - Swedish fish, jelly bellys, Mikes Pomegranate Hard Lemonade (let's not talk about that one right now), and pumpkin bread. She had it for the first time while we were visitng Aunt Amy & Uncle Greg's house at Thanksgiving. And oh boy, the rest, as they say, is history.

Bree at both of those pieces, and wanted more. I had to tell her that the pumpkin bread went "night night."


More to come . . .

Video of Bree & the NOMAN

NOMAN!

Bree has a fascination with snowmen. Only she calls them "NOMAAAAAN!"

Today I got a call from my Mom, who is in town visiting, and she says, "Call me when you get to the tattoo place. Santa has an early surprise for Bree."

Now, lest you think that I was getting some Christmas ink, we actually live near a tattoo place, and it's on the corner of where we turn into our subdivision.

So, we turn down our street and when we get to our cul-de-sac, we see that Santa has brought a NOMAN for Bree!




The snowman is turned towards the house just for Bree so she can see it when she looks out the window.

I'll try to post the video of her with the snowman.

Getting Into The Holiday Spirit

Because Bree was born the day after Christmas, the labor & delivery nurses shared stories about how other people celebrated the birthdays of their babies that were so close to Christmas. One suggestion was to give Bree a separate "birthday tree" that was separate from the Christmas tree.

We did this last year, and Bree was enthralled by the lights, and spent most of the time unplugging her tree.

This year, Bree is very happy that the pink tree is all hers. We've practiced singing "Happy Birthday" so she's getting it more and more, but it's anyone's guess as to how much she truly understands.


Our Christmas tree is a bit sparse this year, mainly because I can't find the ornaments. But Bree found the garland and thought it was the coolest thing ever. She's really getting the hang of the holiday spirit!



Oh, and notice her chair in the background. Her new thing is to turn it upside down and sit on it that way. She's an odd duck, that's for sure.

The Secret To Her Survival

I may have mentioned a time or two (or three thousand) that Bree has become somewhat of a challenge, what with her stubborness rivaling mine and all. We had a test of wills the other night that lasted 45 minutes. 45 minutes before she picked up the napkins that she shredded all over the living room. I honestly thought that we'd be at it all night - her refusing to pick up the mess, me taking her to her room, her coming out with a toy, me taking the toy and putting it in time out (along with all the other toys lining the mantle, on top of the tv, on top of the stove, and on top of the kitchen counters), and her refusing again to pick up the mess. She was told no tv and no toys until the mess was picked up. After the longest 45 minutes of her life, she finally picked up the mess.

Those 45 minutes without her Beary KILLED HER.

But the key to her survival is that she's absolutely adorable. Exhibit 1: That sly little smile she gives when she knows that I don't like her playing with my phone unless she's gentle.

Exhibit 2: Delicious, smoochable cheeks.

Ehibit 3: The giggle.

Exhibit 4: The belly laugh.

Challenge aside, she's going to be a riot when she's out of the "willful" stage. Which, if history is going to repeat itself, will end as soon as she's, uh, 17.

Random Photo Round Up

So, these pictures are just some from the past week.

The first photo is Bree after having chocolate pudding for dessert. She enjoyed it, to say the least.



The next picture is the bath after the pudding. I actually caught her laughing. Although I had to take about 50 pictures to get one good one. But I got it!


Bree was "helping" me cook dinner one night. Which usually consists of stirring whatever is on the stove, and then nibbling off it it the whole time.

We were making mashed potatoes in this picture, and she just couldn't wait until they were finished. I'll be honest, sometimes she grosses me out with what she'll eat. (Frozen chicken nuggets come to mind, for starters.)

And here she is in her "usual" pose on the kitchen counter. I swear, she'll be 5 before she's too big to be up there. When I put her on the scale, she just clears 20 pounds. I'll have actual stats in early January when she goes in for her 2 year check up.

The Christmas Photo: Mommy Now Included!

Santa, Bree, Beary & Mommy

Bree wasn't really too keen on getting her picture taken with Santa. I don't know if it's because she's now shy around people she doesn't know, or if because the two kids in front of her screamed the whole time they were on Santa's lap. I tried to explain that Santa loved girls and boys and was a very nice man, but she wasn't have any of it.



At least in this picture, she's not picking her nose or my nose. Two activities that are really fun for her these days. Beary is also in the picture, but I couldn't get Beary to sit up straight. Ah well, we'll try again next year!



And just for the sake of comparison, here is last year's picture with Santa: