Christmas dress up

While I assume she'll grow to love it, dress up isn't Brooklyn's favorite pasttime just yet. It's a little tedius for her liking. An unecessary interruption to her playtime. But it's Christmastime & irresistible for her mom. I hope she understands some day...

Her school hosted a birthday party for Jesus on Thursday. She signed up to bring the cupcakes and wore her red ruffle skirt for the occassion.

We've made 5 attempts to see Santa now. She's dressed up each day, only to either have an interruption in our schedule or a line of kids holding us back. So we killed some time ooh-ing and aah-ing over the Bass Pro Shop's sites. It's a pretty happening place, but I still don't understand what attracts hundreds of people here every day. Not sure I'll ever get it...I can think of many other places I'd rather be!

We entered the Rhema parking lot right as Brooklyn's eyes were getting heavy last night. But as soon as she was lifted from her car seat, her eyes lit up at the beautiful sight! It was much more entertaining this year than last (when she was but 6 weeks old!).

And this is just a bonus...her Lil Cupcake Apron & Chef's hat!  :)

Gymnast in the making

Brooklyn's been developing her gymnast skills since August by attending classes once a week at The Little Gym.

After school every Tuesday, we head to gymnastics for 45 minutes of pure fun! Daddy came to check her out today, and he snapped some pretty good photos.

Balance Beam Skills

Sometimes the boys distract her and she turns into a little flirt...

This is also where she's mastered her climbing skills. She's pretty fearless on these obstacles!

The 'Skill of Focus' for today was for her to walk across the balance beam on her hands, and do a somersault at the end of the beam. Below is a snapshot of her reaction..."whoa! Mom! Dad! I did it!!!"

 

Watch out, Alicia Sacramone...Brooklyn's coming after your gold! :)



Playtime

Brooklyn is inventing new ways of playing with things. For example, her dog has become a balance beam (such a focused gymnast!):

And instead of playing music on her music table, she climbs on it!

 She uses her dollhouse treetop as a hat...

...sometimes it gets slippery and falls to the side...

"Uh oh! Where'd your hat go, Brooklyn?!"

(This keeps her busy for several minutes, at least!) 

And water bottles: They're for playing, not for drinking, you silly adults!

The love for her puppy hasn't dwindled at all. He gets big puppy hugs every day!

 



Rock-a-bye, baby

My lullaby list is limited to say the least. A friend recently asked me if I sang to Brooklyn when she was newborn. My friend didn't want to deprive her new daughter of anything; singing included. But she was in the same boat as me, with a limited lullaby vocab. I fessed up that no, I don't sing to my baby regularly. And if I do sing, I don't do it in front of an audience that speaks the English language because the homemade rhymes and lyrics are an embarrassment!  But I told her that even a mom without a lullaby can be a good rocker! I love to rock Brooklyn in my lap. When she's cuddled up against my chest, blankie and all...these are the memories that will be cherished forever. Forget the seemingly endless, exhausting hours of cries, tears and fears that motherhood duties necessitate. It's nights like tonight when I hear whimpers coming from the monitor, and while I know she's okay, I just want to go check on her, hoping that she needs to be held. And even though 9 times out of 10 she doesn't need to be held or rocked, I sometimes choose to pick her up anyway. And tonight, as I stood in her room rocking her back and forth in my arms, I felt the baby squirm around and I realized: I'm rocking both my babies goodnight.  This of course, brought tears to my eyes, thanking the Lord for these blessings in life.

Metabolism envy?

For memory's sake, I have to post something about Brooklyn's eating habits. Some people don't believe me when I tell them how much she eats! She's an endless pit, I tell you!  Her diet today consisted of:

Breakfast
1+ cup mixed fruit
1 toasted (dry) waffle
1 scrambled egg
5 oz milk

Morning snack
Graham crackers

Lunch
4 BBQ Vienna Sausage 'hot dogs'
1 cup carrots
Ice water

Afternoon snack
A grilled cheese sandwich from Sonic (she ate the whole sandwich!!)
3 cookies
4 oz milk
(She was begging for more, but that's all I had!)

And now I'm preparing her dinner of
1+ cup green beans
Lasagna

She eats like an adult, & weighs less than 23 pounds. Look at her skinny little self! She's almost got a smirk on her face..."na-na-na-a-boo-boo", she says...

Yes, I'm jealous. I had a fried egg on toast for b'fast, a microwaved bowl of noodles for lunch, and a salad & a serving of lasagna for dinner. No morning snack. No afternoon snack. Oh no. Don't worry; I'm not going to post a picture of me in the bath tub. Guess this serves as another reminder that life's still not fair, as my Papa used to tell us...

Thanksgiving recap

We started the holiday weekend at Great Grandma Helen's house on Thursday, where Brooklyn played for hours with all of her second cousins, great aunts, uncles, and grandparents,

before crashing on Auntie Annettie for a little power nap...

Then the 3 of us rushed to Utica Square for their Lights On event, where we bundled up to stay warm in the freezing cold, and waited for Santa to arrive and turn the lights ON!

Friday morning was like Groundhog Day at our house...we woke up, cleaned house, cooked a side dish and loaded into the car with growling tummies for Thanksgiving...Round 2! We headed south to Beggs for a meal with my family before continuing on south to Texas to see my cousin and her family. Here are some pics from our TX visit.

Brooke & Brooklyn

Rockin cousins

Musical chairs at Gymboree

Homemade Double Stroller!

Chillaxin

While uploading my pics from the weekend, I realized that I only took pictures of the girls! My cousin Donna & her husband Darin have 3 kids: Conner, 6, Parker, 4, and Brooke, 15 months. I think it's just precious to see Brooke & Brooklyn together, so it seems my camera only snapped in their presence. The 4 of us girls went to lunch and shopping Saturday, while the boys played at Bass Pro Shop. I had such a great time! We continued the segregated party when the boys went to watch the Bedlam game, while Donna & I relaxed in front of a classic chick flick. Such a nice, relaxing weekend. Thank you, Wilson family!

Brooklyn goin for a stroll

 Finally, we ended the weekend with a short visit to McAlester to see Great Grandma & Great Grandpa Byrd:

More cookies, please, Great Grandpa!

Gettin sleepy w Great Grandma


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Brooklyn & Great Grandpa



We had a fabulous Thanksgiving weekend...but there's no place like home! Brooklyn clapped as we entered the living room this evening. I think that says it all!

Happy Turkey Day!

Brooklyn wanted to share her artwork with you on this Thanksgiving Day. We all hope everyone has a thankful Turkey Day!

This isn't just a Turkey as anyone could see. I made it with my foot which is a part of me. It comes with lots of love especially to say I hope you have a very Happy Thanksgiving Day!

Love, Brooklyn