Toddler Sayings

"And then one froggy Christmas Eve."

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Brooklyn, what is Woody's horse's name?

"Bazoo."

It isn't Bulleye?

"No, it's BA-ZOOOOO."

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Brooklyn, is Caleb your cousin?

"No, he's my sisser."

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Brooklyn, is Daddy a baby?

"No, he's big boy."

Thus began John's nickname of Daddy Big Boy.

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First Christmas Program - Toddlers

Brooklyn goes to a Lutheran church/preschool for daycare. Last night they had a Christmas program for the 2 - 4 year olds.

It was H.I.L.A.R.I.O.U.S!

The kids in all 3 classrooms had been practicing their songs for weeks. John and I knew something was up when, come December 1, Brooklyn began singing Jingle Bells even though we hadn't started listening to Christmas music at home yet.

So we get to the auditorium and find PRIME seating right on the middle isle. I couldn't believe no one had taken the seats we found! A perfect spot for stills and video of this very first of, I imagine, many plays/concerts/games/etc that we will attend to support our daughter.

As the program begins out come the 4 year olds dressed as participants in the nativity story. They come down the middle isle and take their places in one long single file line across the stage.

Music starts. It's Silent Night. One half of the line is singing a speed racer version. The other side is singing really slow and the music track is yet at it's own speed. We were cracking up hearing this musical chaos. By the time the kids got it together, the song was over.

Next come the 3 year olds. They sang Feliz Navidad. Bahahahaha! I know the director put that in for comedy because there was nothing funnier than seeing their puzzled little faces and hearing the confused murmer during the "prospero ano y felicidad" part. So many of us parents were cracking up.

Finally, the 2 year olds come out dressed as elves - each child holding onto a long gold ribbon (to keep them focused and together, I imagine) as their teacher lead them up to their places on stage with the other two groups.

We were able to see Brooklyn walking down the isle before she saw us. She did really well in this new environment and from where I was seated could get many good pictures while daddy ran the video next to me. Once she saw me, she smiled soooo big and almost came to me rather than going up on stage.

The kids finally all took their places and started to sing Jingle Bells, shaking their little bells with all the bell-loving passion a two year old can muster. They did great and you could tell they were having fun.

You never know what to expect with a child's first experience in a group performance. I guess some kids could get shy or frightened, but not mine. She's a ham! And it didn't surprise John or me in the slightest. (Lisa, Krissy - I can hear your thoughts right now..."Well, she is YOUR daughter!" Hahaha!)

No, Brooklyn was not shy on stage at all. She would sing, shake her bells, look for us, wave really big, yell "Mommy!" every now and then, pose, cut up with her little friend Savanah. It was so hard not to giggle into the video the entire time.

After the singing was over it was time for each group to leave the stage in an orderly fashion to go back to their classrooms and take off their costumes.

The 2 year olds each took hold of the ribbon and were to follow their teacher. Brooklyn decided to come straight over to me for a big hug, but since she was first in line she took all the other kids with her!

The entire auditorium of parents was cracking up as we had this pile of kids in our row rather than following the teacher.

Good times.

I truly love having a 2 year old. There are moments of I'm-gonna-pull-all-my-own-hair-out, but the antics and hugs and silly faces and hilarious conversation keeps your hair in your head.

Stuff She Said...

Chick-munk

Daddy: Brooklyn, want some nu-nus?
Brooklyn: Daddy, it's NOODLES.

Wow, has it really been this long?

I need to update this thing for reals.

She Said It

Me (while driving to daycare/work this morning): Wow, the sunshine is really in my eyes.

Brooklyn: Cover you eyes, Mommy.

And we have lift off!

It was like the clouds parted and the sun shone just long enough for lift off to be successful. Up on the roof none of us could believe it didn't get scrubbed. But I'm glad it went on the first try. And I can't believe I didn't cry. It is sad, this thing coming to an end. But (trying to stay positive and I can't believe I'm going to be this cliche...) when one door closes another opens.

I can't get the pics of lift off from my Canon right now but I can give you this little tidbit. Here is a highway cam of the poor tourists trying to leave the KSC Visitor's Center.



Yeah, you guys thought a trip over here was going to be this awesome adventure...all fun and games in sunny Florida. Ha!

It's an adventure all right. But in that traffic right now it might seem like a big steaming pile of adventure, filled with "rude drivers", topped with a dollop of "road rage", and sprinkled with "holy cow my kids are screaming and fighting in the backseat".

Nah. It was all worth it.

Go Atlantis Go!!!

I'll write another entry documenting my memories of the shuttle program, but for now, with exactly 30 minutes before Atlantis is scheduled to lift off, I wanted to share some of what is going on around town in anticipation of this final launch.

It took me 1 hour to drive 2 miles on my way into work this morning. And this was 5 hours prior to launch. I shared the road with hundreds of tourists, tour buses and media vans.

One report stated that 1 million people were expected to come to view the launch. That is IN ADDITION to those of us who already live here.

Here is a screen shot from a highway cam showing the traffic coming from Orlando into Brevard County via the Beeline. See the left most lane on the screen that looks backed up for miles? Yep, that is the road carrying peeps here to Brevard County. And this show was taken about 2 hours prior to launch.



A few weeks ago my coworkers and I were able to go out to the launch pad and have our pictures taken with STS-135 Atlantis, the shuttle who's mission will close out the Shuttle Program.





Weather is looking dismal for lift off. There's a 70% chance that weather is too cloudy and rainy for an emergency landing but Houston still says we are a go.

Time will tell.

I'll be watching and photographing from the roof of my building and if it launches, will post pics later.

God bless the crew and all the employees who made this great program and great day possible!

Words I Don't Want to Forget

As Brooklyn begins to enunciate words better, we will really miss the way she used to pronounce things.

Nu-nu's = noodles
Hem = Hand
Dider = Diaper
Noke = Milk
Brellella = Umbrella
Shoshalon = lotion (? I know ?)
Sickle = motorcycle
Neckace = necklace
Jittar = guitar
Monnnn-terrrr = monster
Yogurk = Yogurt

Summer Sucks for Grownups!

That's all.

I just wanted to proclaim the suckiness of not having a 3 month long summer vacation.

Memorial Day Getaway

We decided to get a hotel room on Cocoa Beach for 2 days over the long weekend. We asked some friends to come out and hang at the pool with us for an afternoon. They ended up getting their own rooms for the same days as us. Fun!

We also celebrated my sis's birthday and had the family come out for cake and swimming on Monday. Also fun!

Now for the down side.

Getting Brooklyn to sleep in the hotel room for naps and bedtime was half hilarious and half nightmarish. In the afternoon John had this brilliant idea that he would put her in her pack-n-play with all the lights out and then we would hide behind the dresser so she would eventually go to sleep. In the evening she would not go to sleep as long as she saw us in the room. Which was a hard problem for us to fix because...um...well...we wanted to sleep too.

Picture this:

9:30pm.

All the lights are out.

Everyone is in bed.

"Mommy, cha-doin?"

"Brooklyn, I'm going to sleep. Now you go to sleep."

Lays back down. Sings quietly to herself "Marching boom boom boom!" (her version of The Ants Go Marching.)

This goes on for like 20 minutes.

Finally I go pick her up and she points to my bed.

I put her in bed with me.

Here is where the nightmare begins. She's tossing and turning and kicking me and yelling "If you're happy and you know it shout HU-RAAAAAAAY!" and John is giggling his butt off over in the next bed. (The front desk gave us two double beds. Yay us.)

Yes, it's funny. But it's also late. So I'm getting annoyed that this cute little Tazmanian Devil won't settle down.

So I put her back in her bed. That experiment was a FAIL.

We continue to hear her singing quietly to herself and every now and then a loud "HU-RAAAAY!"

Around 10:15 I don't hear her singing any more.

Then at 10:17..."HU-RAAAAAAY!"

Dang it!

Now at 10:30 I think she's finally asleep.

THANK GOD.

The Week Of Fear is over.

We replaced her crib with a toddler bed. Bring on the first-time-parent anxiety.

All the stories mom told of us getting out of bed and cracking eggs all over the kitchen floor flash to the front of my mind. Is this do be my new daily morning surprise?

What happens when she realizes she doesn't have to stay in bed at night if she doesn't want to? Do we now have to deal with a cranky AND tired two year old?

Crap.

John bought a gate to put in her doorway and a screen along the side of her bed so she wouldn't fall out.

She's been sleeping in her bed now for going on her third week and all is well. The first night was a major adjustment for her (and us!) but she adapts extremely well.

So proud.

Flight of the Butter Bean

So Brooklyn decided to Greg Louganis out of her crib this morning. I walked in the room just in time to see her fling her leg over and catapault onto the floor with a thud.

It happened so fast but I ran to her in time to catch only her lower half...not enough to keep her from hitting her head on the faux wood flooring.

She screamed. I scooped her off the floor, wishing we could go back in time 10 seconds and still in utter shock of what I had just witnessed. Did this really just happen? I am hating myself for not having better reflexes.

I hugged her and rocked her until she stopped crying...which was only for a minute or two.

What do I do now? Is this one of those times when you take your kid to the ER? My mind went racing back to January 22, 2010 where she suffered a brain injury during a car accident that landed her in the children's hospital for 9 days.

While I'm reminiscing that nightmare, she asks to read her ABC book. Okay, good. At least this way I can see whether or not she shows any sign confusion. Like I'm a doctor now or something.

She named off every object in the book that she normally knows. That seems like a good sign, right?

So after about 10 minutes we go into the kitchen to get her some milk and we are playing on the floor and chatting.

Then she says "Brooklyn's bed. Boom." Reminding me that she just fell and went boom. I said "Oh really. Can you show me where you fell?" She went right into her room and pointed at the floor saying "boom boom." (I guess she learned 'boom' at school.)

I'm still trying to decide if a trip to the hospital is in order. She hasn't vomitted, and she's behaving quite normally, so I'm thinking it will be okay.

But then the crippling paranoia kicks in. What if something is going on inside her head? What if her brain is swelling right now and she dies in two hours?

Yes...this is the way my brain works.

Then rational thought takes over. She's acting fine and kids jump out of bed all the time. John agrees with me and so we go along our merry way.

To be on the safe side, I called the nurse practitioner and she told me as long as Brooklyn isn't demonstrating any unusual behavior, no need to bring her in.

Relief.

Just Talking

John: I look old and fat.

Me: Honey, seriously....you DO NOT look old.

John: Hey...

Me: Don't. I knew it the second after I said it.

Dear Brooklyn,

I found this poem and want to use it on a scrapbook page some day.

How Do I Love You?

How do I love you?
Let me count the ways;
I love you on your very best
And very worst of days.

I love to see you laughing
And dancing in the rain;
And even if you make a mess,
I love you just the same.

I love to hear you sing,
I love to see you smile.
I love the way you take each day
In your own unhurried style.

I'm happy when you're happy.
I'm sorry when you're sad.
And even though it may not show,
I love you even when you're bad.

I love to watch you sleeping,
Tucked away in dreams.
I love to hear you whisper
All your future hopes and dreams.

I love to watch you play
And all your silly ways.
I'm sure you'll never know
How much I love you more each day.

How do I love you?
It's impossible to say;
For if I had a million days
And time enough for all the praise
I couldn't tell you all the ways
I love you.

LOVE

Muthahood - are you in it?

Life After Death

So last night was the first time I have been back to my Grandma's house since she passed away nearly a year ago. Was very weird being there.

I have SO many thoughts.

I was told to go through what is left of her things. Take anything you want. I didn't really want anything.

1) To me the items were still Grandma's. Her paintings and quilts. Endless pictures in frames. Her figurines and dishes. Her jewelry and books. I felt like a vulture. Picking over the remnants determining what had value and what didn't. Just doesn't seem fair.

2) A knick knack will not keep her close. A punch bowl will not help me remember the smell of her perfume. If it falls and smashes into tiny bits, will I forget how much she loved Holstein cows? Not likely. Her memory lives on in my mind and photo albums.

Don't get me wrong...I can appreciate that some are comforted by having these things. Nothing wrong with that. No judgement here.

But what do you do with the rest of the stuff. So much stuff.

I looked in all the closets, remembering her wearing certain outfits or necklaces. The kitchen...dishes and silverware reminding me of all the holidays.

Drawers and boxes filled with pictures. I've never seen so many pictures. All family. Son, daughters. All the grandkids and great grandkids. The years frozen in time.

Then we found her box of video tapes. I had no idea.

My sister and I playing our instruments, 1987. A snippet of news coverage from 1990....the anchor interviewed my sister who had won an essay contest when she was 13 or 14 years old.

I had no idea mom sent these tapes to her. That she kept them.

Wait a minute...why am I just now learning that she DID care? All these years of me thinking her unconcerned. I should have known from the piles of pictures she always had sitting out on every available surface.

Makes me sad to realize how little I really knew her. How similar we are.

She didn't need the trinkets either. She only needed the pictures.

The people in the pictures.

Brooklyn Said It

Dropped sippy cup.

Daddy picks it up for her.

"Good girl, Daddy."

Things She Says

We are getting into the part of parenting that I have been waiting for....the things kids say. Yay!

I know, I know...they won't always be funny things. I anticipate some embarrasing moments for mommy or daddy, but these are the things that make life interesting and fun.

And give me stuff to put on the blog.

On our way home from daycare I'm teaching Brooklyn about the things around us, the river, the trucks, cars, train and trees. Naturally she thinks all these things are hers.

Me: Brooklyn, do you see the water?
Her: Brook-a-lyn's water.
Me: We are driving over a bridge now.
Her: Brook-a-lyn's bidge. (That's how she says is...bidge.)

Well, yes there is a Brooklyn bridge but I hope she isn't sad when she learns that neither it or the city are actually hers.

Shall we dance?

So last night we happen to flip to the channel showing Dancing with the People You May Have Heard of a Long Time Ago Stars. Brooklyn was fascinated with the dancing.

She stretched her arm out toward me, beckoning me to come dance with her. So I got on my knees and put my hand in hers. She then shimmied and twirled around, as best a toddler can do, and then tried to "dip" herself by throwing her upper body backward.

As you can imagine, John and I were cracking right up.

Easter-y Cuteness