Brenna weighs in at 25.11 pounds and is 31.9 inches tall- still bigger than most her age. Her doctor couldn't believe her communication skills at this age. More on that later.
I officially reached the point in life where I am able to fully enjoy my life where it's at, look at my husbands out-of-this-world fathering skills, smile and think.. I WANT MORE BABIES! :) :) :)
(Yes, mom, if you read this, you read that right!) :) Have I mentioned that my mom and Joe's mom are teaching Brenna to say "baby brother or baby sister"? It's true. :)
Now, only God knows when but I'm open to the idea. I am so blown away at how good God is to me... I was so scared about what my life would be like as a mom-- would I enjoy it? would I be good at it? will [any of] it come naturally? what will I do with all the mistakes I'll make? what if I freak out, then what? how will it change mine and Joe's relationship? will I be able to give up my career? will any of my friends be moms soon too? I really did wonder all these things!!! Since we didn't tell anyone we were 'trying' for awhile, I felt kinda alone but excited.
The answers came with time. I was gently led and things turned out better than I could have hoped. That's the beauty of it, I think. This paragraph SERIOUSLY CHANGED MY THINKING FOR LIFE about motherhood, etc.!
"If people around us helped us avoid every possible unpleasantry, fixed every hangnail, and anesthetized every headache for us, we'd quit learning how to deal with difficulty. We'd forget how to cope and we'd crush under the least inconvenience. In daily living... strength comes from muscle, and muscle develops with a workout. This is as true spiritually as physically. What we don't use, we lose..." --from Beth Moore's Esther Study
I don't know about you, but I find myself having to 'workout' a lot more than I had hoped :)
I am blown away at the progress Brenna has made this past month. As parents, it's really like Christmas morning so often when kids start finding ways to communicate with you. As of now, Brenna is able to sign:
-more
-all done
-milk
-sleep
-please (YESSS! This one took FOREVER!)
She is able to say these words:
-mommy
-daddy
-baby
-kitty
(those words recently were perfected by their actual sounds- which is so neat, too!)
-more- sounds like "mo"
-thank you- sounds like "dank ooh"
-pizza- sounds like "pee-zaa"
-Ari (our niece!)
-grandma- sounds like "gama"
-tio (what she calls, Logan her uncle)
-doggy- sounds like "dagg-e"
-hi- sounds like "hi-e"
-poppa
-Bible- sounds like "di-dle"
-eyes- sounds like "i-e-s"
-bye-bye
-please- sounds like "pee-z"
-nose
-mine- sounds like "my"
She seriously learns new words every day! I cannot keep up with them! There's probably more!
She is able to locate many body parts: head, ears, eyes, nose, mouth, toes, button, shoulders (sometimes), feet, fingers
My favorites: she points at things she's interested in/wants, she grabs a book and comes and sits in my lap to 'read' (for like 10 seconds, lol!), she climbs downstairs now on her belly, she loves getting her neck kissed and giggles, she started petting our animals (before she just looked at them and smiled), HER FUNNY FACES!, dances to anything, 'answers' cell phone calls whenever one rings, says "hi" to people on the phone, her sign language skills (it actually DOES work! Wow!), when she says "thank you" without being asked, runs away when she takes something she shouldn't, goes to her high chair when hungry/asked, follows simple directions, unexpected kisses.
Frustrations: transitioning from one nap to two/day, temper tantrums, throwing food/plate/cup on ground still, pickier with food, grabs stuff off shelves, harder to take shopping
Here is Brenna in ACTION!
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| Putting toys in her mouth- new fun! |
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| Grabbing stuff off the shelves |
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| Her hair looked awesome! :) |
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| She climbs inside her own toybox |
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| Grandma taught her "phew-phew" = squeeze nose |
