Little Ms.Breanna

After spending 2 weeks with Breanna over the holidays, not only has it been wonderful to soak up family time with the 4 of us, but it was also incredibly eye-opening to watch Breanna grow-up right before my eyes.  She's quite the talkative little one these days, sometimes so much so that she jumbles all her words into something completely incoherent and we have to remind her to slow down and take her time.

There are a few moments with Bree that really stand out for me from these past 2 weeks.  Here are a few I wanted to share.

Family

There was an episode of Elmo Breanna saw recently themed around photography.  There was a young girl on the show who took her camera around snapping pictures of her family.  After Breanna watched the episode, she went around the house taking pictures with her camera - just like the girl did on the show.  It was on of the sweetest things I've ever seen, I literally watched in awe.  She walked up to me with the biggest smile, pointed her camera at me and said "I'm going to take a picture of my Mommy" - click.  She walked up to Junior and said "I"m going to take a picture of my brother" - click.  She walked up to Keith and said "I'm going to take a picture of my Daddy" - click.  Lastly, she walked up to Barkley and said "I'm going to take a picture of my doggy" - click.  This went on for about 3 days before she moved onto something else, but I wish it could've gone on forever!  Since then, she's been calling Keith and I "Mommy and Daddy" more frequently, which makes me sad because she's growing up so fast.  The transition from Mama to Mommy surprised me and hit me harder than I expected.  Breanna has also been pointing to each of us and saying"Mommy, Daddy, Junior, Bree-Bree, Barkley - this is my family" (but she pronouns it "fan-i-lee").  Keith mentioned to me the other night how much he loves when she does this. I do too.  Out little fan-i-lee  :)

Chopsticks

It was also Keith's birthday this past Wednesday, so we've been doing small celebrations all week.  At dinner the other night, Kayla was using chopsticks to eat, so of course, Bree wanted to use chopsticks too - just like her cousin - only her little fingers aren't coordinated enough to pick anything up with chopsticks.  Kayla offered Bree her "Hello Kitty training" chopsticks that has bands for where your fingers need to be, and Breanna immediately started eating away with them!  Not only did she love using chopsticks, she also ate more than I've seen her eat in a long time!  Blew me away - my little girl is eating with chopsticks.  It felt like just yesterday that I was feeding her with a spoon...

Aw, man!

Speaking of Keith's birthday, Bree said the funniest thing to me:

Bree - Mama, is it Daddy's birthday?

Me - yes

Bree - not my birthday?

me - no, it's dada's birthday, not yours

Bree - aw, man!

OMG, classic!  Where did she learn that?  Who cares, it was so awesome.  She's said that a few times now and Keith and I just howl!

"My brother"

We also learned that little Ms.Breanna is very protective of Junior, whom she proudly points out on a regular basis that he is her brother.  She points to Junior, then taps her chest and says "my brother" with a big smile.  Junior has been under the weather for about a week now with a pretty bad cold, so we've been giving him Tylenol and droplets in his nose.  Of course he hates it and hates us for forcing this crap on him, but we know it's for the best and while he's screaming and fighting us, Breanna decides to stand up for her little brother and yell "Junior doesn't like it!  Junior doesn't like it!" while trying to push us away from him.  Last night she even started crying and her face turned all red because she didn't like that Keith was holding Junior's arms down so that I could give him droplets in his nose.  I was always very protective of my little brothers, so to see Bree protecting Junior makes me stand up taller with pride.  I love this trait and I hope that she will always look out for him and protect his best interests.  She's already an amazing big sister!

Joker

The other day, Breanna decided it would be fun to miss her mouth and pour a whole cup of milk down her shirt, soaking her all the way down to her pink underwear.  Nice.  After coming back downstairs after Keith changed her from top to bottom, she proceed to give me a big grin and say "Hey Mommy, look at me, I'm wearing new clothes!".  What a stinky face.

Toddler-hood is so mind-blowing - there are days where I want to stop time and freeze Bree at 2 years old.  Then there are other days when I'm reminded why there is the term "terrible twos".  There are so many ups and downs, happy times and frustrating times, good-nature fun and pull-out your hair moments.  Whatever the case may be, I wouldn't change a thing.  I truly believe that kids bring out the best in us - and sometimes the worst, but hey, what doesn't kill you makes you stronger.  Whether it be lack of sleep, lack of patience, or lack of sanity - it's all worth it to be a Mom.  

Thanks Breanna for all the fun you've filled us with the last few weeks.  You've made your "fan-i-lee" so happy.