Brooke

I've been so busy and have had hardly enough time just to keep up with posting monthly updates about Summer, that I've nearly completely ignored our amazing, beautiful, blue-eyed 3 1/2 year old.
What a difference a year and a new baby make in the life of a toddler. This time last year, Brooke was just finally starting to talk really well in sentences and building her vocabulary. Well, the girl has words for everything now! She is a parrot now and talks just like Bill and I do. We'll wonder where in the world she picked up a phrase or word and then we catch ourselves saying it. As a result, we are all trying to be more polite when speaking to each other.
Bill and I still count our blessing at what a well behaved toddler we have, but this fourth year of Brooke's life has been much more challenging than the third year was. She's had a lot of changes in her little life and is handling them as best she can I suppose.
She is quite the deal maker around the house. We tell her she can do "a" and she says, "Or we canna do "b?"
Brooke can be quite shy around new faces and sometimes, sadly, she will refuse to play on playground equipment if there are too many older, rowdy children. I know, of course, that she has inherited this from me, whether by gene or observation, I don't know. I hope to help her overcome this so that she doesn't spend so many years being on the outside of life as I did. We try to attend storytime at our local library once a week so that she can meet new friends. She has begun to participate a lot more over the last several months, but she still isn't very likely to speak to or introduce herself to the other children.
Brooke is still quite adventurous and brave (except in circumstances like mentioned above) and likes to climb and jump on and off of things. Recently she decided, quite suddenly, that she wanted to be pushed really high on the big kid swings. The resulting laughter is nothing short of contagious!
Brooke loves to do anything halfway crafty, or, as she calls it, "actibies." Translation: activities. Play-doh, painting, coloring, cutting, cutting, cutting, gluing, and cutting. Yeah, she REALLY likes to cut. Recently I threw out ALL of our "coloring books"--GASP, shame on me--to encourage her to be more free and creative with her drawing and coloring. I've seen a big difference already in the amount of time she spends with drawing and what she has to say about her creations.
Brooke loves to play outside, digging in dirt for bugs and worms, playing chase with..well, anybody, swinging, sliding, riding bikes or scooters, or driving the Barbie Jeep that Hannah passed down to her. When she digs and finds a bug or a worm, she has no problems touching or even picking it up. The other day she and our friend Natalie found a worm in the dirt and she was picking it up to show Natalie, who grimaced and backed away. Brooke asked her, "Why you no like worms Naalie?" The funny thing is, she doesn't really care for bugs at any other time.
Brooke loves to play with Summer. Their favorite activity is to wrestle on the floor together. Unfortunately, Brooke doesn't realize that she can really be too rough with Summer and we have to intervene quite often to avoid somebody being injured. I guess it's all just part of growing up as siblings.
Well, here are some pictures of our precious Brooke Makenzie. She is just so much fun to watch!!

Ten Months

I just can't believe I'm saying that Summer is 10 months old. It seems like she gets bigger every day but I just don't know where the days have gone. Again, she was not cooperating for her picture and kept scooting down into the chair. What can you expect from a busy, moving baby??

Summer wants to walk so badly she can hardly stand herself. Last week was her first attempts at walking behind a toy with wheels. We were in the backyard and she almost immediately figured it out.

She loves to push this all the time now and get II-rate when make her stop. We always said she was our drama queen and she hasn't disappointed that prediction.

Just this week she learned to clap and is quite proud of her dainty and quiet clap. That is about the only thing about her that is quiet. Last weekend, we attended a wedding for Bill's cousin Danny in Tulsa. During the reception, Summer's excited squeals and shrieks could be heard over the very loud music and conversation. And that girl danced like no one has ever danced before. It was hard to keep a hold of her at times because she was dancing so fiercely. I have a video of it, but it is so dark that you can hardly see. We stayed overnight in Tulsa and the next morning, Bill and the girls got in to the pool. Unfortunately, I didn't take the camera down with us. Summer really enjoyed her first pool. She was no less quiet in the pool than she had been the night before, splashing and squealing while Bill swam her around.

Summer is really starting to enjoy finger foods more and more, and is occasionally eating complete finger food meals. Recently she had baked ravioli and LOVED it. However, she is not quite ready to give up her purees. She seems certain that her meals are not complete until she has consumed both. Summer seems to be following Brooke's unique order in which she will cut her teeth. It hasn't popped through yet, but it appears that the next one will be the one just to the right of the top middle.

Summer is so fun and playful and especially loves to play with big sister Brooke. We just can't believe how blessed we are to be able to love on her!

Exploring the Sand

A while ago, when Brooke was playing outside, I decided to let Summer sit in the sand box with her and explore. She was pretty mesmerized by the sand when it would run through her fingers or on top of her legs. She loved rubbing her toes in it's coolness. Here are some cute pictures I was able to get of the experience. And of course, what kid doesn't love tasting sand:)

Nine Months

We are a tad late on getting our nine month photo and updates. Boy, this was not an easy picture to get! She was having way too much fun with the bear to sit still for a good shot. And of course it's blurry for all her gyrations, but she's obviously happy! She saw her Pediatrician last week and she's healthy as can be at 17lbs 6oz and a little over 27in long. Incidentally, that is the same size that Brooke was at 12 months!
She is really moving these days and there is nowhere that she can't go. She is pulling up on everything and can get herself down with ease now. She recently had her first experience in a swing and seems to enjoy it.
She is starting to try more and more finger foods. If she didn't already love her bananas, she definitely does now! And, after lots and lots of trying, she is finally doing pretty good with a sippy cup.
She is a very happy baby, loves her baths, her sister, and anything she can chew on!