gobble gobble

Happy Thanksgiving Y'all! Brie is doing great and she's starting to understand holiday stuff. I am teaching her turkey, snow man, Santa, Reindeer, etc. I am going a little bonkers for her 2nd Christmas. I am getting her a play kitchen so of course I'm busy buying wooden food, utensils, pots and pans, etc! And then I am getting her a little pink battery operated 4-wheel ride on toy. So it will be fun seeing her enjoy the holidays. The biggest challenge is just getting all the Christmas stuff down and lights up on the house. That's when I really start to miss Brian and his helpfulness. But thats what friends and neighbors are for :)

20 Month Birthday

20 months ago a little monkey named Brie arrived and its a pleasure and honor to watch her grow into a little girl! Brie is doing great. She's in a new preschool as of Nov 1st. She's with a small group that includes my friend Sharal's daughter Samantha and she's already been cast in a Christmas play. Brie is really doing well with her words, she can point out almost everything in a book and is now associating colors with things (i.e. yellow bus!) and a few weeks ago we went to Uncle John's house and we think she developed a little crush on Cousin JJ because she's going around kissing his picture frame. Oh boy!! I gotta long road ahead of me if she's already doing that :)

19 mo

Brie is doing splendid. She's not using her pacifier anymore - which she did on her own and she's now telling me/asking me when she's tired. She is an exploding encyclopedia. Today I taught her "chin" "cheek" and "flag" and by dinner she was pointing and tellin me what they were. She is going to the pumpkin patch tomorrow with her friends Reagan and Olivia and we'll take some photos. She is starting to know her friends really well and sometimes calls them by name. In a couple of weeks, we'll fly to Oakland to see my brother and his family during Halloween weekend. That will also be fun because she's really into transportation right now; so for her to get on an airplane will be exciting. She often points to them in the sky so we'll see how excited she is when she gets on one and understands that it goes in the sky!

Adjusting

We are adjusting to Brie going to preschool and saying goodbye to Maria. The house is quieter now that I dont have a talkative German in my ear all the time ;) but its also nice to have some space back for guests...and my clothes! In all seriousness, having Maria was the best thing we could have done for little Brie. They formed a special bond and I gained a lifelong friend. In fact we hope to travel to Germany or have her come here in 2012.

Brie is really doing well at preschool. She is napping well, eating better and really likes her teacher "Miss Amy" who is really nice. In fact during her bath tonight, Brie kept saying "bye bye Amy" which was cute. Brie is also saying thank you and please a lot and she's very strong-willed about going outside...which is a product of them letting the kids outside to play 2x/day.

All in all, Brie is growing up quick. Its like a carnival ride I can't get to slow down. But its fun and I love that little monkey more than I can even comprehend.

Love, Anna & Brie

JJ

Transition Time

Next week we say goodbye to Fraulein Maria. We are all very sad and Brie is going to miss her very much as she's been like a 2nd mommy to her. So this past week we put Brie in preschool PT and she did very well. She has a great teacher named Miss Amy and she really pays close attn to what Brie needs and what we ask of her. Brie is having some troubles sitting down at a big girl table and eating but she's doing better and better each day. Today she napped there for the 1st time and only slept for 40 min so that was frustrating for mommy when she got home. But this is all part of the plan to socialize her and learn/play. Hard to believe she'll be 1.5 yrs next week!!

1st Sentence

Dat be papa!

Happy Birthday PAPA

Brie's papa would have been 42 today....and we spent the day looking at a video picture frame that showed our winter trip to Switzerland. Brie was very good at pointing out "mama!" and then "papa!" and "woofwoof" for the Swiss dogs we took photos of. I think for Brian in heaven, that was the best b-day gift he could have received...to see his daughter enjoy seeing all of our travel photos. How happy papa was snowboarding and eating fondue on that trip. Someday I hope to take Brie there to re-live those memories again. XXOO

15 mo appt

Brie had a good 15 mo appt. She is still around 90% for height and weight and is surpassing a lot of her 18 mo goals already. She got two shots and tolerated them well but she did fight Dr. Cox pretty hard when she checked Brie's ears and mouth. No one is really sure how many teeth Brie has because she wont let you look!

Some of the words Brie is saying are: ball, Mei Mei, juice, kitty, balloon, no, bye bye, shoes, nose, ba-ba (bottle) and PAPA!! Brie is almost perfect when finding photos of Brian in frame and she gets very excited saying "Pa-pa!" and I even tested her by showing her a photo of Brian with his friend Dave and she was able to pick him out perfectly. Hearing her call him Papa warms my heart and it doesnt make me sad...well of course is does but I am just blessed that she already knows him.

This weekend we're flying to Denver to meet the CO crew!

Bon Voyage!

Au Pair to Childcare

Come September, our beloved Maria will be heading back to Germany to resume her career as a pediatric nurse and she is going to be sorely missed. Not only will we miss her taking such good care of Brie but I will miss her companionship and funny antics.

So in September Brie will start at a great preschool called Childbridge in Mission Viejo. Its 2 mi from my house and my friend Melissa has sent her kids there for several years now. www.childbridge.net

I think she will like interacting with other little kids and she'll start off in the 18mo-2 yr old class and then move up from there. Its just another reminder that my baby Brie is no longer a baby. She's a growing gorgeous toddler!

Happy Easter!!!

Last year Brie was just a few weeks old and slept the whole time at Easter brunch. This year she was eating pancakes, smiling at the Easter Rabbit and wanting to crawl around the room. She was a total trooper and then spent 1.5hrs in traffic on the way home. Thanks to Fraulein Maria (we'll miss u next year) and all the grandparents for making Easter so nice!

almost walking

Brie's 2028 prom date

Today I got the news that Brie's baby friend Van (who lives in Denver) suffered a stroke this week. He's a couple of months older than Brie and luckily they did a ton of tests and his arteries have been opened up in a couple of places that caused this terrible scare. Last summer Van came out (with his mom and dad) and he and Brie rolled around on a blanket together and they held hands at one point. The reason for this post is that today when I left for work; Brie had gotten on my nerves a bit because the more active she gets the harder it is for me to get ready in the morning...so after hearing that one of my lifelong friends were looking at their son with a breathing tube and an unsure future made me realize that I need to work on my patience and give my little Brie an extra kiss and squeeze!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO US!!!!!!!!

Where did one year go? Seems like only a few months ago. I heard Brie cry for the 1st time. It was quite a wail too. 9 and then 10 on her apgar test!! We had a great b-day. Fraulein Maria got up early and made blueberry pancakes and eggs and then a nice dinner with grandma Jan. We are excited for Brie's party this weekend!!

Maui Wowie

Well we're off to Maui this weekend. Brie's 1st big (long) plane ride. She's very active right now so hopefully we dont upset the fellow passengers. We are going with Fraulein Maria and Grumpa Skipper and Grammie Judy. We have lots of cute suits and sunscreen and I can't wait to relax and maybe hit up the spa. Most of all I cant wait to vacation all week w my baby girl. Its hard being away from her 40hrs/wk. So here is to Maui and being ALMOST 1 year old.

Active Baby

Brie is happy and active and almost 11 mo! She loves to crawl and scoot around the house. She also like to pull herself up and "cruise" too. I just ordered her last order of formula (yea! $$) and we're gearing up for a trip to Maui in a few weeks. So I am buying bathing suits, hats and sunscreen. I am not too nervous about the flight over because Judy, Skip and Maria can help me but on the way home its just me and Maria! Yikes. I can't wait for Brie to eat fresh pineapple and play in the pool. Stay tuned for photos from Maui on our next post!!

Ski & Snow

Took Brie to the mountains for the first time to visit Lake Tahoe. We stayed at little Caiden Reitter's house. He's 18 mo and Brie had a lot of fun watching him run around. She was jealous of his mobility for sure. They took a bath together and held hands in their car seats. It was very cute. Someday when they're teenagers I'll have to wave goodbye to Brie as she hits the slopes with little Caiden!

HAPPY 2011

Brie welcomed in the New Year by jumping like a crazy monkey in her jungle bouncer until 10pm New Years Eve! What a party girl in the making!