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!