The day has come. Our little baby has turned one. At 10:28am exactly one year ago today, Brenna Ann joined our family at a whopping 8lbs, 4oz. Even at her size, she was such a petite little girl that brought big joy to our family.
Since then, life has become a whirlwind. I thought I had this thing down – this raising babies thing. But Brenna is her own individual. We dealt with months of projectile vomiting and crying and fussiness (aka – reflux). We finally got to see her become a “happy baby” around the fourth month. And since then, she has gotten happier and happier. 
I had to get used to shuffling two kids around. The difference in two kids vs one? Well, the first one, you sit at home and watch their every move or non-movement. The second kiddo….you don’t have that pleasure because the first one is always one the go. So the second kid has to deal with lack of naps, crazy car rides to the sibling’s school or whatnot. But Brenna has definitely taken it all in stride. She can live on any kind of ‘schedule’ we throw at her. She is definitely a trooper. And I have learned to manage this new kind of parenting. It’s a JOY!
As for updates, Brenna is still nursing, but only twice a day. I plan to wean her soon, but I know she is my last baby and am enjoying the last few moments of that special time we have together. Her doctor’s appt is this coming week, so I’m sure we’ll discuss weaning. I’m not too worried about it. She dropped one nursing pretty easily and I have no fear the others will be any more difficult (knock on wood). She is eating any and everything else is sight, though! She's got 6 teeth now (4 on top, 2 on bottom) and is working on the other bottom two now I think. But,i t is CRAZY the amount of food that little person can put inside of her! She eats Brooke under the table two times over! But she’s not overweight by any stretch and still looks like a petite little girl. :-) She has mastered the sippy cup and loves milk (whole milk). I can't list all the foods she loves because it's endless. We really haven't found anything she won't eat. Lately, whatever we are having, we just hand it over to her. She has even had pizza, chicken quesadillas, and more!
She is a cuddly girl too. I love it! She is super attached to Mama, which isn’t always good, but with that also comes the fun of the many hugs and kisses she likes to pass on my way. It’s kind of a game for her too, when someone else asks for hugs or kisses, she turns to me, gives me one and just laughs at the other person. :)
Also, with her hugs, instead of putting her arms around you, she puts them behind her back and holds your hands. Just another cute little thing she does that makes her her.
I don't mean to take away from Daddy, though. She definitely loves her Daddy! Every day when he gets home from work, the second he comes through the door, she stops what she is doing, gives him the biggest grin, laugh, and makes a beeline (a total crawl with a purpose) for the door to get him to pick her up. It's so cute! She also loves to ride on top of his shoulders. 
She is constantly making us laugh. She does some of the funniest things. Her expressions are priceless and I can’t even begin to explain the fun stuff she does – it’s definitely “had to be there” kinda moments.
She also gives high fives, likes to brush her own hair if you give her a brush, will turn off light switches as we go by, and will hand stuff to you that she isn’t supposed to have (aka – dirt off the floor, we say “ewww….yucky” and she’ll hand it right over to us and squinch her nose up in that famous Brenna way).
She still does a pacifier…sort of. We mainly use it in church or elsewhere to quiet her down or if she falls and bumps herself and goes to crying, it’ll soothe her up just right. But still all too often, I catch her (at sleepytimes) with her thumb on her mouth. Most recently, we had to put some Chew Spray on the carpet for the dog to stop chewing. It is the most bitter taste ever! Unbeknownest to me, she must’ve crossed the path and got some on her finger. Would you know she was still sucking her thumb? Only reason I knew about it is because she put her hand up to my mouth and I could taste it! Yuk!
She loves books and will flip pages and act like she’s reading them. Speaking of sounds, she is really imitating a lot of words now. Of course, she’s not talking (well, except the Mama, Dada stuff), but if you say something, she turns right back and says the same thing that sounds remarkably close to what the word is. She loves this game of repeat. She loves her bath and is loving being in the big bath tub now with her sister. 
Of course, she loves all things Brooke and Brooke can entertain her in ways that I cannot and she just loves it. And another little tidbit…. Even when Brooke was a baby, when I changed her diaper, after I fasten it with the Velcro, out of habit, I pat the diaper a couple times. I just do that? Did it with Brooke, do it with Brenna and would probably do it with any other babies. Brooke never noticed or never cared. But now after I get the diaper on Brenna, every time, she tries to pat herself before I do. Another game of hers. Such a funny girl. 
She is still napping twice a day (usually about 9:30ish for about 1.5hrs and then again at 1/1:30 for at least 2 hrs, sometimes, she’ll even sleep till 4 or 5p!) She goes to bed about 8ish and is up (when I have to wake her up) at 7:45 to eat breakfast and leave in time to take Brooke to school. She’d probably go to bed earlier easy enough, but we just can’t seem to get everything (chores, dinner, bath, etc) done by then. We most recently gave her a baby pillow to sleep with/on and she loves it.
Not walking yet, but crawling everywhere – and fast! She is so fast but is pretty good at staying away from things she should stay away from. She loves loves loves to go to Brooke’s room and play with her dollhouse. She just loves those little people. We are debating about if and when we should move the girls to the same room. Hmmm....
Anyway, I just honestly can’t believe that a whole year ago, I was at the hospital having this beautiful blue-eyed, blonde-haired little girl that has brought us so much joy and laughter and fun to our house. We are so thankful for her healthy, beautiful self every single day. We love her more than we ever could have dreamed of and feel like our little baby….er, toddler,…is such a special gift we have been blessed with. Happy Happy Birthday to my littlest angel! 
1 comment:
So sweet!
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