Brenna is TWO years old!

I can't believe our littlest baby girl isn't a baby anymore! Today our sweet and spunky Brenna Ann turns two. Two years ago today at 8 o'clock in the morning, my water broke and off we rushed to the hospital to bring this newest bundle of joy into the world!

Its so hard for me to wrap everything she is into one measly little update. She has got so much personality in that little body of hers! Brenna is full of life, humor, and joy.

We go tomorrow for her 2yr check, so I'll update then with more stats. ** Edited 4/27 to add...she weighs 27.4 lbs and is 33 inches tall.** But she eats anything and everything usually on her plate. She is a GREAT eater (lets hope that lasts!). Her favorite food is hands down black eyed peas. Weird I know... She can easily eat an entire can of them in one setting. Other favorites include bananas, meat products (she's more into beef than chicken) and almost any kind of fruit. She loves ice cream as well (who doesn't?), but still enjoys a plain ol' cracker just as much.

I've expressed it before, but she is quite the fluent speaker these days. She speaks full sentences easily and is starting to speak in full conversations by herself. She can sing complete songs ("Happy Birthday", "Goodnight" song, and several of her Kindermusik songs) well enough to where even an outside stranger can understand her. Its quite amazing. Not always a blessing as we can never get a word in edgewise, but at least we have zero frustration on her part of not being able to communicate her needs/wants. She definitely has that mastered! In fact, sometimes we forget that she is still so little b/c she talks so big. She preaches to others - "No baby talk...just big kid talk." - if they start to blabber.

Brenna knows all of her main colors and has for a few months. She can count in order from 1-6 (random I know) and is learning now to actually count objects to know how many of one thing there are. She is also learning letters and can recognize several. Sometimes she tells us the letter by the letter name...other times she tells us the letter by the letter sound, thanks to her LeapFrog Letter Factory DVD. (she sings those songs all the time) She is not potty trained by any stretch, but we go through several patches where for a couple weeks, she'll potty regularly and often and stay dry a lot and then she'll go back to not pottying at all. I'm not pushing it...I don't really care right now, but if she wants to go, I definitely encourage and reward her. When she is pottying regularly, we do sometimes put her in pullups (for our ease) and she really likes wearing pullups.

She says her prayers at nighttime (the "Now I lay me down to sleep" prayer, followed by praying for specific people) and at dinnertimes (the "God is great, God is good, let us thank Him for our food" prayer) and says them well. She also sits with us in church and is, for the most part, quiet and still as long as we bring something to occupy her time with. She will probably go to VBS this summer and will start Sunday School next Fall. :)

She loves to be in charge and make the decisions. She is very independent and wants to do everything herself. A common phrase with her is "I do it myself!" She also likes to tell us what to do/where to go/etc. Not to say we listen.... but she likes to tell nonetheless.

She is very assertive, but still very shy. In fact, her usual only 'fits' are if a stranger talks to her or if we try to force her into a situation where she is not comfortable.

Otherwise, she is a sweet sweet child. She dishes out hugs and kisses to any and everyone. Not to say she doesn't have a temper and she is an avid swatter if things don't go her way, but she is quick to say "Sorry Brooke for hitting...You okay?" and then gives hugs. Again, an instance where we treat her much older than she is I think.

She is so humorous and 'gets' all the sarcastic little jokes we make with her. In fact, most recently she has started making her own little jokes trying to get a laugh. If she can get a laugh....it makes her world a brighter place. She loves to make a person laugh.

However, there is a fine line. If she believes you are laughing AT her...watch out. She can give you a serious Go To He!! look. It's quite amusing though, which almost always ends up in more unintended laughter on our part. ;)

She is dying to go to school..and soon she will. We have her registered to start this summer at the same school that Brooke goes to, so we are really excited about that! She is still in Kindermusik and really participates well now! She even goes up to do "Ba's", though I'm not sure if anything's ever really come out of her mouth yet. ;) She loves dancing to the music and singing the songs and often we find her at home doing the same things she does there. Again, she knows and can sing well a lot of her Kindermusik songs. She also just enjoys dancing around the house trying to mimic Brooke. She has some pretty good moves I tell ya'!

She really likes books, but would prefer to read them to herself. Of course, she doesn't really read. But her favorites she has memorized - "Brown Bear, Brown Bear" and "Goodnight Moon" are her top two - and she will 'read' (say) every page word for word. Funny stuff.

She still loves her baby dolls and now enjoys feeding them, burping them, and putting them to bed..complete with singing them to sleep, while patting their bottom. Its so cute! She loves Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and all the characters. If you ask her her favorite, it changes daily. She also likes "Monkey George" (aka Curious George) and all the princesses, though her favorite princess is definitely Cinderella. Her favorite color is definitely yellow, but pink would be a close second. She loves to do makeup (aka chapstick) while I fix her hair in the mornings and enjoys playing dressup as well. She loves trying on different pairs of shoes...from her shoes, to dressup shoes, to Brooke's shoes, and even Mommy and Daddy's shoes. Definitely a girly girl at heart. ;)

She loves to run and play chase with Brooke or Daddy or anyone who is game. She loves tickling games and 'get ya' games and hide and seek. She would probably spend every minute of her life outside if we let her. She is very daring and loves to climb any and everything. I often joke that I'm afraid the broken arm of long ago is the first of many broken bones for this girl. And me, being such the worrywart, well...I will probably be gray a lot quicker because of this child. ;) She is adventurous and loves to do things Brooke would never try! She tries to be like a big kid so much and usually succeeds. She is trying to pedal a tricycle nowadays, even though her feet don't reach the pedals yet. She loves slides, swinging, and climbing up and falling down. She never really cries from being hurt...only whimpers and gets right back up. Heck..even with her broken arm, she only cried for about 5 minutes!

That being said, she is also deathly afraid of doctors and doctor's offices. Rightly so I would think. She's been through it, with a broken arm, swine flu, one really bad ear infection and more. Poor kid. We're working on it, but I'm not looking forward to her 2 yr checkup that's for sure. ;)

She still sucks that thumb....ugh. I'm not sure how we'll get rid of that one anytime soon. She isn't quite so bad, but if she gets bored or sleepy, that thumb goes right in her mouth. Ugh.

And my oh my how she loves her sister. She really enjoys playing with her, giggling with her and doing things that Brooke does. Its admiration at its best, but its also a unique form of camaraderie. They are truly each others best friends. They inspire each other and make each other a better person. There are some fights and some frustrations, but they really really do love each other and are so blessed to have each other.

I feel like I haven't even begun to do Brenna justice to capture her personality in this update. She is just so funny, sweet, precious, and beautiful all at the same time. She makes people laugh, she's cute, adventurous, spunky and cuddly. I love her with my whole heart and then some! I can't believe I can no longer speak of her age in terms of months...she is now TWO years old! Happy Birthday to sweet Brenna! We love you!