Soccer - In A Uniform :)

This morning was the third session of soccer, but only the second time for Brooke since she was sick last week. I contemplated not going again, since she is still a little sick and I'm at the peak of whatever she passed onto me, but figured we both needed a little fresh air. In addition, for the past week we have been talking to her a lot about soccer and spent a lot of time kicking balls around the house. I figured she might be more prepared for the real thing thanks to all the extra mental preparation we have been providing her ;)

We got ready in the morning and put on her soccer uniform. After breakfast I told her it was time to leave for soccer, and she decided she needed a backpack and a hat. She sure does like to accessorize ;) So here she is, on the way to soccer.


Today she was still a little sketchy about the whole thing, but much more interested in the balls at least. She didnt want to kick them, but she was willing to pick them up and carry them around. She also placed a few of them in the goal.

After some running drills (which she did pretty good at) and a stacking and kicking exercise (she stacked, but wouldnt kick) we did bubbles and the parachute. The kids were told to go under the parachute, but Brooke only wanted to go on top. And finally, the most important part of the day. At the end of class the kids got stamps. Today they were bees!

Brooke Counts ... To NINE!

We know Brooke can count to three, although occasionally she jumps the gun and goes to three before one :) She surprised me a bit this morning by counting all the way to nine. I know she knows a lot of numbers and a lot of letters, she can point them out and name them. I figured she has a pretty good ability for memorization.

Today we were in Target and we picked out some new pony-tail holders and barrettes (all of which she refers to as "bows"). I asked her how many bows she had as they were laid out in front of her. She did her usual "1, 2, 3". So I said "Three?", because there were actually four in front of her.

She replied "four"
I said "four?"
She said "five"
I said "five?"
She said "six"
I said "six?"
She said "seven"
I said "seven?"
She said "eight"
I said "eight?"
And she said "nine"
I actually followed up with "Nine?" and she might have said "ten", but I am not sure enough to confirm that. It might have been babble, but she actually might have counted all the way to ten!

Anyway, this was pretty crazy. I dont even know how she got up that far. I count with her a lot and she sees counting on television as well, but I had no clue she was absorbing to that level. And this wasnt just a freak occurrence ... she counted up to nine at least three more times today, once on the phone for Daddy!

Napping
On another note, her sleeping has been quite different lately. She is getting up a bit earlier than she used to, about 6:30 instead of 7:00. It isnt a huge difference, but it is when you count on those thirty minutes :) But I think she is trying to cope with that loss in sleep with longer naps - she has gone from 1.5 hour naps to 3 or more hours! Because she is sleeping so long, she is sleeping all the way to dinner time. Thats pushing back her bedtime, which is making her sleep less hours at night and I think reinforcing the longer naptime again. So its a bit of a funny cycle and causing a shuffle in the way we do things around here lately :)

Daddy's Fathers Day Present

Brooke got Daddy tickets to a Wrigley Field tour for Fathers Day, and today was the day she took him on the tour. Despite the fact that she still is feeling a bit sick, she did her best to be cheery and celebrate the day with Daddy. The tour was 90 minutes, which is the longest time period Brooke has had to do anything. She did great as we moved from scene to scene, but wasnt a fan of the periods where we had to sit and listen to the tour guide talk. Luckily, we brought some food and toys and managed to get ourselves through some pretty close situations.

Brooke really liked getting to hang out in the opposing team clubhouse. She sat on some chairs, checked out the water cooler (and spilled water all over the floor), and ran around with another boy her age causing trouble.

We got to tour the press box, the suites, and both the home and opposing team clubhouses. Our last stop was the dugouts and the field. Brooke liked running around by the batters boxes and dugouts, but desperately wanted to cross the ropes and make a run for the field. I dont think the Cubs would have really appreciated that, so we tried to keep her in line. She did pose for a nice picture with Mommy on the field though!


After the tour, Brooke took Daddy out to lunch. After lunch, the three of us went home and took a nap. Overall, it was a pretty good day :)

Mommy's Birthday

For Mommy's birthday, Brooke gave her a little taste of the newest virus going around the playground. Needless to say, both Brooke and Mommy were a wee bit crabby today. We went out to a nice breakfast, but shortly after both Brooke and Mommy had a bit of a meltdown and needed a nap. Brooke's nap lasted so long that it was dinner time when she woke up!

We took this as a good thing, since her mood was improved and we had the ability to enjoy some nice weather, and went out for some celebratory ice cream. Brooke had a little bit of milkshake and a chocolate covered wafer ... Mommy scarfed down a whole milkshake before anyone could even blink.

Multitasking

Brooke still has a cough and a fever so we are playing at home today.
It's a beautiful day so we are out in the yard. No water is enough
water ... So we have the pool, the activity table, and a running
hose. She is rotsting between filling up stuff with the hose and
occasionally squirting herself in the face. Busy girl.

A Quick Dr Visit

Brooke had a checkup today at the doctor

Height: 34 3/4 inches
Weight: 30 lbs 12 oz

Essentially, everything is fine ... she just had to get shots. Three of them :( Its bad enough to get one, but after that you know whats coming. So number two and three were especially brutal. She still isnt impressed by band-aids, so that trick doesnt work. Currently she does have a fascination with "boo-boo's", so that helped a lot. Right after the shot she looked down at her leg (while crying) and started talking about boo-boos. She also tried pulling her pant legs up to her thighs during the car ride home to look at the boo-boo's again ;)

As for her health/growth, the doctor said to bring her down to 2% milk (instead of waiting till 2 years) and keep an eye on what she eats. She doesnt need (and shouldnt have) junk. I'm hoping chicken nuggets and mac & cheese dont count as junk! He also said we can give her a multi-vitamin since she doesnt eat veggies (Daddy says she gets that from Uncle Brad) ... but, of course, to continue to try to get her to eat veggies on a regular basis. Right now she is eating spinach and ricotta tortellini, which is better than nothing!

Soccerless Tuesday

Brooke has had a random cough for about a week. Its pretty characteristic of her before getting sick ... she spends about a week of being a little bit sick warming up for actually being sick. Saturday night into Sunday morning she broke into her "real" sick and its been a hectic few days since then. She has a small cough and a fever, which makes her moody and quick to have a fit. I've been doing my best to keep her mood cheery, but unfortunately had to keep her from soccer this morning.

Generically, it turned out to be a good thing. I had to schedule some work to be done in the house this morning and Brooke's soccer would have made that schedule a little more complicated. So instead of a fun soccer morning, we are watching Dora the Explorer and hanging out. Wouldnt be that big of a deal, except that she currently has an obsession with Dora (& her partner, Boots) and I'm really getting sick of that show ;)

On another note, last night two of her Uncles babysit so Mommy & Daddy could go out to eat. Happy to say, all three survived. From what we understand, Brooke has Uncle Brad wrapped around her little finger. She had so much fun she drew them a nice picture (with a little help from Mommy).

20 Weeks: 1/2 Way There

I'm 20 weeks along today and things are still moving along the same path. This pregnancy has been a bit more challenging than it was with Brooke. I've had ups and downs, but more of the downs than the ups ;) While the nausea finally faded about 16 or so weeks into pregnancy, I'm still having issues with heartburn. I became less tired for a few weeks, but then started getting tired again. I also am just generally feeling more pregnant than I actually am. I'm bigger than I was with Brooke (though not huge or "too big" in any way), more tired, slower, and just feel like I'm farther along than I really am. Although 1/2 way through is great, I feel like I should be more than 1/2 way (if that makes any sense!).

I wasnt sure when I started posting about my pregnancy with Brooke, and so I looked it up - I was 24 weeks. A full month ahead of where I am now. So I'm not sure how I can compare this pregnancy to my last one at this time. I do know my weight gain is similar, but a bit more this time. I also know that I'm bigger now than I was then, but not by a ton. I'd say physically I look about the same with each pregnancy. The primary difference is just how aware I am every minute that I am pregnant. I remember with Brooke sometimes I could sort of forget :) The real difference is that I am spending this pregnancy chasing around a toddler ... one that never seems to get tired. Ever.

Rainy Day Plans

It's gloomy and rainy, and of course, Brooke woke up early. It's
tough enough to keep her entertained all day, but without the option
of going outside it becomes a bit more complicated.

Luckily we have a big box she has been playing in for the past few
days that she still finds entertaining. She has been in it for most
of the day today. Right now she is eating crackers, drinking water,
and watching some tv :)

Park + Water = FUN

We went to the park this morning and when we got there the water sprinkler was on. Brooke has recently been afraid of the sprinkler and fountains, so I wasnt too sure how she would react. She ran towards it screaming "water!" "water!" but then froze when she got close. As other kids ran in and out she just sat and stared.

After a pretty long time staring, she noticed an abandoned bucket on the ground. She decided she would try to fill it up with water ... but stood about 5 feet away with her arm out, hoping some would fall in. It didnt. Eventually, she decided she needed help and asked Mommy to go into the water for her and fill up the bucket. I did it for her a few times but eventually told her she was gonna have to do it herself. It took her a while to warm up to it, but before I knew it I had a soaking wet toddler on my hands ;)

Searching For Her Inner Athlete

Brooke has taken quite a few classes since birth. We started off with music-related classes and then I moved her into movement classes when I noticed she seemed a bit clumsier than other kids her age. She still loves music (and dancing) and despite several movement classes still tends to be a bit clumsy. So we started another class today ... soccer! She still needs to work on some coordination, and this class is outdoors, giving both Brooke and Mommy a chance to do something different.

Due to scheduling issues, the only time I could fit into our schedule was 8:30AM. This can be trouble with Brooke waking up anywhere from 6:30 to 8:00 AM on a given day. We never know what to expect. This morning she slept till 7:45. I had to rush her, attempt to get her to eat, and run out the door. We arrived a little bit late to our first class. When we got there, I had to check in at a table. Brooke wanted to leave the minute we got there. She tripped and fell as I was getting out her waiver form, and it pushed her already questionable mood into full on get-me-outta-here mode.

She didnt want anything to do with the class. She held onto my hand and whimpered for the first 1/2. Then she finally started playing with some balls, but wouldnt follow instructions or do what her "team" was doing. As the only girl on her team, and the only one not participating, she stuck out like a sore thumb.

At the end of the class she was a bit warmer. The "coach" pulled out bubbles and she chased them around. Then he pulled out a parachute and instructed all the kids to get on top and the parents were going to pull it around with them on it. We've done this in Brookes other classes and she loves it. She ran onto the parachute and sat down. The other boys either wouldnt get on it, or got on and started crying when we tried to move it. So that game got cut short ... and Brooke was confused. Then the kids were instructed to run under the parachute as we moved it up and down. Brooke stood next to it and kept asking for music - since there is always music in her other classes. She just didnt find anything working for her today ;)

At the end the coach gave everyone stamps. Since this is her favorite part of any class, she was finally satisfied. She hollered "BYE" randomly to anyone that would listen and made a beeline for the car.

Hopefully next week will go a bit better. Even if it doesnt, I picked up her uniform today and she will wear that next week. So at the very least I'll snap some pics of her looking cute in her soccer gear ;)

Brooke Had A Little Lamb

Brooke has taken to bringing stuffed animals on outings. Its not all the time, but becoming more common. When we tell her we are going somewhere she looks around and decides who is coming with. Today we went to the park and her lamb Beanie Baby had the opportunity to join us.

Generally, these animals/dolls come with for the ride in the stroller (or car) and then stay there while we do what we are doing. Again, this is not always the case. Uncle Tim can attest to a time where Brooke and I met him for lunch, and Big Bird and Elmo also came along. Today was one of those days. Lamb came along for the ride, but decided that she also wanted to play at the park. I continually offered to Brooke to hold Lamb, or put Lamb back in the stroller to make it easier for her to play ... but she wasnt having it.

Brooke had a little lamb its fleece was white as snow;
And everywhere that Brooke went, the lamb was sure to go.

That includes walking around the park ...


Swinging on the swings...


And going down the slide...


That lamb sure did have a good time.
No wonder if follows Brooke around everywhere.

Fun In The Sun

Brooke got a water activity table for Christmas from her Uncle Tim, and this past weekend it was finally warm enough to pull it out. I put her in her swimsuit and took out the table. She was pretty interested ... and I hadnt even put in water yet. When the table was filled up she went to work, filling up a bucket to make the wheel turn.

Brooke wasnt the only one interested in the table ... she had to do some sharing.

Things were all good, until Brooke put both of her hand in the water and just stood there. Then she bent forward and submerged her arms as far as they could go. I think you might be able to guess what happened next ...

I kept trying to get her out of the water table and she kept trying to get back in, saying "swimming" over and over. So, there was only one thing I could do...


So Brooke played in between her pool and the water table. Of course, she had to share the pool too...