Little Drummer Girl

Something that Brooke has consistently been interested in is "in-truments" of pretty much any kind. She especially loves the drums and I'll have to get a photo of her on my Dad's drum set the next time we're down there.

A new favorite game of hers is having Matt and I play "moo-sic" with her. One person will be on the mic and the other two will rotate between piano, guitar and recorder. I bought her a cheap harmonica for Christmas, but you get what you pay for and none of us can get it to make music. I'm on the hunt for a better one.

So imagine my delight when on one of my tri-weekly Target trips I stopped by the dollar bins and found tambourines, triangles, xylophones, and even a little drum. I brought them home yesterday and for the past 24 hours or so Brooke has been leading us in "marching band" around the house. We tried to get a decent video of it yesterday, but didn't.

(Pardon the W-sitting. She's just started that again and it's driving the OT in me crazy!)

She's at an incredibly fun - and funny - age where she's able to communicate well enough to direct play and it's amazing to see her imagination at work. Granted, that also means she can communicate well enough to protest when she doesn't get to direct things ("I don't lite to __!" is a new favorite phrase), but we're happy to take the bad with the good.

Snow Much Fun

We got our first real snow accumulation here the other day (not until mid-January, hallelujah!). Brooke and Aunt Jamie "shoveled" outside while waiting for me to pick her up. I was pretty excited for her to experience the first snow that she actually knew what was going on - and could walk.


That evening, we tried to take her back out in it, but after spending 10 minutes getting her bundled up, she (& I) lasted about 5 minutes outside before complaining of being cold.


We decided to give it a try again today, complete with sleds. Unfortunately, it was SO warm that the snow was melting. Sledding isn't quite as exciting when Daddy's pushing you the whole way - but that actually may be what our cautious little girl needed to remember it fondly and eventually try skiing, which Matt's already (probably legitimately, considering my hatred of the sport) concerned about.




We also spent quite awhile working on Daddy, Mommy, Brookie and Ozzie snowmen.










And capped off the morning with some hot chocolate and marshmallows. I swear she enjoyed it...I CANNOT get her to smile for me for a picture these days.

Okay, we had our fun with the snow. Bring on spring!

If You Get a Dusting, Make a Mini-Snowman

I think I was so pictured-out from Florida and Christmas that I didn't get many shots of the rest of our visit to St. Louis. We had a great time running around and catching up with friends and family, as well as just hanging out and laying low (including a date night - thanks, Mom and Dad!).


One of the mornings that we were there, there was a dusting of snow, so the guys took the girls out to play for a bit.


This is my cautious girl - not quite comfortable stepping into the snow (and let's be honest, we didn't encourage it - she didn't have any boots).


And her crazy cousin, jumping in to make snow angels!

Tim and Lexi made a mini-snowman, complete with a mini-carrot nose and grape eyes. Maybe that'll be the biggest snowman we're able to make this year??? I can dream.


Brooke enjoyed having snowballs thrown at her. Dodgeball may not be her sport.



We can't forget Luke!


I say this every time we're with them, but Brooke really loves her cousins and I so love seeing them all together.

Christmas 2011

Christmas was, as usual, a bit of a whirlwind for us. We went to church on Christmas Eve night and opened presents as a family on Christmas morning. We then went to Matt's parents' for family Christmas, then to his Grandma's for brunch. I have limited pictures of these events as I was planning to use my fancy new phone to take pictures and video, but had a problem with my flash (that turned out to be plastic over it - oops). Technology.


I did manage to capture Brooke opening her Bubble Guppies shirt - complete with her name on it! This is comparable to a 13-year-old getting a Justin Bieber shirt. At this point, she's more interested in staring at her idols than she is wearing it, but regardless I'd say it was a hit.


She also enjoyed throwing down a couple of beats with Uncle Mike.

We then got in the car and made the trek to St. Louis. Brooke came up with a creative solution to the sun being in her eyes. Unfortunately, this nap only lasted about an hour.

We had dinner and opened stockings with my family Christmas night, then went back over to my parents' the next morning for breakfast and gifts. While Brooke understood the concept of opening gifts better this year, she would be so enamored with the gift she'd just opened that we had to drag her kicking and screaming to open her next gift.

That night, Tim and Krissi hosted my mom's family Christmas. There are SO many kids running around now that it's kind of like herding cats, if the cats were cute and could talk. The rocking horses from Gigi and Grandpa Charlie were a big hit.


We were so happy that my grandma was feeling better and was able to join us.

We took advantage of everyone being there and at least pseudo-dressed up and took some generational photos.



Tim...Tebowing. Get it?

The girls provided some entertainment.


Two of the cutest little boys ever.



Me and My Girl. Thanks as usual for your help taking pictures, Krissi. It's nice to have proof I'm around.

Florida!

Like we did last year and the year before that, we spent the week before Christmas with Matt's family in Florida. Brooke was really excited to go in the weeks leading up to it. She also obviously remembers it fondly because anytime she sees a plane or a train she says, "Goin' to Fwa-wida?"

I literally picked through hundreds of pictures (90% of which were only of Brooke) to get some of the highlights. We always love our evenings on the beach watching the sunset.





And I'm a sucker for the shot from behind of Brooke and someone holding her hand. I tend toward the dramatic, but I can't help thinking that before I know it, it'll be some guy's (who isn't good enough for her - Just kidding. Kind of.) hand that she's holding.


We were so lucky to have amazing weather the entire time. I'm not sure if Brooke enjoyed the pool or beach more, but I can tell you that as the mother of a toddler, the beach has a ton more to offer by way of "keep your kid busy" entertainment. It was fun to see her play in the sand and take steps on her own into the water.




Fun at the pool. Again, a great time but I think Matt and I weren't able to relax quite as much. Maybe in 10 or so years?



Rocking out with Aunt Jamie. I think she kind of highjacked her headphones that day.


I didn't get a good shot of her the night she wore it to dinner, but I love this outfit that my friend Jen got B for her birthday. I seriously wish it came in my size.

With Uncle Mike and Aunt Jane who spoiled Brooke with multiple rounds of "No More Monkeys Jumping on the Bed."

We got a morning as a family in at the park.


Some boys who were there had caught a lizard and Brooke was VERY impressed. She's really cute about asking "big kids" their names and how old they are, but that's about all she's got. She'll recycle those 2 questions countless times. She still remembers "Me-yissa," the eleven-year-old she met at the pool.

She probably won't feel this way when she's older, but the humidity does wonders for her hair. It's always a little curly, but the whole trip it was super-curly.


We also got a morning of tennis in. Here's to hoping that she's a little (lot) better tennis player than her mom.