23 Months Old!

Dear Brenna,

It's hard to believe this is the last monthly letter I'll write to you before you turn TWO! It's ridiculously hard for me to believe that your birthday is almost here again, but time just seems to keep speeding up! We are absolutely adoring this stage with you. You are learning and growing by leaps and bounds each day - Daddy and I are always talking about how we wish we could just freeze time with you in this stage. Here's some of the things that are making us laugh and smile lately...

*You love to hold your own cup or bottle of water. You constantly demand that "Brenna do" when you don't want help doing something. You're actually really good at holding cups.

*I took you to gymnastics class a few weeks ago, and now you are always asking to do flips. One day Daddy and I were sitting on the couch and we look down and you are doing a front flip on your own. We almost died! No broken necks, okay kiddo?

*You ADORE singing. We are amazed at how well you can keep a tune. Just in the past couple of days you've picked up "Rock-a-bye Baby". When you can't remember some of the words you just substitute the lyrics from "Twinkle, Twinkle" into the tune. You still love "Jesus Loves Me" and the ABC s song.

*You like to boss Daddy around. One day you were sitting at the picnic table outside with him, and when he got up to leave you said, "Daddy, sit". Last night at dinner he walked away after giving you your yogurt and you said, "Sit in the chair!"

*We visited all of your grandparents a few weekends ago and they loved it! Nanie was leaving to take Grandma Abel home, and you went over to Grandma and said out of the blue, "Love you, be careful." It was adorable and melted my heart because you said it all on your own.

*Not only do you still obsess over pacifiers, but now you specify between your big and little pacis. You always want to have "big" and "little" in your crib with you. I dread breaking you from taking a paci when you sleep.

*You say "scuse me" when someone or something is in your way. It's very common to hear you say, "Scuse me, Magnie" several times a day.

*You still love to go outside and push your lawn mower and swing. Since the weather is unseasonably warm, we've taken lots of walks in your stroller, too. We had Maggie outside with us one time and she started barking. You just asked her, very matter-of-factly, "Magnie, whatcha barkin' for?" I couldn't stop laughing.

*When we pulled in to Nanie's house on our visit, you immediately got excited and said, "Nanie's house! Blocks! Color!" You also say, "Pa Bill has one" whenever you see a tractor.

*Before our visit to Nana and Pa Bill's, I asked you what you were going to say to them. You replied, "No, Pa Bill, no pull pants" because he likes to tease you and pull on your pants.

*You love to play blocks with us. You always ask us to play with you, although you like to play a lot of your other toys on your own. It kills Daddy when he works on a really big, impressive tower and you knock it right down!

*When you want a snack you walk over to the cabinets and say, "Whatcha want, Brenna?" Ha!

*You are really scared of the vacuum cleaner lately. "No bacuum" is a commonly heard phrase at our house. You also don't like to stand to close to a running car, and you hated the "noise" when the smoke detector went off while I was cooking last week.

*You have gotten attached to your babydolls and stuffed animals. You like to rock them, put them in your play carseat and stroller, cuddle with them, sleep with them, pretend feed them, and take them in the car with you. It's super cute. This week your favorite has been a little stuffed monkey. If we ask you what any of their names are, you always say _____ Halsey (Monkey Halsey, Baby Halsey, Bear Halsey, etc.). You also like to "jam" on your Mickey Mouse guitar - and dance along, too!

*You are obsessed with wearing hats. You find them around the house and wear them all the time. Yesterday before church you were wearing a cute pink jumper with tights. You found a purple baseball cap and Mommy's sunglasses to complete your outfit. We just couldn't stop laughing!

As you can see, you are a hoot! There have been a few challenges this month, like you becoming a little big of a picky eater on some days and going through a few spells of really short naps. But, the good definitely outweighs the rough times! We had fun at the zoo one day, and we also visited the local science center here in Hickory. It's so fun that you are old enough to explore with us and really interact with what you see.

I love you like crazy!!

Love, Mommy