The Day Brooke Turned 18 Months Old

 I cannot believe that our little baby is now 18 months old. Brooke has been growing and changing so much. She is such a good natured, sweet little girl. All ages are wonderful but the best part about this one is that not only can she say and do really cute things, but also she is still "little" enough that she's not actually being naughty and doesn't sass or argue (except in that cute - less than 2-year old way).

Brooke brings so much joy and laughter into our lives, here are some of the highlights....

• Brooke loves Katelyn (aka Sis or Sissy) so much and has loved having her home this summer. She tries to play with Katelyn and keep up with everything the "big girls" do - she loves to make food in their play kitchen and bring it to you (you have to "taste" everything and tell her how good it or she isn't satisfied with the exchange). They also love playing "bunny cave" together... it cracks us up what Katelyn can get her to do. I also love it when Katelyn's friends come over and when they play Princess or some other "pretend play" - they are always sure to include Brooke. She is usually the Wicked Queen or a dog. The best part is that she doesn't mind a bit... for now anyway.
• Brooke is in the "parrot" stage where she will mimic pretty much anything you ask her to say. She also has quite a vocabulary, she loves to call people she knows well by name and she knows her animals and the sounds they make. She also loves to name objects around the house for you and if she doesn't know what it is she will as "what's that?" and point. She will keep doing it until you answer her, so it is best to just play along.
• Her favorite word/sign is still "more." She will say it a few times and then add in the sign while saying it... she will do it over and over and over while sounding a little stressed. Once again, it is best to just roll with it.
• She loves doing webcam with Gram & Pop and always says "Pop?" if he's not there and "POP!" if he is on camera.
• Brooke loves to sing... her favorite songs are "Hello, Hello" and "Twinkle Twinkle." She loves having people sing to her too, but you have to pick the right song or she will tell you "All done, all done" until you stop. Then you have to quickly pick the song she wanted you to sing in the first place.
• Brooke started going to the Nursery at our Church during the 2nd and 3rd hour of our meetings. She absolutely loves it and I love not having to wrangle her in the hall for 3 hours each Sunday.
• She is quite good at following directions. Most of the time you can get her to obey just about any command - maybe I need to start asking for a little more out of her, like "Make dinner and clean the bathrooms please." Putting clothes in the dryer, finding things and bringing them to me and throwing things away for me are some of her favorites.
• She loves to watch the Wiggles and any of the Baby Einstein DVDs.
• She still loves milk and will do the sign for it while saying "milky milky milky." We aren't sure why it's milky, but it's too cute to correct. She loves her sippy cup and thinks drinking out of straws is great too.
• She loves to play outside and will literally keep going until she cannot stand up anymore. She thinks are garden is great and will eat the peas and raspberries faster than we can pick them. She also loves flowers and always stops to smell them, even if they are plastic.
• She loves to dance and will dance to just about anything with a beat or a tune. My favorite is when she will stop in the middle of a store and start grooving. I also love to watch her dance with Katelyn in the family room. They have a great time and keep us very entertained.
• Brooke loves Mac and Cheese (aka "roni") and any kind of fruit. The only problem is that she refers to all fruit as an "apple" and then you have to quickly guess the one she actually means. I've had to quit buying grapes for a while. The girl did not know her limits so we are making her take a break from them until her intestines recover.
• She still loves animals and wants to hug and kiss them all. I cannot wait to take her to the zoo!
• She loves Cookie Monster and cookies. She also knows that after eating a sandwich at Subway to ask for a cookie. The minute she is done with her food she will squeal "cookie!" She knows me well... eat a healthy sandwich so we can have cookies in the middle of the day.
• She loves her dad and gets so excited when he comes home. She also has several different ways to let us know that she needs me or needs something from me when she says "ma ma."
  • ma ma - a pleasant greeting that she usually gives me when I come in to get her in the morning
  • ma Ma? - questioning my whereabouts, but not completely panicked that I am gone yet
  • MA MA!!! - this one usually indicates trouble, either she is being attacked by other kids and is calling for backup or she is stuck and/or needs help (Kyle says that with this one she sounds like an angry duck)
• We love Brookie Cookie so much and feel so blessed to have her in our family. I cannot imagine what we did without her. Thanks for being such a sweetheart and for making us all laugh and smile constantly - we love you Cookie!

Here is a video of a few of her "tricks" that we were actually able to get on tape: