Sitting with Daddy inside the firetruck.

I tried and tried to get her to stand by the firetruck so I could get a picture of that, but she kept saying no. After I told her I was very sad to not be able to get a picture of her with the firetruck, she whipped around, gave me a big grin, and declared she would do it just so I would be happy. LOL!

She refused to let go of her lemonade, however…

Given that she never really tried to apply any paint to the paper we gave her, I think the final “paper” version is pretty good, even if not as fun as the final “body” version!

I did get video of pretty much the whole event. As soon as I figure out how to create a high speed version of it, I’ll send it out. Needless to say, she has asked pretty much every day since when she can finger paint again!

Very appropriately clad in her local Hogs Breath shirt while watching a thunderstorm and laughing at the thunder

The next day we headed off to the mall for some air conditioned fun. My girl loves the merry-go-round!

Almost Nemo…but not quite…

Chasing the other girls at the in door playground (yes, the in door part was very important - it was hot!)

On our way home we stopped to see my good friend Jeanette. She and her husband Jason are expecting her first child this fall and Brianna and I decided it was a girl! We will have to wait until fall to see if we are correct - we can’t wait! Jeanette made us a fabulous dinner of cornmeal dusted tilapia with dill cream sauce, herbed couscous, sauteed green beans, and for dessert: peach and blueberry crisp with ice cream. YUMMMMMMM! I only have one professional chef friend, so we were thrilled that we got to personally sample her cooking. Now I just need to figure out excuses to go back…

Before we left for home, we stopped at the B&B Jeanette works out. Here she is with Brianna on the famous flower couch (Jeanette swears her boss has a pair of jeans that look just like this couch!).

Jeanette and I were not fans, but Brianna was pretty fascinated!

Outside in the front garden - just lovely.

It was a quick trip, but we enjoyed every minute. Thanks to everyone who put us up, fed us, and/or provided free baby sitting. You are all the best!

Just adorable…

Riding along the lazy river!

Waving at Poppa while riding along the lazy river.

Shere, Olivia, and Miles helped show Brianna how much fun the lazy river could be - it helped get her past her fears A LOT!

And the best part is that all that lazy river fun seems to have erased her previous fear of the water. This weekend she has been all over the pool - jumping in, bouncing in the water, floating on her back and tummy. It is amazing how relaxed she now is. She even went under once and it didn’t even phase her. She just went right back to her bouncing. Yay!

We started our trip by making the long drive to Alabama to see Jason’s family. Brianna did FANTASTIC in the car - so much better than we ever dreamed of. The first leg of the trip she just read to herself and her babies, and listened to music. The second leg of the trip she napped and read some more, and the final leg of the trip she watched a movie. Like I said, she was fantastic!

We stopped at Jason’s cousin’s house for the night and met their two adorable children - Parker, who just turned two, and baby Adeline.

Typical two year olds…

The next day we moved onto Florida and the beach, where we rented a condo for a couple of nights. We had been telling Brianna we were going to the beach for a little over a week and she was so excited that she woke up around midnight the first night in the condo and declared “I’m awake! Go to the beach!” Luckily for us, Jason’s folks were staying at the condo with us, and Brianna was sleeping with them. We never heard a thing…

Brianna still has little to no interest in going in the Gulf, but she loved playing in the sand, and she had a great time at the condo’s pools, one of which included a lazy river.

Ready for Hollywood?

Hmmmm…not to sure about all that water…

The “giant puddle”!

Saturday we went to the Natural Science Museum, one of Brianna’s favorite places. This time we went specifically to see the dinosaurs. She got a book from the library about dinosaur bones that talks about a Natural Science Museum, and so she wanted to go and see them for herself! Tea anyone?

After seeing the big ones, she went to the explore area and played with the smaller, more manageable ones and read some books (another favorite activity).

Woaaaa…that is a big ball!

We simultaneously stayed cool and had a great time! Is it fall yet?

Tia and Stephen came to visit this past weekend. We had a very nice and very relaxing weekend just hanging out and doing all those things Brianna likes to do right now - go to the swimming pool (to not in), play ball, read books, and apparently, make funny faces at Tia’s computer camera!

One of the highlights of the weekend was a trip to Monkey Joe’s! Brianna (of course) made a beeline straight to the back where the Cars bouncer is.

She loves to jump,

and run,

but seemingly has a bigger interest in falling!

She did venture up to the top of one of the tall slides, and even slid down the big slide with Tia without any tears.

But only once!

This last picture is from some outside play time - she was inspired by the World Cup…

We had a great weekend - we all very much enjoyed our visitors!

That quarter of a year has brought some dramatic changes to my little angel. Here is a quick update - she changes every day!

Sleep: She still sleeps great at home (8-8 during the night and 1-4 during the afternoon), for which we are profoundly grateful! School is a little different, but she seems to handle it fine. Her current routine at night is to get all her toys in her bed (anywhere from 6-10 these days) plus one or two books. Then I have to go to the door and blow kisses, after which she asks me “I talk to you?” She then points to various things in her room while reciting their name - “there’s my clock, and my lamp, and my fan, and my fan, and my barn, and my books, and my toy.” Generally she finishes by either jumping up and down on her bed or laying down with her toys depending on how tired she is. It is soooooo cute!

Speech: Her speech is amazing! She easily and regularly speaks 5-10 word sentences. While I haven’t counted in a while, I’m guessing she has well over 150 words in her vocabulary, and that is probably a very conservative estimate. She started the “why” phase a couple of weeks ago, but only did it a couple of times and then dropped it. We will see whether or not that changes.

Memory: She is quick…when she wants to be (aren’t we all?). She now remembers where she last saw/last put things. She also regularly sings her favorite songs (”Happy Birthday,” “Baa, Baa, Blacksheep,” “On the Way to Grandpa’s House,” “Twinkle, Twinkle,” and “Itsy Bitsy Spider”). We can generally still distract her from things we don’t want her to do or from whatever is making her unhappy, but it is getting harder. She can be very focused at times!

Activity: Some of her favorite things to do are playing play doh, taking care of her “babies” (including all Bla Blas, bears, and dolls), and taking care of her boys (she is quite pleased that all her boys moved up to the next class with her). She also loves to listen to all kinds of music - it truly varies from day to day. In fact, for about 2 months we had to sing pretty much everything to her to the tune of “Goodnight Ladies” - it was adorable, but I am a little glad she has forgotten about that for a bit! And, as with most two year olds, she rarely walks anywhere - she gets from point A to point B by running and jumping!

Attention Span: She is very good at playing by herself for a 10-15 minutes (sometimes longer) and she can sit very still when something has her attention (Cars, some books, etc.). Just yesterday we went to watch an open rehearsal for the Brussels Chamber Orchestra. She sat perfectly still for the first 30 minutes, and only wiggled around a little for the next 30 minutes, until she declared “I ready to go”!

Food: This girl can EAT! While her favorites change from day to day, she will eat most things except lima beans, asparagus, and avocado. She recently has started refusing yellow squash, which was one of her previous favorites. Smoothies, particularly mango smoothies, are still her favorite.

Size: She is roughly 28 lbs. and as you may be able to see from the pictures above, she is roughly 34″ tall. Since she was 34″ at her two-year checkup, I suspect she is a taller than this, but it is difficult to get her to stand still by the giraffe (she thinks it is all a game!), much less do so with her feet together against the wall while standing up straight.

I am sure there is more, but I am drawing a blank right now.

To celebrate the 4th of July, Tatie Kat (my Aunt Kathy) came to visit. It was a beautiful weekend that really did not get hot until Monday. We mostly hung out around the house an played (painting anyone?). Sunday after Brianna’s nap, however, we decked her out in her patriotic finery and headed out to listen to the local bands and have a picnic to celebrate the 4th. Brianna had a GREAT time eating chicken and watermelon, listening to the music (local band and state symphony), and watching the geese.

Mmmmmmmmm…chicken

Watermelon!

and more watermelon…

and more…

Waiting for more music.

Went down to the lake to check out the geese.

We did not stay for the fireworks (too late, too loud, etc.), but I am sure we will some day in the not too distant future.

We closed out the weekend by repotting all our plants to give them more room to grow (with some luck, we may even get to find out what veggies we planted!), and watching School House Rock! with Brianna for the first time. As an added bonus, Tatie Kat made some more macaroni & cheese for me - individual servings I can store in the freezer. Yay!