Can I Pet the Cricket, Mommy?

Brea,

First of all, you crack me up! Tonight was so special to me! I missed you while you were at school, then you came home and took a nap. When you woke up we went to get some food and had a picnic in our front yard. It was cute. At one point you said, "Hold this, Mommy. I have to shoo the fly." And you walked across the blanket, and put your hand down to the grass and said, "Shoo fly! Don't bother me!" Well, it was then that I realized it wasn't a fly, it was a cricket. And you shooed him closer to me. I yelped and said "no no no! It's a cricket!" You looked at me, tilted your head and said, "Can I pet it?" I didn't want to squash your curiosity, but I didn't want a cricket in my lap… Dilemma! I let you go to pet it, but as you got closer my fear took over and I yelped again. I scared you and you jumped toward my lap, which scared me and I yelped again. Man it's hard to be tough when you're terrified of crickets! Anyway, then we were both worried that crickets were going to jump on us, especially as it was getting darker. I'll try harder next time to be "cool." Then we came inside and hung out some more. You wanted to help feed Bryn her bottle, and did. You were letting her touch you and giggling, saying, "I love you Bryn. I love you so much!" It's fun when you are patient with her and understand that she is curious. Then you help her learn and you teach her how to do things, and you two laugh together. She looks at you and just gets so excited to see you when you've been gone all day. She watches you with such adoration. It's sweet. And you are very much attached to her too. Yesterday Mrs. Suzanne watched her and as you and I were walking out the door, you stopped and said, "Mommy!! We forgot Bryn!!" I love that you are aware of her and are protective of her.

At school you're getting great reports, mostly that you're helpful, curious, and happy. You've gotten better at staying on your nap mat too. Mrs. Theresa let you play with a toy today quietly, and that seemed to work better. She didn't say anything about your feet being on the wall either… YAY!

This week you had yet another urinary tract infection. This is your third one, and so they want to do some tests on you to make sure it's nothing really serious. They're going to do a renal sonogram and a VCUG. I have felt awful for you, because I know how bad your infections hurt. You were doing so great going pee-pee in the potty, and all the sudden you wouldn't go. You'd scream and cry and hold it all day, 13 hours, because it hurt you to go. I let you wear diapers again just so it would make you feel a bit more comfortable if you had to go. I took you to two different doctors, because the first time they couldn't get the catheter in, but at the pediatrician's office they were able to. Poor thing, that is so traumatic! Anyway, we go next Tuesday to get the tests done, and I'm just praying that everything is normal. Today you went pee-pee in the potty at school and at home, with not too much complaining. So hopefully this will be over soon.

I just love you so much!

Mommy

Standing and Crawling

Little Bryn, you are so eager to move and get around the last couple days! You've been eating puffs, a cereal that dissolves in your mouth, and I have gradually tried some dried fruit, real cheerios, and goldfishes- all of which you love. I put them in a little food dish on your play table (without legs) the other day and you had fun trying to get them out and into your mouth. Yesterday I put the legs on your table, and you were trying so hard to pull yourself up to see if there was food on it. The table would fall on top of you, or your legs just wouldn't get you all the way up, but you were so determined. Finally, as you became more frustrated I helped you up, and you held on, played and ate all by yourself. You were so proud and happy! You have a bit of a giggle, more like a happy squeal and you bounce your legs when you get excited. You couldn't contain yourself! It was cute! And then, after daddy took some pictures of you, you sat down and CRAWLED to a toy you saw. I've been watching you pretty closely, and haven't figured out exactly how you've gotten from one place to another so quickly other than rolling over and wiggling. But yesterday you were pulling with your arms and pushing with your legs! It's not completely efficient yet, but you are much happier being that much more dependent. I need to figure out how to attach food to your body though, because it seems like you can't decide if you want toys or to sit by food and eat. Tough decisions… I'm hardly nursing you at all. Just a little a couple times a day, and it's sad for me. You get really excited when you see your bottle coming. That same bounce and squeal of glee. Cute!

I had a lot of fun with you today. We went on a walk, just the two of us, and got to play without any other distractions. Just me and you. It was really nice! Anyway, I'm proud of you. I love you, and I want you to stay like this for awhile. I need more time with you! You're growing so quickly…

Love ,

Mommy

Little Lion

Yes, you my little Bryn. You have this funny little roar that has gotten louder and stronger. I love it. You still squeak, but now your voice changes as you "talk" to me. You've been eating puffs for a couple weeks, those melt in your mouth cereal bits. You really like them, at least the ones you get in your mouth.

You've been playing with Brea's dollhouse, the one that makes noises and it holds your interest for a long time. You also like jumping in your jumper, and you just take off, spinning in circles and talking. It's pretty funny. I need to put a blanket underneath your toes though, because you got little carpet burns from jumping so much. I felt bad. Brea is playing a lot better with you, and she is teaching you how to clap. You look at her with wonder and have been reaching for her face to give her kisses. She thinks it funny to make you laugh, and she's the best one for the job! We have to work hard for your laughs, because most of the time your observant and thoughtful. You give out smiles all the time, but laughs are reserved for the good things. You've laughed hard at bouncing balls, Brea bumping your arm, Brea playing peek-a-boo, and sneezes. Of course there's more, but those times of laughing were hysterical and you didn't stop for a long time!

I can tell that you want to crawl more now. You've figured out other ways to get from area to area without crawling- rolling, twisting, then rolling some more can get you just about anywhere you need to be. I think you know that it's not very efficient, so you usually end up getting tired and frustrated. It'll come soon, my little lady!

I'm feeling a bit sad as I see you getting bigger and bigger. I just want to cherish every moment and snuggle with you while I get to. The other night you woke up in the middle of the night and I just held you, rocked you and loved you. You would lift your head and eyes to see my face, then snuggle in on my chest. I wasn't sure if you were hungry, teething, or just wanted me, but I soaked up that whole night. You love to just lay your head on my chest when you're tired. Only in those moments can you completely relax. Most of the day you wiggle about to look, search, and play with everything in sight.

Now that Brea goes to preschool, we get to play together, just you and me. It's nice. I'm gonna cherish it because I know how fast you'll grow up!

I love you little lion,

Mommy

 

Potty Dancing and Preschool

I am so proud of you!! You went pee-pee in the potty yesterday for the first time on your own! I had to wait for 9 ½ hours before you finally gave in and tinkled! I even kept you up from your nap because I didn't want you to wet your diaper. Man, you had so much water, juice, and milk I was getting worried! I think you were just a bit scared, but you knew what to do once you couldn't hold it anymore. We went to get ice cream at Marble Slab- you picked out strawberry with chocolate and colored sprinkles. Yum! And you've gone in the potty ever since!

Now it's Tuesday, Sep. 9, and you're doing great still. We have yet to poo-poo in the potty, but surely that'll come soon. Right now you're able to hold out until I put a diaper on you for naptime or bedtime. Oh well, I'll take what I can get for now!

You've also started Preschool at Cottonwood Creek Baptist Church last week! We met your teachers, Mrs. Jody and Mrs. Teresa, last Tuesday night, and you went to school on Wednesday. I dropped you off and you didn't even care that I was leaving!! But when I picked you up you saw me and ran to me, hugged me, then turned around to announce, "my mommy's here!!!" It was so cute! They said you did great, but that you didn't stay on your napmat… Bummer. Monday had the same report. But they did say that you were very friendly, agreeable and happy. You remembered your Bible verse, "God Made Me," and that was sweet too. Hopefully tomorrow you'll listen better to your teachers because we've talked a LOT about that napmat! I was worried about you going potty at school, but you just told them when you had to go and they took you. No big deal! I'm so excited! Had I known it was this easy to train you, maybe I would have done it earlier.