Brea Jean ~ 19 Months!

Another month down and we are now at the back half of the year.  Brea is now officially closer to being two than being one...this is always a bittersweet time for me because the all of the kids' birthdays are approaching. Our days are numbered having a 7 year old, 4 year old, and a one year old. I am excited for what is to come but a little bit sad because I have really enjoyed these ages. So this is what Brea has been up to:

Nickname(s): Goo-me, Goo-mers, Sassy, Sissy

Likes: being in charge, doing things by herself, pretend play

Dislikes: being told no, going down for bed at night, the hours between 4:30 - 6:30 (needy and whiny)

Eating: Brea is hurt or miss when it comes to eating. She usually eats a good breakfast and a decent dinner and she can go an entire lunch without eating anything :). Which means she is more than ready for a snack when she gets up for her nap. She likes carbs, fruit, and meat but very rarely eats vegetables. We keep offering and letting her decide what to eat. No stressing about what she is/isn't eating because I know this is a stage and girlfriend won't starve :).

We are still nursing before bed and when Brea 'requests' it (via pulling at my shirt). I have been noticing that she is asking to nurse more when she is crabby/tired. I know I should probably start weaning her off but neither of us are in a huge rush...she is my last baby after all :).

Sleeping:  Brea's sleep has been pretty consistent over the past several months. She usually goes down for bed between 7:30 - 8:00 and wakes up between 7:00 - 7:30. She has also gifted us some 8:00 mornings on Saturdays!! She still cries almost every night when I put her down for bed. Even worse, now she cries out for me (mommy, mommy) and saying up! because she wants me to pick her up. It is much harder to walk out of the room when this happens. Luckily, the tears/cries are done by the time I am downstairs after saying goodnight to Carter and Isla.

Naps are about the same. She is almost always the 'loser' at my mom's house when it comes to naps. Nora and Jake are stellar nappers and can nap 2-3 hours. Brea is stuck at an hour and a half. The good news is that, most of the time, she wakes up a happy girl and can play independently.

The Superficial: Brea is a cutie patootie. She is rocking the baby mullet something fierce. Her hair refuses to grow on the sides and top but is getting quite long in the back. This makes it hard to do anything regarding a 'style' for her. I don't mind her lack of hair because it means that she keeps her baby face a bit longer. Her hair is still light and her eyes are blue. She is growing out of some her 18 month clothes, which I am sort of in denial about. She is wearing a size 3 diaper and size 5/6 shoe. She still has chubby cheeks, tummy, and thighs, which I love.


Personality: Stinker! This girl cracks me up on a daily basis. She is very expressive with her opinions so it is very easy to see what she is thinking or how she is feeling. She likes to get her way and isn't afraid to go after it. She is known from stealing things from both Nora and Jake. Nora gives things up pretty easily while Brea and Jake are known to duke it out. Girlfriend is also very stubborn and has quite the temper. She has been known to throw herself down in a temper tantrum on occasion. :)

Didn't want to get in the van in the morning...found her like this when I called for her

Went upstairs to grab clothes for Isla...

Such a Brea face!

Wanted to put her coat on by herself!

Language: Brea's language is growing by the day and I love hearing her little voice. She tries to repeat almost everything we say. She answers 'yeah' or 'no' appropriately to questions. Moving on from answering everything as 'no'...she finally figured out she wouldn't get something she wanted by answering no :). Her new thing is saying 'I don't know' with her hands out in front of her. So adorable! That is her answer any time you ask her where something is.

Other Notables: 
Brea had a great Christmas and eventually learned to tear open her presents. Her favorite toys were a cell phone, baby dolls, and a Little People camper. She really enjoyed having Aunt Lisa and Uncle Jim visit...was a little shy around them at first but warmed right up!! She loved having them her doting on her :)

Brea loves pretend play. Her favorite things to do are play with dolls, talk on her cell phone, and play in the kitchen down in the basement. She is much more 'into' baby dolls than Isla was at this age as she is just starting to get into it now.

She still has her loveys Ducky and Red Panda. She has added Og the frog that she got when we visited the Mississippi River Museum. She no longer wants to take these out of her crib with her so I thought maybe she was over them but I see her cuddled up with them each morning.

Brea is at the fun stage where she thinks that helping is fun so she is more than happy to throw things away for me or grab a diaper. But she is still young enough that she sometimes gets distracted so I always have to double check that things end up in the garbage :).