teaching her about sports

Now that the Olympics are over, this week was full of athletic firsts for Brenna.

The doctor said she is 32.5 inches and 23 lbs. 13 oz., and she recently began wearing a size six shoe (which you can find in the children's section rather than the baby section at Target). So, we decided Brenna's big enough to start teaching her more about sports.

Yes, she already loves to dance, but she's not exactly full of grace. And, she loves to do somersaults, but considering she will probably be taller than the average gymnast when she's in fourth grade, we are focusing her attention elsewhere.

On the 24th, we went to Jamie's cousin Kayla's soccer game. Kayla and her family are from Long Island, but they traveled all the way to a field near us to play in a tournament. Maura came with us (she was so excited), and the girls had a ball watching the big girls play.

Ryan and Courtney were there, too!

Go, Kayla, go!

There were horses right next to Kayla's field.



After the game we all went to Red Robin before Mike and Kayla headed back to New York. Maura didn't say anything while we were there, but she couldn't stop talking about it when we left. Her first soccer game and her first trip to a Red Robin (that's where they took Mady on Jon and Kate Plus 8)! She gripped her Red Robin balloon all the way home. What a day.

On Thursday, Po decided to take us to see the Phillies Triple A team play a double header while Gram watched Bobby. The girls had a blast there, too. It might not have been the real Phillies, but it was Brenna's first real baseball game.

We broke her size 18-24 month jeans for the first time for the occassion. I thought she'd never be this big!




Hey, Aunt Kelly, we have Ian with us!

Brenna's favorite part of the game was the giant piggy bank. She'd run over to it the second we put her down - over and over and over again - she never tired of it.

If her first soccer and baseball game weren't enough, yesterday we took her to her first Fantasy Football draft party :).

Happy Labor Day weekend!

15-months-old

Brenna was 15-months-old on Saturday. She goes for her check-up tomorrow.

At 15 months, Brenna can run well. She can now come down the stairs on her backside (with us spotting her), and if we hold her hand, she can walk down the stairs holding onto the railing.

She loves to say, "No," to questions that she used to only have "Yeses" for. She talks non-stop, but most of it is gibberish, and we pretend she speaks Chinese. Her favorite words (in my opinion anyway) are, "Quack, quack = Qua, Qua", "Right back = Raa Bah!", "Hi = Haaaa!" and, "That = Dat." She says other words, especially the ones in the "b series" (bat, ball, bye, etc.), but these are used all the time.

She likes to bring us her diapers and throw them out, but she still hates to be changed. It sometimes requires a full pin down by two of us to get the job done.

She's obsessed with planes in the sky, and she loves to watch one episode of Jay, Jay the Jet Plane before bed each night.

We love when she gives us hugs and kisses without even asking for them, it shows how sweet she is! Sometimes she'll run back and forth between me and Jamie, hugging us and "mwah'ing" our legs.

She can point out her belly, hair, eyes, nose, ears, tongue, teeth and toes. She can pick out her dolls and stuffed animals by the names we have given them, and she loves to feed them, rock them and dance with them. She's so caring with them (they get tons of hugs and kisses); it's adorable.

She thinks brushing her teeth is awesome, and she prefers to do it in the tub. She also loves to splash and "swim" in the tub, and she uses her rinse cup to practice drinking out of a big girl cup with bath water.

She is starting to follow directions. She sits down when I tell her to (just like a dog), and she reaches up for me if I say, "Brenna, you have to hold my hand!" She can also help us pack the diaper bag before leaving the house. We send her to retrieve items she knows, like her shoes.

Her most favorite activity, besides going to the playground, is hiding from Daddy when he gets home from work. Every day we hide under a blanket and wait for Jamie. He pretends he can't find us, and every day she laughs and wiggles like she might explode while he searches for her.

That's just a little bit of who 15-months Brenna is. She's definitely becoming a little girl.

We took these after Andrew B's christening party last week.












(a plane was in the sky above her)

Brenna's first week of school (daycare)!

Tomorrow completes Brenna's first full week of school.

The children have to be 18 months to go to her daycare because it's meant to be a preschool. Even though Brenna will be only 15 months on Saturday, they let it slide because the owner is a friend of a friend. So, the next youngest kid in Brenna's room will turn two in a month (and I've never actually seen her, so I'm not sure she exists), and her classroom is really a small group (4) of two-year-olds. The majority of the kids at the school are three to five.

It's going pretty well so far. The little girls there got excited when she returned on her second day! They act like she's their baby and they give her hugs and say things like, "I love your shirt, Brenna," when she arrives. And, thanks to her cousin Maura, Brenna thinks she is one of them, so I think it will be good!

Of course I had to do pictures before leaving for the first day. I hope that she didn't notice the other kids weren't wearing one-piece bubble outfits or she was the only one that had a pack of Size 4 Cruisers for her cubby (rather than Pull-Ups or nothing at all). But, she did have on her new big girl sneakers, at least!

And she took a big kid Lunchables!



And snacks to share with her new friends.

I have since bought her a Disney Princesses lunch bag so she is not the lamest kid at school with her brown paper bag.

Honestly, it was hard in the mornings at the beginning of the week. The first day we both dropped her off and she cried when we were leaving, and reached out for us in desperation. It was heartbreaking. But, we listened and she stopped crying shortly after to play. Since then, it's been getting a little better, and Jamie's doing the drop-offs now (thank God, I did all of it myself last year). He said that today she kicked her feet in excitement when she got there and ran and gave her teacher, Miss L., a hug. I was so happy to hear that!

I spoke with the owner, Miss H., yesterday, as we were leaving for the day (I get to do the pick-ups, yay!). She said that the parents that come to pick up their kids say that Brenna is so cute and one mom thought she looks like a Baby Gap model. I'm sure she was just trying to lay it on thick, but I am a sucker for compliments! Miss H. said Brenna loves being outdoors and is very physical on the playground, almost more so than the older kids, and she really stands up for herself. She insists on sliding on the big slide, and if she falls at the bottom, she just brushes herself off and runs back to the ladder. She's eating really well. Napping will be an adjustment (they are supposed to nap on a mat for two hours, and Brenna finally stayed asleep for the first time today), but she's doing just fine. She said that Brenna cries when Miss L., her teacher, leaves the room, and while that might be sad/a sign of clingy-ness, I also think that is a good sign that she feel close to someone there that is not a relative.

It's not that long of a day. Jamie drops her off at 8, and she plays from 8-noon, eats lunch, takes her nap, and I'm there to get her from her nap. These days, we're home before 3:00.

The only main problem we have right now is Brenna's biting, which she began today by forcefully biting 3 kids in her room, and a 5-year-old across the hallway. I would have never known about the 5-year-old if she hadn't told me herself as we were leaving. "Bye, Brenna! Um, Brenna's Mom? Brenna bit me today."

And, considering Brenna thinks getting yelled at, and being told NO are hysterical, this will be an adventure. Her teacher said she does not respond to getting yelled at. I know...

But, overall, she's doing great, she seems happy (and exhausted) and we are really relaxed and comfortable with our new situation. We do miss you, though, Aunt Kelly! Brenna misses her dance parties.

Tomorrow is the 1st day of school

Brenna starts at a new daycare/school tomorrow.

Because it is now the unofficial end of our summer, I am posting pictures of Brenna as a complete nature girl enjoying her last days of her 1-year-old summer. Yes, Brenna is a country girl at heart, I think.

My parents and Jamie's parents moved us out of Philly and NY (respectively) and made us suburban kids/teenagers/adults, and now their grandchild is showing she is taking it a step further.

As if complete love of all Carrie Underwood songs didn't already do it, Brenna's recent blackberry picking with Maura and Bobby proved her country-girl status. She was right at home on the farm.















Okay, so she won't ever be a complete country girl (Harvard, where she'll spend her early adulthood, isn't in the sticks, afterall), but she'll have an appreciation for nature at the very least.