Brooke at 3

I can't believe Brooke is already 3! I still vividly remember her being born and us bringing her home from the hospital. *Tear... It seems like that was yesterday! I love that to sooth herself she sometimes hums the Brahms lullaby and that is what I hummed to her as an infant every night as I rocked her to sleep. It brings back soft warm memories every time I hear her do that.


The 2's were all about being miss independent! I feel confident in saying that she is fully potty trained and has had only a few accidents in the last month one of which was more an adult fault than hers. She is doing great telling me when she has to go and most of the time wants to do it all herself, although I still help in the wiping department. She knows how to dress and undress herself (but actually doing it depends on her mood). She loves to take off her socks and shoes in the car. She loves to brush her own teeth, but I still go over them just to make sure we aren't missing any teeth. She loves to brush her own hair. She loves to help mommy make breakfast in the mornings. She can drink out of a cup without a lid. She can unlock and open every door in our house (except the front because it weighs so much). She can climb in and out of her own car seat, but I have to buckle/unbuckle (or as Brooke puts it "buckle me out").

She has entered the phase where she thinks it is funny to be defiant. We are trying to work on other peoples feelings and being respectful. Saying please and thank you, and Yes sir/mam and No sir/mam. Saying your sorry when you have done something mean or bad. Most of the time she does well sharing with Heather. Sometimes when Heather has something she really wants, I'll see her pick out a different toy to give Heather so she can have what Heather has right now. Luckily, Heather barely notices most of the time.

She knows her whole alphabet and can recognize all the letters. She can spell her own first name. She knows her entire (first, middle, last) name. She knows we live in Longview, TX and she was born in Dallas (but now she thinks anything far away is in Dallas). Her concept of distance and time is still way off, but it is cute to here her say something she did months ago was last week according to her. She knows mommy, daddy, Big Mama, G-dad, Nana, and Poppy have real names and most of the time she can get them right. She can count to 13, but we are working on counting to 20. She knows all her colors and shapes. She can jump with both feet and balance on one leg. She almost has peddling a tricycle mastered.

She loves to play chase and hide 'n go seek. She likes to blow bubbles, swing, slide, dig in the dirt, swim, ride toys outside, play basketball. Anything outside multiplies the coolness factor by 10 in her book. She loves to sing and dance. Every night she asks daddy to play music so she can dance.

She is starting to recognize structures around town while we are driving. She reminds me I need to use two hands while driving. She usually points out whether we have a red or green light.

She is a very enthusiastic learner and is happily expressive about it. Her teachers tell me frequently how excited she gets when they learn about new letters.

Her favorite foods are chicken from Chick fil a, hummus, pizza, hot dogs, smoothies, and of course candy.

Brooke weighs 27.8 lbs (20%) and is 37" tall (49%). I am happy her weight percentile has gone up. I would have never thought by the amount of food she eats, but I guess something is sticking to those bones. She wears 3T clothes and a size 7/8 shoe depending on the brand. Most of the time she will wear a barrette in her hair, but it doesn't usually last long. She is not a fan of hair accessories.