Growing Up

I remember my first blog post. Brooklyn was two days shy of turning 5 months old. I reminisced and was in awe over how she was growing up and changing so fast and right before my eyes. It's always something that veteran parents warn you about, but it's not until you actually become a parent that you understand the full meaning of what they are saying. You really, really have to be careful not to take for granted your children growing up, because it happens so fast and in my case, without my even realizing it at times.

At the beginning of June, we started something new, but something that we wanted to tackle before the baby is born. Kevin and I had talked in great length about it and when the right time was to start, and we figured it would take a good amount of time to be set in place. It's okay to admit we were wrong. After only 10 days, Brooklyn was officially potty trained, and wearing her Little Mermaid panties. Of course, we're still in the process of doing a complete and total potty training, because she is still wearing, but not wetting a diaper during her nap, and then again overnight. We are charting her process through her Potty Chart which was an idea that we stole from my parents as the chart idea was something they did to encourage me to do chores when I was growing up. At the end of the week, she gets a special surprise to reward her for being a big girl! She's very aware of when she feels the need to go and will tell us whether we are home or in public. It's wonderful. And, it does give Mommy and Daddy a nice break of changing diapers before the baby is born. We couldn't be more proud of her.

Brooklyn has always been interested in music, from a very young age. She has staked her claim of favorite songs and bands over her two and a half years, and most recently her favorite is Maroon 5's Makes Me Wonder. Kevin and I have become a bit tired of the song as she requests we play it over and over again on the iPod. She loves to jump and dance to the music and tries out all kinds of new moves. She is quite the dancer. So, I guess this next part comes because she enjoys music so much, but she has really, really taken to singing. She sings songs all the time. They are not necessarily ones that we taught her, as she has really taken to making up her own songs, but whatever the lyrics, she's always singing or humming. She sometimes sings herself to sleep at night. She sings while we are driving in the car, usually along with the radio. She sings while she is showering or getting a bath. She really sings a lot. It's very sweet, and she has such a sweet singing voice, something she obviously didn't inherit from her parents.

On Tuesday, her and I went on a date to a late breakfast, shopping and a movie. It's amazing how she can carry and lead a conversation the whole time. While we were eating breakfast, I just looked at her and realized, holy cow, I really don't have a baby anymore, just look at her! She's just so much fun to be around and it's incredible to think that she's my little girl, my precious daughter. And, to watch her grow up is something both Kevin and I delight in. We loved holding her on our chests as a baby, but every milestone or new thing she learns, we're right there with her celebrating and encouraging it. We so blessed to be her parents and start every day with her, trying to capture every moment, because she really is growing up so fast!