Saturday, March 26, 2011
Brielle is Two!
We celebrated Brielle's second birthday this weekend. Her actual birth day is March 3rd, but my family graciously waited to celebrate until I could make it home for a weekend. Without really planning it, the birthday turned out to be a Disney princess party. Brielle's grandparents, dad, aunts, great-aunts and uncles and friends all spoiled her rotten and the house looked a bit like a Disney movie exploded. The party started off a little rocky with Bri throwing an epic "terrible two" tantrum. (I don't blame her: It's a lot of pressure to have all of the focus on you for a whole day!) After a while she settled down, cheered up and embraced her big day.
Brielle received so many gifts that we just let her open them over the course of the entire party. She has a big, loving family who can't get enough of her, and we spoiled her with gifts. It was fun to watch her open a gift, get excited and want to play with it right away, then tire of it and soon pick up another one to open. Despite the impression I gave, Bri did actually receive plenty of books and blocks and art supplies, so I guess the party wasn't all princess. (Thankfully, in my mind. Tomboy at heart right here. Admittedly, I did give her the blocks, books and most of the art supplies. My family joked a little about all the "educational"--AKA boring--gifts Auntie Leah gave to Brielle.) By far, Brielle's favorite gift was the Dora and Boots toy car she received from Auntie Meagan. Any time she opened a gift that she wasn't all that into, she'd head back over to the car to play with all of the bells and whistles or open the secret compartment where she stored her corn chips and munch away.
An aside, this girl loves Dora and Boots. I made what is decidedly an epic I'm-not-a-parent-and-had-no-idea-what-I-was-getting-myself-into mistake and bought a CD of "Dora the Explorer" to listen to while we commuted back and forth from Green Bay to Abrams. Once we listened to the album, not a single ride in the car passed without Bri asking for Dora as soon as I buckled her in the car seat. Sometimes she didn't believe that Dora was truly playing -- "No, Dora!" she would chide -- so I'd have to start the CD over so she could hear the intro and know it really was her friends singing through the speakers. I cursed myself after the third or fourth time the album played, after I could recite every damned 2-minute song ("We did it, we did it, we did it." "Where we gonna go? Grandma's house!" And so on. And so forth.). We listened to it about 20 times. Lesson learned.
Here are some photos of the big birthday celebration:
Arielle cake made by Grandma Connie.
Opening gifts. (Here's the Dora car!)
Playing with each of her new toys.
Brielle received so many gifts that we just let her open them over the course of the entire party. She has a big, loving family who can't get enough of her, and we spoiled her with gifts. It was fun to watch her open a gift, get excited and want to play with it right away, then tire of it and soon pick up another one to open. Despite the impression I gave, Bri did actually receive plenty of books and blocks and art supplies, so I guess the party wasn't all princess. (Thankfully, in my mind. Tomboy at heart right here. Admittedly, I did give her the blocks, books and most of the art supplies. My family joked a little about all the "educational"--AKA boring--gifts Auntie Leah gave to Brielle.) By far, Brielle's favorite gift was the Dora and Boots toy car she received from Auntie Meagan. Any time she opened a gift that she wasn't all that into, she'd head back over to the car to play with all of the bells and whistles or open the secret compartment where she stored her corn chips and munch away.
An aside, this girl loves Dora and Boots. I made what is decidedly an epic I'm-not-a-parent-and-had-no-idea-what-I-was-getting-myself-into mistake and bought a CD of "Dora the Explorer" to listen to while we commuted back and forth from Green Bay to Abrams. Once we listened to the album, not a single ride in the car passed without Bri asking for Dora as soon as I buckled her in the car seat. Sometimes she didn't believe that Dora was truly playing -- "No, Dora!" she would chide -- so I'd have to start the CD over so she could hear the intro and know it really was her friends singing through the speakers. I cursed myself after the third or fourth time the album played, after I could recite every damned 2-minute song ("We did it, we did it, we did it." "Where we gonna go? Grandma's house!" And so on. And so forth.). We listened to it about 20 times. Lesson learned.
Here are some photos of the big birthday celebration:
Arielle cake made by Grandma Connie.
Opening gifts. (Here's the Dora car!)
Playing with each of her new toys.
Happy Birthday, sweet girl!
Friday, March 25, 2011
Brielle: Books
Brielle loves her some books. Her favorite pick at Grandma Sheyla's house is "Nappy Hair." Can't help but chuckle at this.
She's Got Skills
My mom is a parent educator and part of her job includes testing children for age-appropriate skills. Grandma Sheyla was quite impressed with Brielle's ability to follow directions while drawing. In the video, Bri is saying "up, down, up, down, up, back, up, back," because before I starting recording Grandma asked her to make a mark "up and down" and then "back and forth." The skills are beyond the average two-year-old's abilities -- they are skills developed at age three. Yes, I am bragging. I'm a proud auntie.
Brielle: Running Around
Now I know this video doesn't seem like much of anything, but as a former collegiate runner, it makes my heart happy. Bri was watching a few kids at the Wildlife Sanctuary and said "The kids are running," and took off. Now, this is the third or fourth time in the few days I've been able to spend with her this year that she's jumped up and taken off running. Sometimes she'll even add a "Let's run!" I'm not surprised, she's got the love for running in her genes (what with both aunties running in college and beyond), though I am a still pretty pleased to see she enjoys it so much already -- and of her own accord!
Wildlife Sanctuary with Brielle
I took my niece, Brielle, to the Wildlife Sanctuary in Green Bay today. I was hoping to take her to the N.E.W. Zoo instead, but with napping and traveling there just wasn't time. It turned out to be just fine, we had piles of fun at the Sanctuary.
First we walked through the Nature Education Center where I pointed out a few stuffed geese that were hanging above us in a flight pattern. "Chickens!" Brielle proclaimed at the sight of them. I told her they were geese and we "honked" together like geese do. After the education center, we headed off in the direction of the Habi-Trek.
"How cool!" she said as we watched the bobcats stalk back and forth in front of the glass.
The animals were extremely active on this warm-ish late-winter day: We saw otters, bobcats, deer, fisher, coyotes, a wolf and, of course, the geese. Can't go to the Wildlife Sanctuary without running into one or one hundred geese!
Here are the "ducks taking a baf," as Brielle informed me.
She's fearless, this one. Bri walked right through the geese and I hustled behind her ready to grab her up if they didn't move out of the way for her. A few even took flight right in front of her leaving her laughing and turning to me with a look of elation. We walked across this bridge four or five times, geese scattering and reforming their gaggle and then scattering once again.
She sure liked crunching and kicking around on the melting ice and in the puddles, but here she ventured out into the deep snow and quickly decided she did not like the idea very much. So perhaps not fearless, but darn close!
It was a beautiful, clear day in Green Bay. What fun to take my little two-year-old niece out to explore the outdoors.
First we walked through the Nature Education Center where I pointed out a few stuffed geese that were hanging above us in a flight pattern. "Chickens!" Brielle proclaimed at the sight of them. I told her they were geese and we "honked" together like geese do. After the education center, we headed off in the direction of the Habi-Trek.
"How cool!" she said as we watched the bobcats stalk back and forth in front of the glass.
The animals were extremely active on this warm-ish late-winter day: We saw otters, bobcats, deer, fisher, coyotes, a wolf and, of course, the geese. Can't go to the Wildlife Sanctuary without running into one or one hundred geese!
Here are the "ducks taking a baf," as Brielle informed me.
She's fearless, this one. Bri walked right through the geese and I hustled behind her ready to grab her up if they didn't move out of the way for her. A few even took flight right in front of her leaving her laughing and turning to me with a look of elation. We walked across this bridge four or five times, geese scattering and reforming their gaggle and then scattering once again.
She sure liked crunching and kicking around on the melting ice and in the puddles, but here she ventured out into the deep snow and quickly decided she did not like the idea very much. So perhaps not fearless, but darn close!
It was a beautiful, clear day in Green Bay. What fun to take my little two-year-old niece out to explore the outdoors.
Lunch with Miss Brielle
(Sorry for the variation in light and texture, I used a couple of different settings on the camera as well as my phone for these photos. They're too cute, though, so really I'm not sorry. :)
Also...
"Cheeeeese!"
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