I Am Brooke

I think I need to take Brooke to the park tomorrow because she was climbing the walls today…literally.

Today Brooke and I attended a birthday party for Harry Potter at the Children’s Museum.  We both went in costume and had a great time.  Brooke was sorted into the Gryffindor House, made a potion, and got a magic wand.  There was a lot more to do, but she was getting tired and needed to get home for a nap.

Brooke took a trip to Pennsylvania to visit Mimi (Grandma) and Pop-pop on her summer vacation.  She was so excited to fly on an airplane again and visit Mimi and Pop-pop’s house.  Unfortunately, the junk food she ate on the airplane as well as the stress and exhaustion of a late flight and two hour delay took a toll on Brooke.  We got to Mimi and Pop-pop’s house around midnight and found that Brooke had thrown up all over herself and her new carseat.  She never even cried, complained, or told me what had happened in the backseat!

The next day was better, and we went to a teddy bear tea party.  The food was delightful, Brooke had a great time eating fun snacks, coloring pictures of teddy bears, making a necklace out of licorice and gummy lifesavers, making foam magnets, and showing her teddy to Winnie the Pooh.  Brooke chose a dress and shoes for her teddy to wear, and it won the best dressed teddy bear award.

One day we took a day trip to NJ so Brooke could visit her great-grandparents.  Brooke got lots of goodies from her them, including a box full of McDonald’s happy meal toys they had been collecting for a long time.  She was also happy to bring home a couple of matchbox cars that had been mine when I was a little girl.  On the way back to Mimi and Pop-pop’s house we stopped at the Delaware Water Gap and let Brooke walk on the Appalachian Trail.

Another day trip was to Bloomsburg’s Children’s museum.  They had a lot of fun exhibits, and Brooke liked that almost all of the stations included a craft or an opportunity to color a picture.

The most fun day trip was to Knoebel’s amusement park.  Brooke went on a bunch of rides, but her favorites were the choo choo train, the giant slide that she went down with Mommy, the Frog Hopper, and the merry-go-round.

Brooke also liked the simple things about being at Mimi and Pop-pop’s house for summer vacation.  She liked getting on the floor and crawling after the cats, cuddling in the recliner with Pop-pop to watch cartoons, swimming in the pool with Mimi, eating ice cream every night for dessert, watching the hummingbirds drink juice from the feeders, and taking nature walks.

The flight home was also delayed by over an hour, but luckily Brooke was occupied by a little 4 year-old boy sitting in front of her.  They befriended one another after Brooke heard him chanting “pat, pat, pat, pat” when the plane started to move.  Brooke repeated him to show she is also a fan of the Little Einsteins, and they talked back and forth through the crack in the seats until we finally got in the air to cruising altitude and Brooke could watch a movie on the laptop.  Soon we were home, and Brooke told Bella and Daddy how much she had missed them.  And then she asked when we were going back to see Mimi and Pop-pop.

Favorite Movie: Mulan and The Incredibles

Favorite Book: Pinkalicious

Favorite TV Show: Dora the Explorer

Favorite Toy: soccer balls

Favorite Food: Backyardigans fruit snacks and dinosaur egg oatmeal

Other cool things about me: I am learning my colors in Spanish.  I like to pretend I am a super hero (super fast, super strong, super smart).  I am excited about going on an airplane to visit Mimi and Papa and about starting school in the next few weeks.

So, you know how in a carseat a newborn’s neck falls forward into a postion that looks horribly uncomfortable?  Luke is gaining some better neck control, but his head still falls forward when he falls asleep in the car.  And now Brooke will look over at him and yell to him, “Sit up, Luke!”

Yesterday during lunch Brooke looked at me and said, “You’ve got a lot of food there, little guy.”