Brailey @ 18 months old

As of July 24th it has been wonderful to know I have a 1 and 1/2 year old, and definitely hard for me to believe at times. Of course others always tell me, "just wait 'til you have a 5 year old or a 16 year old..." etc, etc. At this point in my life I can only IMAGINE having a 5 year old... my brain won't even go as far as 8 years old with her.

My little 4th of July Cutie

As I have mentioned on facebook she has changed quite a bit in the last 3-6 months.... I am continually amazed at how fast of a learner she is. She is definitely a spirited little toddler. As much as I can point out the best in her I also know the worst in her... I am not going to pretend that I have the most perfect daughter in the entire world nor do I expect you to believe that she is perfect. Before you start thinking I am a terrible mom for having said this or thinking other mean thoughts read this post ALL the way through.

Sometimes I think she hit her terrible two's early because she sure knows how to throw a tantrum. I mean a screaming bloody murder, banging her head on the floor or wall, swinging her arms at whatever she can hit kind of tantrum. Usually it is because I won't give her something that she wants but isn't allowed to have and honestly she acts as if I spoil her and give her whatever she wants just by crying. I admit, I will sometimes give her just about whatever she wants in the grocery store because I hate feeling like the mom that has every person staring her down for a screaming toddler that is grabbing everything possible off the shelves. I think the screaming is the worst part because it is ear splitting loud. Hardest part is trying to keep her happy and quiet during sacrament meeting. If she is happy and screaming it isn't as bad, but mad or sad and screaming is insane.

Look at her sad little face. This is only the beginning!

She also gets into EVERYTHING. I know most toddlers do, but she will grab and run with anything she can get her little hands on. She loves dog food and I have NO idea why. I can't imagine that it tastes good and I feed Brailey plenty of food so I don't know what intrigues her to continue eating it. She also loves to play in the dogs water... splashing in it, dumping it everywhere, oh and lest I forget, licking it off of her fingers. If there is anything on the tables, shelves, desk then she will grab it off... papers, plates, spoons, tools, trashcans, keypad and mouse, diaper bag, purses, wallets, movies, books, ANYTHING! If it were my house things would be a bit more toddler proof and there wouldn't be much for her to grab at, but since we are currently living with my in-laws (always grateful to them), there is only so much I am able to do. 

Grabbed the remote and my cheese nips. ha ha.

She also loves to climb or stand on anything which makes it really difficult because even though she has fallen multiple times she can't seem to figure out that it is the cause of her little bumps and bruises. She loves standing on top of things... movies, books, boxes, ottomans, our laptop. May our laptop rest in peace, Brailey cracked our screen on our laptop by standing on it so we had to go buy a new one (which is why it has taken me a while to get this post finished).   

BUT besides her being a little "spit-fire" at times she can be the funniest, sweetest, and smartest little girl. I absolutely adore her. I am a very huggy-kissy person. I love giving hugs and receiving them and I believe I am passing that onto Brailey. She gives hugs and kisses all the time and I never get sick of them. They brighten up my day no matter how gloomy the day was to begin with. All I have to do is ask her for a kiss and she is very willing to give them as long as she is paying attention to me. lol.

• She is so ticklish and she pretty much begs to be tickled or chased. It's a game for her and it is one of my favorites because I love to hear her laugh and I know she loves laughing.
• She jabbers all the time and has learned multiple words, even if she can't pronounce all the them perfectly, of which are: Dada, Mama, Papa, No, Bye-Bye, Ow/Owie, Me, Arm (awm), Ball (baw), Doggy (docky), Kisses (sisses), Down (dow), Soft (sof), Please (Pwee), Good Girl (Goo Ger), Love (Lalala) and she can count, One Two Three (wan, two, fwee). She also said her first sentence. Jordan was heading out the door and she said "Bye, Daddy." I am SO proud of her and I just can't believe it. I know it's short, but it was beautiful.

Riding the Alpine slides at Park City with Daddy and George (her Giraffe)

• She gives high fives and "knuckles" thanks to her daddy. 
• Every morning when she wakes up I let her open up her closet and pick out the shirt or outfit she wants to wear for the day. She LOVES it. 
• She copies a lot of what Jordan and I do. One thing she learned was dabbing her face off with a napkin. One of the cutest things I have watched her do. :) Other things she has copied us doing is typing on the keyboard and blowing our noses both of which she does all the time.

Like Father, Like Daughter. Love them both.

• She loves swings... it is hard to get her off of one because she usually starts to cry.
• She loves being around other kids and is just fascinated by them especially her cousins. She always tries to play with the bigger kids.
• She loves swimming now, which is a huge surprise for us because the most she would do is tolerate it and occasionally splash play in it. The last time we took her to the aquatic center she couldn't get enough of it and was mad that we had to take her OUT of the pool. 

She loves her swim ducky friend. 

• She is very much attached to sucking her thumb when she goes to sleep and she has to be holding the yarn from her blanket while she does it. By this I mean HAS to. She has woken up screaming because she can't find a piece of yarn to hold. I think this will be the hardest habit to break for me because you can't just take a thumb away it's pretty much attached to the rest of her.

Her blanket with the yarn on it and of course George. :)

• She loves playing Peek-a-Boo... except we call it "Where's the Baby?" She uses her hands to completely cover her eyes and when I ask "Where's the Baby?" she opens her hands out real wide and I say "There she is!"  This is very similar to the movie Ice Age. If you haven't seen the movie yet you really need to. It is hilarious. When Diego (the saber tooth tiger) is trying to make the human baby stop crying he plays this exact game with him except his version is a lot more scary to the baby. ha ha. 
• She loves dancing to any music, singing when I sing, tumbling (when I flip her over she wants to keep going), and throwing any ball she can find. She is gonna have many things she can be good at in life as long as she wants to pursue them. And I have NO doubts that she will pursue whatever she wants because she is a very determined little girl. 

Riding daddy's longboard. Oh yeah!

• As I have said before she has a big heart and is very lovey dovey. She isn't afraid of strangers which is both good and bad. She will open her arms to anyone and go give them a hug... there are only a couple people that I have seen her be wary of. The down side to her friendliness is that she isn't aware of the danger of some of the people in this world. I am going to have to keep a close eye on her. She gives kisses and hugs all the time to us and other family members and even loves to cuddle, especially before bedtime. I always sing her two songs before bed and one of them is and always will be "You are my Sunshine." At that song she will lay her head on my shoulder and quietly sing along. 
• She is finicky with her food. One day she likes it another she won't. So far she mostly likes chicken nuggets, mac n cheese, olives, any fruit, peanut butter and jam/honey, yogurt, cheese, and spaghetti.

Bed head. :) She needs a haircut, but I want her hair to grow out. 

• She likes watching airplanes go by and points at them or at the ceiling whenever she hears one go by. 
• I can't tell you how many times this girl falls down in a day. She tries to run wherever she goes and can't quite pick up her feet all the way, therefore she trips over herself and falls down. 

There is probably lots more that I could tell you about her (not that all of you care about every detail of her life) but I think I will just end with how much she means to me. 

Being a mother is the greatest blessing I could have received in my life next to being a wife to a wonderful man. No matter how much Brailey annoys me at times and gets into trouble I love every bit of her. One of her smiles is all it takes to brighten my day. She really is my Sunshine and she is beautiful in every way. And while she is not the perfect child, she is perfectly imperfect in my eyes.