Milestones

It's bitter sweet, how kids grow up.

Here we are cheering them on every step of the way and then one day we look at them and discover how much they've grown up.

This week was a week of milestones for Brooke, in particular. . .

After MUCH anticipation and eager wiggling, she lost her first tooth!!

Luckily we got some great pictures because, much to her dismay, she somehow "misplaced" (aka Lost) her tooth before we could even

get it under her pillow for the tooth fairy.

The house has been scoured but, sadly, the tooth is nowhere to be found.

Brooke is convinced that the tooth fairy came and collected it,

since that is the only reasonable explanation, of course.

She didn't get to leave it under her pillow, so if we don't find it soon, we've decided that Brooke will leave a note and a picture under her pillow instead of her tooth, and hope for a prize. I'm sure she'll get something special. :-)

Her other milestones this week went hand in hand . . .

Anyone who knows Brooke well knows that she has been an avid thumb sucker all her young life. It made her a very happy, content baby and always a sweet quiet toddler. However, as she's gotten older, the addiction has gotten harder and harder for her to shake. ( and believe me, we've tried.)

Kindergarten came and went and she was still struggling with giving it up. I sucked my thumb until kindergarten, so I had hoped that she would stop after starting school, like my Mom says I did. But no. (although she never did it at school)

She really wanted to stop, but our attempts had been unsuccessful.

Well, about a month ago, at the beginning of summer, she began begging to get her ears pierced. After some thought and discussion, we decided that we would let her get her ears pierced if she was able to stop sucking her thumb. We helped her make up a cute little calendar and she began keeping track of the days that she went without sucking her thumb.

It was a real challenge for her and it took about a month, but she was bound and determined to do it this time and she has been very successful.

There have been a few slip ups here and there, but this whole week she hasn't even sucked it at night to go to sleep.

That is a HUGE accomplishment, and of course, needed to be rewarded.

So . . .

After much begging and pleading and then begging and pleading some more, I finally followed through with the promise of getting her ears pierced tonight.

She had plenty of support from special girlfriends who've been cheering her on and encouraging her to reach her goal.

There were some tears, a few more than I expected, actually, which broke my heart. She recovered quickly though and was

off to shopping, playing and dessert in no time.

So, it's official, she's a big girl.

My little Brookie is growing up.

No more sucking her thumb, got some birthstones in her ears and grown up teeth are making their way into her pretty little smile.

I sure do love that girl.

As much as I'll miss my "baby" girl, I am certainly enjoying my little girlfriend.

Party Shots

It's a little late, but here's a little sample of some chuck e cheese fun a few weeks ago. Despite her sickness before and after the party, Brooke seemed to have a great time!

Birthday date fun

We had an eventful weekend this past weekend! It was Brooke's much awaited birthday weekend. She was counting down the days, literally, on her own little calendar. She started it off with a bang by throwing up in the car on the way to her own birthday party. . . poor little princess. We were totally unprepared and she was a really good sport about it. We cleaned up and she went on to be fine through her party. She passed on having cake though . . . probably a good choice.
(I forgot my camera, so I don't have any pictures to share yet. My good friends bailed me out and took lots, but I still need to get them, then I'll share.)
Later that day, Brooke and I went on our Mommy daughter date and had fun despite her not feeling well. Brooke was pretty tired and had a tummy ache, but insisted that we go out anyway. She enjoyed her very first pedicure and picked matching polish for the two of us. (red for Valentines day, of course.) She looked so cute sitting in the salon chair! She sat up as far as she could on the seat, without falling off, and her feet barely reached the water, but she felt sooo big! It was fun to watch. Everyone there kept wishing her a happy birthday!

For dinner, Brooke had a special request. She really, really wanted curly mac-n-cheese from California Pizza Kitchen. So, we headed over to the mall for some CPK and shopping. By the time I got to the mall, my little birthday star was sound asleep. So, like a good mom, I woke her up and took her in anyway. I didn't want her to be disappointed that she missed her date! Turns out that it wasn't such a great choice. She sat on my lap during dinner, feeling rather sleepy. She chowed down on her mac-n-cheese though, and didn't even get a tummy ache until she was about 1/2 way through. By the time I took care of the check, she was ready to head for the bathroom, which we did. We picked up our stuff, went into the bathroom and I held her hair back while she emptied her dinner into the toilet, there at the restaurant. :-( She looked so little and pathetic, poor thing! But hey, better there than in the car again. She was a really good sport about again. She never cried or complained. She did, however, decide that she wasn't up for shopping. So, we ended our visit to the mall & she was asleep as soon as I started to drive again.

She and I already had plans to stay in a hotel together that night, so we went back there, I tucked her in and we spent some quality time together the next morning when she woke up. Although it was not ideal, all in all, it was a very memorable date. We had fun and enjoyed each other's company, in between trips to the bathroom. She was thrilled, and that's what matters most! If you ask her how it was, she'll say,"really great, except for the throwing up part."