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Entries in Brooke (4)

Friday
Mar192010

Two years already, and still wonderful

If there's one person my son will have to thank for the possibility of his existence (well, other than his father and I), it's my nephew TJ, who turns two years old today.

I always said I would be fine not ever having kids.  I would make do if I did have kids, but I never thought I'd feel like I missed out on something if I didn't.  But TJ changed all that for me.

In TJ's birthday post last year, I wrote that the hubby and I planned to try for kids in "a couple of years."  So much for that plan!  That was already a huge step for me.  The amount to which TJ has made me comfortable with babies, and now toddlers, is immeasurable.

A lot more has changed in the past year.  If I remember correctly, TJ knew around 40-50 words on his first birthday and was speaking in two word sentences.  "TJ eat."  Now he speaks in long sentences, makes requests, and understands reasoning.  A year ago, he was a fairly steady walker.  Now he runs and jumps, goes up and down the stairs with no assistance, and will be starting out on a tricycle this spring.  They skipped him a "grade" at daycare because he already knows everything the group he was in was working on.  If you ask him who's having a baby: "Aunt Candy."  "What's she having?" "A baby boy."

sauce face and olive fingers, mmmm

This morning my sister asked him what he wanted for breakfast and he said, "M&Ms! But only for my birthday!"  He told the lady at Dunkin Donuts it was his birthday.  He waved at a NJ Transit bus and said, "Biiiig bus!  My birthday today!"

And, of course, four months ago he became a big brother.

It wasn't easy initially.  When my sister would pick up Brooke, TJ would run to the other room, fling himself on the floor and yell, "MY MOMMY!"  But after a few weeks, that changed.  When my sister took Brooke with them to daycare, if another kid went near Brooke, TJ would walk over and say, "Not your sister, MY sister."  If that kid didn't get the hint and touched Brooke, TJ would step between them and say, "MY SISTER!"

So, yes, Brooke will not be dating until she's 30 if TJ has anything to say about it.  We'll work on that.

Mr. Wonderful, it's been a wonderful, amazing year watching you continue to grow up.  I can't wait to see what the next year brings and I can't wait to introduce you to your new little cousin and watch you all grow up together.

Last year: March 19th, a year

Monday
Jan252010

I feel fiiiiiiiiine! (x 40)

Yesterday was my niece Brooke's baptism and, appropriately enough, I think she looked like an angel:

Could she be any more precious??

And, to boot, she behaves like an angel.  She did not make a peep the whole day.  My sister said she sometimes scrunches her face up like she's going to cry and then she rethinks it and is fine (I saw her do this once yesterday at lunch, and that was it).  It's amazing what a contrast she is to TJ, who has never hesitated to let you know exactly how he's feeling every moment of the day.

Although, appearance-wise, I am continually struck by how much they look alike.  (Okay, okay, I know - they're siblings - but they just look SO much alike and genetics is utterly fascinating to me.)  This is TJ at his baptism a year and a half ago:

At the same age (both about 3 months in each photo), they look like twins to me. And, just for good measure, this is TJ now (well, yesterday) with my dad:

That picture makes me melt.  TJ loves his Pop-Pop, who loves him back even more.  We're having a bit of tough times in my family right now - nothing I can really ever write about here (which, for me, makes it even harder because this is where I come to process things a lot of the time) - but TJ is the constant shining light of joy in all of our lives.

Okay . . . *wipes tears* So anyway...

As I look at TJ and Brooke and they so clearly look like the other kids in our family, I can't help but wonder what our child will look like.

The hubby, me, and Brooke
(And, no, I don't know what that face is I'm making; I'm probably talking.  I'm always talking.)

Naturally, the talk of the day yesterday was babies.  Brooke wasn't the only baby in attendance and there were a lot of other kids around, mostly under the age of six.  This was also the first time I've seen a lot of family friends since I've been pregnant (I wasn't kidding when I said I didn't get to see friends that often) so there was a lot of "How are you feeling?"

A LOT of "How are you feeling?" Like, I think every single person in attendance asked me that.  Before I was pregnant, I don't think I realized that that's "the thing" to ask pregnant women, but I suppose it is.

So it was a lot of, "I feel great!  No, really, great!  Yeah, never any morning sickness.  No, not really many aches or pains.  Yeah, basically my nose is kind of stuffy - so, yeah, I feel great!" I kind of felt bad about it after a while, like people were looking for something worse.  Especially when they'd say, "Well, it is still early, you have a while to go" and I'd say, "Yeah, four months to go!"  And their face would blink a smidge and they'd say, "Four months?  Really?  Wow, that went fast!" and then, inevitably, they'd look down to my stomach.

Seriously?  I had to laugh about it and am even chuckling about it right now.  (Ah, yes, a good blog post brings both tears and laughter.)  And, I am happy to announce that I had my first "uninvited tummy touching" yesterday!  We showed up to church and my aunt promptly put her hand on my belly and asked - you guessed it - how I was feeling.  The funny thing is I didn't even realize it at the time and, in truth, it didn't bother me!  I always, always thought I'd be one of those, "Please do NOT touch me" pregnant women because I'm not a very touchy-feely person at all - but now that it happened, it didn't even faze me.  So, go figure, yet another prediction I had about my own pregnancy that ended up being completely and utterly wrong.  I clearly have no idea what I'm talking about.

One of R.E.M.'s most famous songs is, of course, "It's the End of the World as We Know It (and I feel fine)."  When they perform this in concert, Stipe really yells the "And I feel fine" part at the second and third choruses... so, of course, so do I (because, at R.E.M. concerts I sing along as if I think I'm auditioning for co-lead singer).  Once I yelled it so loudly and with such force that I almost passed out because I totally winded myself.  I think I actually expelled 97% of the air that was in my lungs.  But, after a few seconds - wait for it - I felt fine.  (Har, har.)

So when someone asks me how I feel, that's what I think of now.  I FEEL FIIIIIIIIIINE!  Let's hope it stays that way.

Note: all photos by my friend Kate, who is basically our official family photographer

Sunday
Nov012009

What a day

Yesterday was a day.  Up at 6:15am, presenting at 8am, at the airport at 10:30am for a 2:30pm flight that ended up not taking off until 5pm.  Parents picked me up and we went straight to the hospital, where I got to meet the entirely mesmerizing little Brooke.


photo courtesy of my friend Kate

She is utterly amazing.  She's so good, so peaceful, so adorable.  She kept putting her hands over her eyes and ears like, "Seriously - I did not ask for this noisy family!"  So far she only cries when she's hungry.  TJ, while still the most amazing child in the world, cried all the time due to his colic/acid reflux, so this is a huge change for my sister and one we're all really hoping stays as it is.  TJ is still super active so having a second child that is mellow and relaxed would be a wonderful balance.

I mean, she squeaks.  How cute is that?  No big noise, just squeaks.  I'm tearing up just thinking about how precious she is.

Shhh...

This picture melts my heart:

Big Brother TJ and Little Sister Brooke

I'm just an auntie puddle after that one. Going back to the hospital today so the hubby can meet Brooke (and, well, so I can see her again).

 

Happy NaBloPoMo! (1 down, 29 to go!)

Friday
Oct302009

It's a girl!

Welcome to Brooke Lynn!  8lbs 9oz, 20.5 inches - and totally gorgeous.

 

My first niece!  I can't wait to meet her!! I am going to be the antsiest person on the plane tomorrow.

My dad took other pictures today, including some with (now) big brother TJ! *sniffle*  She looks just like he did when he was born:

Right??  Just like TJ, but somehow kind of girly. It's uncanny.  Genetics is amazing.

I can't wait to see them together.  TJ is already a pro at saying "Brooke" and seems to be very excited.

Time for me to try and relax and get some zzzz's.  Gotta present at 8am tomorrow and then catch the flight home.  It'll be a long but amazingly wonderful day.