Brooklyn

Brooklyn on her 4th Birthday.   I love this picture.  Notice the missing tooth . . . after she put her teeth through her lip in March of 2012, they never were quite stable again.  In March of this year, Westin hit her in the mouth with a toy and the tooth was loose enough that it came out, so my sweet little girl is toothless for the next 3-4 years!!  Also, notice the mark next to her left eye, she hit it on the granite counter tops running through the kitchen on her birthday.  It turned into quite the shiner!!

Brooklyn, Brooklyn, Brooklyn . . . what can I say, she is still our spunky redhead through and through.  You know how people always say that stereotypes are born of truth, well Brooklyn is the epitome of the redhead stereotype.  Whenever people say, "Look at that red hair!"  (and I hear this often), I typically respond with, "And she has the personality to go with it!"  This is evidenced by her self-imposed nickname, "Brookie-the-kid."  No, this is not a joke.  For months, anytime someone asked her name, she would promptly reply, " I am Brookie-the-kid."  There was even a brief time when she insisted on being called this and would not answer to Brooklyn, Brookie or Brookie Bear, which had all previously been acceptable.  She has finally returned to responding to her actual name, but I think "Brookie-the-Kid" will always lurk under the surface.

Lounging on her birthday.  It's hard work turning 4!

Brooklyn is the splatter paint in our world of coloring in the lines.  In a house full of type A, OCD people, she is our breath of fresh air.  She marches to her own drum ALL the time and she reminds me that life does not have to be orderly all the time.  She shows me how refreshing a little chaos and spontaneity can be (yes, I did actually just say that, as shocking as it may be).  I feel certain that Brooklyn is God's way of telling me not to take life so seriously!  I love the life she brings to every party, and in her world . . . everyday, every hour and every minute has the potential to be a party (she, and Westin come to think of it, have been known to randomly yell out "It's Party time" with absolutely no provocation).  Yes, this does give me some pause as I think of the future teenage Brooklyn, but for now, I just want to soak in her love of life, her beautiful and sometimes wild imagination and her constant crazy antics.

Brooklyn has a joy that I cannot even describe.  She gets excited about everything.  I can't tell you how often I hear her exclaim things like, "Perfect" or "It's fab-oo-lus" or "I look gorgeous" . . . the list goes on and on.  She gets excited about gifts, hand-me-down clothes, items I have purchased at the grocery store, etc.  She is a real confidence booster too.  I can always count on Brooklyn to tell me how beautiful I look, all I have to do is put on a dress or do anything with my hair ;-)  But, even with all this fun enthusiasm, I think I would have to say that my favorite thing that Miss Brookie says right now is the way she refers to people.  Most young children will say "people" or "that person" or maybe even something like "that boy/girl", not Brooklyn, she refers to people as "who-mans".  Again, I am totally serious.  It makes me laugh.  We can be watching something on t.v. and she will say something like, "What is that who-man doing?"  or "Is that who-man a boy or a girl?"  whatever the situation may call for.  I have never before heard a small child refer to people as humans!  It's awesome!

Yearly picture in her adult size Texas Tech shirt to document growth.  I could not pry the princess dress off of her!

Brooklyn is joyful and fun, but let's be honest, if she is the redhead stereotype, there has to be a wild streak in there somewhere too, right?!  Well, there most certainly is.  You never know where you are going to find Brooklyn or what she is going to be doing.  She continues to be naughty and not all that affected by consequences (though I am starting to find a few that matter to her).  Most of the time when she gets caught doing something she should not be doing, she just quickly says, "Oh, sorry momma, sorry!" and smiles and goes on about her business.  I never know what is coming next with this little critter.  The other day she even came to me and told me, " I have pee in my hair.  I looked in the potty."  Yes, this happened and yes she got a bath immediately.  I still have not figured out what she was looking at or why she needed to get close enough that her hair dipped in the water, but some questions are best left unanswered!

Some other fun memories I don't want to forget:  Brooklyn has become quite the momma's girl.  She does not like for me to leave and frequently says, " I want my momma."  When I come home from work, she is usually the first one to run up and wrap me in a hug and Brooklyn hugs continue to be some of the greatest hugs around.  She wraps her arms around you and just squeezes!  She has gone through a phase in the last few months where she gets scared of loud or new noises.  For a while she refused to go in the backyard because it terrified her when she would hear big trucks start up.  She would actually run into the house screaming.  It didn't phase her in the front yard, just in the backyard and it was awful.  Now when she hears a vehicle start from the backyard, she just says, " It's a car, not a truck right?!"  Brooklyn loves anything dress up.  I am pretty sure she actually believes she is a princess which explains why a couple months ago, she started calling me "Your majesty" and bowing to me.  Again, totally serious.  This child has an imagination to rival all imaginations.  She is always playing pretend and she sucks everyone into it.  It is quite magical to witness!

Practicing her curtsy in her new dress!

We love this sweet, spunky, wild, imaginative child.  Our family would not be complete without her!