Loves coloring!
And she loves cupcakes :)
Poor Sacha - but Branigan loves her too!
Wow. What a little girl she is becoming. Yesterday the neighbor girls Avery (6) and Nora (3) came over to play, and Avery helped Branigan go down the slide time and again until she was doing it on her own. She's gone down the slide a lot, but always holding our hands. By the time Avery and Nora left, Branigan was going down the slide very fast on her own and loving it. B had such a good time with the older girls, and was laughing and giggling along with them while the three of them were in the swings. It was fun to watch.
Branigan is growing up in a lot of different ways. She is talking more and more, although you have to really know her to understand what she's saying, as she doesn't use real words yet. :) But you can tell that she's trying to use sentences, and is structuring her "gibberish" into phrases. I can understand what she needs and is getting at about 90% of the time, and anyone who is around her much can figure it out pretty quickly. She says a lot of "da da" or "dad", "ma ma", "ya ya ya ya", "la la la", "ba ba ba" "fu fu", "bleb", and "up". There are many more sounds that she makes that sound like she's trying to say the right word, so we are making progress. She has also expanded her sign language to include different waves for hi and bye, as well as thank you and we are working on excuse me. She has decided that burping is pretty funny, so we are thinking that her learning to say excuse me needs to come next :).
Branigan is becoming more and more social all the time, and is not nearly as scared of new people as she used to be. She likes playing with children, and often approaches other kids at open gym to play with them. She is also getting better at sharing. She loves balls, and has hoarded them a bit in the past when we are out playing. The last few weeks she has been giving balls to other kids when they come over rather than taking a "mine" attitude. There are many other things that she doesn't share at all, but at least we are making some progress.
Running through the ramps at the mall
Branigan is a very busy little girl, and I joke that you can't take her out in public. She is fine while you are shopping, or if you are somewhere she gets to play. So she does great in places like Carter's or Gymboree where they are set up for children playing, or at the grocery where she can stay in the cart. However, restaurants are a different story. We are now "those" people. The ones with the kid who screams to get what she wants, and so they let her climb all over the booth or table. She pounds the windows (better than licking them I suppose), tries to dump any and all condiments that might be around, throws napkins and silverware, and is always trying to get the attention of the people at the table behind us, even if she has to throw something at them. We love her with all our hearts but have decided that we will be doing a lot of carryout for a while rather than going places for food.
My personal doll baby
I would say that Branigan's eating habits have gone down hill a bit. She has started eating a bit more meat, but still won't touch veggies and is getting pickier about fruit. Her diet is very limited, so I'm thinking we are going to start some vitamins.
Hanging with Grandma Varner
Most of the time Branigan is just a typical toddler, who is into as much as she can get into. There are a lot of things she knows she is not supposed to do though, and although this knowledge does not stop her, she does know when she has done something wrong a lot of the time. Lately she has started slapping her own hand when she does something wrong. I was laughing my head off at this, and then I thought, hey, where did she learn that? I don't slap her hands because I don't think it does a bit of good at this point, so I asked Jamie. Apparently he does slap her hands sometimes (not hard). I'm not sure if this is effective or not. She does relate it to things she shouldn't be doing, but it doesn't keep her from doing it, and she laughs out loud when she slaps her own hand. Time will tell, but anytime she does this or points her finger at one of us, I have to leave the room to keep from laughing out loud.
She looks like such a big girl running around!
Almost ready to pedal
Branigan's playing habits change all the time. She LOVES basketball, and runs to play with her little goal everyday. She likes anything and everything outside, as I think she has spring fever like the rest of us. She likes to explore, which is nice as I get to go on walks as well. She doesn't have much patience right now for her blocks, and typically only goes into her kitchen to throw everything on the floor or to poop (not sure why it has become her little outhouse but I may have to bring her potty chair in there when its time to potty train). This will evolve back around, but for now she likes more active games like swinging, sliding, running or being pushed on her tricycle and big wheel, and chasing balls.
So excited to get to play
She can find a lot of uses for balls :)
I have to admit, this picture makes me pretty proud :)
By the time that Branigan is 21 months old, odds are good that she will be a big sister. I have such mixed feelings about this. I'm so excited of course to meet our new little one, but I know that I will miss the time I've had alone with Branigan as well. It also feels like so much responsibility for her. I know that it won't acually change that much about our relationship, but I can't help but feel a little guilty. She knows nothing but being the center of our world, and although that will not change, she will have to share the spot light a bit and at her age there is no way to explain to her what is coming up. She'll be fine, but I can't help but be anxious for her and the transition. I just remind myself to focus on how fortunate we are - a beautiful and healthy little girl, with a sibling for her on the way. We couldn't be luckier.
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