Brielle

Just look at that face and you'll see why this little girl is our greatest joy. Brielle is 22 months and she is our bundle of life. She is the perfect blend of trouble and sweetness. She loves to explore and get into everything. I don't know what it is about this age, but I just love seeing their personalities come through as they become less of a baby and gain more independence. She is learning and growing in strides and it makes each day feel new.

Brielle was born with congenital hypothyroidism and has been on medication since she was 2 weeks old. She has to get lab work done regularly which is becoming more of a challenge the older she gets. She takes her medicine really well. Her doc said at her last appointment that since we've never had to increase her dose, we can try weaning her off in a year or so and he thinks she'll most likely do fine without medication. I hope so!

Brielle says a ton of words. Her favorites are Doda (Koda, her baby brother), Momma, Dad, Zazu, Ezra, no, yeah, book, appsauce (applesauce), seeping (sleeping), sow (show), and baby. She'll repeat just about anything you ask her to if she's in the right mood. Otherwise she'll hit you with a hard "No!" and move on.

She's done her business on the potty a couple of times, but has been refusing to even give it a try lately, so we're not quite ready yet. As you'll see in a future post, she loves to pick out her clothes, but can't limit her choices to only one outfit per day, so sometimes she wears many. If Grandma is here, Brielle picks jammies all day long.

Every nap and bedtime Brielle has her routine of requests. She needs her binky and soft unicorn, fresh ice water, her fan on and pink nightlight turned on. Then we proceed with a story, then sing The Itsy Bitsy Spider and Popcorn Popping (complete with hand motions, or you'll have to sing it again). Then she'll fold her arms and wait for you to say a prayer. After prayer I give kisses, brush the hair from her forehead, tuck her in and whisper goodnight. She always yells for me at the door where we then wave at each other and I say goodnight and tell her I love her and then I can close her door. If these steps are missed, she'll call me back in. She's amazing.

She loves baby dolls and is constantly taking care of hers. That includes putting the baby to bed, holding her, feeding her a bottle and then, of course, taking her clothes off. She also likes to give the baby kisses and make me give the baby kisses all day long too.

I can't say enough about this little girl. Her smile, her laugh, her shoulder shrugs and uh-ohs, it all melts my heart and brings me joy. She is seriously a bundle of life and all that is good in the world. I am so thankful to have her in my life.