Ah, . . . Brianna

Brianna, as most of you know, is full of energy and life. She is quick to smile, and smart as a whip --actually WAAAAY smarter! (What a dumb saying anyway!)

She talks more and more everyday, and often parrots what we say. No one in the family can say a prayer out loud without her trying to repeat each phrase. This drives Ben nuts, so when he prays, you would think it was an Olympic sport with him trying to speak as fast as he possibly can! She still keeps up rather well, which drives him nuts all the more.

Speaking of Olympics, we have to be careful what we let Brianna watch, because she attempts to imitate what she sees. I had gymnastics on the other day, and she started trying to do some tumbling, and hand-stands. Then, just today, I was watching the platform diving that I had recorded from last night. Many of the athletes were doing hand-stands on the edge of the platform before diving. Next thing I knew, Brianna was attempting a hand-stand on the edge of our ottoman!! Eye, yi, yi!!

She is fearless with those sorts of things, and is a very social girl. However, the last few weeks, she has relapsed with separation anxiety. This has been a challenge for both of us. Sometimes, she'll walk out of the room where we were just together, and as soon as I'm out of sight, she'll holler, "Mo-om, wa-aare you?" As if I was the one who left?!

When James leaves for work, she loves to stand on the landing and wave and blow kisses and say over and over, "Bye, bye, Daddy!" "Love you, Daddy!" "See you later, Daddy!"

Brianna has kept me VERY busy the last few weeks, as she goes from one piece of mischief to another. She seems determined to fully redefine the terrible twos. Today she drew all over our ottoman with a red pen. At lunch, she threw her PB & H sandwich against the wall. Then at the grocery store . . . well, let's just say that I've compiled a list of things I'd rather do before EVER shopping with her again: among them is bamboo shoots under my fingernails; scrubbing toilets in public restrooms; and getting a back-scratch on a severe sunburn!

When she throws a fit -- and she can throw a MAJOR fit -- Ben can often get her to go from crying and screaming, to belly laughing! Her laugh is brilliant, and brings a sense of hope to the world: If kids can still laugh like that, then there is still goodness in the world.

I do believe, even with all of her mischief, as long as Brianna is in the world, there will be Joy!!