The time is flying...

This picture of the gang was taken Tuesday when we returned from our speedy trip to the beach... work is crazy for us both right now (we are each doing 1/2 time - I go in the mornings and Doug in the afternoons - so we just did a short excursion - 2 days, 2 nights. Brynn loved the beach - she loved the sand, she loved the ocean, even when she refused to hold my hand and was swept off her feet, and she loved the carnival-type rides, as long as they were moving. She screamed on the ferris wheel before it really got going but that was because she saw her brother, too nervous for the ferris wheel, enjoying themselves on the lower-soaring helicopter ride and they were actually moving.

Brynn and her brothers have all been doing well. Her and Evan got over the Evan bossing/Brynn hitting & biting thing after about 2 weeks home (we have been home 5 tomorrow) and now get along as well as I would expect two 2 year olds to. It is so funny how they become best buds after 9:00pm, when their older brothers are asleep and mom and dad are worn out. They are up and running full speed, giggling and telling stories that I would love to understand (well I understand Evan's but not hers; she just mimics his voice tone and speed in toddler babble). They are a lot alike except while Evan acts all tough he is fearful of some things; Brynn fears nothing it seems...

Price has said twice he is ready for her to go back. I knew that would happen as he had very high expectations for his sister and he has such a tender heart. He changed his mind 5 minutes later both times but I understand where he is coming from - she can be bossy and aggressive and I promised him we are working on calming her down.

I can't remember if I wrote this last time but Caleb says we should have three girls to match the three boys. We will not be doing that but I took that as a sign he didn't think a sister was so bad.

All three are great at "acting out" the right way to ask for something so she learns. Even though they can get up on mommy's bed themselves, they each will say "up please" and let me get them up there so she learns how to not scream her demands.

She is starting to repeat two or more word phrases but comes up with only one word phrases herself. She knows all the important words - Dora, Boots, SpongeBob, flower, shoes, boo-boo, mommy, daddy, grandma/grandpa (some word and it sounds like "goo-pa"), Price (if you have her point to her brothers she recognized them by name if you say the name but if she calls for them, they are all named Price), teeth, nose, and most important, goggles, and that is because she often wants and wears them even when we are not headed to the pool. I keep meaning to get a picture. She loves the pool too and we have this outfit that has a ring around her that keeps her afloat and she just swims everywhere and doesn't want help, will jump in the pool and get her face wet and come up laughing, and likes to blow bubbles.

She does well with me not around if she doesn't see me leave. If I try to leave, and I have only done so when she is going to be with daddy, she has a fit. She did great at her first doctor visit. Yelled bloody murder as soon as she was down for her shots but stopped for a brief second to say "oh" as the first one went in. I felt terrible for her but it was also cute.

She is a very happy girl and she is screeching less at people she doesn't know, but she still lets most have it. She screams a lot and I have to see her face most of the time to tell if she is happy screaming, sad screaming, or mad screaming.

What else... she is a slow, slow eater, still loves to dance, likes to play jokes and make funny facial expressions (on purpose, especially with her eyes), loves lotion still, is trying to put on her own clothes since seeing Evan doing so, squeals with delight when she sees our house from the car or the golfcart, jumps right on the pile of wrestling boys, likes to pick up and step on (with bare feet) bugs, loves to swing on the swing set, loves to help with chores (yeah, that won't last), has a 10 second attention span when in a car so you go through a bookbag of toys in 5 minutes, loves fries, and loves to look at pictures. She goes to sleep without crying now but it takes her 30 minutes on a good night to actually get to sleep after getting in bed. She likes to pick stories but rarely sits through the first 2 pages. She likes for me to kiss and acknowledge all her injuries and injustices, not that any hurt she has keeps her from returning to whatever she was doing that may have led to it in the first place.

We got a letter from the foster mom. She wants us to call her but that makes me nervous since I won't know what she is saying and I don't know how Brynn will react so I think I am just going to write back and send pictures. The mom says she has been sick since Brynn left because she misses her so much and wants me to help her get in touch with a foster daughter that was "taken" from her in 1994 (I hope that is just the way it was translated and not what she really feels) - turns out Brynn is not her first as I was told, but actually her 20th foster child! We got the letter on a Saturday and couldn't get wait to know what it said so Doug brought it to our local Chinese restaurant!

So things continue to be crazy here (I decided to update the blog so I don't forget later all these Brynn things). We owe so many phone calls, emails, and thank you notes but never seem to find the time, and in the evening the energy, to do what we know we need to do. Thank you everybody for your support - we really appreciate it all!!!!