Two and a Halfsies!

Brinley Jane,
Happy half birthday, sweet girl! You are 2 1/2 today! I think I say this in every letter to you, but these past 6 months have been the most fun yet. You are a wonderful little girl and watching you grow up is one of the greatest joys of my life. Here are some things about you right now that I don't want to forget.
Your name is Brinley, and you remind me of that almost daily right now because I rarely call you by it. To me you are Brinsters, Little Sister, Shuggie, Lovie, or Sweet girl. The other day I was trying to corral you into the car and said, "Come on babe". You said, "My name is Brinley, that's Daddy!" Haha, its amazing what you hear and absorb all day long.
You usually hear Brinley Jane whenever you are in trouble, which is rare. The most trouble I have is with first time obedience. You don't really out and out disobey, you just take forever doddling and being distracted by things along the way. Other than that you are a very good little girl. You are very loving and good at sharing. Sometimes you don't want to, but you almost always agree to giving up whatever you were doing to give to someone else. I hear that you are becoming a bit of a bossy little girl with your friends when you are at church or bible study. I have been told by your teachers that you are always doing the right thing but have no problem telling other kids to do the same. Oh my, I don't really know what to think about that! They say you are still sweet, but you make sure everyone is in line. I have no idea where you get that from... haha.
We stay very busy and you love our weekly activities of gymnastics class, bible study, and ESL at the church. You also love going to Sunday School with your teacher Mr. Michael and your friends Grant and Hannah. Another weekly activity you enjoy is childcare at the Y where you play with Mary, Faith, and Hannah again. Your favorite things to do there are crafts, exercise, the bounce house, and playing on the playground.
You are excited anytime we do anything with your friends. Actually any child your age is your "friend". We can be at the store, and if you see a child you say, "That's my friend!" Your best friend is still Ava even though we don't see her as often now that she is in preschool.
Luke and Audrey and Henry and Margaret are also some of your favorites and you talk about Callie and Bekah when we are discussing your friends. I am glad to know you still think about them even though you don't see them as often!
When we are actually at home, you still love play cooking and shopping with your pretend food. You also like your Little People sets, your shopping cart, and your tea set. You love to color and watercolor paint as well as play with playdough. A newfound love of yours is building with legos. We don't have any, but maybe Santa can change that in a few weeks! You always want a lovey or 5 or 6 with you in bed at night and you love to snuggle!
Your favorite lovey is still New One, but you often ask for hearts blankey or giraffe. You have a very distinct bedtime routine that you follow- jammies, brushing teeth, 2 books, prayers by Mommy or Daddy, then climbing up the side of the bed as far as you can, getting in your bed, snuggling with your lovies (which means piling all your lovies and blankets on top of you), then you demand ice water and tell us to put in the corner. As we are walking out you say, "No close, just leave open" because you want the door cracked, not closed the entire way. You are quite the diva about this routine to say the least, and if one thing is out of order, you make it known. :0) Sometimes I am lucky enough to get in on the snuggle time too. It's one of my favorite things to do! Every morning you come to my bed and snuggle with me. Sometimes we watch tv, sometimes we talk, and sometimes we just lay there. We also snuggle in on the couch or the rocking chair, especially now that the weather is colder. You are such a sweet and loving child!
Even though you love your toys, I would say your favorite activity right now is playing with water in the sink. You will stand at the sink on your stool and pour water into different cups or stir it in a bowl for quite some time. You also love going outside, even when it is cold, and putting leaves into buckets and piles. Of course, you also still love to watch TV. You would watch it all day but we try to keep it to 1 hour or so each day. Your favorite show, hands down, is Curious George. You are so happy for the entire 30 minutes that it is on and you smile and laugh the entire time. You can recall episodes and have really learned alot from it. Your ability to focus on the story and remember everything about the episodes really amazes me! You also enjoy Veggie Tales. We have the shows on the iPad, but we also have some audio CDs that you listen to in the car. You can quote every word of Lyle the Kindly Viking and you know most of the songs by heart. I like it too, so I don't mind giving up my music for it. Your Daddy on the other hand, sometimes makes you share the CD player on long car rides. He can only take so much of Larry the Cucumber and Bob the Tomato.Speaking of your Daddy, you have become quite the fan of his these days, and he is a big fan of yours! Really, you totally melt his heart. You are always excited when he comes home. One of your favorite things to do with him is playing the pillow game, where he bounces you on his knee on a pillow and dump you off. He will play anything you ask, especially when you word it so sweetly like, "Daddy, you wanna paint with me?" He can't say no! You share a special treat of M&M's. You each have a little jar, because he likes peanut and you like plain, and you know that you can't have any until he gets home. You say, "Daddy, do you want an M&M?" because you know it means you will get one too! Another treat you love is going on dates to Chick-fil-A or Tappy's. You are quite the little helper around the house. Any time I am cooking, you pull your little stool up to help me. You are good at stirring, dumping in ingredients, and cracking (crushing) eggs. When we are cooking, you always get my phone and say you need to find the recipe. It's so cute! Your favorite thing to make with me is chocolate chip pancakes, because you have to test the chocolate chips to make sure they are good! You are also able to go and get things for me, put things where they belong, and take your plate to the sink after you eat and your clothes to the laundry basket.
You are a little sponge and you are learning so much! You are very verbal and talk all the time. You can recall what your day was like and tell me about things you learned while you were in your various classes. I am so thrilled that you are learning more about Jesus and the bible through Bible Study and Sunday school. Your favorite bible story is David and Goliath, and your default answer when I ask you about what you learned is Jesus. Haha, a good church answer! You pray with your hands clasped tightly together and you always thank God for "all the boys and girls". You must hear that from your teachers. Singing is still one of your favorite things and definitely a way you learn best. Nowadays, its usually a veggie tales song but every now and then I will hear a hymn or an old standby like the B-I-B-L-E. Your Daddy and I feel so privileged to be the people entrusted by God to bring you up in his ways and there is no greater pride to feel than hearing you pray or sing to God from your heart. We pray that you would always look to him for your strength and that you would come to know him as your personal savior some day.

Well sweet girl, I must wrap this letter up. I could write forever and still not capture the gratitude I feel that I get to be your Mommy. You are my best girl and I am so proud of you. I love you more than words can express!
XOXO,
Your Mommy