Tuesday, March 6, 2012

Brees The Explorer


Throughout my second pregnancy, our friends and family often speculated about our
newest addition, wondering how she would be different from her older sister.
Because, inevitably, she was going to be different.  She would have her own personality,
her own style and unique perspective.
And then we had our Brees: our easy going, sweet natured, affection loving Brees.  She is
like her sister in so many ways, both in looks and personality.  But she is, without a
doubt, her own little person.  Since birth, she has been extremely interested in the
world around her, fearlessly exploring any and everything within her reach.  Brees is
very quiet and can often be found sitting in a corner, surrounded my random odds and
ends, playing and talking to herself.  She loves to stack things, sort items into matching
piles, and is a real life hoarder.  Just last week I found a secret stash of hers that included
my favorite eyeshadow, 2 guitar pics, a spatula, and a JCPenney bill.
She also, however, enjoys exploring things OUT of her reach.  And then the drama begins.
If she sees something she finds interesting, she will go through any means necessary to get
to it.  This means that we often find her climbing on top of tables, inside cabinets, inside
the dryer, inside the dishwasher, and onto bookshelves.  She's ridiculously good at figuring
out every single child safety product we own.  She recently removed the safety latch off of
her baby crib's top railing.  I walked in just in time to see her lower the railing and attempt
to crawl over it, with no pants or diaper on, of course.  She gets right through the latches
on our cabinets and helps herself to snacks and Tupperware at whim.  We have
found numerous items stuck inside the VCR (yes, we still have on of those) and I often
find evidence of her handy work in my purse. 
Most of these adventures involve Brees tumbling, falling, and knocking her head into
things.  She cries for about 2 seconds and then moves on to the next adventure, taking
her bumps and bruises like a fearless champ.  This past week, she ran into the living
room at baby lightening speed, laughing hysterically until she tripped over a toy and fell
face first onto our ottoman.  She hit it so hard that, even though it is fully upholstered,
she earned her first black eye.  I attempted to place an ice pack on her swollen, bruised
face but she pulled it away and attempted to eat it instead.  Obviously.  




This week's project will consist of installing a brand new baby gate for our staircase as 
our little brute has figured out how to break through our existing staircase baby booby
trap and likes to follow her sister upstairs.  This would not be a big deal except for the
fact that she enjoys barrel rolling her way back down, causing me to lose 10 years off my
life as I leap up the staircase to catch her, screaming loud enough for the neighbors to
hear.  There's nothing more terrifying than watching your baby perform her own
stunts down the staircase.


  
This little girl is her own person, sweet and loving and full of energy.  She loves to explore
and figure out how things work, including things installed specifically to protect her.  What
do you do with a little girl who thinks she is invincible?  Well, so far we have taken to
watching her like a hawk and redirecting her to appropriate activities.  I have a feeling
she will be the girl who climbs the tallest trees, rides her bike at full speed down the
biggest hills, tries to convince her friends to climb out of her bedroom window with her to
look at the stars from the rooftop.  I embrace my little Brees and her adventurous
spirit because I myself am that girl, have been since I was little bitty.  I've never known
or understood limits when it comes to going after what I want and I have a feeling
my youngest will be much of the same.  She will most definitely make our nerves unravel
with her mischief, bumps, and bruises but I think we're ready for the challenge.
And, thankfully, she has a mama who's a nurse.  That's probably going to come in handy
over the years...
{Exhausted after a long day of exploring.  I could just eat her up, scraped up face and all}



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7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Brees is definitely an adventurer! Best of luck for the coming years! However her character and spirit will offer her the most beautiful discoveries of life!

deanna@delirious-rhapsody said...

brees and owsley are soul mates. just yesterday i took some folded laundry upstairs, and 10 seconds later owsley was right behind me. he had broken past the gate as well!

Moments and Impressions said...

Oh my - you just described my daughter at that age to a T. The fearless ones.

Sara said...

Brees is awesome. :) I love her adventurous spirit and no-nonsense way of being. What a very cool kid.

p.s. Where did you get her crib, if you remember? We are looking for the simple classic style ourselves, for when it's time, but I can't seem to find it except online. We don't mind ordering it online, but I figured it doesn't hurt to check around for recommendations.

Randalin @ Harvesting Kale said...

What a fearless little lady! Despite it giving you gray hairs now, I hope for Brees sake that she continues to explore her way through life.

April said...

What a little sweet heart! I can see that she keeps you busy...she's really going to put all those safety devices to the test!

arielle elise. said...

oh goodness! she is at that "busy" age ! so is leland.. my oh my...non stop!) she is so precious! :)