Brooke has become a little fish. She has absolutely no fear and jumps in and out of the water with pure joy on her little face. I was a little dubious before our trip that she might not like the water but she went in full force and never looked back. The water was a refreshing break from the hot sun so we spent much of the day at the pools.

Of course I packed every outfit you could imagine and at least 10 bathing suits for Brooke. She was the best dressed kid in the Bahamas. Matthew too, had day clothes, evening clothes, active wear, swim suits and shirts galore. We suffered with the luggage situation that is for sure. We were overweight – and not only in body. Can you believe we only went away for seven days, each one of us was entitled to one large suitcase (50 lbs) and we had over 250 pounds of luggage? Well next time I will have to forgo having the best dressed kids on vacation and pack light and sensible. Carting all that luggage and toting four carry-on’s was no walk in the park. Howard had to eat his Wheaties just to get the bags to and from this vacation. Needless to say I spent a day packing, another day unpacking and then another day packing and unpacking again.

The vacation was great, the property we stayed at was wonderful, the weather was perfect but I cannot say the same about the plane ride to the Island. Let’s just say that the little girl who traveled so beautifully twenty two hours home from China left the building. I am not sure what little girl I was traveling with on flight 595 to the Bahamas but she sure didn’t resemble the child I flew back from China with. Brooke has become an impossible airplane traveler. It was so bad that I cannot even talk about it. If you want details I am sure that the other passengers from flight 595 will be happy to tell you every little detail because they were very verbal people.

Brooke had a hard time sleeping and eating on the vacation too. Though she was enjoying the swimming, day trips and playing with the children, meal time was a horrific time for her. She was unaccustomed to having to sit in restaurants for long periods of time (we were on Bahamas time which is a much slower pace than NY time) and the food for her was very limited. I think she had penne in butter the entire trip. Either Howard or I would gulp down our meal and have to leave the restaurant with her. Brooke also had a very hard time falling asleep in the hotel crib. At home she is such a great sleeper but there she awoke at least two times a night and wound up in bed with me most nights for fear she would wake up the entire hotel. Once we got home her sleep schedule went right back to normal. She also ate like it was going out of style for the first two days home.

In general though, Brooke isn’t eating as well as she did those first two months home. I guess she realizes the food is readily available to her and the novelty of so many luscious foods as warn off. She has become finicky and the highchair experience will only last for a few minutes. She just squiggles and squirms right out of the chair. She has mastered climbing down the stairs without a problem and can slide off our extra high and puffy king sized bed in a dash. Brooke has about mastered escaping from everything and anything except her crib but it is only a matter of time before she can master that too.

We have started speech therapy and I am hoping that soon Brooke will be able to communicate better. Both the therapist and I feel that she squeals and screams because she is frustrated that she can not communicate properly. Brooke’s vocabulary includes Mommy, Daddy, Bye, Gaggy (doggie), Hi, Mahum (Matthew), Dee (Denise), Mo (more). She is beginning to point when she wants something.

Brooke’s will and determination is so strong. She is relentless and will never give up. I pity her husband one day. He doesn’t stand a chance. Brooke is still a firecracker and full of life. She is anything but passive and I wouldn’t want her any other way. I love kids with spunk and my two have plenty of it. Brooke must be in the center of everything and rarely sits still. My pediatrician jokes that it must be “in our family” because her demeanor is so similar to Matthew’s. Two firecrackers in one family is a lot of fun but boy, at the end of the day I am ready for bed. These two kids are running me ragged. I have decided that it is much easier to be out of the house with them.

The summer is going so fast I just cannot believe. Soon fall will be upon us. We are going to try to get a few fun weekends in this summer with a trip to Hershey Park, a weekend in Fire Island, a camping trip in Rhode Island and a weekend at the Connecticut Shore. I will repeat my mantra. Pack light, pack light, pack light . . . . .

We will keep you posted on the adventures of Brooke Alana and her brother but I must sign off for now.

Enjoy your summer! 
 
Mandee, Howard, Matthew and Brooke.