Brooke

Since I haven't written about Brooke since she was 4-5 years old, I must say a bit about her now. She is hilarious. Everything she says and everything she does is funny to me. I always thought Ryan had a great sense of humor when he was little. He was one of those people born wise beyond his years and he had a very advanced understanding of all things, including humor. Sometimes we would be driving down the street, full car, and see something and he and I would just laugh. No one else really "got it", but the same things struck us and sent us into giggling fits. Brooke's humor is not exactly like that. It is more goofy and more of her own making. She just says things that make you laugh, not just because they are really funny, but also because they are really original and you are shocked that she even came up with that.

Cassie has this boyfriend, named Josh, that is really sensitive and dramatic. Being that Cassie is the same, it is truly a match made in hell because two overly sensitive people make for a constant stream of misunderstandings and fighting and crying and "look at it from MY standpoint" WHAH!! They were in one of their deep discussions when Brooke walks up to the phone and says, "What do you call Josh and one idiot?". Cassie pauses and looks at her as she replies, "Two idiots". I'm sure she heard it on a show, but her timimg, her faces, her delivery is so unexpected and so funny that even Cassie is fighting to hold back a laugh as me and Brooke giggle like crazy. He yells that he is not going to sit there while her whole family laughs at him and hangs up on her. Cassie starts to yell at us and then can't help but laugh and says, "Okay, that WAS funny".

Its stuff like this constantly with Brooke. She told Cassie she would be pretty if she didn't have all those brown spotted freckles on her face, so I asked if she thought I looked okay. She turned her mouth sideways, placed her finger on the side of it and really looked at me with a "thinking really hard" look and said...."ummmmmmmmmm, NO." But then she busts out laughing. Its contagious, her giggling and being a constant cut up. She would have faired so well in my family growing up because you really needed to be able to take a joke when someone was always hitting you with smack.

Most of her comedy acts are in the "you just had to be there" catagory, but she always comes up with something different to crack you up. I use so many of the things she says to respond to others because it just makes me laugh. Like her asking a question that makes you ask, "Why?" and her answer is "Because you're not shmart". Whenever someone asks me why to anything....I always want to say, and sometime do, "Because you're not shmart."

She still has her six year old moments of whining and complaining and some days it is a job dealing with her, but I can't imagine life without her. She has also started to not want me at her bus stop. She says all the kids look when we pull up and she is not a baby anymore. It seems to happen earlier and earlier, but six?? She does say, "Give me a kiss and drive away, pleaseeee". So, we are not at the "OMG, do NOT kiss me in public" stage yet. So, at least I still have that.

She asked how babies get into a mommy's belly and said, "I know like some seed from the daddy gets in there, but how does it get there???" I said, "Well, it complicated and we will discuss it more when you get older". She gets it is a sensitive subject now, but still can make something funny out of it. She will come in and randomly say, "Mom, can I have a drink?" and then put her hands on her hips, gets that "Whatchu talkin bout , Willis" look on her face and says, "How DOES that seed get there???". And then she laughs, not waiting for an answer, just skipping down the hall with her juice box.

Last night she said we should say ten things every night that we are thankful for and then proceeded to say her list that included her family, friends, warm house, snow to play in and cookies. Then she had me list mine. I could learn a lot from a six year old.....