want some cheese?

A couple of weeks ago at the grocery store, Tim & Brielle were at the deli counter. A nice young girl working behind the counter offered Brielle some string cheese. Brielle enjoyed munching on it as we continued gathering our groceries throughout the store. We knew she liked cheese and could eat little pieces of it, but that day Brielle showed us that she can handle the whole thing! Funny how she's usually ready for more than I'm ready to believe.

Snow day

At Christmas, Jenny gave Brielle a mini magnadoodle, and Brielle has developed the hand-eye coordination to draw squiggles all over its board. Little did I know, she would be able to do this already with a marker too! As the paper became more and more red, so did her mouth and her left hand. Make sure to look at her left hand in the last video:).

Tim & Brielle have had a lot of "father/daughter" days lately as our near record-breaking snow falls have led to many days of cancelled school. This is what they were up to on one of those days.

Indoor bubbles

Brielle had her first exposure to bubbles... her grandma gave her bubbles for Valentine's Day. The bubbles sure have provided a lot of indoor fun on these snowy days! She likes to watch them float around and she tries to reach out and grab them. She looks at us a little confused after they pop and disappear. When I held the wand up to see if she would blow on it she wanted to put it all the way in her mouth:).

Gimme five

Okay, this should be my last video post of the day. I've been telling my sisters about Brielle's latest accomplishments and they reply, "You have to put it on the blog!" They both live far away and haven't seen Brielle since Christmas break... so their guilt trip worked and I captured a lot of Brielle moments this weekend.

click click

Brielle probably picked this trick up from her daddy... he likes to click his tongue at her. She sounds much louder on this video that she does in real life! The video makes it sound like you can even hear the click echo in the room!

look who's walking!!

Bouncing to the music

When we play music, Brielle starts bouncing- her version of dancing:).

11 months

Brielle is 11 months old already! She is such a happy little girl. She can play "gimme five" and answer the question, "What does a doggie say," with an "oof!", her version of "woof, woof." She stands on her own for a minute or so, and she started to take a few small steps this week. Brielle gets pretty excited when she sees her soft green blanket. She rubs her face in it and plays peekaboo. She likes opening her bottom 2 dresser drawers (or any drawers in the house) and pulling her clothes out. But we're lucky, because she also likes to put everything back into the drawer too!

pigtails

Taking a stroll

With some assistance from a Winnie the Pooh airplane, Brielle is starting to figure out how to walk! Tim took this video while Kristen was away for a week at a continuing education course. He said she later took her plane across this room and down the hall to our bedroom. She's also figuring out how to hide her toys, puzzle pieces, etc. under the seat of the plane too.

Honey

Brielle has discovered "Honey", one of her mommy's favorite dolls from when she was little. The age of this doll is evident by both its style and how its color has changed, or dirtied, over time! Honey used to go everywhere! Brielle is learning how to pat Honey on the back and to give kisses. (This video didn't quite catch the "kiss" part.) Looks like it might be time to get Brielle a doll of her own:).

How Brielle spent her first Christmas

We were in Palm Beach, Florida for a wonderful, relaxing week with my parents and sisters. The weather was beautiful! Brielle was at the pool everyday. She loved to play in the zero depth area where she could crawl around.

Brielle also experienced a sandy beach for the first time. Of course, some sand ended up in her mouth but she didn't mind too much. :)

Brielle would kick her legs up and down and flap her arms when she saw the waves coming in. She was very excited when Tim took her close to the water.

Like a fish!

We took Brielle swimming with all her cousins & the rest of the Berning clan at a local hotel. Grandpa & Grandma Berning were staying there to have a little getaway from the farm. Brielle loved the water! She kept splashing and putting her arms and face in the water. She splashed a lot of water in her own face, but it didn't slow her down a bit. She loved seeing all her cousins swimming too.

Opening her first Christmas present

Brielle received her first Christmas presents from her friend Ben. Instead of ripping off the wrapping paper, she was more interested in putting it in her mouth. :) With a little help, she found the cute penguin and book inside. Thanks, Abby & Ben!

Hello? Who's there?

9 months old and already learning what to do with the telephone!

Brush brush

Brielle doesn't have any teeth yet, but she likes chewing on this toothbrush we gave her!

Sweater & Hat from (Great) Aunt Susan

Kristen's aunt Susan knit this hat and sweater for Brielle. So cute!

Playing in Mom & Dad's room

Christmas tree hunting

Brielle's first Christmas tree hunting trip. Each year on the weekend after Thanksgiving, we join the rest of the Berning clan and travel to a tree farm. We made sure to choose a softer needle tree this year since Brielle will be finding it and grabbing the branches! After each of the 6 families cut down a perfect tree, we returned to Grandma & Grandpa Berning's house for some hot chocolate and snacks.

Weekend Trip

We had a very fun weekend visiting our friends Chuck & Annie and Tony & Katie... and watching the kids play together.

Brielle & Patrick... on the treadmill already!

On their way to becoming future runners like their dads (and Patrick's mom, Annie).