"I'm Afraid!"

Miss Brooke has always been a cautious little creature. She takes her time adjusting to new situations, is unsure of new surroundings, and is afraid of most people that she meets. She requires much encouragement when it comes to trying out new things. That's just how my girl is wired!

Lately she has taken on new fears of a whole host of things. The funny thing is that now she talks about her fears constantly. Anytime she doesn't like something or is unsure of something she'll certainly let you know. The latest thing that she is afraid of sitting in the bathtub. I couldn't really tell you why but whenever it's bath time she says, "I'm afraid to sit in the bath." Sure, she's fine once I coax her into sitting but until then it's horrible! Suddenly she's afraid to have rosy cheeks (or blush, for those of you that don't speak my lingo!) put on, to go in public restrooms (because of hand blowers), to walk downstairs in my parent's house, etc... The list goes on and on and I couldn't even tell you why she fears the crazy things that she does!

Brooke has been asking to go to Chuck E. Cheese so today John and I took her. The whole way there she said, "I'm afraid to ride on Barney." "I'm afraid of the slides." She babbled on and on about this too! John decided to break her horrible fear of the indoor play place that they have there and he took her up the slides with him. The poor girl screamed the whole time and refused to even smile when they went down the slide. We really thought that going on the slide would help her to see that she doesn't need to be afraid but it did just the opposite. Oh my!

It's so funny to see Brooke's personality shaping up. She's very timid about things but she has a lot of great qualities that I don't have... She's very persistent and meticulous and will work tirelessly and quietly to figure new things out. Things such as blocks, buckles, books, and puzzles intrigue her and I think that it's because they require her to be analytical. She also is mesmerized by baby dolls and I love watching her pretend to be their mommy. It's really precious! Brooke seems to be the polar opposite of me on so many levels, which is weird, but I love knowing that she's unique and special and just who God intended for her to be! I can't wait to discover more and more about her as she grows! I'm so lucky:-)