Athena can do chores :)

Helping it get under the cupboards

Here she is making sure it gets under the couch.

(No one in this house has EVER swept under the couch.)

So the Brocus household loves the Roomba. We can see where it wouldn't be for everyone as it certainly isn't perfect... but it's a whole lot better than the job any of us are doing!

Athena's CRAZY fear of vacuums makes it impossible to sweep, but her love of the Roomba has given us the cleanest floor we've had in ages. PLUS she turns it on, monitors it herself, and helps it by Swiffer-ing! Athena can have an actual chore now! She's totally in charge of the floor.

As it dutifully went under the couch to clean, even hard-to-impress Louis said "That thing is awesome."

I'm sure you can understand why I've called her Mommy!

Easy mistake, right??
My cousin Brittany and me.

Ashley and baby Daisy, Mommy, Me, and Brittany.
Daisy and me talking about crippets.

Athena as photographed by Brittany

LOVELY visit with the California cousins

Toodee's Adventure

Athena took Toodee for a walk. As you can see, she got dressed up for the occassion.

We went out on the dock to watch the sunset.

Toodee felt like the situation was getting precarious, so we decided to head home.

(She can't swim.)

Athena thought we were big babies so she ditched us for a minute.

We regrouped and headed home for some ice cream.

Athena + Annabelle = HILARIOUS

"Hey Annabelle, lemme see that real quick. I wanna show you something."

"OK, are you sure you know what you're doing?"

"Oh yeah..... I know what I'm doing."

"HEY!!!!!!!!!!"

Don't worry. They were still friends after that. They ganged up on some spiders.

Hi Boyfriend!

"Oh, don't mind her, that's just my mom. She's cool."

"Now watch me freestyle dance for your viewing pleasure."

Can you tell what she's doing?

If you guessed "Trying to scratch her ear like the doggies do" you are correct.

She said: "Baby itchy!"

THE Outfit

Now in video... purple boots, boy's Superman skibbies, goin' nuts in the yard. I LOVE this kid.

I photograph her too much, I know.

My little imp, I guess

Height Predictor Here ----> http://tinyurl.com/l2vkt6

Your girl will likely be 4 ft. 11 in. at age 18.

Wow.

Learn More
This prediction is a "best guess" but it's still just that -- a guess. Based on the formula we used* there is a 50 percent chance that your girl's full-grown height will be within 0.7 inches (above or below) of this prediction, and a 90 percent chance that it will be within 1.7 inches

Don't tell PETA

Painting puppies.

ODB's skunk

The painted crew.

Yep, she's 2 alright.

2 Years Ago.

1 Year Ago



I loves me Da!


Cousins RULE!



We are a GOOD lookin' family, no?
(I wish I had biceps like that. Alas, it's just squashed against my boob.)




She happily shared Brobee with Evan ONLY
because she loves him.

Her yearly birthday hat photo :)

I can NOT believe the title of my email is "Your Preschooler."

I do not have a preschooler.... I have a baby, right???

Handling Big Emotion:

Two-year-olds give the biggest hugs, flash the biggest smiles, and yes, throw the loudest, most spectacular tantrums. Because they live in the moment, their feelings are especially transparent. It's tempting to want to keep things happy for your child at all times. But it's also important for her to experience emotions like sadness, frustration, and anger without always being "rescued" by Mom or Dad, so she can learn to cope better with small setbacks. (I'll work on that I promise.)