A Handy Helper

This post is dedicated to my little helper, who is just as often my little destroyer...Before the baby came, Brooklyn and I discussed the many ways life would change.  She was told that she would need to help out a little more.  So far, she's done well with that.  Except for when she's totally disobedient and tells me "no" or "I not happy," mimicking, probably, things that I say to her.  So a couple of new "chores" that we have been experimenting with include matching the clean socks (see above) and helping me load and unload the dishwasher.  She already gets her own place setting out for meals because it's stored on a low shelf that she can reach.  Of course, it's always MUCH easier and QUICKER if I (the mom) do these things myself, but it is teaching her to help out and be responsible, nonetheless.  (I never believed my mother when she told me these things growing up about us kids doing the chores, now I totally get it!)  As a side note, I also discovered that Stephen is MUCH quicker at doing all the housework than I am - he is so efficient!  Dang!  It's really difficult for me to NOT want him to help out because he is SO good at it!  I am really, much slower than he is and my excuse is that I am more distracted with the kids at home but also more thorough.  Last night I wandered around the mall for about an hour with both kids and he basically was able to clean the house from top to bottom (except for the inside of the toilets, he reported) pretty impressively.  He only had the head start of getting the dusting done beforehand.  Then again, I will credit myself that the house is usually pretty organized and kept up on a daily basis so that the deep cleaning shouldn't be too difficult.  ANYWAY... this post is supposed to be about the cutie below!
So here she is proudly displaying her mastery of a couple file folder games that I made her.  They are such a cute idea that I got from my friend Lori.  Of course Lori has the complete collection that she has single-handedly assembled, while I have only made about 6 games.  Oh well!  I'll get there someday - maybe!
These games are color matching games.  Her favorite game is not yet laminated, but it has a bunch of different bodies that are to be matched with coordinating heads and hats.  The different characters include a grandma, Santa Clause, a baseball player, a king, etc.  Brooklyn just calls it "the grandma game." 
For those of you who have been around her lately, you know she is quite the chatter box.  In fact, a huge difference we noticed in our home when she stayed with my mom for a few days was how QUIET it was!  It's hard to remember what life was like without this cute little squeaky voice dialoging, singing, and parroting nonstop!  So just for fun, I decided the other day to note a few of her most repeated, or just funny lines that we will call "Brooklynisms."  Let's see how many of them you have already heard her say (if you live close).  For those family members who live far, you will probably hear some of these when we get together at Christmas time in D-town!
Brooklynisms:

1)  Is that troof?

2)How's work, Stephen?

3)  Save it for Saturday. (later)

   (The other option here, is: if it's a food item, we'll put it in a baggie and save it for later)  (Example, one tiny gummy candy gets saved in a gallon-sized ziplock bag, all without mom's help.)

4)  Raaar!  (This one was adopted from her friend Rylie.)

5) How about...

6) Look, I stick my tongue out, like Mommy.  Yes, when eat tortilla. (This is referring to a photo of me holding up a tortilla that I made when I was in Mexico.  Apparently it made an impression on her!)

7) See you later, alligator.  After a while, crocodile.  (how original)

8)  You wish you had curly hair, momma, like me? (yes.) I wish I had straight hair, like you.

9)  It tastes like candy! (This referring to a variety of foods, from salmon to waffles or even minestrone soup.)

10) When I get bigger and bigger, I get married in the temple . . . to a boy.  (What else do you get to do when you grow bigger?) Wear big apron.  (On another occasion, she mentioned getting holes in her ears like Mommy.)

11) I too vizzy (tired).  (I figured out that it meant tired because we were running to the bathroom at the library park and it was a long distance.  She was out of breath and started walking.)

12) We eat out of you.  (to Dad, meaning "we will eat dinner without you")

13) WHY? (about everything)

14) Stop looking in the mirror, Dad.  (When he was looking at the mirror contemplating different mustache styles.)

15) It flew away in the wind. (whenever something is missing.)

16)Bretsist (Breakfast)

17) Mom, your list!  (She was sitting on the piano bench with me and looked up towards the loft.  There she noticed a long, narrow sheet of paper sticking off of the shelf.  She knew it had to be one of mom's many lists!  She also calls receipts lists.  I'm totally a list person and this word is already part of her vocabulary - scary!)

18) Turn it!  (This she says when she wants the volume up on the radio.)