Brooke and her buddy Aiden.

Last night was the first night in about a week that Brooke has been outside set free, so she was thrilled. Then when I told her "Gie" and Aiden were coming over she was ecstatic. She loves Angie and Aiden (Mike, Alexis and Allison too of course). They live across the street, have been friends of ours for years and are people Steven and I consider to be some of our closest friends. It just so happened that they had an additional blessing (aka: Aiden) just 8 weeks after we had Brooke, so they have play dates almost once a week (okay, maybe they started out being mine and Angie's play dates, but hey can you blame us?). I think it is easy to say that Aiden is Brooke's closest friend. Any time I ask her if she wants to play with someone she says "See Aiden and Gie Momma" so it's not just me that enjoys our time together.

One of the many funny things about our play dates is it shows me just how opposite boys and girls really are!! I KNOW the obvious ways they are different, but Aiden is ALL boy and loves to get dirty, climb, try things out before thinking about them.....and Brooke tends to be more dainty, not wanting to be covered in dirt, looks at me wondering if she should do something before trying it, etc. When Brooke plays with her 'girl' friends she loves to cook, clean, dress up, etc.....but when Aiden is her play mate she is a completely different girl! I love seeing both sides!

Last night was a first for Brooke. Aiden loves to be IN the sand box, and Brooke normally prefers to stand on the outside only playing with the toys. She normally avoids even getting dirty. BUT, last night we suckered her into getting her feet in it and after the initial "Eeeew" comment she stayed in there and played a while.