Weeks 50 & 51

Wow, so hard to believe I’m writing the post for weeks 50 & 51… and Audrey’s birthday party is this weekend!! 

Audrey is getting so big… she knows the signs for 3 words now, “More,” “Please” and “Eat.”  Last weekend, the weekend of the 12th, she really figured out the whole walking thing.  Instead of stumbling all over the place, she really just started taking off and walking.  She’s gotten progressively steadier since then, and now she walks as much or more then she crawls.  It’s still strange to be in a room and see her walk around the corner! 

We had a few days of really nice weather, so I decided to take the girls to the park.  It was Audrey’s first time of really being able to enjoy the park, and boy, did she enjoy it!  She is a FAN of sliding!  At first she just sat at the top of the slide until I pulled her foot and made her slide down.  Then, after a slide or two, she started leaning forward and sliding herself, until she was sliding down before I could get to the bottom to catch her! 

This sliding thing is AWESOME! :)

Our major adventure during the past two weeks was our trip to IL for Grandma’s auction.  We had a good time, and I got lots of good pictures of Audrey enjoying the farm.  She’s a farm girl at heart, and I had to scrub grass stains out of her jeans by the end of the weekend!  :)

Audrey & Max… probably the origin of the grass stains! :)

Riding a tractor with Daddy!

Refusing to nap with Aunt Ruthie… NOT tired! 

She did learn that gravel was hard to walk on, and managed to coerce Sam into helping her!

 

Audrey & Aunt Sarah, rockin’ the shades!

 

What would a trip to Grandma Judy’s be without a trip around the farms to see all of the baby animals?  We piled in the mule (and Charlie in the four wheeler) and off we went!

Watching the cows from Aunt Ruthie’s shoulders!

No, we did NOT actually let her ride like this… but it was too cute of a photo op!

 

Who said she could get so big?!

Always has to do what big sister does… hanging on the fence with Uncle Charlie.

 

Just cute…

Farm girls, even if they were born in town!  Yes, Miss A is licking the fence… I had to resist the urge to wash her mouth out with purell after this…

Audrey, sticking out her tongue.

Funny part about that picture is the picture before that, Charlie had photo bombed by sticking out his tongue.  So we were teasing/yelling at him for sticking out her tongue, and Audrey did it in the next picture!!

But we finally got a cute one of Miss A and me!

 

Audrey definitely loved having all of the dogs around while we were in IL… she was constantly going after one!  Thankfully, they were all pretty tolerant!

 

Audrey has a new food love: cornbread!  Yes, it’s even one her forehead! :)

 

So there’s two week’s worth of pictures of Miss A!  Next week I’ll have lots of good pictures of her FIRST BIRTHDAY PARTY!  Can’t believe it!

In other A news, she still does not have an ear infection (that we’ve noticed- she is snotty, but doesn’t have a temp or anything).  We go back to the doctor on April 4th to double check, and are really praying for clear ears.  But I’m pretty at peace with having tubes if we need them, I just want her to be healthy.

She still eats, well, pretty much whatever you put in front of her.  I haven’t really found much she won’t eat, but she LOVES bananas, hot dogs (cut up small, of course), green beans, and pretty much any fruit, really.  She is definitely developing lots of personality, for better or worse!  She has opinions about most things, and she’s so funny when you try to take something away from her.  She loves to play with Laney’s crayons, but since she mostly eats them, it’s not usually a good idea!  But if she gets one and I go to take it away from her, she will grab whatever she’s standing next to (usually Laney’s table), square her feet, grit her teeth, and just pull and pull to keep the crayon.  It’s hilarious.  Stubborn child!!  She still loves blankies, especially thrashing around in a big blanket, like a comforter.  She usually takes one nap at school, and still sometimes takes one little evening siesta of a half hour or so. 

So there’s the A-Lou update… turning one next week… I don’t know where the time has gone…

Weeks 48 & 49

So, I’ll be honest, the reason I didn’t post last week wasn’t because I didn’t have time… it was because I didn’t have any pictures! I don’t know what happened, but I somehow forgot to take pictures the last two weeks. Been a crazy couple of weeks, I guess!

The fun part of the last few weeks was Aunt Jess coming to visit from CO! As always, the girls were happy to hang with their Aunt Jess!

While she was here, Jess managed to get a good pic of the fangs (there are definitely 6 now)!

And there’s finally enough hair for a bow… kinda… but it counts!!

One big first from this past week: Audrey’s first major injury:

She was trying to walk towards Laney in front of the TV, and stumbled, and hit her head on the metal drawer pulls on the entertainment center. This is the picture I took when I was panicking, so I texted it to my experts (Mom & Ellen) to see if I needed to be worried about it. But, really, Audrey took it like a champ, stopped crying pretty quick, and was pretty happy. So, no worries! Definitely a big bump, though!

Bath pictures… always cute!

Well, just like her sister, now that Miss A is walking a little, she has to start wearing shoes… so we busted out the cute brown tennies that were Laney’s first shoes!

Audrey’s favorite past time: Mauling Laney!

Audrey’s other newfound love this week has been the cow chairs. Or, really, chairs of any kind.

She loves that she can climb up in the chair on her own, and just turns around and looks so proud of herself. The cow chair is a little big for her, so she can get in, but she can’t get out without it flipping over on her. So, after the first 2 times she flipped the chair on herself, she started refusing to get out on her own. Which meant the chair incidents typically looked like this:

First, she climbs up in the chair, kicks her legs, talks, and just generally acts very pleased with herself...

(PS: The shrieking is the typical noise anytime she notices Truman. Notice as soon as he hears it he clears out- he knows what it means!)

Then she looks around, realizes she wants down, and screams until someone helps her get down.

Once she's down, she just climbs right back up again. So, for my own sanity, the cow chair had to go back into the closet. Maybe we'll get her a shorter chair for her birthday! :)

Anyway, so not many major firsts this week (besides first major bump on the noggin). She is still working on walking, getting steadier and taking more steps together with more control. And we had our first run in with a stomach virus, which was not so awesome. A puking 1 year old… not fun! But it did give us two days home together, and she actually did most of her puking at school! And Audrey is such a happy baby, that even being sick didn't make her too cranky. She still had lots of smiles for me!

Audrey has really started talking, too… and continues to eat like a grown up! I can’t believe that she is almost one… just a few more weeks! We’ve finally decided that her party will be Sunday, March 27th, because Daddy’ll be in town that weekend for a wedding on Saturday. So, she gets to have her cake a little before she turns 1! I am excited for her to be one, to get to stop dragging my pump around, and to get to move her to a bigger car seat, and for her walking to get better… all fun things! :) What a big girl she is getting to be!

Week 47

Woohoo, go me… a post after just one week! :)

It’s been a pretty fun week for Miss A, mostly because Daddy was home for a big part of it… YAY!

And, there has been some good weather, at least for a day or two. So, I decided to break out the girls’ Christmas present and take them for a walk.

Don’t they look cute in matching jean jackets? Daddy’s girls!

And the verdict on the wagon was pretty good. It would have been a lot easier if it wasn’t just me with both the wagon and the dog (one arm was constantly forward, the other constantly back, which started hurting after awhile). And the wagon was not as easy to maneuver as the stroller is, but it was still pretty fun. I did learn that I need to make sure to bring lots of snacks- since both girls could see the snacks, both were eating them! And no green blankets allowed- Audrey kept grabbing it, which made Laney scream, and eventually ended with Laney accidentally throwing it overboard into a puddle, us running over it, and her not telling me until half a block away. So then it was turn the wagon around, turn the dog around, and hope and pray no one else ran over it (someone almost did). But, it was a fun walk, and I think Audrey liked being able to see so much more than she does in the stroller!

Anyway, then, on Thursday night, Daddy came home to visit for a long weekend! Audrey was so cute- she grinned and reached for him when he came in, just like she does when she can see him on the computer. They spent all day Friday home together, and we spent the weekend just hanging out, not doing too much. So, I didn’t take tons of pictures, but I did get a few…

Daddy & his girls- “helping” him study!

One of Audrey’s new favorite trick: using the kitchen chairs as walkers. Yes, she got the chair all the way from the table into the laundry room. She’s strong!

Headed back to the table!

Relaxing with Aunt Yaya after lunch at Teppanyaki.  She had to lay like that ‘cause her tummy was so full!!

Totally blurry… but the only picture I’ve gotten so far of her walking (taken on my phone).  She started out at the green chair, which is her favorite place to walk from.  I think she would have gotten pretty far if it hadn’t been for the jacket on the ground!

Again with the eating… pasta and red sauce is DELICIOUS!

And now that we’re done with pictures, lots of Audrey news this week. First of all, she’s starting to take 2 or 3 (or 4 or 5) steps consistently, which is really fun. It’s still kind of “falling with style” as much as it is walking, but she’s definitely on her way. And, as evidenced by the chair pictures, she’s definitely highly motivated to learn how to walk! Guess we ought to think about getting her some shoes now! :)

She has also, in the last few weeks, seemed to really be getting more solid… i.e., she seems so much bigger, and she’s outgrowing all of her clothes. Well, we went to the doctor on Wednesday, and when they weighed her, I learned it wasn’t just my imagination! She weighed 19 lbs, 11 ounces, which is almost TWO POUNDS more than she weighed a month ago at her 9 month well check! Craziness!  Although, really not all that hard to believe, because this kid eats like it’s going out of style.  I mean, wow… she eats more than Laney a lot of the time.  She has discovered real food, and she LOVES it.  A lot of the time, I can’t cut the food fast enough for her.  She pretty much has the sign language for “more” down, but usually only uses it after she’s screamed and whacked the table a time or two.  Sister wants her food RIGHT NOW!  Guess she gets that honest… from both sides! :)

We went to the doctor to recheck her ears which were, of course, infected again. And she has another round of thrush. Yuck. Call me the binky sterilizing nazi, ‘cause I’m getting rid of this stuff! And then I’m probably literally getting rid of it- b/c I’m going to toss the binkies and buy new ones. Thrush is no fun!

BUT, as far as the ears go, in the last week we also learned that Audrey’s daycare teacher had been laying her down with her bottle, which is a major ear-infection-causing no-no (she no longer works at the daycare now). Since that problem has been taken care of, we’re going to see if another month takes care of the ears for good. Hoping and praying it does!!

And now, since you stuck with it and read all the way to the end… here are a few video treats for you! :)

Audrey LOVES bathtime!

So, Audrey doesn't usually get to take a bath by herself, typically she takes one with Laney, which means there's more water, and she can't really lay down in it. Well, after the red sauce evening, we put her in the bath by herself because she was covered in dinner. I only ran a little water, and she could splash to her heart's content. The result being: one smiley, happy baby, and one drenched bathroom (and Mommy & Aunt Ruthie!).

And then there's this video:

Poor Truman... :) He's the best kitty in the whole world!

So there's the week 47 update! Praying that in another week we can get this thrush under control, and in another month we'll be ear infection free!!

Weeks 45 &46

Well, Audrey is two weeks closer to being 1!! I cannot believe how fast it has been going… Need to be thinking about a birthday party, but with Daddy in KY and everybody else here, I’m not too sure when (or where, since we’re trying to sell the house) it will be!

But, anyway, six weeks still to think of that… on to the past two weeks! Audrey has found several new favorite things to do in the last few weeks.

Unloading the bookshelf…

And unloading the diaper bag! Seriously, if the diaper bag is on the floor, she finds it and empties it. Not cool…

She has also discovered the dvd rack and the shoe rack, and enjoys emptying both of those, too! What is it with babies and emptying things?!

Anyway, it’s been a pretty fun 2 weeks… we had a birthday party for Sam and Mom/Grandma, at our house, since it was too snowy still to get up their driveway!

70ish candles between the two cakes… Audrey was enthralled!

Using Ruthie as a jungle gym… always a good time!

And passed out in the swing… partying is hard work!

(yes, I put her upright in the swing after I took the picture)

Audrey is so interested in everything now, and she’s constantly watching what we’re doing. If you need proof, check out this new trick:

If she gets a phone (or something vaguely phone shaped), it immediately goes up to her ear. Sometimes she starts “talking” in it, too. It’s pretty hilarious!

Biggest developmental milestone for the last few weeks is that Audrey is really standing on her own, and is trying pretty hard to start walking… help us!! :) She’s so funny, because she sometimes forgets to stand still, and will start kicking her feet, which, of course, means she falls over! But she is taking a step or two, so I think that she’s just going to take off any day now…

I thought she’d like pushing this around, so I brought it in from the garage. She likes it, and so does her sister!

In other news, it’s been a not-so-fun couple weeks in tooth world for Miss A. She’s been working on all four teeth across the top, which has made for one cranky baby, who doesn’t sleep very much, which makes for one cranky mommy! Combine that with some thrush, and we’ve had quite the time lately! Hopefully, she is getting over both now, and we’re praying her ears are clear when we go to the doctor next week. If they’re not, then they’ll start talking tubes… :(

But, despite her trouble with teeth and thrush, Audrey is an amazingly good-natured baby. She is typically full of smiles and loves to be held and played with, and LOVES her big sister!

So that’s the A-Lou update. We’re spending the weekend with Daddy this weekend, and we are so excited!!

Weeks 43 & 44

Well, I have to totally admit that I have been not a very good picture taker the last few weeks… I’ve been so busy being a single mom, with Josh gone to Kentucky. But, I did manage to get a few cute ones over the last two weeks! It’s funny, because we’ve been snowed in all week, and I thought early in the week “Awesome, I’ll have no trouble getting a post done!” And then the days just got away from me, and I lost track of what day it even was, until today when I realized I never did a post yesterday… so, here I sit, at 11:00, doing a post!

It’s definitely been an interesting few weeks for us… Josh went to Kentucky, so it’s just the girls around here. We video chat with him on Skype almost every night, which has helped a lot. Even Audrey grins and laughs when she sees him on the computer screen.

We’ve also had some serious snow… like 18 inches of it! Aunt Ruthie snowed herself in with us so I wasn’t by myself with the girls for several days straight. We had a really good time hanging out with both girls, though Audrey picked a rough time to get two new teeth! She was kind of a cranky monster, but she’s getting her middle two top teeth now, so at least she won’t look like a vampire baby for long!

And now some pictures…

She finally has enough hair for it to be static-y!

Looking out at the snow (this was the first storm, not the blizzard)

Big cheese! She really is the happiest baby!

Starting out her modeling career… showing off a cute dress that Aunt Ellen made!

Biscuits and gravy during the blizzard!

Best thing about being snowed in… lots of napping! :)

Snuggle bug! Anytime is a good time for a pink blankie!

Stylin’ in Mommy’s shades!

So, that ended up being more pictures then I expected… but that’s a good thing!

Miss A is working on 6 teeth now, and she’s working really hard at standing up on her own. She pulls up on everything, and is starting to let go for a couple of seconds and stand on her own. Walking can’t be too far behind, which will be a total game changer! :) She thinks Laney is the coolest thing ever, which causes some issues when Laney isn’t so interested in playing with her!

She’s pretty much eating table food now, at least at home. And, man, does she like to eat!! She sees food and starts making these humming noises, and if you don’t give her the food fast enough, the humming turns to insistent “talking,” which then turns to screaming! She really loves bananas, and can put away an entire banana without blinking an eye!

She’s also getting lots better at drinking from a sippy cup, which has been kind of fun (and kind of not, since a lot of the juice ends up running down her front!).

One of my favorite Audrey-isms is when she is tired. She fights sleep even though she’s exhausted, so she just buries her face in her blanket, and then snaps it back up really quick, and makes these humming noises the whole time. As soon as she starts doing that, we stick her in her swing, and she is OUT like a light!

So that’s about it… It’s hard for me to believe that we’re just 2 months from her 1st birthday! Craziness…