Monday, February 28, 2011

9 Months Old


Audrey is 9 months old and growing and going so very fast! She's officially belly-off-the-floor crawling now and good luck keeping up with her! When she's headed toward trouble (cat food, choking hazard, bathroom, dried playdough clumps under the dining table, etc.) she moves even faster! And she's cruising. I mean the almost-walking "cruising". Oh, mercy! She is clearly on a mission to be the busiest kid I've met in a long time!

She has dancing moves, too. Whenever there is music playing she starts to dance. She stands, holds onto something stable with one hand and lets her fanny bounce to the beat. It's so adorable. And it doesn't even have to be music that gets her moving. The other day she stood up against the washing machine while it was agitating and rocked out to the rhythm.

She is still a bit of a....oh, how should I say it delicately?....TERRIBLE sleeper but we've made a few bedtime changes and are seeing small signs of improvement. The poor little cookie has been battling an ear infection since mid-January so we're on our third round of antibiotics and we're crossing our fingers that once this is eventually cleared up, her night waking will subside.

She eats like a champ as long as she feels well (big sister doesn't like to share her toys but about once a month shares a lovely preschool respiratory virus making Audrey one of the most boogery babies we know). She prefers to feed herself so I've had to get fairly creative with finger foods that can be chewed with only 4 front teeth! And we basically mop after every meal because she has a little trouble delivering the majority of her meal to her mouth.

She continues to have a delightfully charming personality although more and more feistiness (she is a Gemini, after all) is emerging every day. Look out world, here she comes!










Thursday, February 24, 2011

Miss Chiff

Audrey is into everything these days. Everything that she's not supposed to be into, that is. If it's off limits...Audrey wants it and usually finds a way to get it. Everything goes into the mouth for a taste and big sister's toys are a top priority on her search for trouble! She's really started to protest when we take something away. She squeals, screams and even grunts at us. It's comical at this age. We'll see if it's still funny 6 months from now.


a pen


a gift bag


Natalie's princess doll.

She loves these and it drives Natalie nuts!


the cat

Oh, sweet, patient Scarlet. The other day I found Audrey sucking on Scarlet's tail. Oh, ick. Hopefully we won't have a baby coughing up hairballs anytime soon. We have enough coughing going on in this house as it is.


the only fitting punishment!

Friday, February 18, 2011

Curly Girl

Natalie has wanted curly hair for months. She begs me to let it air dry instead of blow drying it because a small amount of natural wave emerges that way. She's been known to knot her hair into a "curl" and then admire it in front of the mirror throughout the day and she always talks about Aunt Kristen's and Aunt Amber's naturally curly hair.

Well, when she received $10 in a Valentine from Grandma Lala and Papa Rod, I suggested she buy some spongy curlers for her hair. I told her about the pink foam curlers that I wore to bed as a kid not knowing if they even still existed! She put her ten bucks in her favorite purse and our search began. We found them at Target and, miraculously, they were 9.99. She was so excited she skipped to the check-out where she tossed her 10 dollar bill on the conveyor belt and gripped her curlers and her purse in the other hand. After reluctantly handing the curlers over to be scanned and waiting not-so-patiently for her frazzled mother to locate enough change to cover the tax, her transaction was complete and she squealed, "I have my very own buhseet (receipt) now! What should I do with it?" The sales clerk was cracking up.

We did a trial curler run during her nap and then got serious before bed. About an hour after putting her down she called us in her room and with sad tear-filled eyes told us that the curlers weren't comfortable and she wanted them out. But as soon as I started to loosen them she changed her mind and decided to hang in there until morning.




This morning, the ringlets were more than she could have hoped for. When she looked at her locks in the mirror she said, "I feel like I have a whole new life!" Oh, brother! She and her hair bounced into school this morning feeling like a million bucks and looking just as cute!

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Pink Party!

Natalie had a pink party for her birthday this year. She, of course, wore pink, we asked her friends to wear pink, we ate pink cupcakes, drank pink lemonade and played pink games. What's a pink game, you ask? Well, instead of Duck, Duck, Goose, we played Purple, Purple, Pink and instead of Hot Potato, we played Hot PINK Potato with a potato that Natalie and I painted bright pink.








We also had a balloon twister come and join us and he was a hit. What a talented guy...he made poodles (pink ones, of course), flowers, lady bugs, butterflies, fairy wings to wear and an over-the-top crown for the blushing birthday girl. I've never seen four year olds so captivated!






It was a beautiful day at the park and almost everyone could join us. Natalie looked so Natalie-esque...dressed head to toe in pink, sporting her tutu, wearing a couple crowns and all the while exposing her little bruised I-may-dress-like-a-princess-but-I-still-have-a-ton-of-rough-and-tumble-fun shins.

What a fun pink sugar high it was!

Thursday, February 10, 2011

We're sick of it!

Sick of being sick, that is! For Natalie's birthday, her big present was a super cute, super pink, gingham comforter. She got a big girl bed a while ago when Audrey needed the toddler bed turned back into a crib but it took me a while to find a comforter option that worked in their new shared bedroom. I use the word "share" very loosely. Audrey has yet to spend the night in this shared bedroom because she is the worst roomate EVER and we are reluctant to disrupt Natalie's very good night. Well, anyway, it didn't occur to me that upon dressing her bed with this new cute stuff that our birthday girl would crawl in and not crawl out...for days!

Natalie is on the mend. She's been making Valentines and couch cushion houses all day. That is a good sign. Audrey is probably in the thick of the worst today and hopefully will start getting better and less boogery by the weekend. Nana is here and, as usual, is a trooper by day and by night. We've lost a week of our life to feeling crummy but it just makes us appreciate feeling good, I suppose.




Wednesday, February 2, 2011

4 Years Old!


Our little groundhog turned 4 years old today! 4. I can't believe it. It seems like yesterday that we brought our little pink bundle home from the hospital and today she celebrated her special day at preschool with her friends (in pink, of course)! Corey took her to school today and ended up staying to volunteer in her class for over an hour. He had a great time and Natalie had a blast sharing part of her school day with him.

As we begin year number 5...
Natalie is smart as a whip,
loves art of any kind (painting, coloring, drawing, "scissoring" etc.),
is excited by all things princess from dressing like one to playing with princess dolls to wearing princess nail polish.
She adores her baby sister...until Audrey grabs for a favorite toy and then Natalie likes to yell, "choking hazard!...Audrey has a choking hazard!" so that we come running to the rescue. Sometimes Audrey really does have her little hands on a choking hazard, but it's more likely she has a Little Pony and, although we appreciate Natalie's diligence, I doubt a baby has ever choked on a Little Pony (they're roughly the size of a coffee mug!).
She has a beautiful singing voice and is not afraid to use it.
She positively, absolutely, without a doubt would rather be at preschool than anywhere else!
She loves rainbows even more than she loves the color pink.
She seems to be a very good little friend.
She loves chocolate as much as her parents do and she loves to help me bake.
She's sweet. She's sassy.
She's beautiful and a bit bossy.
She's a brilliant little bundle of energy,
asks good questions,
has a kind heart
and a contagious smile.
She's one special little girl.


Happy Birthday, precious girl!