Tuesday, October 31, 2006

Scary Moments



Since it is Halloween, I thought it would be appropriate to share one of the scariest things Audrey does - she walks down the stairs forward now. She holds onto the wall and precariously puts one leg down to the step below. Then she kind of plops down on her little behind and pulls her other leg over the stair.

I know this is the natural evolution of things, but it still scares me tremendously. There are so many times I am sure she is going to tumble, but she manages to recover just fine.

These pictures were taken this morning at the top of the stairs. Isn't her Halloween shirt cute!

Sunday, October 29, 2006

Practice makes perfect

We thought it would be fun to give Audrey a chance to practice trick-or-treating at Grandma and Grandpa's house so that she would know what to do when the big day arrives.Here she is - somewhat perplexed at having to stand outside in the cold dressed as a duck instead of just going inside.
Then she was even more surprised that Grandma greeted her with a bag of candy instead of a big hug as per the usual. In the end, the practice was probably not as helpful as I thought it would be, but we all had a good time.

Saturday, October 28, 2006

Fancy Carseat


Even though Audrey is still just shy of the recommended 20 pounds, we decided to put her forward anyway. Here she is chewing on her cell phone, wearing her beret and holding her baby doll - all the necessities for a girl on the go. We love her magic seat - she regularly falls asleep in it because it is so comfy.

Tuesday, October 24, 2006

Baby Sign

Audrey is learning baby sign language in an attempt to allow her to communicate before she can talk. So far she signs "more", "food or eat" and "baby".

It is precious to see her do it, especially because she gets distracted by her own fascinating fingers. For example when she does the sign for "more" (which is bringing your fingers together in front of you) she will often stop and just start playing with her fingers while she has them all together anyway. And when she does the sign for "eat" (which is bringing your hand to your mouth), she usually keeps going and ends up putting her fingers all the way into her mouth, just to see how they taste.

Saturday, October 21, 2006

What's Up Doc?

The other day when I was cutting up carrots, I let Audrey gnaw on a large carrot. She was happy for almost a full hour cutting teeth on this carrot. Here she is outside on the deck gnawing away.

Thursday, October 19, 2006

Upside Down


Audrey loves to be upside down. In fact, if you say, "upside down" she will put her head on the floor and look through her legs, as seen here.

Wednesday, October 18, 2006

Pure Cream

Yesterday I figured out a good way to give Audrey some extra fat in her diet without much sugar. After finishing her dinner, I put some heavy whipped cream (with a touch of powdered sugar) into a bowl and gave her a spoon. She was extremely pleased with this idea.

Aside from the mess, this seemed to work out famously.

Tuesday, October 17, 2006

15 Month Old Vital Stats

We visited the doctor yesterday for her 15 month well-baby visit.

Height - 30 1/4 inches
Weight - 18 pounds 8 ounces

As you can see she is a small but adorable little person.

Monday, October 16, 2006

Alumni Fan Club

Ryan helped Audrey create these pictures, so that he could rub in BYU's win to the Aggies in the family.

Friday, October 13, 2006

I'm talking to the duck in the mirror

This is Audrey seeing herself as the duck for the first time. As you can see, she was a little trepidatious about the big puff ball staring back at her.

Sunday, October 08, 2006

Duck, Duck, Audrey



After much deliberation, the duck narrowly beat Nemo for this year's Halloween costume. This sneak preview at Grandma's house let us get a few early pictures. The funny thing about Audrey is that she seems to really like dressing up in these crazy getups. I think she just loves all the postive attention and gushing that she gets from being such a cute duck.
Now if we can only get her to say "quack quack"...

Saturday, October 07, 2006

Dirt

Inevitably kids are drawn to dirt. But I was still surprised yesterday when I saw Audrey with a strange expression of distate on her face with a mouth full of it. With 8 teeth in various lengths, her mouth is a little more dangerous for mommy's fingers than it used to be. It was no easy task to get that dirt out of that little mouth.

Shoes

Audrey loves shoes. She associates shoes with going outside and there is nothing better than going outside. In fact, it seems to be her goal in life to spend as much time outside as possible.

If there are shoes anywhere within her reach she will bring them to me so that I can put them on her feet. In this picture, she is bringing both her shoes and my shoes to me. After I oblige and put the shoes on, she will take my hand and start pulling me either to the door of the porch or the stairs going down to go out.

Which brings up another interesting point, she says about 6 words consistently - daddy, uh oh, all done, cheese, shoes and out or outside. They usually go in this order - cheese (when I open the fridge door), uh oh (as she is dropping the cheese on the floor), all done (along with her signs for that), shoes (accompanied with pointing in the general direction of her shoes) and outside (while pulling me along).

Thursday, September 28, 2006

DVD Favorite

Here you see a picture of Audrey sitting on the couch watching the "Little People" dvd that came free with her farm set. It is her favorite show. I keep the little cardboard container up high so that she can't see it. My thinking was - out of sight, out of mind. However, it hasn't exactly worked that way. Instead she comes over to me and raises her arms (indicating that she wants to be picked up) and then points to the not so clever hiding spot for her dvd. If I try to pretend like I don't know what she is talking about she squirms to get it herself or if I ask if she wants to watch it she laughs with excitement.

Notice Farmer Bob in her overalls pocket - he is her favorite little people character. She also loves her little cloth doll. And while she is watching the dvd, she loves to hold/maul the cover.

Thursday, September 21, 2006

Discovering Sunshine

My little sunshine was discovering the sunshine today on the rug in the library.

My little sunshine was discovering the sunshine today on the rug in the library.

Monday, September 18, 2006

Mischievous



Audrey loves to play in the pantry and I tend to let her if I am trying to get something done in the kitchen. So yesterday, while I was doing the dishes, she pulled out the bag of cheerios and was shaking it. This has happened many times before without incident, so I wasn't really paying attention. I look up to see Audrey sitting in a pile of cheerios in the middle of the living room. She was picking them up and dropping them and eating a few, then repeating the whole sequence.

Luckily, she enjoyed helping me pick up the cheerios and put them back into the bag, just as much as she enjoyed playing with them on the floor.

Sunday, September 17, 2006

My two front teeth

It is finally here!! Audrey's other top front tooth just broke through the gums. Soon she will be able to bite with both teeth and take an even cuter picture.

On a side note, all of this teething all at once is taking its toll on the mommy - who is v. tired. I am hoping this is going to be the last in this round. 3 in the span of a 10 days has resulted in lots of long nights.

Thursday, September 14, 2006

Funny Girl


Little Audrey's sense of humor is coming out more and more each day. The other day, she discovered that it is funny (i.e., that her parents laughed out loud) when she puts things on her head. Now she puts all kinds of things on there just to see if it will make us laugh. My favorite (which I didn't capture on film) was when she put some pink bloomers on her head first thing in the morning.

In this picture you can see that she put the sunglasses on her head the wrong way and then she forgot about them when she came to eat.

Monday, September 11, 2006

Peeling the walls



Grandma and I have been working hard to get Audrey's room looking very cute. We painted the walls two different colors, a lighter celery green on the top and a darker sage green on the bottom. We put up a border between the two colors that matches her bed set and we have matching window treatments to put up this week.

We finished the border on Wednesday and I thought I had given the border plenty of time to set before I put Audrey's bed close to the wall again and put some of her other furniture back in the room as well. So this afternoon I did all the rearranging before putting her down for a nap.

Apparently, that was not my best idea. As you can see, Audrey didn't sleep at all, she was too busy peeling the border off the wall - and shredding it. Luckily, from what I can tell, she didn't eat any of the border.

Another Tooth!!

I knew Audrey was getting lots of teeth all at once. I can feel them right below the surface of her gums, but it is still fun and surprising to see which teeth make it out first.

The funny thing about the latest tooth, is that it is a top tooth on the left of her left front tooth. So she is getting teeth on either side of her mouth, making it so she still only has one matching set (top and bottom) that she can bite with.


Top teeth: 2 (all on the left side of her mouth)
Bottom teeth: 3 (1 left, 2 right)

Sorry if this is confusing, I will try to get a picture as soon as these latest teeth are actually visible.

Saturday, September 09, 2006

Watch Out, Nemo

Watch out Nemo - here comes Audrey!

Audrey's mom has a strange affinity for the costumes that are puffy and soft - especially when the costume has a tail. Luckily, Audrey is a good sport about trying them on - and she is the cutest little clown fish ever!!

In the top picture, Audrey headed for the stairs as soon as the costume was on.

In the bottom picture you can see her top tooth as she struggles to free herself. She would not hold still for a picture because she liked walking in the fish suit so much.

Wednesday, September 06, 2006

Squatter


Audrey loves to squat down and play with things and then stand up move a few feet or yards and then squat down and play again.

Here she is seen playing with two of her favorite things, the remote and her baby doll.

Teething game

Audrey just had another tooth break through on the bottom. This is her teeth score:

Bottom teeth - 3
Top teeth - 1 (a bit of a cheat even because she busted her gums open to get this one out)

We are all hoping the top teeth make a comeback soon and tie up the game. Chewing will be so much easier with a few more teeth.

Tuesday, September 05, 2006

Remote Control


Audrey loves to walk the remote control(s) around.

Tuesday, August 29, 2006

Outside

Audrey has discovered the joys of going outside. We have a glass door to a deck right off the kitchen and today I looked over and she was kissing the door.

Wednesday, August 23, 2006

New due

Hair can be tricky at any age, but at 13 months...

Audrey has long hair on top and short/no hair elsewhere. So in order to keep the long hair out of her eyes while it is growing, I have been using a hair clip to the side. This worked well, until Audrey figured out that they were always there. Now she pulls them out (even when it hurts and makes herself cry) and tries to put them back in (after a taste or two).

So I tried the "ouchless" pony-tail holders, pig-tail style on top of her head. Unfortunately, her hair is not thick enough to fill out two pig-tails. Finally the solution is, one Pebbles-style pony-tail right on top.

Tuesday, August 22, 2006

Call for pictures

Hey friends and family,

I know most of you who read this are far away and don't get to see little Audrey very often, so I have a favor to ask of you.

I have a little book with pictures of people who love Audrey. Lately, it has been her favorite book. She loves to look through the pictures of people and point to them. The only problem is, I don't have very many pictures. So if you have any pictures of yourselves that you would be willing to share, please send them to me.

My hope is that by seeing everyone's pictures, Audrey will be able to warm up to people she doesn't get to see very often much more quickly (and remember people longer).

Any picture will work. Please keep in mind, Audrey will enjoy seeing pictures of the people who love her as much as you enjoy seeing pictures of her.

Thanks in Advance.

Monday, August 21, 2006

Daddy's Girl

Today at dinner time...

Ryan: while speaking to Audrey, "Where's Daddy?"

Audrey: looks directly at Ryan, points to him and says, "Daddy"

We both responded by clapping and being very enthusiastic. When Ryan tried to teach her "Mommy" by pointing at me, etc., Audrey clapped enthusiastically for him. It was as if she was saying, "very good Daddy, you know who Mommy is."

Saturday, August 19, 2006

Snaggle tooth

Audrey's front bottom two teeth are old news. And several times I thought she was just about to get the top teeth, but they haven't popped out yet. That was until the garbage can helped her out - about two weeks ago...

Audrey was trying to push the kitchen garbage can again and tripped a little. She banged her mouth on the edge but didn't fall, so I thought she was okay, until we saw blood. She cut her upper gums on her left side. It all healed nicely within a few days, except for a little white spot of a tooth that was exposed on that side. Now that little white spot is really on its way down, while on the other side, the tooth is still hiding safely below the surface.

Somehow, Audrey manages to still look amazingly beautiful even with a snaggle tooth.

Thursday, August 17, 2006

Pool time

While we were in Utah, Audrey had her first pool experience. She liked it - except for the water over her head part.

Now that we are home, I set up the little blow-up pool on our back deck and jimmy rigged the hose up to the second floor to fill it up with water. Audrey was thrilled. I made her wear little non-slip booties on her feet to prevent both slipping and splinters, but she didn't mind at all. As long as she could haul the water out of the pool and onto the deck for redistribution, she was a happy camper.

Bud's Wedding

Audrey's Aunt Bud just got married and this was the dress Bud picked out for Audrey and Tori. It was almost as if Audrey knew she looked fancy. She kept showing off for everyone. If no one was around to show off for, she walked around until she found someone.

In this picture she is on her way out of the reception in search of new people to make friends with.

Packing Fun


Audrey is always trying to help. Here she is sitting inside my suitcase and pulling out all of the stuff I put into it. She was quite pleased to discover just how much fun suitcases can be.

Fancy Shoes


In order to get ready for Aunt Bud's wedding, Audrey had to practice wearing shoes. Here she is seen examining them very closely.

Sunday, August 06, 2006

table talk

It seems like everyday stuff to me, but today Grandpa (my dad) asked what Audrey likes to eat and I realized that this everyday stuff, may still be of interest to the rest of you.

Audrey's favorite foods so far are - bananas, apples, corn, yogurt, chicken, and whatever I am eating.

Recently, Audrey has really taken to scrambled eggs. She even says eggs - which actually sounds more like a slow "x" - but she is close.

She now likes to feed herself and almost won't let me spoon feed her anymore. With eggs, that isn't too much of a problem, but yogurt, applesauce and babyfoods are scary. I have visions of food flying every time I reluctantly hand over the spoon. Thankfully she really is aiming for her mouth, so the food hasn't flown too far yet....

Her Aunt William came up with a game where she basically chanted "A" or "O" depending on the finger food and then put it in Audrey's mouth. Well, the game is a huge hit and Audrey now chants the "A" and "uh" (her version of "O") at each meal.

Basically there isn't anything that Audrey won't eat. She will make a this-is-awful-face while eating her food if she doesn't like it, but when that bite is over, she will still open her mouth for another.

Monday, July 31, 2006

Red Duck

Little Audrey is a chatterbox. She is constantly talking and humming. She isn't however actually saying anything. That is until Thursday. On Thursday she felt inspired to start actually saying something. She attempted a "Hi", and then said "Duck" and later on "red". The only one she says with any consistency is "Duck" pronounced "cuck". A funny first word indeed.

Monday, July 24, 2006

Happy 1st Birthday!



Audrey had her 1st Birthday on July 22. At the party she encountered her first cake and she did not understand how to blow out the candle. This picture was captured seconds before I blew out the candle and that precariously perched hand, dove straight into the cake.

Friday, July 14, 2006

Walking like a champ

Audrey is now "officially" walking. She no longer utilizes her knees at all - except for with the stairs and only then because it can't be helped.

Since she is walking so well, I thought it was time for her to try walking outside, she of course, had other ideas - namely, sitting. The sidewalk was just far too interesting for walking around on, she had to inspect close up first.

Thursday, July 06, 2006

Three Kids in a Basket


This weekend, Kalyn and Bryan came up with their kids (Ali and Josie) for the 4th of July Weekend. It was lovely having them here and Audrey enjoyed having some kids to play with. She did not however, appreciate the game of sitting in the basket nearly as much as Ali and Josie.

Friday, June 30, 2006

The not-so-helpful Helper

Audrey has become quite the "helper" these days.

Just this morning, she helped me unload all the clean dishes, by taking out as many spoons as she could and throwing them on the floor.

Then when I was feeding her some cream of wheat, she helped feed herself by grabbing the cereal from the spoon and smearing it all over her face, followed by a precious look-mom-i-did-it-all-by-myself smile from ear to ear.

In general she helps with all of the household chores, she rearranges books, scatters clean socks and makes sure we have secret stashes of cheerios stowed away in all kinds of clever places.

Wednesday, June 28, 2006

Confidence is contagious

Today Audrey and I stopped over at a friends house. Her little boy is 2 months older than Audrey and is already quite a walking pro. As soon as Audrey saw him walking around the house so confidently, she immediately abandoned crawling and started showing off her walking skills as well. She took a few tumbles, but she managed to stay on her feet during most of the visit. It was like a light bulb went off in her head. When she saw another little person walking so well, she knew she could do it too.

Monday, June 26, 2006

Camera MIA

Hey friends and family,

I have unfortunately misplaced my camera, so pics are probably going to be a while in coming. In the meantime, I will endeavor to share some cute anecdotes when I can. And who knows maybe I will get a new camera for my birthday and be able to take eyes-open pictures in the relatively near future.

Thursday, June 22, 2006

These Feet were made for walkin'

Saturday June 17th, Audrey took her first official step. Since then she has been taking a few steps at a time throughout the course of her adventures during the day. The funny and perhaps unusual thing is that she always has at least one, often two, things in her hands. She will take a step towards us while gripping her favorite book, toy or puzzle piece tightly.

Friday, June 09, 2006

So big!


Audrey loves to play a game we like to call "So big!" The game basically consists of us saying "so big" several times, while Audrey raises her hands above her head to show us how big she is. It is good clean fun for the whole family.

(her dress is tucked into her bloomers to make it easier for her to crawl)

Thursday, June 08, 2006

Walking the...


garbage can around the kitchen has never been so much fun!

Audrey loves to push the garbage can around the kitchen. She hasn't quite mastered the whole steering aspect yet, but she doesn't seem to mind. She just trys to pull the trash out when she hits a wall or a rug. Lucky me.

Wednesday, May 24, 2006

A cold

Audrey has a cold. She has a raspy little cough and a runny nose. I think the worst part of the cold from Audrey's perspective is having her nose wiped. She really does not like that and puts up quite a fight. Otherwise she seems pretty happy, just a little more clingy and tired.

Sunday, May 21, 2006

Teeth


I finally got a picture of her cute little teeth. She just has the two bottom teeth, but she makes the most of them and a bite from her can hurt. (Just ask her Aunt Bud, who got a good bite on the chin over vacation.)

Saturday, May 20, 2006

Williamsburg Strawberry

We took a lovely family vacation last week to Williamsburg, VA.

This is a picture of Audrey (in a cute strawberry outfit) and I in the Governor's Mansion gardens at Colonial Williamsburg.

Saturday, May 06, 2006

Audrey Buckets



Aunt William called Audrey - Audrey Buckets, from the very first time they met.

So of course, I couldn't resist a few pictures of Audrey playing with her toys with the bucket on her head. She left it on her head the whole time she was playing. Though she was terribly surprised whenever she waved the rake a little too close and it banged the bucket on her head. She wasn't too fond of that part of being a bucket-head at all.

Monday, May 01, 2006

Stair Master

It is a very scary day at our house. Audrey has learned how to climb stairs!

Considering the fact that we live in a townhouse, it is actually a good skill for her to master. However, that doesn't mean I want her climbing the stairs before she can walk, talk or understand what I am saying to her.

She has been able to do a courtesy stair here and there (to reach shoelaces that we put up a couple of steps to be out of her reach) for a week or so. But the other day, she just felt inspired and kept on going. I stayed a step below her all the way up, and then I made her work her way back down the stairs just like my dad taught me when I was little. She really wasn't so fond of the going down, but by the end she was cooperating her little legs, going down one knee then the other then reaching one foot down and then the other and repeating.

The most scary part of letting her climb the stairs on her own, was watching her practice her standing techniques on each step. Why in the world she wanted to have both hands free was a mystery to me - I certainly didn't.

Thursday, April 27, 2006

Broccoli Squirrel

Audrey likes to just put things in her mouth and leave them there - saving them for chewing up or other further processing at some future point.

Sometimes after feeding her some finger foods, I will think she is done and clean her up and set her down to play. Ten minutes later she will start chewing and so I will rush over to her and make her give me the contents of her mouth, only to discover that it is legitimate food that she has just saved in her cute chubby cheeks.

Last night, we gave her some steamed broccoli. She liked it a lot and I thought she had eaten most of it. I was wrong on that one. I went to nurse her right before putting her to bed. When she opened her mouth, I couldn't help laughing. She had a big wad of green broccoli tucked into the side of her cheek.

Monday, April 24, 2006

Future Chocolate Connoisseur?


I made the mistake of leaving our box of Easter chocolates within Audrey's reach. I soon discovered her working diligently to get to figure out what was in the box.

Sunday, April 23, 2006

Raisin Toes


This picture is of Miss Audrey after playing in the bathtub for a little too long. She is fascinated by her raisin toes. Also, when her hair is wet, it looks like she has a lot more of it.

Friday, April 21, 2006

Will work for ...



shoe laces!

I wish I was kidding, but Miss Audrey loves nothing so much as shoe laces. She will untie any shoe she sees and immediately tries to put the laces in her mouth. If you want to make friends with Audrey, wear shoes with laces.

Wednesday, April 19, 2006

Easter Beauty with her Daddy


Audrey looked especially beautiful in her Easter finery.


Audrey and her Daddy dancing around. A big thank you to the Greats for the Easter dress.

Friday, April 14, 2006

Seeing the Easter Bunny


Audrey wasn't thrilled with the Easter bunny. She tolerated him and didn't cry, but she certainly was not as excited by seeing an adult sized moving bunny as I thought (or hoped) she might be.

Either way, she looked dashing in the cute pink dress that her aunt Danielle sent her.

Breaking news... A TOOTH!!

After what seems like several weeks of swollen gums and fussiness, Audrey's first tooth finally broke through her gums!!

As soon as it is visible, rest assured, there will be pictures. In the meantime, I could feel it with my finger. It is the front bottom left tooth and I am quite sure the bottom right tooth is just a few days behind.

Friday, April 07, 2006

A jungle gym or a jail...

but not a crib.

Since Audrey discovered the joys of standing in her crib, she no longer wants to sleep in it. I only wish I was kidding. She is just too curious for her own good. She just has to try standing one more time - no matter how tired she is.

When I put her down to sleep with a full belly and droopy eyes, I now find her standing up crying 5 minutes later because she can't get down or she throws the pacifier overboard or she can't hold herself up with one hand and she really wants to rub those poor tired eyes. So I'll go in and fix whatever ails her and then put her back down only to come to the same end.

The alternative is equally pathetic. She will sit facing out with her hands on the bars, trying to shake them to get our attention. It is as if she is literally trying to say, "let me out!"

I am hoping this phase comes quickly to an end - otherwise, she may be sleeping in her much-less-exciting - pack'n play very soon.

Thursday, April 06, 2006

So pleased with myself!


Over the last 10 days, Audrey has made huge developmental strides.

She is now completely crawling on all fours - no more army crawling. And nothing gets in her way, she will crawl right over anything she can. And she is picking up more speed everyday.

She can come to sitting on her own. She has been sitting up without support for a week or two, but now, she can come to sitting on her own too.

And now... She can come to standing on her own too!! Yesterday I put her down for a nap and she was just chatting for a bit and then she got quiet, so I thought she was sleeping - I could not have been more wrong. I decided to peek in on her and this is what I saw... Little Audrey standing up with the biggest smile I have ever seen! Now if only I could get her to keep her eyes open for pictures.



(Don't worry we dropped her mattress down in her crib last night.)

Wednesday, April 05, 2006

Hi Mom


Audrey is so cute. She looks up at us whenever she is doing something and smiles. And with her new mobility, she starts to crawl after us. In some ways she is kind of like having a puppy now - she is always underfoot.