Cow Bowling

While I haven't had a chance to blog about Audrey's fabulous Christmas(es) this past weekend, I didn't want to forget this one:

As part of her second installment of Christmas yesterday, Audrey received a bowling set which includes a cow as the ball and milk cartons as the pins. It's actually quite cute. I put it in the living room last night after we got home, and I just knew that Audrey's daddy would help her set it up this morning. And he did.

While I was upstairs getting ready for work, I could hear him downstairs teaching her the finer points of bowling. As we typically do, I took over downstairs while Eric got ready upstairs. Audrey asked me to bowl with her, so I thought I'd give it a try.

I was horrible. I could not hit a single milk carton, er, pin. After several bad attempts, Audrey looked at me and said,

"Um, mommy. You're supposed to hit the pins. Yeah, hit the pins!"

Thank you, dear.

Eventually, I started knocking a few pins down. After Audrey decided I may be slight competition, she asked to take a turn. She knocked down 3 pins, and very loudly yelled:

"GO CUBS!!"

Hopeless. Hopeless, I tell you.

To Uncle Brian

Ok, I can't figure out how to get this to rotate, but perhaps Uncle Brian can :)

Merry Christmas!

Two Year Stats

Audrey started off her 2 year well-child visit by telling her pediatrician where to sit! When her doctor came in the room, Audrey pointed and said, "Dr. Mazurek's chair!" Her doctor loves her and fully understood what she had said, and so, of course, she took a seat!

Audrey remains tiny - 24 lbs (18th percentile), 31.75 inches (11th percentile) - but the doctor assured me (as she has done at every visit) that Audrey continues to grow at her own pace. Audrey ate half a pizza for lunch afterwards so this helped her mom feel better as well...

Dr. Mazurek sat down to tell us at the end of the appointment how special she believes Audrey is. A beautiful combination of brains and social butterfly, an unusual and thus refreshing combination.

We think we'll keep her. :)

Two Years Old!

Audrey had a fabulous 2nd birthday. She woke at her usual time - early - but Eric got her to stay in bed and read to her animals while we slept a little later. When only the dog ended up falling back to sleep, Eric and I decided to go wish Audrey a Happy Birthday together.

Her birthday (and Eric's) has been all she has been talking about. "Audrey's so excited!" she would say out of the blue, and then reference her upcoming birthday. "Audrey's going to be 2!" and the past couple days she added, "and Daddy's 34!" So, I knew she just couldn't wait to start the day.

We walked into her room to wish her a Happy Birthday. She was excited but indicated that she was in the middle of one book and had one more left to finish. Well, ok, then. She quickly looked thru the last book as Eric had taken a seat in her room, and I reminded her that, at this hour of the day, I wasn't this excited for any other reason than it was her birthday morning.

She was excited to head downstairs to see the 'prise from Eric and I. Eric had worked hard to get her new play kitchen assembled prior to this morning. The reviews for the kitchen were glowing from a play perspective but were consistently bad from the assembly perspective. I think Eric did a great job and it looks perfect.

Audrey first spotted the Christmas tree with lots of (newly) wrapped gifts under it but quickly lost interest when none of them looked like a true 'prise for this morning. So, she headed in the kitchen and walked right past her kitchen! What caught her eye instead? A nice platter of cupcakes (which of course she then wanted for breakfast). Eric turned her around and then she saw it.

Speechless. Mouth gaping open. I hear her whisper, "A kitchen!" She was so excited! We never found the pots and pans that were to come with it but we just so happen to have a few of those around our own kitchen. She keeps asking me when her microwave will beep but I told her she has to make the sound! She also turned on the burner, and then turned to me and said, "Mommy, this is broke!" No, this is what pretend play is all about! No bells or whistles! Except those that come out of your own imagination! She loves it though so it's definitely a big hit. We did have a minor incident with her cup of milk. No, your refrigerator does NOT keep your mild sufficiently cold. Thankfully, we found it after only a few hours in her frig...

We opened her cards and gifts. I can't believe what thoughtful gifts she got. She loved the letter blocks from Aunt A and Uncle A (especially noting which blocks match in color)! A second gift was from a good friend of mine from grad school. I cried when she opened it as she had thought of Audrey and her red hair during a recent trip to Ireland. She brought back for Audrey a gorgeous green sweater from the Emerald Isle, which I can't wait for Audrey to wear.

We also got her two year pictures taken today. She was not happy to have a brown dress with perfectly matched headband paired with red shoes. However, she was in full support of this ensemble after I told her that her red shoes were her "splash of color". She tried to repeat this often while wearing the shoes (things not matching *really* bother her!). but instead would say, "splash of shoes!" The photographer told Audrey that she was the best two year-old she had ever photographed. She likely changed her mind as the next prop the photographer planned to use was a white chair, but Audrey said, "No, Audrey wants the rocking chair!"

We then had a great lunch (complete with a pink balloon). And, after a nap, we headed to the Children's Museum. She loved the carousel rides, and I loved watching her take in the magic of the stars on the top of the carousel and the pony beneath her. She even got to play with a play kitchen in a giant dollhouse at the museum!

I can't believe it's been two years. When the clock struck 8 AM this year, Audrey was pirouetting in the mirror, saying "Audrey's so cute!" while admiring herself in her dress. Oh what many, many things have changed in two years! And how blessed we truly are.

Birthdays

Audrey is just so excited about her upcoming birthday. She's also very excited about Eric's birthday. She will sing Happy Birthday to him, and then sing to wish herself happy birthday. I decided to tell Audrey what we had bought for Eric's birthday, knowing full well we may not make it until Saturday keeping this surprise. I told Audrey this was a secret, and we were not to tell him so that he is surprised.

This morning, as is typical, I was upstairs getting ready while Eric and Audrey were downstairs having their typical breakfast: grits (or oatmeal depending on the request). I heard Audrey say to Eric:

"Secret! Daddy's birthday present - secret!"

I hear Eric ask her what the secret is, what's the present?

I hold my breath. I figure with me being out of sight, she'll let it slip.

"Surprise, daddy! 'Prise!"

Maybe we will just make it to Saturday!

Red cheeks

Conversation following yesterday's nap:

Me: Audrey, your cheeks are so red!

Audrey looks at me very seriously.

A: No, mommy, my HAIR is so red!

Santa Claus

Audrey was so excited that Santa would be making an appearance at school. I talked with her about what to expect, even had her sit on my lap and pretend that I was Santa, asking Santa's typical questions. Her initial request from Santa was to have him bring her a reindeer, but she later changed to request a doll or a train. Audrey confirmed with me that I would be there with my camera, and indeed I was.

When I arrived to pick her up, she remained excited about seeing Santa. She took my hand, and we headed to the room with Santa. She walked in with me, spotted him, and we walked toward him.

I noticed Audrey slowing down. I bent down to clarify that she's still planning to sit on his lap.

I heard a very quiet, "No."

So, Audrey really didn't like Santa. No surprise there. He's a great idea from a distance, but up close, not so much. It seemed that every parent was there, coaxing their child to go sit on this strange person's lap. All the kids I could see were quite distressed, and the ones who weren't were the ones who had already been distressed by having to approach Santa.

I thought with some reassurance that curious Audrey would approach Santa. The next kid to sit on Santa's lap was little Ian from Audrey's class. He looked content on Santa's lap, so I called Audrey's attention to how big Ian is and look at how he brave he is!

No sooner did Audrey look to see her friend Ian than did big tears start rolling down his face!

I decided that I wasn't going to make her go up to Santa if she didn't on her own. But, then Santa spotted Audrey and held out a sticker for her. Tempting.

Hmmm...maybe I'll just go grab the sticker and run.

With the help of the photographer, Audrey willingly approached Santa, who put her princess sticker on her sweater. Audrey was content with that, but not so much when Santa picked her up.

Maybe next year.

Sure hope Santa gets paid well because there was an awful lot of crying in that room!

Aunt Christy!

After a really busy week and a now full recovery from croup, I finally have some time to update Audrey's blog.

Audrey was still feeling pretty miserable last Saturday morning and after Eric left to get some work done, Audrey just wanted to lay around on me. This is so rare that I enjoyed her snuggling up with me. Despite taking a good nap in her own bed, she continued to lay around on me until early afternoon.

Right up until Aunt Christy arrived!

Though she continued to cough often, she had no time to lay around. She had skills to show off and toys to share with Aunt Christy! We made our first trip to the Children's Museum while Aunt Christy was here, and it was a big hit. Audrey loved the carousel and even got to sit on a big alligator!

Audrey continues to talk about Aunt Christy's visit, pointing out where Aunt Christy's place is at the table and where she slept at night. She is now sleeping with the kitty that Aunt Christy brought and enjoying her new book. Audrey often reminds me that Aunt Christy went home to see Mike (while somehow missing a large snowstorm!).

Audrey can't wait to see Aunt Christy again! She's been practicing her tickling skills so Aunt Christy should beware!

What a fun, fun week it's been

I have said this before, and I don't believe my opinion will ever change: Croup is the worst. This is the third time Audrey has had it, but I think this one was the scariest. It typically lasts for about 5 days, and though I'm too tired to be able to count that high right now, I think this is Day 5. Seal-like cough, fever, lots and lots of crying, respiratory issues, no appetite. I thought we were going to have to go the ER on Tuesday since her breathing was so bad, but we made it thru the night by sitting on the bathroom floor with the shower steam wrinkling our skin and a purple popcicle melting in Audrey's hand. She was so unhappy, lethargic but wouldn't sleep, and just not herself. I told her that night that I was missing my Audrey, and asked her, "Is my Audrey in there?" She didn't smile, but offered a quiet, hoarse, "Yes."

Though the nights continue to be rough, she's definitely getting better. She ended up going to daycare yesterday after a rough morning. Her teacher said she had a good day and even used the potty with success. When we got home, we sat on the floor, and I asked her what she had done that day. I knew my Audrey was back (or at least coming back) when she offered the following (albeit with a hoarse voice):

"Played with kids, and kissed Max!"