Happy Halloween!

Audrey had so much fun her first time trick-or-treating. Eric had been practicing with Audrey earlier in the week, having her bring her trick-or-treat bag to him through the door of her play house. :) She had learned that she was to say trick-or-treat when going up to a house, and thank you in return. She couldn't wait to get on her bumblebee costume and had been talking about it for days. When she finally got to wear it, and she had everything on including her wings, she stood up and said, "Cute!"

So, we headed out to the first house.

And she froze. Dug in her heels and said "Nooooo!"

The idea of Halloween is quite odd. I mean, what other time of year do you take candy from people you don't even know? Or head up to their house?

With some encouragement and a familiar hand, she headed up to get some candy. Whispering "trick-or-treat" and "thank you". After the first house, she got the hang of it and soon was telling us which direction she wanted to head next. Mentioning along the way how much fun this trick-or-treating business can be.

She got soooooo many complements on her costume, and we were told countless times how beautiful/adorable/cute she is. One person asked if they could take her picture, and Audrey said, 'cheese' for their camera. She drug her bag the whole night and wouldn't allow Eric or I to touch it. There was some hard earned candy in that bag!

Despite red cheeks and nose, she insisted she wasn't cold. With all the walking those little legs did, Audrey didn't protest when Eric picked her up when we were a few houses away from home. She got to have one piece of candy tonight and has her eyes on plenty more for the next several days.

After prayers tonight, she turned around to face me for our nightly before-bed talk. She had the biggest grin on her face - I don't think she knew where to start. Her day had started with a chocolate donut, followed by helping to rake leaves and with pumpkin carving, an Illini win (finally!), wearing her bumblebee costume, and lots of fun trick-or-treating.

Hoping she sleeps in for that extra hour we get tonight!

Pumpkin carving

Audrey had so much fun helping Eric carve her first pumpkin. There were lots of requests for "Audrey's turn!" but she did a good job letting Eric take the lead. Audrey clapped when she saw the final product and got to pick out the spot to put her jack-o-lantern out front.

My favorite picture is the one of her sitting next to the jack-o-lantern. I asked her to say cheese, and she said, "No say cheese!" So, on the blog it goes!

Hopeless

Audrey and I were heading home from a walk on this beautiful Fall day and for no apparent reason, Audrey started YELLING the following for the entire neighborhood:

"GO CUBBIES! GO CUBBIES!"

I shall wait and see how long it takes Eric to read this blog posting b/c I'm not telling him this story. Ever.

Pumpkin Patch!

Audrey was so excited to go to the pumpkin patch yesterday that these were the first words out of her mouth when she woke from her nap. While this was a bad year for pumpkins and the pumpkin patch itself was looking a little sad, we still had a lot of fun on the absolutely beautiful Fall day. Though Audrey was excited to see a lot of pumpkins, her favorite part of the day was undoubtedly her first taste of a caramel apple. I have never seen her sit so long to eat anything. ANYTHING. Caramel apples are confusing at first, do I eat the stick? What the heck is this thing? But once she got the hang of it, there was no stopping her. She pulled every single piece of caramel off every piece of apple. She was eating the caramel off her fingers, the paper, her bib. Everything. I wasn't even allowed to come close to touching her apple. And of course there was no sharing! Thank goodness we got two!

Backseat driver

Audrey got her flu shot today and was so brave and good as gold. On the way there, she was her typical chatterbox self as we spotted flags, houses, beautiful trees, the bank (= free cookies!), etc. When I stopped a little short due to a light change, I heard the following come from the backseat:

"Woooo! Mommy! Be careful! Careful!"

I shall hold my breath for the day that she starts driving...

22 months!

With work, daycare drop off and pick up, and another 'dog doctor' appt, I barely snuck in a picture on Audrey's 22 month birthday yesterday, albeit blurry due to camera phone. She even agreed to say, 'cheese' if she got to view the picture right after. She said she had a good day, even shared with me during her bath her fun time with her friend Zade at school. Something about the swings outside and how much fun they had. Such a good storyteller!

Tonight on our drive home, Audrey told me what she wanted for dinner - eggs and 'shrooms! (a common request these days)

Me: Will you also eat some broccoli for mommy?

Audrey: Um, we'll see.

Oh boy.

Time Out

I was busy making lunch in the kitchen and hadn't heard much from Audrey. This doesn't always mean trouble as of late, as she has been really getting into pretend play with her dolls and Maple Monkey. I did decide to check on her when I heard a stern, "Not nice!" come out of her mouth. I figured she was redirecting Fris, who never needs the redirecting that Audrey offers her.

I found Audrey in the office, pushing the second of two strollers into the corner. She looks up at me, very serious, and says, "Dolls in TIME OUT!"

I'm just glad I wasn't the one in trouble...

Baby dolls

Audrey loves, loves, loves her dolls. She pushes them in the stroller, telling us good-bye as she heads for a walk with her babies. She likes to put them to sleep, covering them up from head to toe with their blankets. I even heard her ask her babies yesterday, "Having fun, kids?"

She also likes to feed her babies. Well, it goes something like this:

Audrey puts one of her babies in her own high chair. She then asks one of us for a bagel, clarifying that it is for her baby. And a plate, again indicating that it is for her baby. Audrey then puts the plated bagel on her highchair tray, and she proceeds to eat the bagel. Nibbling while walking around, playing in various rooms. She continues to claim that the baby is eating the bagel. So, obviously this coincides with when Audrey wants a bagel. But she doesn't want to have to sit while eating the bagel. Smart, eh?

Part of the routine

By far, the best part of my day is seeing Audrey first thing in the morning, and when I pick her up at night. Audrey withdrawal is no fun.

I love that Eric and I have our own special things to do with her. And she knows the routine well. As the Monday mornings have been getting a little cooler, we have been postponing our walks to the park until the sun has been up for a bit longer. I ask her what she would like for me to make her for breakfast, and the typical response is 'Eggs!' She then proceeds to sit on the floor. Anyone else would find this odd, but not us as this is the best spot for her to see me prep her egg! I crack it on the counter but we whisk it and add milk while sitting on the floor! She then gets to watch it cook, and leaves no part of that egg uneaten. We also added into the changing-weather routine playing with her new magnetic letter set for the refrigerator. One morning, I sat down on the floor with her, and she absolutely loved it. Sitting on the kitchen floor? Mommy? And not for making eggs??? She loved it. So, now I am instructed to "Sit Down!" I do, with my coffee in hand, and we review our letters. She is such a sponge, and it is so much fun to teach this little sponge. We of course head to the park a little later, with yesterday's walk including a lesson in seeing our breath!

Most days I cannot leave work early enough to pick her up. She usually does a lap or two around her classroom when I arrive, but she keeps her eye on me the whole time to make sure I stick around to swoop her up. From there, she steals my keys, waves and says 'Bye!' and 'Tank You!' to her teachers and friends, and she takes my hand down the hallway. I get my keys back and we head home. I ask her what she wants for dinner, and she gives me a few ideas (sometimes only things for dessert!). The past few weeks we've been driving by pumpkins and flowers so we talk about those. She's learning what a green vs red light means (Go go go! or STOP!). The favorite part of our drive home though are the 2 hills. Audrey LOVES to go whee! The first hill is just ok, but the second one immediately following is perfect. I love, love, love, that after the first hill, I see in my rearview mirror, an index finger being held up, and hear a little voice that says, 'One more time?' I confirm the one more time, and she giggles, giggles, giggles after the second hill. I used to ask if it was fun, and she would say, 'YES!' but she has started saying on her own, 'FUN!' We then drive by flags and signs (she labels the sign shapes now!). She would then call a building we drive by a house and I would correct her to label it a building. She now says, 'House? No, building!' And giggles. Her developing sense of humor makes me smile. And is another signal that she is not so little anymore.

We head home to get the mail, and she lets me carry her out to the mailbox. I get a nice hug on the way out to it, but she insists on walking back to the house with the piece of mail she is to put on the table. And we head to the stairs to take off our shoes. She's getting better at taking her own shoes off, and puts her socks in the laundry. Fris heads downstairs to greet us, and we greet her back. Tonight, Audrey puckered her lips and made a smooch sound, which we use to cue Fris for a kiss. Audrey was ecstatic that Fris kissed her back.

I love our little routine.

Skinny Minny

Audrey has these new footie pjs that she absolutely loves. I can never predict if she will love or not love something that I get for her to wear. I took a chance on getting her some new footed pjs, and she asks to wear a pair each night. She is such a stick, but I think she looks particularly skinny in these pajamas. Despite horizontal stripes :)

I just couldn't help but call her a Skinny Minny after I saw her in these. Long and skinny. I would ask her 'Who is a Skinny Minny?', and she would say, "Audrey is!" Now when I say "Skinny Minny!", she replies, "Audrey Minny!" Giggles all around.