Progress is successful communication.

Today I asked Audrey if she wanted eggs or ravioli for dinner. To clarify, she got a choice because we had no leftovers and I was not on the ball enough to have our dinner done when she needed to eat. Anyway, she said eggs. She ANSWERED a question in a way that MADE SENSE. And then...

She chowed down on her eggs. We communicated like real people. She also put a bucket on her head when JT told her to. That indicates understanding on direction and body parts, right? Such progress!

Seriously though, she is getting a lot of words and is getting pretty good at context. Her favorites are hi, bye, and thank you. I love it when she says thank you so much. I need to get a video.

Also, this zebra shirt is the absolute cutest, as is her ponytail.

Audder Loves Otters

Anyone who knows my mother will not be surprised that I have some super odd nicknames for Audrey and our pets. I think it is genetic. When I was growing up my mom's favorite name for me was Tina Maria. My name is Kristin Mary. You will have to ask her about the evolution of that name. My mother has wonderful terms of endearment for all of my siblings as well. I am going to be kind and keep them to myself, mine is actually one of the less absurd of the bunch.

Typically I come up with weirdo names and JT makes fun of me. I always say whatever, just wait in a few weeks you will be using it too. He says no way and pretty much every time he does indeed end up using my wonderful, creative nickname.

I have many for Audrey. We have called her doots since she was a little baby, that one was mutually created. However, it has evolved. I began calling her dooterpuss at some point, that is where JT is right now. I also call her Audder (pronounced like otter with ds instead of ts), Audderific, and several other variations, but Audder is pretty common right now.

The point of this naming history is that Audder loved watching the otters at the zoo. How perfect.

To be honest it was one of the only things she enjoyed at the zoo that had to do with animals. She loves animals, but all she really wanted to do at the zoo was walk over all of the different surfaces. Sidewalk, grass, dirt, stone, wood, she wanted to walk, run, and climb on everything she came across. The animals were a distant second to the glorious obstacles and textures to be found at the zoo. I'm sure she will appreciate the animals more in the months and years to come but she is not there yet.

However, on our way out we stopped at the otter habitat again because the otters are the cutest. She suddenly loved them. The tank has bubbles in front and she loved watching the bubbles. She loved watching the otters swim by and she really loved climbing up onto the benches.

Otters were Audders favorite at the zoo.

You can expect lots of posts about outside in the coming months because little lady loves to be outside. Loves. It. I could not be happier.