Audrey: 9 months

Our little girl is turning into quite the big girl. This is abundantly clear in her 9 month onesie photos. I could not get her to sit still next to the mouse. All of the photos are out of focus or she is on the go. Baby girl has things to do and people to see. She can't sit still for pictures. Good thing we got some professional photos taken this month!

She is a lot bigger than the mouse now. You will have to take my word for it.

Audrey has been busy during the last month. She has been to Wisconsin twice and Minnesota once. One trip was a combo MN/WI weekend. So she has spent two of four weekends traveling around the big lake. She is great in the car but by the end of the last trip she was done. So were we.

She has slept all night long a couple times in the last month. It brings back memories of months 2.5 to 4. It sure is a nice treat when it happens. Here's hoping the all night sleep occurrences continue to increase in frequency. I do not expect this, but one can hope.

Moving has been a big passtime for the doots this month. She has been working on improving her crawling. She is way faster at army crawling than she was last month. She has figured out how to use her legs to help her along. She has also started to do some crawling on all fours. I expect she will take off when she perfects this.

She also has learned how to go from laying down to sitting up. This is a great skill to have. It allows one to sit up in their crib and rattle the bars when awake and bored at 2 am. Seriously though, it is super fun to watch her learn how to do things on her own.

We try really hard to mostly watch her in a hands off manner so she can learn to do things on her own. Of course we play with her, but we also try to let her learn to do things on her own. This has resulted in a few head bumps and some frustration, but it also has lead to her knowing how to hold her head up when she falls, among other things. Watching her slowly learn a new skill is amazing and fun in a way I just cannot explain. I think it must be evolution at work.

She has also started to try to pull herself up on things. She has only gotten as far as her knees at this point, but I imagine she will be standing up on her feet very soon. We already lowered her crib mattress. She fell off her changing table she doesn't need to fall out of her crib as well.

Audrey's other new love is food. She is really starting to love food. She is not crazy for plain vegetable baby food, but who can blame her? I try everything I feed her and the plain veggies are gross. She is happy to eat fruit and veggie mixes or actual vegetables. Tonight she enjoyed some potato and summer squash frittata.  So far, she will feed herself pretty much anything you put on her tray. I know this will almost certainly change, many picky eaters eat whatever you give them at this age. I certainly have not declared victory in the food battle at this early stage. But for now she is happy to eat what you give her. 

Hard boiled egg and blueberries? Sure. 

Fittata and teething biscuit? Yum.

Blueberries and cheddar cheese? Delicious.

Yum, frittata.

I think Shasta enjoys Audrey feeding herself in her high chair more than Audrey does. She is great at cleaning up all the food that does not make it to Audrey's mouth. It is the beginning of a beautiful friendship!

Do you need help with that teething biscuit?

Audrey came and watched my bout in Wisconsin. She wore this beautiful boutfit! She loves the Vixens.

9 months is old. It is very close to a year. I bought a bunch of 12 month fall clothes today. I can't believe my baby is almost a year old, good grief.

We love watching her grow and change, though. So, without further ado here are the love hate lists.

Things Audrey LOVES right now

• The boo game
• The cats, oh my goodness she loves the cats
• Baby food pouches
• Crawling
• Crawling over to the door to try to chew on shoes
• Monster
• Being tossed in the air
• Penguins
• Bath time
• Her stuffed trout
• Laughing maniacally (I really need to get a video of this)

Things Audrey HATES right now

• Going to Wisconsin twice a month
• Saying up too late
• Being confined
• Putting on her jammies
• Laying on her changing table
• Being tired
• Falling on her face
• Having food (especially apples or peaches) taken away

On the whole she is a very happy little lady. She mostly only gets upset if she is overtired or you take something from her she really, really wants. We love our happy little girl so much. I still can't believe how excited I get to see her every single day. She is the best baby and we love her to the moon and back.

Lover of Penguins

Audrey is just like her daddy. She loves penguins. We went to the Detroit Zoo this weekend and of all of the animals she loved the penguins the most.

She probably would have loved watching the polar bears swim too, but the line to get to the underwater viewing areas was ridiculous and Audrey was tired and mom and dad were hungry. So we skipped swimming polar bears. Sorry doots. We'll see them at the Como zoo when we visit grandma and grandpa, you don't have to wait in an amusement park style line at that zoo.

We had a great time at the zoo. Audrey had lots of fun looking at all the people, flowers, and animals. But the only animals she got visibly excited about were the penguins. When they swam by she would squeal and jump and just get so excited.

It was adorable.

Learning about penguins.

Watching the penguins swim by with dad.

Please forgive the poor quality photos. It was dark in the penguin house and a flash would have ruined the atmosphere.

It was extra adorable because penguins are JT's favorite as well. He even has a master plan to get a pet penguin one day. He plans to create some sort of freezer habitat for his penguins. I think we will stick to cats and dogs for now, but I love that Audrey shares his love for little black and white birds.

She loves watching things swim. This was true in North Carolina as well. We need to take that girl to an aquarium sometime soon, or perhaps she will get a fish tank for her birthday.

Tired after a day at the zoo.

Baby's first wedding

Audrey has been a very busy baby. This may be a contributing factor in the awful sleep we have been experiencing of late. She also is growing, working on crawling, and maybe getting more teeth. We are adjusting to less sleep. Who needs sleep anyway. She was better last night, so here's hoping she keeps it up. That is all I am going to say about sleep.

The point was how busy Audrey has been. Last weekend we went to Winona, home of Winona State University, for Uncle Eric and Aunt Erikas' elopement party. Eric and Erika met at WSU, hence the location of the party. JT and I also met at Winona State, apparently it is a good place to meet a spouse.

They eloped to the Virgin Islands. They are smart people, they did not have to plan a wedding but they are happily married, best of both worlds. I can't believe my baby brother got married. He married an amazing woman. I could not be happier for them!

Eric and Erikas' party was great. We had a very nice dinner. Audrey even got her own plate. She ate a little bit of everything and dad ate the rest. She is really starting to love food! She is also getting better at feeding herself. At the wedding dinner she had salad, pears, carrots, chicken, potatoes, and squash. Good stuff.

After dinner we went to a local bar to party the night away. Audrey was a trooper and stayed up until about 9ish to party with everyone. She also enjoyed getting to meet a whole bunch of grandma Mary and grandpa Merlins' friends. She was happy to be passed from person to person. Seeing all of her grandparents and most of her aunts, uncles, and cousins was not so bad either. A wonderful time was had by all.

I failed as a mom blogger and did not take one single picture the whole weekend. I did steal this photo from Erika's facebook page. It is from breakfast on Sunday before we left. Baby girl was tired after a fun Saturday night. So was I, I stayed out until bar time, JT went back with Audrey. My parents also stayed out until bar time. Uncle Anders may even have video of grandma Mary headbanging.

Good job on a great party Eric and Erika. We wish you only the best in your life together!

Audrey: 8 Months

Audrey is 8 months old. She has entered the fourth quarter.

She is so much fun right now. Changing so much every day. She seems to have mostly gotten back to normal in terms of sleep. Which still isn't ideal, but it is better than the awful that was vacation sleep.

In addition to going to 4 new states and seeing the ocean for the first time, she has started crawling!

Yep, life with a baby has gotten real in this house. The little lady is army crawling all over the place.

This means several things.
1) She will be for real crawling soon, which means she'll be moving way faster. That should be fun.
2) We need to baby proof. Bad.
3) We will be cleaning our floors much more frequently because oh my goodness are they dirtier than they look. Little lady is like a little mop.

Also, I'm not sure if you have tried Army crawling lately. But I have and it is HARD. Like really hard. I have a lot of respect for that doots dragging her body around!

Audrey is becoming more like a toddler all the time. She is starting to really enjoy food. Especially if is she is able to feed herself. She loves peaches.

I took this peach from her when it split at the pit and she lost it until I got her a new peach. Like really lost it, she was not done with that peach. Yet another example of how big she is getting. Little lady knows what she wants and she's not afraid to let you know.

One change I am absolutely thrilled with is a recent increase in cuddliness. In just the past day or so she has seemed to want to cuddle with me more than normal. I am not complaining about this at all. I love cuddling with that baby, I'm glad she has seen the light.

Cuddling with mama.

Audrey also loves her dad. He gets the best laughs from her. Especially when he swings her around or makes funny faces. She loves it all. She has started mimicking funny faces a lot more. It is pretty darn cute.

She is at such a fun age right now. Changing every day. Sometimes I feel like I pick a different baby up from daycare than I dropped off. This is sad and exciting at the same time. 

 

Let's get to the list.

Things Audrey loves right now

• Crawling
• Balls
• Maracas 
• The pets
• Peaches
• The iPad
• Getting into everything
• Mouth noises
• Roaring
• Being swung and tossed
• Walks and runs
• The beach
• Baths

Things Audrey hates right now

• Getting her pajamas on
•  Getting her face wiped
• Being confined
• Not getting to play with the remote, dog toys, paper, etc.
• Taking medicine. Especially grape or orange flavored medicine
• Thrush
• Getting dressed

Really, Audrey is a pretty happy lady. Not much phases her so her hates list is nice and short.

Just hanging out guys.

The Dog Olympics

Last weekend Shasta got to compete in The Dog Olympics. They were held right here in Lansing.

The son of a friend, and teammate, organized and ran the Lansing Dog Olympics. He ran that show like a champ. It was very impressive.

Shasta had a lot of fun, which I will get to later, but the bigger story is how cool it is that this little guy got to create something he dreamed.

The mastermind behind the dog olympics is 7 years old, I believe. He told his amazing mother he wanted to host the olympics for dogs. So naturally his mom said, "sure we can do that!" and the whole family pulled together to make it happen.

When I say they made it happen, they really made it happen. There were ribbons for first, second, and third place for each event. Every dog got a uniform (bandana) and a bag of homemade dog treats. There were prizes for the top three dogs overall and even a mascot.

It was perhaps the coolest thing I have ever seen. He was in charge, his dad, brothers, and mother were his assistants. His dream came to fruition through hard work and help from his family. It. Was. Awesome.

Inspiring parenting to be sure.

Participating in this event will definitely help me to think twice before I tell my child "No, we can't do that." When they ask to host the Olympics for dogs or some crazy thing. Often there is a way to make those dreams happen. Which, it turns out, is not only a great way to make memories but also a great lesson for life in general.

So, thank you Firecracker for being an inspirational parent.

I know you are all waiting on pins and needles to hear how Shasta fared in the games.

There were about 10 dogs competing in the games.

 The events were, hurdles, fetch/catch, a bone hunt, and a race. Swimming was also an option but it turns out none of the dog owners wanted to let wet dogs in the car to go home, so uptight.

Shasta competed in the hurdles, fetch/catch, the bone hunt, and she raced. She would have also done obedience, which she is actually pretty good at, but we were late. Sorry Shasta. She got second place in the hurdles, even though she only actually jumped over 1 of the 4 hurdles. Though, to be fair no dog jumped more than two. She didn't fare so well in the bone hunt or catch, but she did get third in the race.

At the end the top three dogs got overall awards. Shasta got third place! Way to go Shasta.

Dexter the Bernese Mountain Dog won it all. He was a tough competitor.

She was very proud of her performance as were JT, Audrey, and I.

 She had so much fun she slept the whole rest of the day.

I have to mention one more time how incredibly cool it was that a family made this day happen for a child. It was equally amazing that so many people came with their dogs to make the games great. So fortunate to have such a wonderful community.

Doots Goes to the Ocean

We were on vacation last week. Glorious, glorious vacation.

We went to the beach in North Carolina. We drove there in the Honda Fit and stayed in a four bedroom house with 8/9 adults and 4 kids. You aren't feeling jealous of our vacation are you?

Well you should! It was fantastic.

Audrey was incredibly good in the car. Like angel level good, so the drive was not bad at all. Two 7ish hour days to get there, a bit longer on the way home because Virginia is stupid.

The house worked out great. It had an amazing porch with a great ocean view and breeze. It was smallish for the number of people we had, but who needs to sit in a house when the beach is so close.

                                     View from the front deck. Apparently before hurricane Sandy there was 150 feet of beach there and that house was not in the water.

Best of all Audrey got to spend lots of time with grandma, grandpa, aunts, uncles, and cousins.

All of her cousins were there, including Seth and Luke who are 7 and 8. They both loved their little cousins, Audrey and Anders. They played with them so much.

My favorite though, was how helpful Seth was with Audrey, I truly mean this. He often would say things like "do you want me to watch her so you  can eat?" Yes, little man I do. That would be wonderful. He would then take her to the living room and make sure she didn't hit her head or eat the carpet or whatever it is babies do (we could see the living room we weren't making the poor kid be an adult).

I also loved how smitten Luke was with both of the little people. He could not get enough and it was just so cute. Love those little boys.

Audrey and Anders are still a bit young to enjoy one another, he is 18 months. So really, Audrey is young to enjoy him. But he was pretty darn cute with her. He kept bringing her toys to her, such a nice little guy. Audrey is blessed with great cousins. Her aunts, uncles, and granparents are great too but the cousins are just too cute.

Enough about family, most of you don't care about that stuff.

I was a slacker on vacation. I barely took any pictures. We didn't even get a family picture or a picture with everyone. I failed. But, at least I have some.

I did get the most adorable picture of Audrey on the beach BUT there was a smudge on my lens. I don't care, you are going to have to look at this picture smudge and all. It is just that cute.

Audrey loved the ocean. She was a bit unsure of the waves at first, but by the second day she was all about kicking and splashing in the water. It was adorable. She would watch the ocean and when a wave was coming she would kick her feet in excitement. So cute. She didn't even mind getting splashed in the face. Such a water baby.

She also loved playing in the sand. Though really, she just wanted to shovel handfuls of sand into her mouth. I am fine with her eating a little sand, let's be realistic. But I draw the line at handful after handful to the mouth, that can't be good for a baby.

It seems Audrey also finds the ocean relaxing. She fell asleep almost instantly every time she was in the carrier at the beach. This is not normal. She rarely falls asleep on walks in the carrier. She even fell asleep when I had her in the water wrap in the waves.

In fact, the ocean made her so sleepy we changed the noise on her sounds machine to waves. I can't say that it has helped her sleep but that is a story for another day.

Sleep is our only vacation complaint. Audrey was awful at night on vacation. She napped super well but night was horrible. Just horrible. However, we both agreed we would gladly take poor night sleep over screaming baby in the car for 7 hours. That would have been awful. Good choice little lady.

I would say the little lady had a pretty good first vacation. She got to got to the beach, try ice cream for the first time (it was only a tiny bit), spend lots of time with grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins, and hang out with mom and dad for a week straight. Not too bad at all.

We had a pretty fantastic time as well!

So Busy, So Behind

I am so behind on this blog.

Life has been so, so busy. Work has been crazy and then we were getting ready for vacation. And then on vacation. Hence the long silence.

You can expect a couple posts in the next day or two. Including a couple vacation picture posts and an 8 month update. Check back often!

Audrey is actually 8 months today. Here is a picture to tide you over. I haven't gotten to making the onesie yet.

Right now I want to do a quick update I had planned to write the week before vacation.

Audrey has teeth! Two little teeth are coming through on the bottom. Those suckers are sharp, all the better to bite you with.

I don't have any pictures of them yet. They aren't quite tall enough to show in a smile and there is no way she will let me open her mouth to take a picture. That girl won't let anyone near her mouth unless it is on her terms, just ask the doctor who was diagnosing her thrush. Baby girl has a strong jaw and strong will.

Of course getting teeth hurts. So, restful sleep was not really part of vacation. Which was especially painful because Audrey usually sleeps pretty well. Such is life. She has been steadily getting better the last couple nights so hopefully that will keep up.

Oh and she can hold her self up. She can't pull up on things yet but if she ends up in a standing position at a table or her crib she can stay there.

She made a couple other big jumps while at the beach, I will talk about those in a vacation post. Gotta keep ya coming back!

All of these big jumps have lead to either JT or I saying to the other "why is she so big?" "how did she get so big?" or something similar almost every day.

She is really starting to turn into a little person. It is fun, and challenging.