Aubrey's Top Ten

Foods

1. Cheese

2. Graham Crackers

3. Peas and Carrots

4. Blueberry Waffles

5. Yogurt

6. Macaroni and cheese

7. Applesauce with Cinnamon

8. Broccoli

9. Bagels

10. Watermellon

Activities

1. Walking holding someone's hand

2. Making funny faces and imitating funny noises

3. Swinging at the playground

4. Swimming in Pool

5. Pulling up to stand on everything

6. Crawling very fast while being chased by Mommy

7. Riding in stroller outside

8. Chasing Dexter around yelling Doggy in a very shrill voice

9. Being Tickled

10. Tearing up Magazines

Dislikes

1. Having to sit/play by herself

2. Being told no

3. Having something taken away

4. Daddy leaving for work

5. Getting dressed

6. Getting out of the bathtub

7. Pureed baby food

8. The noise the vaccuum makes

9. Doing the same old boring things

10. Getting in her car seat

Dat

It amazes me how much curiosity babies have. Aubrey is constantly pointing at things and saying, "dat." It usually means "what is that" or "look at that." She points most of the time now--at balloons in the grocery store, at dogs when we are on our walks, and most of all she loves to find and point at airplanes or birds flying overhead. It is so cute, I can hear her doing it when I am driving, "I am sorry, honey, Mommy can't see what that is. Are you looking out the window at the puffy clouds or the green trees?" In the picture above I put a toy on my head for her to point at. "Dat!" Yes, mommy put a toy on her head, that is silly!

Yum

We enjoyed a fun family outing to a farmer's market on Saturday morning. I was hoping the produce would be less expensive than the grocery store, but unfortunately that wasn't the case. It was, however, super fresh and yummy. Every day since then we have been enjoying fresh from the farm strawberries and cherries. I have made a few simple cucumber salads the way my Gramma used to. The best purchase, however, was the asparagus. There is an amazing difference between the fresh picked and store bought kind. It was spectacularly crisp, tender, and very flavorful. Now I can't wait until they have tomatoes and corn next month.

It comes with the territory

I think I inherited the worry gene from my Dad. Or maybe that is just an excuse I use to explain my bad habit. Anyway, I was already calling the pediatrician when Aubrey wasn't crawling at 7 and a half months. "Is this okay? She doesn't even really roll that much and hates being on her tummy. Not once has she tried to get up on her knees!" Their response, try to get her to play on her tummy and if she still isn't crawling at her nine month checkup you can discuss it with the doctor. In other words they were rolling their eyes and mouthing "first-time mom" to the other receptionist. Still not crawling at 9 months. The doctor wasn't worried at all. Her muscle tone is fine, she just isn't motivated. "Well," I say, "when should I start worrying?" (as if I hadn't been for 2 months already) "If she isn't walking by 18 months," was the reply. What? I have to go through 9 more months of this, what if something is wrong with my baby gut-wrenching fear before you will do anything about it? Time went by and she started to love assisted walking more than anything and I finally resigned myself to the idea that maybe she wouldn't be a crawler, but maybe go right to walking. Then a bit over 10 months while we were on a weekend getaway at a friend's vacation house she scooched forward to get a snack that was about a foot out of reach. Then she did it again. You could almost see the little light bulb go off inside her head. Bill and I were baiting her with food all over the living room as she developed the funniest wounded soldier looking one leg dragging army crawl. A few hours later she got up to her knees for the first time. The next day she started crawling on all fours.

That was on Sunday. Now there is no stopping the girl. She crawls very proficiently and pulls up to standing. She walks holding our hands or her walker toy and will actually let go and stand alone for up to 30 seconds. Her new favorite thing is climbing over me while I am lying on the floor (a great game to play when you are tired and your baby is not). It amazes me that she is figuring this stuff out so quickly. She just had to do it all in her own time.

Now I can stop worrying about her not crawling and focus on keeping her out of trouble. Wait...what age are they supposed to be taking their first steps? I had better call the doctor!

Now we are in trouble

I wasn't sure this day was ever going to come--Aubrey finally made up her mind to crawl!

Grandparents bring the coolest presents

Aubrey loves to walk. She actually goes faster than this usually, but she was distracted by our computer while she was walking. And yes, that noise is her clicking her tongue. She hasn't figured out how to steer yet, so when she runs into the furniture she is stuck. Day one of play with this toy we had to hold her and the toy, by day three she was doing it on her own--fast learner!

Busy, Busy, Terribly Busy

I love visits from family and with friends, but maybe I shouldn't have scheduled so much in such a short time. I can't catch up on my rest. I don't know if Aubrey is teething or just having a sleep regression (which I read often happens at this time in their lives) but she is waking a couple times a night. She can wake up and cry for 5-20 minutes and fall right back asleep, but by the time I figure out that nothing is wrong with her I am wide awake and it takes me a good hour to fall back asleep. Therefore for the past five nights I have slept from 11-2 and 3-5 when I used to be able to sleep 10-6. Apparently I am no longer operating under the special grace God provides for sleep deprived moms of newborns because my ability to function has been greatly reduced.

We had a great visit with my parents Saturday through Tuesday morning. Today I am hosting Bible study (7 moms and 7 toddlers/babies=mad chaos, but it is wonderful) then we are having some college friends over for dinner and game night. Friday night we are having other friends over for dinner. (now both these couples are childless so I imagine that they normally stay up much later than Bill and I do) First thing Saturday morning we are driving about 3 hours away to spend a 3 day weekend at other friends' lake house. phew. When will I pack for the trip? I have no idea. But it will be fun. Oh yeah, in there is our sixth wedding anniversary too! This side of all the activity part of me is dreading it, but I know I will love all the social time and will be so happy that I did it when it is all over.