Lions, Tigers, and Bears......and Shadows?

Audrey was afraid of the vacuum for a really long time.  Every time I brought it out she would hide in the corner.  She eventually got over it.

This last week she developed a new fear.  Wait for it....   She's afraid of her shadow. I poke fun, but for her this is a real fear, the shaking crying kind. She first noticed it when we were outside drawing with chalk.  She immediately wanted to go inside, screaming for me to hold her.  Then last week she noticed it was inside.  I tried to explain to her that it was just her.  That she could wave and it would wave back.  That made it worse. All I got was, "No Dow No Dow!". Eventually I was holding her more than I wasn't.  She would only walk on this small carpeted area in the living room.  Then on Saturday I noticed she started crawling and walking on her knees to avoid seeing her shadow.  She found out if she got low enough to the ground that her shadow would disappear.  She was reduced to the army crawl and me holding her.  I was going crazy trying to figure out which blinds I could close and which ones I could open to reduce the shadows.  Eventually I found the best formula.  I could open the windows facing North and South, but not the ones facing East and West, but that didn't help in the evenings when I had to turn on the indoor lights.

When your daughter becomes afraid of shadows you start to realize that they are EVERYWHERE!  I might be going crazy.

I think it's getting better though. She saw the shadow of her arm on the table as she was eating breakfast.  She pointed it out to me.  I told her to say hi.  She waved and said, "Hi Dow" but then followed it up with a quick, "Bye Dow".  I think we are making progress.

Audrey's Birthday

I can't believe she's two!  With it has come many more words and many more conversations. I love when she says (pease) please. It makes me proud when she's polite. 

I never realize how much I say something until she starts saying it. A few weeks ago she started saying, "There you go, that's better".  It makes me laugh every time.   

She loves to read and she loves to learn.  Her favorite thing to do is sit at the fridge and match magnetic letters to an alphabet printable I got from Google images.     

The day she started opening doors was a bad day and a good day.  Good because she's more independent and bad because that means she can open the pantry and the door to the garage. Now I have to lock the door behind me when I go to pull the van into the garage.  

Since her birthday she has added Cinderella 2 and 3 to her list of favorite movies.  I'm happy because the original was getting a little old.  I might be able to quote it from beginning to end now.

She has become really picky with food.  I sometimes miss the 9 month old that would eat anything I put in front of her.  Now she has her favorites: potatoes, cheese, bread, and fruit shakes. 

She cried because we wouldn't let her eat it right away.    

  We had more of a birthday weekend this year.  On Friday evening we went swimming with James, Jenny and kids.  It was so much fun, and it's really good when we get to spend some time with family.  It was there that I learned how much Audrey loves water.  She kept saying, "Bun, Bun, Bun (fun)!". 

On Saturday we watched Cinderella 2, made cake and ate cake, took pictures, and opened gifts.  On Sunday we went to church and afterward we went to Mike and Merian's house where Audrey got spoiled with a second birthday and mashed potatoes. There's no food she loves more than mashed potatoes.