Old Mac Donald

We went to a petting zoo/pumpkin patch with a bunch of ladies in our ward.  It was way hotter than I expected it to be, but that's what it's like living in Texas. We were sweating. I was wearing pants, it was horrible, but Audrey had so much fun.  She loved see the animals up close.  Especially the donkey.  They had a huge 15-20 feet high pile of sand that all the kids played in.  Perfect for a girl that loves to climb 

On our way out we got to pick a pumpkin for Audrey. She has carried it around for a solid week.  I'm sure she will go crazy when I let her paint it or we carve it and put a light in it for her.  I am ridiculously excited for Halloween this year.   

Potty Time

I have learned a lot through this process.  I read all these blogs thinking I had it all figured out and then I realized that every child is so different.  There are a few things that I think generally work but we really had to pave most of the road ourselves.

The first day I spent most of the day sitting on the bathroom floor.  It was awesome. We celebrated every success with a treat, the potty dance, and a star to put on her potty chart.  She loved every celebration. She had eleven accidents.  I was thinking things were okay. I was second guessing myself every step of the way, but she was going on the potty so we called Day 1 a success.

Day 2:  The hardest day through the whole process.  19 accidents.  I was sick of sitting on the floor.  I was tired.  I wanted to leave the house.  I wanted the pee to stop.  No more laundry...please!  I went to bed hoping that Day 3 would be better.

Day 3: Something clicked for me and for her.  I realized that she was having really small accidents right after she would go.  She was holding some of it in.  So I didn't put underwear on her right after. Less laundry....yes please.  I also realized with my sister's help that I didn't need to sit and wait for her to go.  I put her on and if she didn't go within 5 minutes I would pull her off. I started watching her for signs that she needed to go.  This was a lot more effective than putting her on every half hour. 8 accidents and I was feeling pretty good about myself.

From here on out I didn't exactly keep track of what happened everyday because things seemed to get so much better everyday.

I am proud to say that for the most part she is potty trained.  She still has accidents, but not very many and I am so happy I don't have to change diapers anymore.

The potty dance was overall the most effective tool. Thank you Lisa!

    

 

"Wings" (as Audrey calls them)

Maybe she calls them wings on purpose.  It's such a fitting name.  This was our second experience swinging.  I know, I'm a horrible Mom.  There are no swings at the park we usually go to, so she never knew what she was missing.  One Saturday when we had nothing going on we grabbed dinner and went to swing.  She didn't want to leave.  She was upset.  She begged me for weeks at least once a day to go swing.  This was our second time.  I was going through the pictures and she has a huge smile on her face in every one.  We probably need to go swinging more often.  We had a really good morning. This place has 10 different playground areas lined up.  She just went from one to the other until it got too hot to stay.

    

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.  

Pudding Paint

My preferred way to finger paint.  Successful family night.  Audrey didn't paint much.  She mostly just wanted us to paint pictures for her while she ate.  Paul called his masterpiece the Titanic.....it looks like a large turtle to me, but what do I know.    Maybe I'm looking at it from the wrong angle.

Being a Mom

I feel so lucky everyday that I get to be a Mom to this little girl.  Being snuggled up on the couch with her reading stories is my favorite thing to do.  She would let me read to her all day, and I would but sometimes I feel like I have to be productive.

Audrey is growing so fast.  I told her a couple days ago that she wasn't my baby anymore, that she's a big girl now.  She got this frustrated look on her face and said, "is baby!".  Apparently she is still a baby, and I don't mind.   She can be my baby forever.

I love that she just gets me. We can have a maniacal laughing contest, or dance around like crazy people, and she thinks it's awesome.

About a week ago I was having a really bad day.  She was dancing around the kitchen and singing to herself and I had to pause and remind myself that THIS is what life is all about and nothing else matters.

Life is good!