In honor of Richard's birthday we drove up to DFW to go to a wildlife park. It was really cool and everyone loved it.
Once we were in the park we put Autumn's car seat in the back and let her move around freely.
Here we are eating lunch halfway through the tour. This was just before we saw the zebras and the giraffes.
It was so awesome to feed this guy. What a rush. I had a palm full of food and his mouth just took all the food almost at once. I'd tell Richard, "Give me more!" and he'd put more food in my other hand.
Autumn wasn't scared of this guy at all. I was really impressed. I can't remember if she touched him or not, but she was just thrilled to be so close to him.
This was just an awesome experience and we went on a day that wasn't scorching so we really lucked out. We will definitely be going back, hopefully next year.
Autumn and I drove up to see Gram and Grandpa for Autumn's Spring Break. My parents had just had a tree cut down from the front yard, so Autumn wanted to play on it.
I took Autumn back to the Children's Museum. Since we have the year pass we decided to go and then meet Daddy for lunch downtown. She had a lot of fun running around. It got busier as the morning went on, so I think the next time we go I'm going to try to get there right when it opens. Also, the area for tots has a limit of 2 years old, which I didn't realize. She's going to turn 2 in 3 months, but she will probably still be small, so hopefully they'll still let her in. The rest of the museum is still to old for her. Maybe we'll be able to find some things we've missed in the past, like the outdoor stuff (now that it is cooler), to keep it interesting and worth the drive.
We picked up Daddy and then went to lunch at a sandwich place. She fell asleep as we were leaving downtown after dropping Daddy back at work. And she slept HARD. So 30 min later when we got home she was AWAKE. Hopefully next time since we'll be getting an earlier start it won't be past nap time when we leave and she won't be so tuckered out.
Since Autumn and I were driving up to see my parents i decided to take her to the open gym before our gym class started. I really wanted to wear her out so she would sleep longer during the car ride. Here is the little blur on the move!
So she fell asleep right before we got to the freeway, and woke up 20 min later because we ran into traffic due to construction. Stupid construction. And a stupid dump truck hitting a bump right next to us. Loud noise! She did alright on the trip. Stopped a few times, had lunch and she took another 40 min nap (not long enough!). We got there relatively quickly, even though we arrived on a Friday during rush hour. And boy was she happy to see her grandparents!
We carried her or she walked the entire time. She wouldn't have been able to see anything if she was in her stroller. We spent about 3 hours there, and for a zoo that size, we saw most everything.
This past month has just flown by. It really seems like a blur. You did see your cousins, Jacob and Sophia for the second time. You really enjoyed running around with them and being a little kid. When we were putting you in the car to go home you were sweaty, sticky and dirty and your Momma sort of fell in love with you all over again. All of a sudden you were a Little Girl, and not a baby or a toddler. You kept up with the older kids, held your own, and charmed the adults. There are many moments when the Little Girl appears and I can see into the future as to how I think you might act in a few years. Then there are times when you are all toddler. Getting into everything that you know you shouldn't. And I know you know because when you see me looking at you you immediately shake your head "no". After months of leaving the cat food alone and pointing to it and shaking your head "no" you have suddenly become unable to resist those little nuggets (or worse yet, Phoebe's plate of moist cat food). Most of the time you bring the piece to me, but sometimes I'll catch you picking one up and I shout, "Autumn, NO!". If I catch you off guard you throw the piece down and shake your head. But sometimes there is a stubborn streak in you and you will start to walk away with the piece in hand, usually still shaking your head. I know you know, but you do it anyway.
You have at least 2 more teeth, bringing your total to 10. The two new ones are on the top, and there are spaces skipped on each side. I can see at least 4 new places that look like bumps are starting to rise. The two new teeth came in when you were sick with lots and lots and lots of snot. The sickness lasted on and off for about 3 weeks. It would go away and then come back with a vengeance. We missed our playgroup and a gym class.
We managed to get rid of the bottle right at the end of February. We realized that you were having some bowel issues only having one bottle of formula at night. We'd bathe you, put you in your nighttime diaper, get your pajamas on, give you a formula bottle and then you'd POOP! Thereby undoing all our relaxing bedtime routine. So one day we just gave you another cup of milk at bedtime and that was it! You now drink 4 6oz cups of milk a day, sometimes 5, but that is rare. You still call it "bach" and when you notice the cup of milk you say, "bach! bach! bach!" all the while pointing frantically. You say "chee" if you want a crunchie, which is different from "cheeeeze" for cheese. You have a word for cracker (craw-kerr) and cookie (cook-cook) which is also the same for Cookie Monster on your diaper.
I'm working on teaching you "please" and "thank you". If prompted, you will say "plah". You love putting your shoes on because that means you get to go outside. You even sit and try to put them on yourself. I can ask you to "go get the other one" of something and you'll look around and find it and bring it to me. You've discovered the animated show Curious George on PBS. I used it as a distraction technique when you were sick. You'd sit on my lap and say, "Geor, geor!" and point at the screen. That was how I was able to put your hair in pig tails. I have also been known to sit you on my lap, schooch down on the couch, turn on George and take a little doze. Just closing my eyes sometimes for a much needed refresher really helps.
Car rides are fairly stress free these days. You are content to sit and just look out the windows. I sometimes give you a toy to hold, but for the most part it just stays on your lap.
Wednesday morning I was reading you a book about a gosling that forgets to take a nap. You waved your hand and said, "bye!" It took me a second to realize that you heard "take a nap". When I put you down for a nap we have a routine. I open up the gate to the bedroom so Luke can get through. We say, "Good nap, Phoebe" to the already napping Phoebe on the media center, we say "Good nap, Luke" to the already napping Luke on the guest bed. We say, "Good nap, Sully" as he guards your door. All the while you are waving and saying, "Bye!"
Here is a series of pictures from March 16. I clearly misjudged the weather of the day. When I got you dressed it was 65 outside, but sunny. The previous day it was rather cold, so I put you in long sleeves and pants. I love this photo of you walking, you seem so determined!
So when we got outside it seemed a little hot. Your pants are too long, but I figured they'd be okay.
Before we left for our errand I changed your top. Much better. Pants are still okay, but the long sleeves had to go!
When we got back home from the errand and nap I was changing your diaper and decided that the green pants were just too long, so I grabbed the pink ones laying nearby. It took a whole day to come up with the perfect outfit.
March 17, 2009 - St. Patty's Day
March 19, 2009 - Waiting for Daddy to come home
March 20, 2009 - Playing in the back yard
Retrospective Perspective:
March 18, 2006 - Looking for a house to build!
March 22, 2007 - Back when Lucas ruled the roost
March 23, 2008 - Easter
I am sure I left somethings out, but I have to end this now. You are waking up from your nap (30 min early!) and we need to get ready to go take pictures in bluebonnet fields!
The past few weeks have been a mix of easy times and hard times, but the easy times far outweigh the hard this time. We've had some sleep issues and some clingyness, but we've also seen the independent streak in you start to grow. We are able to let you roam the house more with more confidence on our part that you won't get into much. You like to go into the front room and look for the cats and pull on the fronds of the plant in there. You always stop to point at the cat food because you know that is off limits. While I'm making us lunch you like to open up cabinets and take things out. Of course you leave them all over the floor and Daddy and I have learned how to navigate the Sea of Tupperware pretty successfully. The clingy thing has shown itself in both new situations/people and when you really want something. If you decide it is time to be picked up you wedge yourself between me and the cabinet (as I am usually making lunch or a snack), push me back and wrap your arms around my knees, throw your head back and stare up at me. You are usually not upset, but it is very hard to get away from you without knocking you over and making the situation worse. You've started saying, "uppah" which makes it hard to resist, so I pick you up if I am able. If not, there have been a few times where you have thrown yourself down and whined for .05 seconds until you see something else you want. When we are out and about and a new person comes up to us or acknowledges us your immediate reaction is to put your head on my shoulder and grab my shirt. You usually warm up pretty quickly, but a few times the admirer has had to vacate the premises. This is such a switch from our very outgoing child. But then you will go and act like you did on Friday night. We went out for Mexican and we were sat right in the path of the waitstaff and every time a guy came out you said "HI!!" and pointed. And if they didn't respond you'd throw your head back and say "HI!!" again and watch them walk behind you upside down. Most of the time you could get them to react because you are persistent!
You still have 8 teeth, but I wonder sometimes what you are working on in there.
I've found that if I want to you be more easy going during outings it helps to let you walk around outside for awhile before putting you in the car. This will become a problem once our 12 days of Winter in Houston are over. I do not do heat! And if you don't have pants on your legs get all bumpy after being on the grass. We usually spend about an hour outside after lunch, mostly spent sitting at the sewer manhole dropping things down the holes:
We successfully managed to go from 4 bottles of formula a day to 3 cups of milk and one bottle of formula a day. It really wasn't as hard as I imagined it to be. The first few days of the milk introduction you weren't too interested in it. But you have warmed up to it really well. You call milk "bot" or "bach" (I can't tell which) which I think is a carryover from "bottle". Green beans are "bee", cheese is "cheeeeze", water is "waar", cereal bar is "bar", and when you point, rock back and forth, and grunt, that means you want a yogurt melt. We have to hide those out of sight lest you go crazy focusing on them.
The brace is gone! Gone! The doctor said your hip is PERFECT! Perfect! And that this is a great example of how to treat this without surgery. As I was thinking how much I never want to go to this office again he said, "When she breaks a bone, bring her here!" very cheerfully. Ugh. But we already know that your hypothetical future sibling will hypothetically have to get his/her hypothetical hip ultrasounded "just for kicks" as your pediatrician said. It does run in families, it is more common in girls, but whether she feels anything or not, it sounds like we will be taking that baby for an ultrasound and then back to the doctor for interpretation. What is funny is that I put it on a pile of things to be put away in the attic and you found it and have been carrying it around the house. I'd rather not see it, but you seem to enjoy it.
Your understanding of the world around you continues to impress us. You know so many animals (butterfly, tiger, chameleon, cockatoo, wombat, woodpecker, dog, cat, fish, duck, koala, panda, peacock, whale, alligator, the list really does go on and on). You love to say "duck" and "cat". Dog is you pursing your lips imitating Momma saying "woof woof" with her lips pursed. And then you point out the window because when you hear the dogs barking I've told you that they are "outside". And the window means outside to you. You say "hi tree", and "hi" to every passing car outside. You've started adding "daht-tum" to your ramblings, so it sounds like you are testing out your name. Lots of "z's" too. You say "butter" for butterfly, "bah" for balloon, and "ow" when you fall, even when you aren't hurt. There is a line in a book where the cat knocks over a vase and when I flip to that page and say, "Catastrophe!" you chime in with "uh oh!". You are adding to the list of books that I can ask you to go get by telling you the title or a line from it. You toddle over and get the "cockatoo book" or "George" for the Curious George book, and "twinkle", for which you provide most of the "tars".
We've had some off nap schedule days and those are rough for all three of us. It isn't very pleasant when you have missed a nap. Neither of us are in a good mood and then Daddy comes home and he gets a happy child and a grumpy wife, because by that time you are usually over the grumpiness and are on your second wind. You still need two naps, is my point!
Car rides are so much more fun now! You love to look at everything and are fairly quiet doing your own thing most of the time. When we get to where we are going and I get out and go to your door you always clench your entire body in excitement of something new!
We went to our first gym class together and you did really well! Momma did well too, but that is because she knew two other Mommas in the class already. You stuck close to Ava for the first part and we sort of just watched everyone do their thing. We didn't do all the activities we were supposed to focus on, but I wanted to let you get accustomed to this room filled with brightly colored soft surfaces. You had trouble climbing up the ramp because you haven't figure out that you knees in pants are slippery, but your feet will give you traction. I'm sure next time you'll start figuring that out. You loved walking/crawling up the ramp shaped cushions. And you also loved being in the center of the parachute and having bubbles blown towards you. You must get that from me because Momma loved the parachute when she was a kid. We're signed up to go once a week, so I'm sure next time it will be more comfortable for you earlier in the session.
January 22, 2009 - First car ride facing forward
January 24, 2009
January 29, 2009
January 30, 2009
January 31, 2009
February 2, 2009
February 6, 2009 - Wearing a dress Gram made for Momma
February 7, 2009
February 8, 2009
February 10, 2009
February 12, 2009
February 15, 2009
February 17, 2009
February 18, 2009
February 20, 2009
Retrospective perspective:
February 25, 2006 - Tracy's baby shower for Rachel
