Sharing Her Thoughts

Audra has been very vocal ths week!  There are times when it seems like she's carrying on a conversation with me... I just don't understand her words yet!

Sophie Loves Audra!

 I was trying to get some pictures of Sophie and Audra together... and Sophie turned to place her head on Audra's shoulder (or rather, most of her arm) just like she does with David and me.  How sweet!

Audra's First Roadtrip

Audra and I took a trip to NY this week!  We started the trip with a stop at my sister's house in Big Flats.  Audra got to meet her cousins, Aiden and Seth, and her Uncle Dan on Monday night.

 

  

Sophie enjoyed her time with the Loucks also!

Tuesday afternoon Audra, Sophie and I headed to Walworth, the town where I was raised, to visit with my friend, Holli Casanzio, and her mother, Jane.  I was so excited to meet Holli's son, Matthew, who was born at the beginning of November 2011!

Tuesday night I was able to see one of my best friends, Carla Brackman, along with her husband and sons.  Audra slept at a restaurant while Carla and I ate our dinners, then we hung out at her house for a while.

On Tuesday night, Audra, Sophie and I stayed with my sister's in-laws, Dave and Suzanne Loucks, in the town of Marion.  I don't remember exactly when I started calling them "Mom" and "Dad" Loucks, but they have treated me like I'm part of their family since Alenna married their son in 2004 and I'm so glad that I can call them that!

I was especially thankful for the Loucks help in watching Sophie while I visited a few friends.  They are very familiar with Boxers (they've had a couple themselves), so they understood Sophie's puppy-like playfulness.  And it was hilarious to see their 13-year-old, less-than-15-pound Boston Terrier put Sophie in her place!

Wednesday morning I visited with my dear friend, Dee, who has been an important mom-like figure to me since I was 10 years old.  Even though many miles separate us, and I don't get to see her very often, I am so happy that Audra got to meet her "Grandma Dee"!  I hope and pray that Audra will have many more opportunities to get to know this wonderful, godly woman.

Wednesday afternoon Audra, Sophie and I went to the home of my previous co-worker, Kathy Smeatin, and her husband, Howie.  Sophie played in the yard with Howie, and Audra was a perfect guest while we enjoyed hanging out with Kathy.  I had a delicious dinner with them, then headed back to Alenna's house.

After all this traveling, Audra was pretty tired on Thursday, when we drove back home to NJ!!  The last 100 miles of the trip took much longer than expected because I stopped a few times for Audra.   By this time she seemed pretty sick of her carseat... and I don't blame her!  But, all in all, it was a great trip, and I'm so glad that we were able to do this!

Water Baby

Lately, no matter how tired Audra is in the evenings, I will give her a bath before putting her to bed.  I used to give her a bath every other day, but it makes her so happy that I started bathing her every night.  She'll splash in the water and grin the whole time!  And, almost every night, regardless of how tired she is, she'll start to fuss when bathtime is over.

I think she's going to take after her daddy by enjoying the water!

Rough Days and Non-Schedules

The previous Monday and Tuesday were rough.  As in cranky-baby-who-is-on-strike-from-napping rough.  As in fussy-baby and worried mama wondering what happened to my sweet, happy Audra?  That kind of rough.  Monday the longest nap Audra took was a half hour.  And in between those cat naps, Audra wanted my attention.  My full attention.  You'd think that after such short naps Audra would have slept well that night... but somehow she managed to continue her crankyfest until 10:45pm.  Tuesday Audra seemed to be in a better mood, though she didn't nap much.  I had planned to get my hair cut and had a dentist appointment also, so my mother-in-law was watching her for part of the day.  I really appreciated having Mom Cundey watch Audra!  I was exhausted from my previous day!  (Later in the afternoon she did get one 1 1/2 hour nap, but that's only because I put her in my Kozy Carrier while I got dinner ready.)

Thankfully Audra, the happy Audra, seems to be back on track yesterday and today!  In fact, I'd say that her napping was the best it has ever been.  Wednesday she napped from 8:30-9:30am, from 11am-1:30pm and then again from 3:30-5pm.  Today she slept in until 8:30am, then napped from 10-10:30am, 11:50am-2:10pm, and also had a couple cat naps (each less than 20 minutes) while I carried her in the Kozy both at the grocery store and around the house.  What a relief to have Audra napping so well.  She's also been sleeping better at night... falling asleep between 7-8pm and only waking twice each night to briefly eat. 

Audra will be 10 weeks old in a couple days, and I figure it's still a little early to be hoping that she'll consistently follow any type of schedule.  However, I'm starting to keep track of her natural wake/sleep patterns to figure out what type of schedule will work best for us.  To be honest, I had hoped to keep her awake until at least 8pm each night since David's work hours are so unpredictable.  Especially as we head into the busy summer season, I know it's possible that David won't be able to see her at awake at all when he frequently leaves the house at 6am and doesn't get home until 8 or 9pm.  But it looks like Audra's natural tendency is to be an early bird instead of a night owl, so I probably won't try to fight her on this.

Weekend Visitors

David and I very much enjoyed having my father and his wife travel from Waxhaw, NC to visit us this past weekend.  I would've thought that after 33 years of being a grandfather to (the previous) 8 grandchildren, the novelty of the title would have worn off.  But my dad seemed to be completely smitten with his 9th grandchild, Audra...

 ... and she seemed to be equally fascinated with him.

Thank you for visiting, Dad and Gene!  You're welcome back anytime!

To Catch a Smile

Audra was a very happy baby tonight, so I grabbed the camera to try to catch a smile.  Thank goodness for digital cameras, because this turned out to be more of a challenge than I had anticipated! 

I tried...

 and tried...

 and tried...

 and tried... (maybe she's laughing at me now?)

 and finally Audra smiled when I was taking a picture!

And that was truly sweet success.  :)

Babywearing

Babywearing is a term that I only learned a few years ago.  And, at first, it sounded strange to me... like a person was turning their baby into some sort of accessory.  But thankfully I've learned a lot more since that time.

Studies have shown that babies who are carried in "soft carrier" (such as the ring sling that I am using in the picture) have improved sleep, reduced crying, improved breastfeeding rates and better attachment.  Also, it has been proven that "a baby who is worn experiences much more of the world than a baby hanging at knee-level in a carseat or isolated in a stroller", which aids in their cognitive development.  However, I will admit that I don't wear Audra just because of these benefits... I wear her because it makes her happy, and thus it makes me happy.

This past Friday Audra was having a rough day.  She didn't nap well and she pretty much just wanted to be held the entire day.  So when it was time to make dinner I put her in the sling and got things ready.  She fell asleep almost immediately and slept peacefully while I shredded spinach, chopped onions and cut up some chicken for our soup.  Wearing her at a time like that was my sanity saver.

Babywearing isn't very common in this part of the country, so yes, I get some strange looks when I wear Audra in public.  But mostly people have been kind in their comments.  When I wore her to the grocery store recently I met a few older women who wistfully said "I wish I could've had a carrier like that for my children!" and an older man commented "that little boy is so lucky to be carried around like that".  (Since he couldn't see her purple outfit I let the gender thing slide and just agreed with him.)  Lucky, indeed.  But Audra isn't the only lucky one... being able to keep her close and meet her need for human touch makes me feel pretty lucky too.





Lunch

A couple weeks ago David and I watched a documentary called "Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead" about a guy who goes on a 60 day juice fast to get healthy.  David and I took the information to heart, and decided to get our own juicer.  Since that time we've been having juice snacks, or sometimes supplimenting a meal with juice.  It's definitely a great way for me to get more fruits and vegetables into my diet, and it's also helping me lose the last of my pregnancy weight!

The picture above was my "lunch" today... it consisted of 4 carrots, 3 bunches of kale, 2 apples, 1 orange, 1 pear and 1 kiwi.  And yes, it tasted a lot better than it looked!!

Bring on the Bows

I was never a huge fan of those headband bows for baby girls.  I wouldn't say I was anti-bow, but I definitely thought it was silly to put a headband on a baby that barely had any hair!

But now I understand why people (moms, I'm guessing) do that.  It saves so much trouble if a stranger can have a HUGE, obvious clue as to the gender of your baby.  Especially if your little girl is dressed in yellow or green.  So I bought a few this past week, and when Audra leaves the house dressed in a gender neutral color, she wears a bow on her head.

Thankfully, Audra doesn't seem to mind too much!