Audra's First Instrument

I'm currently using Shutterfly and my pictures to make a personalized gift for Audra... an alphabet book with pictures of her world for each letter.  We didn't have a xylophone or an x-ray, so I decided to make a purchase for the sake of the book.  Audra loves to drum on almost anything, so she was very excited by this new toy. 



So Big!

I realize this is a common baby game, but for some reason David and I hadn't played it with Audra until recently.  Poppop Cundey was the first person who taught this to Audra (when he was visiting at the beginning of November), and now it's one of her favorite things to do.  Usually she'll grin and throw her hands in the air before I even ask the question, and that's her way of telling me that she wants to play!  Next time Poppop asks "how big is Audra?" she'll be ready with the answer!

 



Giggles With Daddy

Audra enjoys playing with her Daddy when he gets home from work each night, and I am so blessed to witness the love between David and his daughter!

 

Climbing Skills

Audra is getting really good at standing up and then getting back down to her knees!  Ninety percent of the time, Audra prefers to spend her time crawling around the house and climbing up on anything that she comes to. 

Also, as you can see, Audra still enjoys shaking her head!

October

The month of October has flown by, and (again) it's been quite some time since I updated my blog.  Here's a quick look at what we've been doing...



 

I like to use David's birthday as an excuse to take a trip, and this year we went to Shenandoah, VA for 4 days.

The cabin that we rented was set on a hillside in the middle of the country... a perfect spot for relaxing!

A view inside the cabin (from the living room, looking towards the kitchen).  I enjoyed the open layout, especially because it helped us watch Audra in her new surroundings.

At first, Audra was content to sit on the rug in the middle of the floor and play wth her toys.  But that didn't last for long!  Soon she was crawling all over the place, and carrying her toys with her as she went. 

It had been years since I worked on a puzzle, but on Thursday night, after Audra went to bed, I decided to start working on a 1000-piece Norman Rockwell puzzle.  After I separated all the edge pieces, it didn't take long for David to join me at the kitchen table to begin putting the frame together.  A few hours later we the edge almost completed.

On Friday afternoon we were joined by my father and his wife, who drove up from North Carolina.  We enjoyed their company immensely over the next day and a half, while we played Sequence, shared many meals, played with Audra, watched 2 Dick Proenneke movies and worked on the puzzle together.

After many hours of frustrating work done on the puzzle (mostly by Dad and David... Gene and I dropped out before the puzzle was 1/2 finished), we had a completed puzzle on Saturday night. 

Two weeks later, on Tuesday, 10/16, Audra and I went to Big Flats, NY to visit Alenna and her family.  On Wednesday my brother-in-laws parents joined us at Alenna's house for the day.  It was so nice to see Dad and Mom Loucks again, and for them to get reacquainted with Audra.  Here they are with the littlest cousins, Mikiah and Audra.

As always, I enjoyed spending a few days with my sister and her family.  Watching her 3 oldest children interact with Audra was especially a treat!  Aiden and Seth took turns helping her stand up, and Cora was trying to hug Audra about every 10 minutes.  It is clear that they love their newest cousin!

Back in NJ on Saturday, October 20th, the weather was perfect for Audra's first hayride and first time picking out a pumpkin at the pumpkin patch.  (Though I will admit that she didn't voice much of an opinion about what pumpkin she wanted to bring home.)

I'm glad we were able to have this family outing while the weather was nice, because the following day Audra came down with a nasty cold which had her very congested and sleeping poorly for the next 6 nights!

Thankfully Audra was feeling better by the following Saturday, because my dear friend, Audra's honorary Aunt Karen, drove up for a visit from Annapolis, MD.  (It looks like a cheesy photographer posed Audra's left arm, but I promise you she did that herself!)

On Halloween, after no issues from Hurricane Sandy (praise the Lord!), we dressed Audra in her first costume.  What a happy little "elephant" we've been blessed with!!

Video's



I've fallen behind in posting video's of Audra, though I've been recording a lot recently.  It seems like she starts doing something "new" every few days, and I want to remember all these little milestones.  She is growing up so fast!

 

This first video is from September 2nd.  Lately she likes to "sing" (almost every evening!) and I sometimes join her.  (Usually she'll carry on her singing longer than this video portrays, but this was right before dinner so she didn't keep it up for very long.)

 

Audra made the discovery of how to click her tongue, and (with a little encouragement) she was showing off for the video on September 12th.  (Most of this is her, though it's somewhat hard to tell because she doesn't move her mouth very much when she "clicks".)



 

Also, during the last few days Audra has started this funny, exagerated breathing through her nose.  David and I think it's hysterical!

 



Updates on Eating

After learning more about Baby Led Weaning I decided that it wasn't for us.  But I also decided to cut the cereal from Audra's diet.  And thankfully she started to do much better with food after that!

My sister-in-law gave me a Baby Bullet for Christmas last year (which is just a small blender, for those who don't know), and in the last 3 weeks, I have made a lot of baby food. 

Audra has now tried (and loved!) banana, zucchini, carrots, yellow squash, avocado, apple, plums and sweet potato.  She has also tried peas a few times, but so far she is not impressed.  (Can't say that I blame her... peas are my favorite vegetable, but when they are mashed I find them unappetizing.)  Also, yesterday I pureed a batch of parsnips and butternut squash, so she'll be trying a couple new vegetables soon. 

Here's a video of Audra eating zucchini (which we recorded on September 7th).  What a big improvement in her eating skills since mid-August! 

More Teeth

One of Audra's top central incisors broke through the gum on Sunday, September 9th.  Finally!  It seems like she's been working on these teeth for the last 5 weeks!  And, as you can see in this picture, we can see her left top central incisor, though it's still below the gums.  (Pardon the food on Audra's face... I took this picture during breakfast.)  I'm hoping that tooth will erupt soon... and that we'll get a break from teething for at least a few weeks.



A Visit to the Park

Dear Audra,

 

Daddy and I took you to the park this afternoon.  At first you were having a little difficulty with hanging on to the swing, so you decided to use your 3 teeth (yes, THREE teeth, as of this morning!) to get a grip.  But Mama stopped that idea as soon as it started... EWWW.

Unfortunately, you weren't thrilled about the swing today.  I think part of the problem was having the sun in your eyes... you were swinging in Daddy's shadow when I took these photos.

So we took you out of the swing and went for a walk around the park.  Daddy carried you while I carried the camera.  (Daddy was also very patient as I used the camera about every 3 minutes!)

I even asked your daddy to take the camera and get a few shots of this mama and her sweet baby.

You seemed to be enjoying the adventure we were having, though you didn't smile until at least 1/2 way through our walk.  When you're busy taking in new scenes, you usually concentrate so intensely that you forget to smile.  I was excited when I snapped this picture of you, grinning, with your daddy.

I took a few pictures of the Delaware River, as we walked along the trail at the Red Bank Battlefield in National Park, NJ.  (Then I edited them a bit when we got home, and tried to make them look artsy.)

I enjoyed spending time with you and your daddy this afternoon, and hope you had a good time, too!

Love,
Your Mama

Not What I Planned

It was a perfect summer night, so I headed outside with Audra as the sun was low in the sky, to snap some pictures of my sweet baby girl.  (As a side note, I realized tonight that Audra will respond to both her name, and "Baby-Girl".  David calls her that more that I do, and it melts my heart at how much love he pours into those two little words!)

 

I was excited about getting some updated pictures of Audra while she was in a good mood.  I had hoped that she would smile for the camera since her smile seems to be maturing every week.  Unfortunately, I hadn't planned on her discovering grass for the first time.  I let her sit there for a few minutes and took over 15 pictures during that time.  Did she look at the camera during that time?  Nope.  She didn't take her eyes off that amazing green stuff that was in front of her!  So this is a sampling of what all the photos look like. 

 

It wasn't what I was planning, but I love the expressions that I was able to catch!