Happy (and sick) Girl

I mentioned a couple of posts ago that we've been combating illness around here lately. Luckily, it hasn't been anything too intense, and we've also been able to keep it isolated to Luke and Audrey. It started a little over two weeks ago. Luke had a bit of a runny nose and just seemed more emotional and low energy. Then when he seemed to start to feel better, Audrey developed this hacking cough - the kind that sound dry and deep. Then it was accompanied by a runny nose and her cough started to sound more "productive" and things got decidedly more mucus-y. We were glad that the infection was on the move. We were also glad that she didn't have any other, more miserable symptoms (ie. vomiting, diarrhea, fever, etc.). She has really been able to maintain her fun, spunky attitude throughout.

A few days ago, after we'd had breakfast, I asked Audrey: "How are you? Do you feel sick?"

To which she replied, "Audgie's happy, Mom."






I couldn't help but smile. Then I said, "I'm glad you're happy."

And she just replied, "Yeah, Audgie's happy."







May it always be so.

Musical Memory Lane

As I was running a few errands today, I channel surfed the radio. And in the course of my day, on different stations, I heard a bunch of songs that I really loved in High School... and even a few from Middle School days too! It was crazy to hear these songs and be reminded of some of the great bands that were so much a part of my teenage angst. Funny the memories that come when you listen to music from so long ago!

I was in Middle and High School in the 90s, so prepare yourself for some grunge (and melancholy - that's a given for grunge, right?)!


The very first song that I heard when I turned the radio on was Radiohead: Creep. Classic. (And how can any teenager NOT love this song?)





Then, a few stations down the dial I stumbled upon this gem. From my favorite rock band in High School: Bush: Come Down. (Although, admittedly, I don't really know what to think of the video. The music's good though.)





Another few station changes brought one from Pearl Jam. Black. Amazing.





The one band that was missing today, that I listened to more than all the others, was The Cranberries. Here's Ode to My Family, just for fun.






What memories did these trigger for you?

A New 'Do

A few nights ago, I was playing with Audrey and Luke, as usual.

Adam was at his evening class. It was about a half hour before bath time. I noticed that Luke's hair was lookin' a little shaggy.

I figured "about a half hour" was just enough time to fit in a bit of a trim for my little man. In preparation for the cut, I ran my fingers through his hair to get it wet and pulled away from his scalp.


We were definitely surfin' the same wavelength because while I went to grab my camera to get the "Before" shot, he'd begun to rummage through the cupboard where all of the hair styling products are kept- apparently looking for some sort of styling solution:

("Maybe I can do something with this mousse to tame my mane...")

Then, as I was taking a second picture, he made his true feelings perfectly clear.

"Hurry! Grab the clippers and the scissors! This shaggy hair makes me want to puke!"

After about a half hour of toddler-wrangling and kamikaze-style hair-cutting techniques, we had finished. With a more-or-less even hair cut. We made it through. Luke was only slightly traumatized - nothing his testosterone-infused (read: football-shaped) binky wouldn't soothe.

After a warm bath filled with bubbles and fun with his sister, Luke was feeling like a new man. It was the opposite of Samson - like a trim of his hair gave him strength, and he was ready to show off a little. He walked over to his crib, stood with one foot on the lower beam and waited...

"Are you ready to see what I can do?"

Then he hoisted himself up onto the bars of the crib, using the strength of his arms and legs and held himself in that position for a few seconds...

"Look at me! Impressive, no?"

Then he slowly, exercising much control in his movements, lowered himself back down to standing. And the look on his face was full of pride. It was too cute not to capture!

"Did you see that, mom? Pretty good, right?! You wanna see it again?!"

He was having so much fun that Audrey requested to have her own hair cut. My motherly intuition told me that nothing too drastic would be best. We decided that just a simple change would suffice and we cut bangs.




She loves them. I think they look darling.

I just can't decide if they make her look older or younger.

What do you think?

A Bit of a (Blog) Slacker

I was on a roll for about a quarter of the month. (Which, lets just be real, here, is a week... not so impressive, I know.) But for that week, I was doing pretty well... for me.

Then I lost the momentum, and I have failed to tell you what we've been doing lately.


For example:


I did not tell you about how Audrey and I went to Smithfield last Saturday.

Or how Audrey and Lucas have been taking turns not feeling so well.

Or how Adam has aced all of the midterms he's had this past week.

Or how I've been crocheting like...

like...


someone...

that...


crochets...


like...


a lot.

(Don't you hate it when you can't think of an analogy that fits?!)


Or how it's been freezing cold outside and how that has made us each do our best impression of an agoraphobe.


All of that is pretty self-explanatory... the only thing that I would be able to expand significantly upon is the girls' trip to Smithfield. So, here we go....

My sister, Dawnette's birthday was on Monday. I knew that I wanted to go and spend the afternoon with her to celebrate. I also knew that Monday wasn't really going to work very well with our schedules, so we decided to go visit her on the Saturday before her birthday. Then, Friday night came and with it, Luke's runny nose and the extra-clingy emotional state that accompanies him when he's not feeling well. We knew it wasn't going to work for all of us to go, but I didn't want to scrap the trip altogether, so we decided that I should still go - and take Audrey with me, since half the fun is letting Audrey and Talea have time to play. That left Adam to stay home and take care of Luke.

I am so glad we went! Audrey was super excited to see Talea! We hung out at Dawnette's, then the four of us (Dawnette, Talea, Audrey and I) got some lunch and ran a quick errand, then we went back to Dawnette's for the remainder of the afternoon. Dawnette and I were able to catch up and talk about what's been going on while Audrey and Talea played together. It was a nice, quiet afternoon with my sister. I am so glad we were able to spend some pre-birthday time together. It was fun.




And it was even more watching Audrey and Talea. They do really well with each other - they have a lot of fun, and it doesn't seem like either one tries to dominate the other. In general, they take turns, and share, and they are really nice to each other. It's so much fun to watch them interact.

They played with Barbies. They had a tea party. They tried to oblige when we wanted to take a few pictures (which can sometimes be confusing if there's more than one camera at a time):





(If we could just combine the two, we'd have a pretty cute picture where both girls are looking at the camera - and smiling - at the same time!)


They played their own special versions of piano duets:

They jumped on Talea's bed:

They just had fun. All afternoon... even though we made them stop the fun to smile for the camera. This one is so darling of Talea:

I love how this one shows her affection for Audrey. So cute!

It wasn't long, though, before more fun began to beckon them...

and they left hand in hand.

California, Final Chapter: Two Videos

One of the biggest surprises about our trip was how much fun Audrey and Ben had together. They just seemed to feed off of each other's energy, or something. Whatever it was, it was fun to watch Audrey trying to bait Ben into chasing her, and then when he did she would scream and then that would make Ben laugh... and then it would repeat. It was hilarious. Here are just a couple of the times that I caught it on camera:

(If you read my sister's blog, you already saw her version - we were each recording at the same time, slightly different views.)





And this one's a bit of a bird's eye - Audrey using me as the "shield" from Ben.





I am so excited to see how all of their relationships continue to develop as they get older. Thanks, Megan and Marc and Ben and Hugh, and Gamma and Gampa for a FABULOUS WEEK!

California, Chapter Five: The Lake

For our last day in California, my sister had the idea of taking the kids to a lake that is on the outskirts of town. There is a quiet little alcove-type area where ducks tend to congregate, so we went armed with some leftover pancakes for the kids to throw to the ducks. And "Gampa" came along too!

It was a beautiful day: perfect weather - blue skies, warm (but not hot) sun, a light breeze. (Typing that sentence is extra torturous because our weather outside right now is: cold, overcast, gray skies, new snow on the ground from last night's storm!)


Audrey really enjoyed throwing the little pieces of pancake to the waiting ducks. Some of her throws weren't too far - there were a few brave ducks that risked going that close to shore for their treat, the more cautious ones simply waited until we were leaving to venture on shore to grab up the rest.

Ben and Hugh watched from the double stroller - Ben looked like he was more interested in swimming with the ducks than giving them food!

After feeding the ducks, since the weather was so nice, we decided to go for a little walk - true to form, Audrey shot out ahead of the rest...

only to race back toward the group - making Ben giggle and laugh. And then she'd do it all again... to the sheer delight of the boys... and us all.


Our whole trip was a lot of fun. We can't wait until next time!

California, Chapter Four: A Milestone for Lucas

While we were in California Lucas reached a milestone. He started walking! Hooray!

(Luke's so excited, he can't help but bite on his fist!)

He has been really close for a while now. He started to sit up at 6 months, commando crawl at 8 and a half months, regular crawl and pull to stand at 9 months, and he started to cruise at about 10 and a half months. Audrey had a very similar time table for sitting and crawling but pulling to standing and cruising was a little over a month earlier, respectively. She took her first steps just a couple of weeks after her first birthday - but they were only isolated incidents of just a few steps here and there; it wasn't until she was 14 months old that she really started walking independently. I have to admit that I was guilty of having some of the same expectations for Luke to start to walk in the few months following him starting to cruise.

Despite these expectations, his progress was steady (if a bit slower) so I wasn't worried about him. When I would watch him and how he moves, he was so deliberate and controlled, his balance so... well, balanced. I figured that he would let go (of the couch, the walls, other furniture, our hands) when he was ready.

I had made it a habit of setting him down on his feet instead of setting him down on his bum. Usually, he would immediately drop to his knees from standing, and crawl wherever he needed to go. Occasionally, he would take a step or two before dropping to his knees. That progressed to him looking for a way to cruise where he wanted to go - if there was something to hold on to, he'd cruise there. So, I started to set him down in the middle of rooms (with nothing readily available to hold onto) to help him gain some independent confidence on his feet.

Just a few days into our trip to California, at a little over 18 and a half months, Luke decided that he was ready. I set him down on his feet in the middle of the room, and he simply walked across the floor to the couch - about 7! steps away! I was so excited! And then he did it again! And again! And again!

We started to wonder a bit if maybe Luke was motivated by his (5 months younger) cousin, Ben who is a nonstop walker.

Their styles are definitely different - Ben moves quickly, a little haphazardly, sometimes bumping into things; it's like he's moving based on momentum alone.

Luke's style has remained consistent - he's still very deliberate, slow, controlled, and steady; it's like he's moving based on will alone.

If we could just put the two together we'd have two really fast, coordinated kids!

Luke gained a lot of confidence walking, but he still loved to climb up and down the stairs!

He's maintained his momentum and has continued to take lots of steps completely on his own, getting steadier and longer each day. It makes him seem so much older, all of a sudden, to see him on his feet and upright!





Chapter 5 coming soon....