Audrey is 13 Months Old!

This last month has just flown by!  Audrey is getting bigger, better, and more precious with each passing day.  Here's what life is like with her right now:

- she continues to do well with the regular liquids. I am still slightly thickening juice when she gets it, but over this next month I'm going to try to wean down how much it is thickened.  She is drinking organic whole milk with no thickening agent and doing great with it!

- she drinks her juice and/or water through a straw sippy cup, but is still taking a bottle for milk/bedtime.  I know, I know....I am not ready for her to give it up! She is still my tiny baby...sort of.  I'm planning to work on this this month, too...reluctantly. ;)


- she has 2 words, "dada/daddy" and "dog" (gog).  I am so proud of her word skills!  She is babbling ALL the time now- she goes on and on, we just have no idea what she's talking about yet. I love hearing her little voice.

- she can stand up on her own after pulling up on something, and she is working on getting herself into standing from the sitting/crawling position.  It's really funny to watch because sometimes she'll practice the legs part and have her hands down and be bouncing her bottom up and down in the air.  Other times she's practicing the arms part so she'll get into a crouching position and be throwing her arms in the air.  I'm sure it will come together for her soon, but for now...very entertaining! :)

The diaper + those stripes = wardrobe fail...her tiny butt looks HUGE!! 

- she is still so very cuddly.  She will gladly sit in my lap or let me hold her whenever I want to. I love this so much!

- she shakes her head "no" when I tell her no.  Also, she will go near something that I have said "no" about (like an electrical outlet or the vacuum) and reach her arm out and then shake her head "no" like she's telling herself...it's too funny!

- she brings me things if I ask her to (i.e., she was holding a hanger the other day and I put out my hand and said, "Give it to Mommy, please" and she crawled over and handed it to me.  Smart girl!

- she has started to jump a little in her bed, which cracks us up completely.  You may remember one other girl we know who jumped in her bed CONSTANTLY...

- she claps her hands and laughs whenever anyone seems happy or excited- it is so precious!

- she got sick this last week, the first sickness really since her diagnosis of swallowing dysphasia in February.  She has croup but has handled it really well.  I hate that we exposed the other kids in my Moms group but I'm sure it's not the first time the kids will get exposed to something this winter.  She has been a trooper through the illness.

- she is obsessed with my tongue and teeth...her hands are always in there.  Tonight we were in Playroom with Emily and I was sitting on the floor. Audrey came over, ripped open my mouth and shoved her hand in there and laughed so hard.  Then I took her hand out and she full-on screamed at me...whoa, Nellie!   I thought she was supposed to be more easygoing?!?! ;)

- I think we're in a big growth spurt- we had an unexpected trip to the doctor this week (see above) and she has grown 1/2 a pound and 1/2 an inch since her appointment on September 6!  Her feet are finally growing too-- hallelujah!!

- she loves to play in the playroom with all the stand up toys...loves it. As soon as we start up the stairs she gets so squealy and excited- I love it!

- we finally did her cake smash photos...only 4 weeks late for her first birthday, ha!  She definitely was happy to eat more cake, even if we did have to quit early due to windy conditions.  

Thanks for checking in on my sweet little lady! 

Rules for Dads of Daughters

Every once in a while I find something on the interwebs that really resonates with me.  This article really does...it shows just how special it is to be a parent (specifically, a dad) of little girls.  There's nothing like it in all the world.  Paul is so lucky to have these 2 princesses in his life. :)

You can read the article by clicking this link. :)

Parade!

We took the girls to a parade this weekend-- the first parade for either girl!  They both had so much fun and I don't think Emily has ever been so happy in her entire life (she LOVED the candy flying in her direction!)  It was so much fun to take them, and to meet up with our sweet friends Jenny and Jeff and their girls Maggie and Ellie.  (Maggie and Emily are BFF).  TOO MUCH FUN!! :)

It's WAY TOO hot out here, Mommy!

L-R: Emily, Zoe, Ellie, Maggie.

Emily is 3 Years and 11 Months Old!!!

It's almost time for Emily's FOURTH birthday! How is this happening? She is growing up so quickly...it's incredible. Here's what life is like this month:

- She is getting so funny, always saying and doing lots of things to make us laugh. The other night I asked her if she liked the new sheets on her bed and she said, "I didn't ask for these sheets, you crazy woman!!" She is always being silly and calls things the wrong names on purpose, etc. It's a laugh a minute around here.

-She's also started some funny speech patterns-- when we pass Kroger she yells, "Krogert!!" and she thinks the word 'toward' is "batoward"... So she'll ask if we're going 'batoward' the gate, 'batoward' the bed, etc. So funny! She also calls the suspension bridge we sometimes go across the "laying down bridge"... No clue why! When we are watching TV she will ask us to watch HER 'news' (her news is Mickey Mouse, Sesame Street, Little Einsteins, etc). Too funny!

- She earned a special prize at school for singing her 'Long A' song-- it's a phonics-sound song that they have been practicing. Miss Teresa says that she knows the whole thing, but she won't sing it all for me. Stinker!

- she fell out of bed one night this month, only the second time ever. She was so confused when I went to help her get back in!

- she is getting a lot better at art and drawing. This month she started drawings hearts and she draws us pictures all the time now that are pretty darn accurate. She is SOOOOO smart- I really wish she could go to Kindergarten next year (but that's another post for another day).

"The ocean and the sun."

"The ocean, the sun, a boat and a big splashing wave."

- She has been playing outside a lot more with our neighbors and loves getting to be with the big kids. She is getting stronger and can ride her bike easier now.

- She gets very frustrated when I try to take her picture now.

- She is obsessed with the number 20-- everything big or impressive is 20-- i.e., "Wow-- he is probably going to run 20 times!" "I'm going to take 20 bites!" "We should buy 20 pumpkins for our house!".

- She is adding different ending sounds to words right now-- especially "oh"...so Audrey is Audro, I am Mom-o, Paul is Dad-o.  She is insanely silly and cracks herself up all the time with these little games.

- She wears size 8.5- 9 shoes and size 4 or 5 shirt.  She also knows her sizes now and loves to help me look for clothes and/or shoes in "my own size". 

That's all the news I have for now.  Check back soon-- October is a BIIIIIG month for Miss Emily!! :) :)

Audrey's swallow study update

Today Audrey and I packed up and headed to the hospital for her third barium swallow study.  In case you don't know, (and you probably don't, because I never even knew people could have problems with swallowing until Audrey!), a modified barium swallow study is a test that shows whether a person has a properly functioning swallow reflex or not.  For babies, they are strapped into a chair that's sort of like a carseat.  An xray machine in next to them and a large computer monitor to show the images being recorded during the test. 

Our test was administered by a speech pathologist, a radiologist, and radiology technicians.  The SLP gave Audrey liquids (mixed with barium, to show up on the screen) of different thicknesses while they watched the screen to see if she would aspirate fluid into her nose and/or lungs.  I was watching from behind a screen while Paul stayed with her.  While I watched I was shocked that I wasn't seeing the little bits of liquid being aspirated, like they had shown us in the past.  Of course, this is a highly technical test so I didn't trust myself to get excited and think she had passed.  Imagine mine and Paul's shock when the SLP looked at us and said, "She did great!!" 

WHAT?! For so many months now we have had to measure, mix, blend, and travel with some stuff called Simply Thick, a gel-based thickener that made her liquids able to be swallowed safely.  We bought a hand blender and had to use it every.single.day to make her special mix.  When the girls and I flew to the beach this summer we were nearly 15lbs over the acceptable weight, and Simply Thick packets accounted for about half of that.  We have had to be extra vigilant at playgroups and parties that Audrey wouldn't get someone else's cup and drink an unthickened liquid (not to mention at home, where Emily leaves cups everywhere!)

It's become such a part of our routine that I actually had some anxiety today when we heard the wonderful news.  Now Audrey not only gets to move to whole milk, but she gets to move to JUST whole milk-- no thickeners!  I am so proud of her and so very grateful that our sweet girl has been healed. 
Hooray for this new development!

Mommy's birthday!

Today I turned 27 years old and celebrated it with my sweet family!  I cannot help but remember last year on this day, when we were just getting used to having tiny baby Audrey in the house (she had only been home for 2 nights!) I think we will take a "Mommy and Girls" photo each year on my birthday to show how we are all growing.  Love my sweet girls!

 
2009:

2010:

 2011:

Audrey's 1 Year Checkup!

Audrey had her one year well child visit today.  We actually saw our new pediatrician, Dr. P, today (we haven't been the doctor since North Carolina).  Audrey's stats:

- weight: 19lbs 8.5oz (35th %)
- height: 28.5 inches (25th %)
- head circ: 44cm (50th%)

Her growth has been right on track and our doctor said she looks good!  Audrey was WILD in the exam room- squirming and twisting and trying to get out of my lap.  It was crazy!  Dr. P could see a few more teeth coming in, and we noticed that she's getting a premolar too!  Maybe that's why she was so cranky last week?

We have our next swallow study next Tuesday and hopefully Audrey will pass. We did get the OK to move to whole milk, so we'll start trying that soon I guess.  I am not ready for her to grow up but I am certainly ready to not buy formula anymore! 

She got 3 shots today- one in each arm and one in her leg.  She cried SO hard...she is very sensitive anyway (she cries when I tell her NO, lol) so this was extra bad.  Poor girl!  After a few minutes of snuggling she finally calmed down...I feel bad for any kids in the waiting room!

She will go back to the dr with me during Emily's appointment next month, so she can get her flu shot...then she goes back Dec. 6 for her 15 month visit.  The days are passing quickly!