Mr. Giggle's Monthly Chair Pics

Two Months:















One Month:

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Aud @ 11 months

Audrey is in a period of phenomenal growth right now. In just the last three or four weeks, she's picked up the following tricks:

• Says "more", "wa wa", and "nie" (no in Polish)
• Identifies, and points to, her hair, teeth, lights, bubbles, and Ringo
• Continues to love books. Her favorites include Kiss Goodnight and I am a Bunny (In fact, she can point to the bunny in every page.)
  
• Can hold a small cup independently (I'll post a funny pic of this later.)
• Loves music
• Has a thing about copying sounds and noises. Last week she did a pretty good impression of the neighbor's leaf blower.
  
• Shows pride when she accomplishes things. She'll often clap for herself, which of course prompts us to join her in praise.
• She's ready to walk any minute. In fact, her determination was on big display at Thanksgiving where she spent the entire trip studying her 2 year-old cousin Hunter's moves.

We still continue to struggle with separation and stranger anxiety, but I'm fine with it. She can keep that up until about 21, don't you think?

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Aud @ 10 (+) Mos

I'm obviously a little late with this one (hence the (+)) but here goes:

• Ms. Audrey's active. In fact, getting this picture is quite an ordeal. Every time we stick her in the chair she lunges head first right off it. Truth be told, 3 seconds after I snapped this pic she was on the floor in tears. And that was with two of us trying to keep her safe. Poor, quick, fearless little thing.
• Aud continues to work on her cruising skills but often gets impatient, drops to her hands and knees and just crawls (fast as lightening) wherever she wants to go. When she does practice walking she prefers to get help with two hands. Rarely though, she'll stand up for a second on her own. This leads me to believe she's saving her walking for her Grandpa at Thanksgiving, or her Granna at Christmas.
  
• She's said her first words! A couple of weeks ago she started saying "Hi!" complete with a wave. She's also experimenting with "Bye" but isn't sure which one is appropriate for coming or going, which is pretty cute.
• Her interactive board books are quickly becoming a big favorite. She sits by herself and carefully turns each page. She'll touch the bunny, scratch the sand, lift the flap, etc with complete focus and concentration.
  
• She loves her baby music class, hates her baby gym class.
• She's developed a deep bond with her lovey blankie.
  
• Seperation anxiety is still an issue. We're begining to wonder if its just her personality. It could be that she just doesn't trust new environments and new people until she's figured them out. Just like her daddy.
  

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Aud @ 9 mos

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Aud @ 8 mos

Audball:

• Nearly 18 lbs.
  
• Says "Ba Ba Ba"
• Loves to drink out of a cup. Or rather, loves to put a cup to her lips and spill on herself.
  
• Beginning to hold her own bottle (not sure how come the cup came first, but oh well.)
• Gets slap-happy when she's sleepy
  
• Still wary when she meets new people
• Can dart out and crawl away in the blink of an eye (just 7 days into crawling - sheesh!)
  
• Loves swimming at our local pool
• Can feed herself small pieces of food
• Loves mango, papaya, kiwi, peaches, and anything else we put in front of her.
  
• When she's trying to figure something out, can focus on it singularly for a ridiculous amount of time
  
• Needs a hair cut
  

Dad:

• Put up safety gates
• Stained the front door
• Master at making Audball laugh

Me:

• Picked up another client
• Irritated that summer is almost over and my skin remains fishbelly white.
  
• Still need to lose the baby weight

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Audball @ 7 mos

Little Audball rarely sits still anymore She's not quite crawling but leaving her for just a second to sit in the chair is a big risk. She'll propel herself right out onto her face without blinking. Here are some other tricks she's picked up lately:

• Rolls every which way and is learning to skooch back and forth a bit on all fours.
• Addicted to bouncing. The more bounce the better. Add music and she's in fits.
  
• Shows happiness and displeasure easily.
  
• Loves exploring everything with her hands and mouth.
• Can identify partially hidden objects.
• Only talkative when she's tired.
  
• Pulls up on our hands to stand. We're trying to discourage this and get her to crawl first, but the girl wants to stand and walk like crazy.
  
• Tries to kiss herself in mirrors. (Can you blame her? She's irresistible.)
• Just sprouted two teeth. To which Grandpa Rick responded, "Get her a steak!"

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Audball @ 6 months

- 26.5 inches long - now 75%
- 15 lbs 10 oz - still 50%
- Head was measured but I've already blocked it
- No teeth yet, but a lot of drool
- Rollin', rollin', rollin'
- Sits up confidently
- Doesn't cry when she topples over - such a tough girl
- Likes to eat. And feeds herself. So far approves of sweet potatoes, pears, and peas.
- Less spitting up
- Super active - into everything she can reach
- Loves scratching things with her fingernails
- Scared of most men (fine with us)
- Deeply in love with Ringo
- Has been suggesting to her daddy she needs a puppy.

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Audball @ 5 months

- 26.5 inches long - still 90%
- 14 lbs 9 oz. - still 50%
- Loves to grab her toes, toys, my shirt, my mouth, my hair, etc.
- That which can go in mouth should go in mouth, including heels.
- Short attention span - but super focused when she wants to be
- Rollie pollie little bug
- Thisclose to sitting up by herself
- Gets attention by squealing
- Locates us by the sound of our voices
- Still spitting up a lot - on meds
- Needs to eat more milk
- Starting to eat rice cereal
- Has broken open my heart

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Aud @ 4 months

Can you believe this pic? Already such a big girl.

Stats:

• 13 pounds, 10 oz - 50th percentile.
  
• 26 inches long - 95th percentile (Yea, I'm highly suspicious of the last measurement. She grew 2 inches in one month? Hmmm)
• Refused head measurement

Top Milestones

• Sleeping well (without her swaddle no less!)
• Found her feet
  
• Very little head slumping when she's propped up
• Grabbing, holding and sucking toys
• Anticipates the bottle and makes sure we know she wants it
• Likes to look at things up close
• Holds her head up when on her tummy, and rolls over
  

Likes

• Sleeping on her side. Left, to be specific. And perpendicularly in her crib. Seriously. No matter what way we put her down, this is how we find her when she wakes up. She makes sure to touch her head and her feet to the opposing bumpers. Maybe because it's a little more cozy?
  
• "Talking" and squealing
• Playing
• The fishes in her aquarium
• Watching Ringo
• Daddy
• Twirling her hair in her fingers
• Scratching the wall next to her changing table with her fingers.
  

Dislikes

• Having her morning bottle taken away before she's had 4 oz.
  
• Sudden noises. Particularly Velcro. It's evil and makes her cry.
• Being bored
• Shots
  
• Being cold and wet after a bath.
  

Aud's not super into cuddling (except when I trap her in a sling, then she noozes.) It makes me sad when I'm in the mood for a good snuggle. She's quick to push away and reach for a toy. Its not entirely surprising she's an independent little monkey... I just wasn't expecting to see it this quickly.

Get used to it, right?

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3 months

Milestones:

Audrey:

12 lbs, 8 oz, 24 inches. That's 75th percentile in both categories.

I'm still not listening when the doctor tells me her head in centimeters, but I did catch that it was in the 90th percentile.

Sleeping regularly through the night. Loooooooove this about her.

Eating well.

Generally happy. In fact, the only time she cries is when she's overtired, or when you take her bottle away too early in the morning. As her dad says, "If you take away her groceries, she will CUT you."

Smiles and giggles.

Recognizes mommy, daddy, and Katchya (her nanny).

Loves to "chat" back and forth with you by cackling and cooing.

Locks focus on things she's interested in.

Strong! She likes to kick hard. While doing tummy time she lifts her head, feet and hands. (Lord, with my back, I can't even do that.) Also, she locks her legs and pushes up when we "stand" her on her feet.

Likes TV. Too much. We're trying to keep her away.

Likes to look at herself in a mirror.

While she's definitely into touching things, she's not as interested in actually reaching for them.

Me:

Had a birthday. I'm officially 35 with a kid. Jesus.

Still not sleeping that well.

Went to the dentist. Got a haircut. Feeling human here and there.

Not breastfeeding. That ended up being a fiasco I'll post about another day.

Still can't fit into any of my pants.

Went on my first business trip since Audball was born and nabbed myself another client. I wasn't actually looking for one and I have mixed feelings about it (I was feeling really good about the balance I had between 25 hours work time and mom-time) but in this economy I didn't feel I should turn them down.

I'm not crying about mom as much. There are still raw moments, but I've been talking about her more and finding more ways to cope that don't involve baked goods and/or wine. Actually, lately when I think about her I've found I'm thinking about her quirks and imperfections (and absolute lunacy, on occasion) with a softer, more compassionate and loving view. This is not at all surprising -- you never truly appreciate people until they're gone, of course -- but what has been interesting is how I'm also carrying that softer attitude toward my own mothering. I find myself worrying less about what kind of mother I am, or will be. It's as if I've awakened to this insight that my sloppy messy crazy mom loved me and managed to raise me right, and I loved her, and it's OK. It's OK to be a disaster mom sometimes. The kid will be OK. I'll be OK. And despite the fact that the journey will be bumpy, Audrey will love me, because that's what we do. We love our parents no matter what. Nice, huh?

Mr. Anderson:

On a post-pregnancy diet. This is slightly irritating to me given my pants situation, but I've decided to get over it.

Running nearly every morning.

Getting back to house projects.

Kicking ass, as usual.

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Audrey is 2 months old

Todayvs. 1 month

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Audball @ 6 weeks

Milestones:

- Smiles
- Can hold her head up pretty well for a few minutes.
- Coos, lip-smacks and tries to imitate us when we sing to her.
- Had her first "Whoa! Holy Crap! Explosion-out-of-the-diaper!" poop
- Has begun to notice her mobile (Thanks Rick and Judy!)
- Has started to actually pay attention to a book, Look Look (Thanks Mike, Emily and Collin!)
- Tracks movement within a few feet of her, including Ringo walking by.

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Happy 1 Month Birthday Audrey Jane!

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