Audrey teeth pic:

Isn't that weird for her to get those first?  The back one has the points already through- it's blurry but I think you can tell from the photo.  Yesterday I noticed that the eyetooth on the other side is coming up.  Poor kid - it's been rough.  But she is a good sport and today she was totally happy regardless.  BTW, she turns 6 months on Saturday.  It's going by so fast!

And here she is totally trashed in the Jumperoo:

 

Now for some priceless Katelyn quotes:

"Daddy and I are going to play Donkey Kong.  Audrey, you're invited.  Mommy, you do the dishes."

(after a fall) "Mommy, I hurt my yeg!  I need corn!"  (yeg=leg, corn=bag of frozen corn that I use as an icepack)

We took some great video of the two of them playing tonight.  Hopefully Paul can make that into a YouTube video this week so you all can see it.  Also, Kate's birthday is coming up soon and I am gathering gift ideas (for the family only, you friends know I don't want you getting gifts), so just be patient!  You have all given us so much it is very hard to find anything we need, still I understand the desire to get her something for her birthday.  We are planning to take her to Sea World as her gift from us.

Audrey has cut her first tooth!  And it is not at all where I expected.  I was so busy looking at the bottom front two hiding beneath the gums that I missed the one coming in on the side!  It is her left lateral incisor.  I am not sure how I am going to get a picture of it, might have to wait until it comes through a little bit more.

And she is signing!  She has signed "eat" a couple of times, and now she is signing "diaper" like crazy.  It's actually her version of the sign for diaper:  she slaps the top of her diaper two times.  Of course I thought it was a fluke at first, but after a full day of actually paying attention, it's obvious that she is signing deliberately.  I think she has probably been signing it for a while and I just thought she was flailing.  But now I can tell the difference, and when I recognize and respond, she gets so happy!  I remember this stage with Kate too.  It is so cool when they realize they can actually communicate with you.  It cuts down on the frustration for everyone. 

Check flickr for the latest pix of our trip to Sweet Berry Farms.  I am amazed we made it there at all, because we were running late then stopped to buy sunglasses then stopped for the potty then stopped for carsickness.  It was all worth it in the end.  A fun time was had by all.  Kate rode the hayride with Daddy and her friend Noah and his family.  She also loved exploring all of the pumpkins.  We really wanted to do the pony ride but the line was super long, and she did pony rides at Octoberfest in our neighborhood park just the weekend before.  (Paul has a few cameraphone pictures of this to upload sometime.)   Here are some more highlights:

 

 

Better late than never. She's only 5 1/2 months now. We've started fruits and vegetables! So far, carrots and sweet potatoes are a big hit - appropriate, given that her nickname is Sweet Potato Pie. Pears are ok, prunes are tolerated, and peas are a big thumbs-down. Or throw up, as the case may be. She is rolling tummy to back now a little, but it requires intense concentration. Her gums are really swollen, but when I give her ibuprofen and the swelling goes down, I can see the little clear line of her bottom two front teeth!

A pic from baby dedication:

And just some cuteness:

More on our flickr site!  Now, let's all pause a moment to soak in some Motherly Wisdom.

1.  Going to the bathroom is a privilege.  If you have the opportunity, take it.

2.  A happy heart is the most important ingredient for a good day.

3.  There is no such thing as too many stickers.

SOOOO...last Friday Kate decided she wanted to be a big girl and wear underpants.  And now she is ALMOST ENTIRELY POTTY TRAINED.  Yup!  I had heard this from other moms, that "one day they just decide to be potty trained,"  so I guess I shouldn't be surprised.  I am so thrilled at how this has gone, but we've still had rocky moments.  The first couple of days, she had a few major accidents.  But she learned pretty quick that every time she had a big accident Mommy would hose her down with cold water in the shower.  Not to punish, but to clean her up.  Thanks, Amanda, for the tip.  That did it.  She hates the shower.  So Friday and Saturday she had probably 3 accidents per day, Sunday and Monday only 1, Tuesday NONE, Wednesday and Thursday only 1.  Today's accident was the result of a massive tantrum while in the car, so I got the joy of spanking her AND washing the car seat.  Sigh.

She is still wearing pullups at night and naptime, although it took some fancy talking on my part to get her to wear them.  ("No, Mommy!  I'm a big girl!  I don't want to wear that diaper!"  "You don't have a potty in your bed, honey.  Let's put your underwear OVER the pullup.")  Geez, what mixed messages I'm giving her.  But until the child will/can get out of her bed and take herself to the bathroom, this is how it's going to be.

I am just so proud of her! 

And Audrey turned 5 months today.  More on that later, it's 11:30 and I'm tired!

So we have been planning to put kate in big kid underwear starting Monday, but this morning she begged me to let her wear them, so we started today.  So far, so good...a couple of accidents, but most importantly, she has a happy heart!  Keep you posted...

Ok, Audrey's night waking is really wearing me out.  This is really different that what Kate did so I am not sure how to handle it.  Here's what's up:

• About every 45 minutes to an hour, she starts to cry, but in a monotone, yelling kind of way, for about 5 minutes.
• Sleeping position does not seem to matter.
• She never truly wakes up, unless it's the daytime and there's stuff going on, or at 5:30ish for her first feeding.
• It's loud enough that it wakes us up every time.
• She doesn't usually need help settling down again, probably because she is really still asleep, but if she does wake up and get frantic her cries change.  She can be resettled easily with a pat and maybe the paci.
• She doesn't do it when sleeping in my bed with me, or on my chest for a nap, or in the car.
• She doesn't seem sleep deprived in the least - that's just me. She is super happy and eating well, and easy to put to bed.
• It's ALL STINKIN' NIGHT LONG.

I've heard of the "45-minute intruder" thing, where babies cry to change sleep cycles, and it is tempting to think that they are truly awake.  Some people equate that with not nursing enough, but she still nurses 7-8 times daily plus two cereal feedings, so SURELY that is not the problem.  Maybe this is a sleep-cycle related thing, but how do I deal with it?  I don't want to leave the monitor off entirely.  My first plan of action is to buy her a white noise machine, in hopes that it will help her sleep more deeply, or drown out the cries a little bit so I don't wake up so easily.

I just want to know if I am doing anything wrong, or if this is just a phase.  Any suggestions?

 

Man, we're sleep deprived around here.  Audrey has been waking up hourly during the night because of a cold.  She doesn't need help going back to sleep, but she is loud enough that it wakes me up every time.  This has been going on for a few days.

But finally, here is a picture of Audrey at 4 months:

 

Kate's preschool pix coming soon, flickr is having trouble.  She's been doing great at school.  Potty training has plateaued, but her teacher and I have a plan.  In a couple of weeks (let her get a little more used to school first) we're going to go cold turkey with the pullups.  Pray for me.  I know I'm going to have a lot of fits and messes to deal with.  But any child that can hold it ALL THE WAY TO OKLAHOMA has no excuse still being in pullups!  (except that her mother continues to buy them for her)

Kate: "Mommy, I read you a Bible story."  (runs over holding a free book from Sonic about animals)

"Ok, what is the story?"

"Jesus and the Ark."

"What is that one about?"

"When all of the animals fell in the ocean and died."

(a little shocked) "Do you mean Noah's Ark?  And maybe the other story about when the horses and riders fell into the sea?"

(miffed) "NO.  I reading the story, Mommy.  Look, here's a picture of Jesus Christ the Yord."  (points to cartoon dude in the cheapo Sonic book)

It went downhill from there.  I couldn't hold back the laughter, so I faked a coughing fit, but she wasn't fooled.  She gave up and went to do something else.

 

1/3 of a year!  Some Audrey facts:

• 13 lb (75%), 24 3/4 in (75%), head circ. 41 cm (50%)
• Rolling over from back to tummy
• Pushing up on her arms
• Bears weight on legs, when you hold her in standing position - she loves this
• Still nursing 8 times daily
• Sleeps 9 hours at night, only waking for a 5:30 am feeding
• Takes two big naps, morning for an hour or so, and afternoon for 2 hours, with occasional catnaps during the day

Stuff she does:

• Plays on the floor a lot, rolling around and grabbing at toys
• Puts everything in her mouth
• "Sings"
• Loves her bedtime routine - she gets really fussy about 9:30 pm so I know she's ready to go to bed soon.  When I take her into her room, she gets so excited, and laughs when I change her diaper and put her pj's on.
• Fascinated with her feet, especially with brightly colored socks and shoes on
• Cries when you take away her favorite toys (Buzz or the Sense-ations book), or if they fall out of reach
• Drools EVERYWHERE
• Is wigglier than ever!

I'll get a picture up eventually.  :)

Scenario:  A child has two toy cars.

Fictional Boy child: "Vroom vroom!  Budn budn!  Beep beep!  Honk!  Crash!  Ugh!  PGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGSSSSSSSSSHHHHHHHH!" (crashes cars together violently)

Girl child (aka Kate):  "Hi, I'm Luigi!  Hi, I'm Doc Hudson!  I like your door!  What a cute door!  I like your door too!  That's pretty awesome.  Want to go to the beach?  Ok!  Let's build a sand castle!  Do you like sand castles?  Are you thirsty?  I have some tasty lemonade..." (cars saunter away)