My Sprightly Sprout

Audia is asserting her independence and revealing her character more and more each day. And while of course there are days where I feel like pulling my hair out, passing her off to the next able-bodied adult, and locking myself in a sound proof room for an hour (as there will inevitably be with any almost-two-year-old, especially one as willful as my own), I am also having so much fun watching her explore and engage and grow!

Her new favorite thing is stickers!

If there is one thing that Audia isn't, it's shy. Sometimes she will take a little while to warm up to a person or a situation, but it usually isn't long before she is giving anyone and everyone her toys and books, engaging them in conversation, and even telling them that she loves them. This past weekend we went to my cousin's graduation open house, and it was the perfect venue to really discover the depth of her inner socialite. Within minutes, she was wandering around the back yard party, into groups of complete strangers, chatting up a storm. As her mom, 80% of me is totally thrilled that she shows no signs of having the paralyzing shyness that I had as a child. But 20% of me can't help but worry that she may never grasp the concept of "stranger danger." Though she's ridiculously smart, so I am probably selling her short in saying that.

As her vocabulary continues to explode, so does her desire to assert her independence. She will do things I told her 3 seconds prior not to do, looking me in the eye with a "so what are you going to do about it?" look. Time outs have become a necessity, but the good news is it usually only takes one to get her to listen pretty well to everything else the rest of the day.

Audia yelling at me about something

Another trait that continues to unveil itself is her absolute sweetness. She loves to snuggle, regularly gives us and her grandparents hugs and kisses, and says "love you *insert name here*" about a bazillion times a day. She also has really gotten into taking her baby dolls everywhere, feeding them, giving them kisses, and taking care of them. I only hope that her interest in babies will carry over to when we decide to add to our little family :-)

I have signed us up for 'mommy and me' swim lessons, which start next week, and am really looking forward to meeting some other mommies and kiddos around her age. With her being as people-oriented as she is, we definitely need to find her some more kids to engage with!

Our Sprightly Sprout

AZ June 2010

I haven't written in what feels like ages. A few weeks can fly by when you're as busy as I've felt I've been. With Chris' new job, I'm back to being a full time stay at home solo mom. Add to that Audia's shenanigans and I've been one busy busy mommy! Between her language explosion, mastering use (and abuse) of my iPod touch, wanting to be outdoors 24/7, and really beginning to (i think) hit those terrible two's, she's been more than a full time job. I, of course, wouldn't have it any other way!


My birthday was towards the end May, though pretty uneventful. And my BFF, N, had her baby boy, M on May 24th. He is such a perfect little dude; he seriously could be a model already!! We were lucky enough to meet him over Memorial Day weekend. I couldn't be happier for N and her family. It certainly has given me the baby bug!!

Then there was the trip this past weekend out to Arizona for my sister-in-law's wedding. We were only able to go out there Thursday til Sunday because Chris didn't want to ask for any more time than necessary off of work, so we had a LOT to fit into a very short period of time. Add the two hour time difference in on top of that, and Audia was sure tested to her limits....and boy did she pass with flying colors!!! On Thursday, we really tested her. She was fantastic on the plane, waited patiently while we got our rental car, and didn't fuss much during the 2+ hours we spent in the car. She went from 7 am until midnight without a nap and didn't have any meltdowns or tantrums at the rehearsal dinner, which I was sure she would. We stayed with Chris' parents all weekend, which was really nice. They are such great people, and Audia really enjoys spending time with them. They certainly went above and beyond to make our stay with them enjoyable :-) Friday was the wedding, which was very nice despite being outside in the 105 degree heat! I was the photographer, so Chris got to manage the munchkin throughout the majority of the evening. Another late night, but at least Audia got a nap that day :-) Saturday we had lunch with friends, which was SO fun (I miss you guys!!!!!), and in the afternoon/evening was the reception. We were so burnt out from the previous days that we called it a night early, only to get up at the crack of dawn to make our flight back to MN. It was definitely a nice weekend, but certainly more activity than I would choose to pack into such few days. I am definitely more of a 'vacation' person than a 'trip' taker :-)

Phew! Ok well I think that covers the past few weeks....though goodness knows I'll think of something else tomorrow. ;-)