Sunday At The Park

So Sunday turned out to be a pretty day for the most part - a little breezy but still warm. For the past couple of weeks,since the temperatures have been pretty steady in the 70's each day, I have wanted to take Aubrey to the park. I didn't know what she would be able to do but I thought it would be a fun time for us. A way to get out of the house. We loaded up the car and went to the Laurel St Playground. I know what your thinking - You live on Laurel street and you didn't walk the 1/2 mile (probably closer) to the park. Were lazy, what else can I say. Actually, I had a meeting and in case the park was a huge success and time flew because we were having so much fun LA could drop me off at the church in time for my meeting.

In figuring out were to start, we decided on the swings. I went to the first set of swings and attempted to sit down and my hips didn't fit. I guess I made them fit but it wasn't comfortable. I don't know who those seats are made for but they are definitely someone smaller than me. The other set of swings had bigger seats but were only about 12" off the ground. That's difficult for a 6' tall person to attempt. You basically are doing six inches the whole time you are swinging so your feet don't drag the ground. Aubrey sat in both our laps but I wouldn't say she had the time of her life. We went on to the rocking animals - the hippo and dinosaur. Not sure she really had a blast there either. We then went to the swings that she could actually sit in and swing with daddy pushing her. She liked that for a few minutes but that was about it. We then went to the slides. Surely, I was thinking that this would be the event of the day. We sat her down at the top and she started crying. The only way to get over the fear is to face it so we put her on the edge, pushed her and let her slide down. Mommy was at the bottom waiting to catch her. She didn't really like it either, especially when she hit her head on the slide. Mommy didn't seem to happy either. That didn't go quite as planned. Your right - We didn't push her down the slide. She did ride down two different slides with daddy and wasn't really thrilled.

So after spending some time at the park with Aubrey, it was a little bit of a disappointment. Daddy had plenty of time to make it to his meeting. The rest of the story however is that later on we figured out why Aubrey was fussy and not having too much fun. She was running a fever and was sick. I guess we will try again when she is feeling better and is a little older.

High Chair

Aubrey is a big girl now. She will be eating from her high chair from now on when at home. We had to add some filler in the back to help keep her stable for now but she shouldn't need that for too long. It was cute when after we put her in the chair she twisted around and got her arm through the slats in the back and her face was up against them - Aubrey didn't think so and told mommy and daddy about it.

Crawling

OK, so I might have been wrong about the crawling. Aubrey is figuring it out pretty quickly. She started crawling on the 25th while playing with daddy while mommy was at Nana Von's - oops! She got up on her knees and went forward. To be honest maybe we should say she can crawl. Adding the "ing" actually would mean she can crawl from one spot to another and she can't do that yet. However, we are sure it's not going to be too long before she has got it all figured out.

PS - If you want the story behind why Aubrey is using her high chair, you will have to ask us in person.

PSS - Saturday look like it is going to be rainy, lazy day - maybe we will have a photo shoot/fashion show with Aubrey. Instead of Fashion Week in Charleston, we will have fashion week on Laurel St.

God Made Dirt - Hopefully It Won't Hurt

Aubrey got to go outside today at daycare. They try to let them spend some time outside when the weather is good like it has been this week. They put her on a mat and before they knew it, Aubrey had grabbed a couple of handfuls of grass and dirt and was tasting it which is not surprising because everything goes to her mouth first. Hopefully, it will just make her stronger and immune to something else down the road. I don't think it going to hurt her and I am sure it will not be the last thing that goes into her mouth that is swallowed. It was funny to her the ladies talk about it.

Never Enough

I been thinking about this for awhile and have never posted it. I am sure this is the same for everyone that has had a child. LA and I spend way too much time cleaning and washing bottles. I don't think you can ever have enough bottles. We have nine bottles and it isn't enough. It seems like a lot but we still spend a good bit of time cleaning out bottles and either putting them in the dishwasher or hand washing them. I don't know if we had eighteen bottles if it would be enough but I am sure it would be better. My advise to anyone else having children - get 24. It will be worth it.

The other item that you can't have enough of is burp cloths and bibs. We could have a truck load of each delivered tomorrow and Aubrey would have them dirty by in the morning. She is a drooling and spitting up machine. She has a constant stream of drool coming out on the right side of her mouth. It like a little river. Then you add in the motorboating noise (that mommy and daddy taught her), running noses, coughing, sneezing, constantly sticking her tongue out, and blowing bubbles and you need a factory in the backyard making and washing bibs and burp cloths to keep up. The exciting thing about all the drool is that she doesn't even have the first tooth yet. So that means it is going to get worse before it gets any better. We are lucky to live in the south because if she lived any further north her bibs would be frozen anytime she went outside. Good thing summer is coming soon and she will be able to go around in just her diaper that way the drool will not get on her clothes. My advise to anyone else having children - buy a big spool of fabric and make your own.

Warnings

WARNING - Prevent Falls;Never use on any elevated surface.Never use on a raised surface.Never use as a car seat or bath seat.Designed for floor level use only. Never leave your baby unattended as the seat is not designed to be totally restrictive and may not prevent release of your baby in the event of vigorous movement.


Do you pay any attention to all the warning labels on all the products you purchase for yourself? How about for you child? We purchased a Bumbo seat for Aubrey and we knew about the safety warnings - don't sit them on the countertops or other high places. However, I had been over to Travis and Minde's and saw Caroline sitting in one on their countertop with out any problem and they hadn't had any issues. So since ours arrived we have been using it on our island which is not huge but big enough. We use it to sit her in while we feed her. We keep her in the middle away from the edges except when we are feeding her.


Last night we were both in the kitchen getting dinner ready and Aubrey was in her Bumbo seat on the island and LA had just pushed Aubrey to the middle for some reason. We both had turned away to do something and the next sound we hear is a thud as Aubrey (Nosy Nancy) has exited from the Bumbo seat and landed on the island. She cried for a minute or two and got a little red mark on her forehead but was ok. We were lucky.


Maybe those warning aren't just a bunch of lawyers doing CYA work.


Lesson Learned


PS - Aubrey's new name is Nosy Nancy. She could care less about what is happening right in front of her or who's playing with her. She spends about 90% of the time with her body twisted trying to see what is happening behind her or to the left and right. The ladies and day care made the same comment about her the other day. Her being Nosy is the reason she doesn't sleep so well at daycare and it's the reason she fell out of the Bumbo. She was turned around reaching for something - so it wasn't our fault. It was Aubrey's for being so Nosy. Hope she learned her lesson.

Daddy Day Care

I survived my 3 day and 3 nights of keeping Aubrey. We had a lazy day on Saturday but not before a 4:30am wake up call and her not going back to sleep until around 6:00am when Daddy took her downstairs to watch some Sportscenter. It always makes her go to sleep. She did end up going to sleep and Daddy watched a couple of hours of Sportscenter. Why can guys watch Sportscenter more than once. Do we think it's going to change or some new highlights are going to be added? I guess it's just a case of being addicted to sports and highlights. It's the same way girls watch HGTV hour after hour. We didn't solve any of the worlds problems or even any of our own problems (except when Daddy changed Aubrey's diapers) but it was a Saturday and it was raining and overcast. What else are you supposed to do?

Sunday, we went to church and I made it in a seat before the first song started - just as the announcements were ending. The announcements are just like the first bell at school or the first horn during a timeout - a warning that you only have a few more minutes to get there on time. I thought that was pretty good because LA and I have the same problem every week it seems. :) Anyway, after Sunday school we went to lunch. When they were asking who was going to lunch my response was "I am going as long one or more females are going." It was nice to have some help so I could eat. Meg, Jennie, Rebecca and Jennifer took turns entertaining Aubrey while at lunch. Aubrey gave Jennie a little surprise by spitting up on her and herself. Aubrey got to show off for the girls and was loving the attention. She showed them that she loves to stand up, her love for cups - how much she want to hold them and lick them (actually she wants to lick everything). Rebecca and Jennifer don't worry about our little secret. I am not going to tell LA anything about Aubrey drinking some water or about the ice cube. ;) Aubrey and I got home and prepared for our afternoon of playing and taking a nap. Around 4pm, Aubrey and I had to go out to the interstate and pick mommy up and Aubrey was not happy about having her afternoon nap interrupted but she was happy to see mommy and we were both glad to have her home.

I survived and Aubrey survived which I guess makes last weekend a success. I think LA will let me keep her again. Aubrey was healthy and didn't look like she missed any meals. I do have a new appreciation for single parents. I will never look at them in the same way.

When's LA's next trip?

Thank to everyone who helped and/or prayed for me this past weekend.

I'm Back

It’s been awhile since I last update the blog. I could list a bunch of reasons but it really doesn’t matter and you probably don’t really care. You really want to know what’s been happening with Aubrey. I am going to try to summarize everything that has happen since my last post. I am sure I will miss some things but I should be able to hit the highlights.

Daddy Day Care

Mommy went out of town this weekend (last weekend of the February) and left daddy in charge. This is the first time Daddy has had to keep Aubrey by himself for an extended period of time. Daddy was able to get her fed, dressed and ready for day care pretty close to on schedule. A few minutes behind schedule but not too bad. I think Saturday is going to be a lazy day for Aubrey and me. I might just let her run around in her diaper.

Stay posted for more updates from the weekend.

Size - 5 months flies by (Jayna and Jacob)

Jayna and Jacob made their arrival the first two weeks of February. We visited both of them in the hospital and it is hard for us to imagine that 5 months ago LA and I had a baby that small. It is amazing how fast time flies and how big Aubrey has gotten. I guess this continues throughout life.

Sitting Up

She has started to sit up some on her own or with some help from mommy and daddy. Hopefully, she will figure this out in the coming weeks so she doesn’t have to spend so much time on her back. She can fall to the sides and back pretty quickly. Mommy and Daddy will have to be on their toes to keep her from hitting her head. She is pretty flexible – she can be sitting and bend at her waist and put her head between her legs.

Weekend at Nanny’s (Feb)

Leigh-Ann and I went on our annual trip with our friends to our family beach house at Surfside Beach for a weekend in February and left Aubrey with Nana Von and Gramps. She did wonderful and they enjoyed keeping her. LA and I did fine and didn’t worry ourselves to death about her. However, we did miss her and were anxious to get home and spend some time with her. Everybody was worried about how we did and were asking us all kinds of questions. It wasn’t a big deal. I think the biggest reason is that Aubrey is a good baby. I would have a lot harder time leaving our child with anyone including family, if she cried all day and/or was a holy terror (which still could and probably happen in the coming years) it would be a different situation. I probably wouldn’t leave her with anyone if she was a crier or was fussy all the time. We are blessed that Aubrey has been such a good baby.

Valentines’ Day

So a week before Valentine’s Day LA brought home a flyer from school that asked if we wanted to purchase a Valentine’s Day gift for her. It was only like $3 dollars and they sucked us in. Come on, really…we weren’t going to let her be the only one not to get something even though she didn’t even know she got anything. The funny thing was about a day earlier we had discussed if we were going to do anything for her and had decided not to do anything because she wouldn’t remember it. On Valentine’s Day, LA and I got a bag of goodies for her – actually some of it was for us (a brownie and some chocolate). She also got some Valentine’s day gifts from her friends in the class. LA and I weren’t prepared for that – oops. What’s the next holiday? Looks like her friends will get something for St. Patrick ’s Day. Got any suggestions?

Baby Foods and Her Desire for Real Food

After her four months doctors appointment, we started feeding Aubrey cereal in the mornings. She did real good with it and figured it out pretty quickly. We advanced from the rice cereal which by the way is not real tasty. It taste’s like the flour and water stuff you dipped newspaper in to make paper mache. Aubrey started with squash then sweet potatoes, carrots (which she didn’t like at first but is doing better with them), peas, green beans, and applesauce. We have a few more fruits to work through but so far no allergic reactions. This is a blessing. Often times at dinner, we will feed Aubrey and then eat dinner and hold Aubrey or put her in the Boppy. She has figured out what we are doing and gets mad watching us eat. She wants you to feed her what you are eating and let her drink out of your cup. We’ve got a video of her attaching my cup and it is funny. I will try to post it to the blog.

Putting Her Hands In The Mouth and Sucking Her Thumbs

For awhile now Aubrey has wanted to put her hands into her mouth and we have been steadfast in her telling “No, hands in your mouth”. This is going to be a learning lesson for her about her daddy. I am going to win this battle/challenge. I will not loose. I am going to loose a bunch of battles over the years but this is one that I will win. I will keep you posted.

Day Care

Towards the end of January the couple keeping Aubrey decided that it wasn’t working out and they would keep her until we could find someone else. We didn’t have a plan but decided not to take Aubrey back. A couple from our Sunday school class offered to keep Aubrey for a week – Dave and Shara. They were expecting in about three weeks and I think they wanted a dry run to make sure they were ready for their new baby girl. Aubrey had a great week taking walks and playing with Maggie, their dog. Fortunately, she can not talk and tell us she wants a dog.  I don’t think mommy and daddy are ready for that yet. Shara even got to take Aubrey to her doctor’s appointment and freaked everyone out in the office with the baby in the car seat and being pregnant. I am sure she got some strange looks. It was a great knowing that they were keeping Aubrey. LA and I got on the phone on Monday and fortunately Summerville Baptist CDC had and opening and we visited and decided to enroll her there. It has been working out good. It is close to the house and the three ladies there do a good job with her. She has four new friends and will have another one in April when the fifth child arrives – the parents are paying to hold a spot. We have registered her for next year at Summerville Baptist. She is going to start out in the baby class and move to the crawler class when she turns one. Her birthday is going to cause her to be the oldest in her class. Most of the starting dates are birthdays before September 1.