Audrey and the Maraca

Oooh, a maraca!I shall eat it!!(Pause to pose for a picture)Now, I'm going to bang it on the floor as hard as I can! Look at me, I can sit up and bang the maraca at the same time!Maracas make me smile!!

Check out this video of me playing with my new maraca toy (thanks for letting me borrow it Lindsey and Simon and Elliot!).

A happy Audrey!

A happy Audrey makes for a happy Mommy and Daddy. Audrey is definitely feeling better this week. Today she has been super happy, laughing and giggling at everything. She's having so much fun with us, now she doesn't want to take naps or go to sleep. That's been the only bad thing about this week. She throws these little temper tantrums as soon as you start to walk into her room and screams in protest. But even without a good nap today, she was still the happiest little girl tonight. I really think she is loving her life right now and having so much fun that she doesn't want to miss out on anything by sleeping!

Here are some pictures and videos of our happy little girl this past week.

She really likes the books we got at the library on Monday.
I usually have a hard time deciding who she looks the most like, but in these next 2 pictures I really think she looks a lot like me, or at least a lot like my baby pictures (only way cuter!).

I'm not sure if this is a smile or not, but she really does like this little piano.

She doesn't normally hold her own bottle. But lately after she's done eating, she will hold it and play with it for a little while.

Here's a video of Audrey talking and playing with her rattle:

In this next video, watch how Audrey immediately starts looking around as soon as I mention Maggie's name. She loves Maggie so much! Maggie ran away last week, and all I could think about was how sad Audrey would be if we didn't find her. Fortunately, we have good neighbors who helped us track her down in the middle of a thunderstorm. Audrey is very grateful!

And one more...Daddy is really good at making Audrey laugh!!

Scooting in circles

Well, I think Audrey is about back to normal. Though it has been a rough week, as she has still been excessively fussy and refusing to nap. But after a couple of long naps today, she seems to be back to her active and more cheerful self.

Audrey has been scooting around in a circle while she is on her tummy. She does not like to be still!! I took some pictures of it today. All of these pictures were taken within 5 minutes of each other. Pay attention to the Boppy Pillow...I didn't move, the pillow didn't move, it was just Audrey scooting herself around in a circle. (it's fun to flip through these really fast on the camera, it's like watching a video)

And then she kept going, all the way around in another circle. But I decided that was enough pictures for one day!

Happy Mother's Day!!

Besides celebrating Mother's Day at church today, it was also baby dedication Sunday. We took this family picture after church. But Audrey was really tired (and I think she is still sick), and I couldn't get a picture without the pacifier. We also didn't take the time to straighten her dress, so she's kind of flashing everybody in this picture. Oh well, we tried.

Sick, but sitting up!

It's been a long week. Audrey has been sick, and that's not fun for any of us. We have changed some NASTY diapers this week!! She seems to be getting better the past few days, but I'm still kind of worried about her because she is not eating much at all. She won't eat any cereal or solids; she just gags and cries. And she will only take a couple ounces at a time from her bottle. It's frustrating, but I guess when we are sick we don't feel like eating, so she probably is like that as well. And now that she's 6 months, I was excited about trying all kinds of baby food...but she seems to be regressing and won't even eat cereal now. I'm just very frustrated tonight. I want her to be well and happy...it's hard to watch her not feeling well and not be able to fix it.

Despite not feeling the best or eating very well, Audrey made some major improvements on sitting up today. Earlier in the week she could only sit up for a few seconds at a time without tipping over. Today she was sitting up for a few minutes at a time by herself! What a big girl!!

The Many Faces of Audrey

Audrey, Maggie and I spent some time outside this afternoon. Audrey was sitting in her Bumbo, watching Maggie play, taking in the scenery, and making so many funny faces. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves!

And last, but definitely not least...this one made it as my daily photo...and it is definitely my favorite. I laugh every time I look at it...

6 months old!

Where did the month of April go? It seems like I was just posting Audrey's five month picture, and now she is already 6 months old. 6 months, that's just crazy! We had her 6 month appointment today and celebrated by giving her more shots! Poor girl, it almost seemed like she knew they were coming this time. She has turned into quite the chubby little girl in the past few weeks and weighed in today at 15 lbs, 11 oz (48th percentile). She was 25 3/4 inches long (62nd percentile). Six months ago, she looked like this:Now, she looks like such a big girl:

And a few more picures from our 6 month photo shoot today.

Check out my chubby belly!!

Audrey is extremely active and observant these days. She wants to grab, pull, hit, scratch, squeeze and taste everything she can get her hands on. Every time she hears Maggie's feet on the wood floor she is looking around trying to find the dog. Maggie has become one of Audrey's favorite things, and I'm pretty sure that her first word is going to be Maggie.

Audrey can sit up for a few seconds at a time, but she hasn't quite mastered being able to sit up on her own yet. We also think she is really eager to crawl. If she is on her belly and sees something she wants a few inches/feet away, she works so hard to get herself there. She has this move that we call the Inchworm (see the picture below!). She will push her legs up, so her bottom is sticking up in the air. Then she plants her face in the ground and pushes with all her strength. When she straightens back up on her belly, she has literally moved about an inch. It is a lot of work to move such a tiny distance...but this little girl is determined! The other day, in an attempt to get a hold of the remote control, she moved almost 2 feet by using the Inchworm move!

Finally, here are Audrey's Raggedy Ann pictures from the past few months, so you can see how much she has grown: one month, two months, three months, four months, five months