Glimpses of what's ahead

We spent this past weekend with our friends Beth and Alan and their daughter Delia, who will be two at the end of this summer. We watched Delia talk, take care of her dolls, ride her tricycle and play on the jungle-gym at the park and marveled at the idea that Audrey will be doing all of these things before long. One thing that Scott and I are lucky to have a lot of is friends with kids older than ours, even if just by a little bit, because we're always getting previews of what's around the next corner. Delia and her parents are moving out of state in a few months, and we are really going to miss having them closer to Boston. (Our regular readers may recall the "Handknits by Beth" post from last fall-- the wee purple vest and hats are her work).

Delia (or "DIL-ah" as she calls herself) is a regular little sweetie, quick to offer hugs to her guests. And she's a big fan of scones. Aren't we all!


Audrey observes Delia carefully, noting her posture, stance and quick hand-eye coordination.

A Sunday morning sampler

There's no connecting theme to these, I just like all of them and thought you would, too. Enjoy!



Audrey and Gramma Jean compare stripey socks.

We joined our good friends Rebecca, Hank, Ruth and Bethiah for an outing to Drumlin Farm while my Mom was with us. Ruth posed with the littler girls in their stroller contraptions. Ruth is such a concerned and caring big sister. She seems to take the role quite seriously.

Audrey loves eating mushed carrots. So much so that she is stained orange at both ends. (Sorry, was that too gross?)

Even this sheep at Drumlin Farm can get her kid to take a nap, but I can't. She how she's using the shushing technique, and her lamb zonks out right on cue, in the middle of the barnyard? It's just not fair. I'm at least as smart as this sheep, right? So why can't I do this? Maybe I should try putting Audrey down on a nice bed of straw...

Thank you for checking in-- we DO have some new photos today!

Sorry we've haven't posted anything this week for our readership in the greater Durham-Ardmore-Dallas-Cashmere-Shreveport-Las Cruces area. It's been, you know, busy. Days, whole weeks, even the months seem to fly by. I wish I could report that this was the week Audrey finally started some semblance of a napping routine, but that remains a part of my fantasy life and not our real life. I also wish I could say that my reading finally yielded something more useful than, "You should have a soothing naptime routine." (Yeah, thanks-- could have worked that one out on my own, but I'm so glad I now have another book confirming it!!)

But wait! I wasn't going to gripe in this post. I was going to say that we had a really great visit with my Mom, and it was wonderful to watch her and Audrey enjoying their time together. It has reminded us to plan visits for all of the rest of you, soon, and to make sure that her grandparents are here often. She loves the adoration. And we love our families very much.

Snapshots from our week of firsts

First real ride in the backpack, outside of the house, that is. In sum, she likes the improved view and mobility and Mom and I were able to make it relatively comfortable for the pack wearer, after adjusting all 900 straps on this thing. The pack is hand-me-down, so we're doing this without benefit of a manual-- added challenge! Mom is here from New Mexico all week and she and Audrey are inseparable pals. It's nice that Mom is here right now because Audrey is just on the edge of that touchy, stranger-danger phase I have been dreading. She now seems to care very much if I leave the room too suddenly, or if I appear and don't offer to pick her up. Luckily, her memory is short and if she doesn't see me leave the room: no tears. And she's still having hours of fun with Gramma Jean at her beck and call.


Here's a much simpler design-- the bucket baby swing. She tried out two of these this week, one in Cambridge and one in Arlington. Big laughs and smiles. The beginnings of her love of playgrounds. Guess where we'll be spending all of summer 2009?

Gramma Jean arrives

Though I am extremely excited, I maintain a cool demeanor at Logan airport. Gramma Jean is here all week to entertain me. Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm your private bouncer...

Audrey lovingly dedicates this jumping session to the great Tina Turner. Of all the money we've spent at Babies 'R Us in recent months (an amount which stuns me, even with all the wonderful hand-me-downs and loaners we've received) this may be the best investment yet: a "jumpster" just like the one I had when I was a tike. She will hang in this little seat, leaping and screeching for upwards of twenty minutes. That's the definition of money well spent, my friends. As soon as I figure out how to post some video onto the blog (a problem of reduction so we can upload) I will show you just how great this is. I hope the blurry pictures will give you some sense of the glee, the joy, the total adrenaline rush of it all...

It's my babaric yawp, y'all

Every day Audrey is less of that passive newborn bundle of reflexes and more her outrageous self. Call it pre-linguistic babbling or primitive performance art, this girl has found her VOICE these past few weeks, and her voice can only be described as the ear-splitting shrieks we imagine were made by the newly hatched pterodactyl as it flapped it's leathery wings for the first time. Happy Spring, everyone! Sound your barbaric yawp!

Saturday morning with Mom and Dad

This certainly isn't the most flattering picture of me, but I am not too vain to post it. Here's a slice of our Saturday morning: six a.m., Audrey's awake and dressed but I'm still too tired to get myself out of p.j.'s, and Scott's asleep so I take Audrey and some toys down the hall to the guest bed and supervise her play while I recline against some soft flannel covered pillowwwwssssszzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz....



Later, while I slowly get dressed and ready for the day, Audrey spends some quality time with her father, learning all about corporate activism as he fills out the giant stack of proxy statements that I have vowed to put in the recycling bin if they continue to clutter the kitchen table. Her head is blurred here as she nods vigorously her "Yeah" vote to approve the slate of Board of Director nominees at Acme., Inc.

The sweet potato puree is especially fine this evening.

I recommend pairing it with the local Willcox Dairy milk-- the 2008 vintage is still young, but very drinkable. And do try the rice cereal. I like to get a good mouthful of it and then blow raspberries directly into the face of my server- priceless!

Just one more from the Seattle trip. Because I like it.

My little family. I love Audrey's expression here; she's the most charming little imp.

I asked for a pony and I got this instead.

Audrey has found convenient handles on either side of Scott's head to use for steering. If that doesn't work, his cheeks, lips or eyelids can be given a sharp tug to provide him with clear direction.

New wheels for spring

We dusted off our borrowed three-wheeled running stroller and took it for a turn around the Res today. Much easier going over bumpy ground, mud and tree roots. Audrey seemed comfortable in it, although she's still a little small for it.

Six months old and she can...

...sit up. Sort of. She actually needs less spotting than this picture would indicate, I just thought it was exceedingly cute.

...roll over. I put her down on her back on the sheepskin, walked out of the room for just a second, and came back to find her like this!

...and create an air of mystery. We call this the fleece burka.

Just a trim.

So, in a burst of springtime enthusiasm (and in an effort to avoid some boring tasks inside) Scott went out into the extensive formal gardens surrounding Hacienda Willcox and did some raking and pruning. This sticker bush on the corner of the front lawn, so named for the wickedly sharp thorns all over it, got more than a little spruce up. When Scott came back in the house he said to me, "I think I might have killed the sticker bush." "Not possible," I said. "That thing is tenacious, and anyway, it's classified as an invasive plant around here. You probably can't kill them even if you try." Then I looked out the window. What had been a fairly good size bush is now just a handful of sticks. "I just never got to a good stopping point," he explained. Not that I'm going to miss that ugly, mean plant (and I hope our downstairs neighbors won't either) but one thing is certain: Scott will not be giving Audrey her first haircut.

Seattle Series: Great Aunts, Great Uncle, and a cousin once removed (right?)

Great Aunt Kris...

and Great Aunt Carol. (An interupting thought: am I the only one who thinks that this sleeper makes Audrey look a lot like Elvis in some of his later Las Vegas appearances?)

We did make it to Seattle proper for a day before we flew home, where we had a too-brief visit with Margaret, Larry and Ruth. Ruth made a sweater for Audrey (to be pictured here later when it fits) that is ornately lovely, cabled, gorgeous.

Seattle Series: In which Audrey and her Aunt Janna grow closer

The living room floor of the house in Sequim was a convenient place to leave my child unattended. Relatives happened upon Audrey here and stopped to entertain her. Here, Audrey and Janna spend some happy floor time together.

Please, please... there's enough of me to go around. Don't crowd.

Janna, Audrey and Kris on the Kingston/Edmonds Ferry. Fond memories for us. I hope Audrey will like riding the ferry as much as we do. In this picture she looks more bemused than enthused.

Watching Audrey and her Aunt Janna together this week, I could see the future clearly. Audrey is fifteen, and furious with me about everything. After she has slammed her bedroom door, yelling, "You just don't understand me, mother!" she will pick up the cell phone that I have paid for and call... her Aunt Janna. I am confident that Janna's counsel, backed as it is with a doctorate in psychology, will be sound and wise. Not that I will be too happy about the door slamming and the yelling. Oh, no, young lady... I will not.