11 months...

Aubrey and Daddy after her first toboggan run
Jan. 18, 2009

11 months old... when did this happen?! I just can't believe how much time has FLOWN by. I know I've been slacking on the blog updates, but Aubrey has been a busy girl... and therefore so has her Mama! She's taken her first steps, been throwing some big girl fits, and is even able to voice her own preferences (who told her they can vary from her Mama's)! She's growing up right before my eyes, and I'm having a hard time keeping up :)

So yes, Aubrey has taken her first steps... while her Mama and Daddy were out seeing a movie! And even though it was the day after Christmas, we've only seen about 9 more steps since then. When she was learning to crawl there was no stopping her! She was trying soooo hard to move. With walking, well, she's just not as interested I guess, because every time we try to get her to walk, she usually dives to the ground to crawl. She does what works, and right now that's crawling! She can, however, really work her walking toy. She can run that thing all over the house with a speed and confidence that tells us that once she's ready, she'll be running around in no time!

It's crazy to see Aubrey creeping up on the toddler stage. In only a month she'll be a year old, and she's ready for it. She's a little thing, but she can let you know exactly what's on her mind. She's been moved to the older class at work. She is the youngest in her class, the oldest being around 18 months, but she fits right in and doesn't care if she's the smallest. She participates in all the fun, and crawls around like she owns the place. Most people notice how vocal she is... I wonder where she gets that from :)

When babies grow, so do their appetites. It's been really fun watching Aubrey try things for the first time. She is loving all of her new choices. For breakfast she loves french toast or waffles, not too big on pancakes though. Funny, since that was me until a few years ago! For lunch, anything with cheese is a favorite... cliche as it is, she'd rather have mac and cheese than anything else. During dinner, she has what we're having, she won't have it any other way! Trouble is, she still has ZERO teeth! So we just remember to give her little teeny pieces of things that might be hard for her to gum up!

Well, next month she'll be a whole year old... We're looking forward to seeing you all if you can make it to her party... Look for an invitation, it'll be at Kim and Randy's house on Feb. 20th!

...what she's been doing for the past few months...

Still having bad hair days...
Nov. 04, 2009


Enjoying her 1st Thanksgiving
Nov. 28, 2009

Visiting Tahoe, only one day before it was covered in white!
Dec. 05, 2009

Learning how to escape...
Jan. 09, 2010

These are just a few pictures that I have taken during the long lapse of bloglessness :) I need her first Christmas pictures though... I didn't have my camera so its up to you all!

8 months....kinda :)

Aubrey and Mama Halloween 2009

So Aubrey's actually 8 1/2 months now, but we've been really, really busy. It seems like everyday she's doing something new, crawling, yapping, and then some. I spend my day chasing her around the house, leaving little time to update you all, sorry :/ But, I stopped working weekends, and finally have a moment to sit down and write, so here goes it....
Yes, Aubrey is crawling now!!! I've had the camera on standby just trying to capture the moment. I wasn't able to get her first crawl on camera, but once she did it , it was easy enough to get her to do it again without being camera shy :) Unfortunately, I currently have no way to post it to the blog.... But trust me, I was VERY excited. I think my incessant giggling almost demands more attention than her crawling though! She started crawling shortly after my last post. These days, she's ALL over the place, its tough to keep up! She loves exploring but fortunately, she still LOVES being held :)
The fun thing about this age is that it never stops! She has mastered crawling and is moving on to bigger and better tricks. Recently shes been able to walk along things like the couch or her activity table (dare I predict a walking baby by Christmas???). As recently as today, shes been trying to conquer crawling up stairs... fortunately we have baby gates :) Otherwise, who knows the injuries she'd sustain from her very own adventureland!
As I mentioned earlier, I've stopped working weekends. It feels like every time I write a post my job is changing in one way or another. This time, I hope I've found a long term position that works for both Aubrey and I. I started teaching pre-k's and so far so good. Its a school on the close side of Reno and Aubrey is just down the hall from me. I get to work longer hours while she gets to play and learn in an environment suitable for her age... we also get to meet up and have lunch together and I can peak in on her throughout the day. I just worked my last weekend day yesterday, and am so thankful to have found a position that allows me to be home when Jer is home.
Well thats, that... Nine months is just around the corner and we are looking forward to seeing everyone in just a few weeks (Thanksgiving!). She'll be able to show off her tricks, up close and personal :)

7 months!

Seven months, I can't believe it! I'm not sure why, but its seems soooo old, maybe because it sounds so close to one! She's grown so much in the past month, seems like everyday she's showing us a new trick, especially in the last week or two.
Aubrey and I started a new job, and by new I mean new to her because I've worked there for a couple years now! Yep, I am back at the academy up in Squaw. They told me I could bring Aubrey if I work weekends, and beggars can't be choosers... Any job that lets me bring Aubrey is hard to turn down. So every Saturday and Sunday I pack her up and take her to high school! She's a big hit, all of the students ADORE her! She gets a lot of comments on her good looks :) Sometimes I hear the students talking to each other, "have you seen her eyes, amazing..." Looks like Auntie Amber was right, but one more month and we'll know for sure if her eyes are going to stay blue.
She is trying REALLY hard to crawl, but isn't there yet. The picture below shows her complaining about moving further and further away from her toy. She is able to scoot backwards, which would be nice if that's what she was going for. She can't seem to figure out how to push herself forward, though has been trying various methods for about a week now. Before, she was just trying the same thing over and over again, leading to a very frustrated baby. Now she is at least experimenting with other movements, testing them all out to see if it will get her there. No luck so far, but she's no quitter! Though, every once in a while I'll catch her up on her hands and knees rocking back and forth like she's about to go somewhere. Once she sees me watching she immediately flops down as if she's embarrassed or something. It's hard to say exactly how long, but we'll have a mobile baby in no time!


She's showing us lots of new tricks. She's started "talking" quite a bit and loves to say, "hiya, dadadadada..." Her other favorite sound is literally, "blah, blah, blah..." I've been trying pretty hard, but so far she can't say Mama! She is also eating all sorts of new things. She gets a lot of pureed fruits and veggies and is content with them until she seems mama and daddy eating something else. When we sit down for dinner I let her eat little tiny chunks of "real" food with us. She's really enjoying it!
It's been so much fun watching Aubrey learn and grow. So much is happening so fast now, my guess is next month I'll be writing about how I'm chasing her ALL over our little mountain town!

Bath time!!!!

Aubrey still loves her baths!!!
6 1/2 months old

6 months!

Our little girl is 1/2 a year old already! It is insane! She's still slow to grow, though. We went to the doctor the other day and she's only 12lb 10oz. Unfortunately, we spent a good part of the month with a sick baby. Aubrey got her first fever, spiking at about 102, scaring her mama quite a bit. After about a week of thinking, "It's just a cold..." I finally took her to the doctor only to find out that my poor girl had her first ear infection and her first bout of pink eye... no fun! It's been a week and a half and she's finally starting to look a lot better.
Aubrey can sit up pretty good now! She still likes to pretend that she can't, but if you get her interested in something enough, she's even able to sit herself back up if she sways too far in one direction or another.
She seems increasingly interested in her brother, the dog, who is surprising gentle with her. If she gets in a cranky mood we'll make Bentley sit right in front of her. He'll catch her attention and entertain her for a few minutes. She even tries to "swim" over to him, making her first attempts to crawl just to get one grab of his thick fur. Unfortunately, this swimming motion gets her nowhere and she ends up doing a semi-roll/flop to try to get closer to him.
Sick baby and all, we continue to have a blast... until next time!

Jer says there's only 4 1/2 years until she starts kindergarten... ridiculous!

5 months!

Can you all believe how time is flying?! Aubrey's a little fireball at 5 months old! Its been quite the month with lots of changes. It seems like our tiny angel is growing some horns, but they're still so cute :) She can now throw little fits... arching her back, screaming out, but only at home of course... We're always getting, "She's so mellow," whenever we're out. She's fooling everyone because she definitely has her mothers spunk, and I REALLY prayed she'd get her daddy's temperament!
If she had her way, she'd be standing all day long. She loves for someone to hold her up on her feet, and if you try and get her to work on sitting she tries to pull herself up into a stand. Even with her resistance to sitting she is getting there. She can sit unassisted for a few seconds before giving me the pouty look and arching her back.

I started walking with Aubrey in a stroller. She really likes it. Before, she was too small and wasn't able to just sit in a stroller, but instead had to sit in her car seat that sat in the stroller. She didn't like that very much but now enjoys looking forward and lounging back. She loves being outside and prefers to be walked around. We spend a good part of our day either on the swing, walking around the pond with her in the sling, or walking in the stroller. It's nice to be out, remember that our highest temperatures are around 90 degrees, and that's on a really bad day!!!