Family Visits

We've had a busy month...a busy summer, actually. I've got more updates than I can even write out, but I'll try over the course of the next couple of weeks.

We are blessed with such an amazing family, but so many of them live far away. Fortunately, some of them were able to make it out this way recently and we got to catch up and spend quality time together.

First up was David, Debbie, and Iliana (Josh's dad, stepmom, and sister). We haven't seen them since they came out in 2011 when Audrey was about 7 months old, so a lot has changed! They were here for a week, during which we took a few days and drove up to New York so we could meet some of the extended family. We had a lot of fun and the kids were really good about all the traveling. I think they just loved all the extra attention! Audrey loved hanging out with the girl cousins and playing hide and seek!

We got to meet Josh's grandma and grandpa for the first time. They are getting older and Josh's grandma's health has been worsening, so this visit was especially important. Unfortunately, she was hospitalized while we were there, so we didn't get to spend a lot of time with her, but I think it meant a lot to Josh to be there.

After our New York trip, we came home and rested for a bit and the next day we went to the zoo with the whole family! Maile (sister in law) was in DC for a work conference and she brought Marcelo, so Maria came down as well to spend time with him since they are so far away in California. We all had a great time watching the kids together. Marcelo was a very watchful cousin and Audrey was just in love with him. They were definitely more excited about each other than about any of the animals.

 

 

 

 

The Hernandez's left the following day, and then we went out to dinner with the whole Falcon clan before Maria, Maile, and Marcelo went up to Jersey. The very smart hostess at the restaurant put us in the far corner so we wouldn't disturb the rest of the guests, haha! Lots of fun and laughter but by the end Audrey was running laps around the place and we knew it was time to go...

 

The next day my mom came in town and she was here for almost two weeks. We had Lauren's baby shower that weekend (great turnout!) so mom helped me a ton with getting things ready, setting up, and cleaning up. While she was here, we took a short trip to Ocean City since she hasn't been to the beach in a few years. The weather was perfect - sunny, warm but not too hot. We even got a special treat when the tide came in and made a little pool where the kids could swim and play. Audrey made a new friend and they had fun pulling each other on the boogie board.

 

 

The rest of the time mom was here we pretty much just hung out, took trips to the playground and the fabric store (mom's and my playground). We helped Lauren go through her baby stuff, and we had a short visit with Grandma Dot. Mostly, it was good to see Mom and the babies playing together and really getting a chance to get to know each other. I know its hard on everyone being so far away and these little short trips are few and far between, but the quality time we get together during them is wonderful.

 

I think my favorite part of all of it was when mom treated Josh and I to a date night! She babysat the kids while Josh and I went into Arlington and had dinner at Stephen's restaurant. Stephen was such a gracious host and he really hooked us up with food that was to die for and drinks that kept us happy. :) It was AMAZING to be out to a nice dinner, in nice clothes...and just relax. No rush, no worrying, just us and some good conversation. I felt so rejuvenated afterwards. It was the first date we've had since I can't remember when.. years I think. We want to start doing it more often but its hard to find a sitter, they're so expensive!! For now I'll just keep trying to get Mom and Maria to move here. :)

It was a busy and hectic and crazy month that left us all exhausted and worn out but it was so worth it to be able to see everyone that we haven't seen in so long and probably won't see for a while again. Next time we will try to take better pictures where everyone is actually looking at the camera at the same time. :)

Videos

I was playing around on Blogger this morning and saw a new feature - Videos! I linked my YouTube Channel (earnold14) to this blog so you can watch our videos without having to leave this page. Let me know if you like it. I'm not sure if it only shows recent videos, popular vids, or rotates them randomly. I upload at least a few a week, so if you want to see the cuties in action, check them out!

Audrey's Favorite Things

After our bedtime books tonight, I asked Audrey a few questions about her favorite things. I definitely want to share them here before I forget them.

Favorite color: Purple
She also named informed us of our favorite colors: me and Josh are blue, JJ is green, Mima is Purple, Gigi is Pink, and then Audrey said her favorite color is also pink.
Favorite Food: Beans
Favorite Drink: Milk
Favorite Treat: Chocolate
Favorite Place to go: Ice Cream Truck
Favorite Movie: Rio
Favorite Show: Dora
Favorite Animal: Cow
Favorite Song: Wheels on the Bus

I was kind of surprised when she answered all of these questions. I think what surprised me is that she can accurately express her thoughts. This is kind of a new thing since she only started talking a lot in the past 6 months, and more every day. I love being able to have real conversations with her now. What she says always has me laughing!

Conversations with Audrey

Conversations with a two year old are often confusing (did she just say her poop has to go home and take a nap...?), but they are also pretty entertaining, and sometimes so sweet. Here are a few conversations Audrey and I have had lately:

Upon finding a fly in her playroom:
"Watch out mom! The fly might punch us!"

I told Josh he's getting old last night, Audrey chimes in:
"No no Dada you NOT old!"

Time to brush teeth:
"No!! I LIKE my stinky breath!"

When my car broke down:
"How bout I fix it for you mama? How bout JJ fix it?"

Reading a book about bugs:
"That a skeeto ((Mosquito)). I want to ride on him."
Listening to JJ fuss while I cook:
"Alright JJ we hear you, RELAX, its OK!"

Watching from the living room window as the ice cream truck drives by:
"Ice cream man come back! I have to tell you something!"

And of course, the one we hear most often:
"I'M NOT TIRED!!!!!"

She says the funniest things now that she is talking so much. Always keeps a smile on our faces. :)

Six Months

Well, he's moving right along. I can't believe Joshua is already 6 months old...7 months next week! It feels like these six months have gone by so much faster than they did with Audrey. I like it because he is at the point where he can sit and play with us, laugh, talk, etc. He's out of the newborn stage, we have a good routine, and we're all enjoying ourselves. Can't ask for more than that!

  
                             
At his check the day after his 6 month birthday, he weighed 20 lbs 1oz and was 27.6 inches tall. His carseat goes up to 22lbs and 29 inches, so he'll be moving into the big convertible seat here pretty soon. He's sitting up really well now and he's way too heavy for me to be carrying him around in that seat all the time, so I'm READY for it to be gone. We have an extra car seat that is in Josh's car that JJ will now use in my car, so the question is whether or not we should buy two more car seats for Josh's car or just move them back and forth whenever we need to. That would be a pain in the butt...but car seats aren't cheap. We'll see.

We started giving Joshua solid foods (purees) a few weeks ago because he is very interested in food. But he won't take the purees. I waited a few more weeks and I've been trying and trying but he literally gags at the sight of the spoon. What to do?! I've started giving him cracker and puffs and toast so he can feed himself and he likes that better. Maybe we will just skip baby food altogether because he is not into it and I don't feel like wasting a bowl of food twice a day. 

                                 

We have started packing up the big baby things recently, really since he started sitting up a few weeks ago. The bouncer and the swing are both put away, the bumbo is gone (he never actually used it, was too chunky), the play mat is packed up, the pack and play....really all that's left is the high chair and the exersaucer. We ordered a space saver high chair today and I plan to take the big full size one over to the consignment shop this week. I have to be honest and say I am very happy to see these things go. They are so big and clunky and in the way.

As of today, he is scooting. He went 5 feet across the floor by doing the army crawl where he pulls himself with his arms, plus the occasional push from his feet. I suspect real crawling isn't far off. The thing he wanted to get to? The ipad. Of course. I guess the bright colors are really tempting. time to babyproof the house...again!

Best Friend

Sitting with Audrey the other day, I told her "You're my best friend". To which she replied, "No. Chloe my best friend". Ouch! And so it begins. She already wants her friends over her mama!?

Chloe is the daughter of my friend, Natania. She's Audrey's age (2 months older) and they've been playing together for a few months now (maybe a year?). Up until recently, they didn't actually play together, though. They would just play on their own but not really interact with one another. Now that they're a little older and especially since they both are talking so much, they finally have started playing more like friends do. I babysat Chloe for a few hours one day and they had a blast. The funniest thing was listening to them trying to take turns and share. The day went like this:

"Its my turn!" "No its MY turn" "No ITS MY TURN NOW!" "No Audrey now its MY TURN!" back and forth over and over again....until...
"I broke that" "No I BROKE THAT!" "No Chloe I BROKE THAT!" It wasn't even broken (totally fixable) but they both wanted to take full credit for whoever broke it....
until....
...silence...followed by..."Awwwww. Uh oh. That's bad". I came around the corner and found Audrey writing on the bathroom since with a dry erase marker while Chloe stood outside the bathroom with a very serious look on her face.

But although they argued, as soon as Chloe left Audrey was asking about her and wanted to play with her again. Its so funny to watch and listen to Audrey as she plays with others..what she says to them and how she follows their lead or takes the lead herself. I am so excited for her to start school this fall (with Chloe!) and see how she blossoms in a fun, social environment!

Reading

Two nights ago, we were all in Audrey's room getting ready for bed and Josh told Audrey we would continue reading the next chapter of "James and the Giant Peach". She didn't want to read that though, she wanted to read "Peter Pan", even though we've already read the whole book twice. So Josh told her she could read Peter Pan if she wanted, and he'd read James and the Giant Peach. When he started reading, she held up her book and said, "blah blah gooblah blah blah blah". When he stopped reading, she stopped. When he started up again, she started reading again. This went on for a while and then he stopped reading entirely and she kept on until finally she closed the book and declared, "THE END". It was such a funny and new thing.

She has memorized a few of her favorite books, too. One night, after reading "If You Give a Pig a Pancake" twice, Audrey asked me to read it again and I told her she should try to read it on her own. So she turned to the first page and said the words. Flipped to page two, recited the story...and on for about 6 pages into the book! I was so surprised! She's also memorized "Brown Bear Brown Bear" and a couple others. I love hearing her "read" and I can't wait until she really sees the words and knows what they mean. I guess all this reading we do has been good for her after all! I hope we can instill the same love of books in JJ that Audrey already has.