Goodbye 2010 Hello 2011

I can't believe that a whole year has gone by since we were getting Miss Aubrey ready for her 1st New Year's Eve! This year we kept things pretty simple because she has been sick since the 25th. We hung around inside the house today because it was only 45 degrees out today and much too cold to go out to play since she is just starting to feel better. This evening Eunice and Jeremy came over and we went out to eat at a Chinese Buffet. Aubrey's appetite has finally come back so she enjoyed some rice, noodles, broccoli, watermelon, grapes, mandarin orange, chicken, jello and a bite of green tea ice cream. We came home and Aubrey got ready for bed and went down about 9:30. As I am typing this I can hear her yelling to be picked up (it's now 11:54). She's not been sleeping so well this past week because her ears, nose and chest have been stuffed up.

I thought it would be nice to celebrate Aubrey's year. She has traveled to Massachusetts twice to meet fer family and has vacationed in Tucson. She has completed almost 1 whole year in school and will be moving to the Toddler Room on Monday! She has moved from being an exclusively breastfed baby to a toddler that eats everything that we do! Aubrey learned how to crawl, then walk and now run. She says DaDa, dog, uh-oh and hi. She can dance, play music on the guitar and can clap and keep rhythm better than her mom. She traded in her baby seat for a big girl car seat. Aubrey has learned how to draw using crayons and markers. She is learning how to use her shape sorter and loves to look at books. She absolutely enjoys playing with the computer, cell phones and IPods. Her best buddy is Osito and he has learned to love her too! She has won the hearts of everyone that knows her and we are looking forward to seeing what she does in 2011!

Artistic Abilities

I found some washable window markers one day while perusing around Home Goods. I figured we could give them a try since they were washable. They made their way into Aubrey's stocking for Christmas and we tried them out yesterday. Needless to say they were a big hit! She drew all over the back door and only tried to draw on the floor once. She was really very good about keeping the color on the window panes.

Later last night as we were getting dinner ready I broke out the markers again. As you can see Aubrey attempted to sample the blue marker. I took the marker away and sat her down to eat where she spilled some orange jello on her sweater and then got some raspberry popsicle on her forehead and all over her mouth. Yes I realize that this is not the best choice of foods for a little one....but she has been sick since Saturday (Christmas Day) and is not eating much of anything. At this point I am happy for whatever I can get into her little body!

Best Reaction Yet

Aubrey got many many things this year for Christmas. She got a whole new wardrobe from Nana Donna, Nana and Papa. She got Cabbage Patch dolls from Nani as well as a Little People Barn, books and an interactive music game. Nana sent her an Ocean Music table. Uncle Mark gave her Tickle Me Elmo and a new little outfit. Don and Laurie got her a nice dress (I am thinking an Easter dress) and an interactive book. Josh and Dana got her a Red Sox track suit that Brian wishes fit him! We got Aubrey some stampers and a play kitchen.

We opened all of the gifts up this morning with (or for) her. She wasn't too interested in opening them herself. The kitchen was all assembled and covered up with a sheet so once we were done with all of the other gifts we went out to the living room to show her the kitchen. We tried to get her to come check out the sheet but she just stood there with a look like, "What are you crazy? I'm not going under there!" Brian then put the pot on the stove and made it boil (yes it makes noise). That intrigued her a bit. We then dropped the sheet and revealed it. Check out her reaction!

Santa clothes

Last December we were out walking the mall with Elisa and Thalia and we stopped in Carter's. We already had Aubrey's Christmas outfit so I was just browsing. I saw this cute little outfit and decided to get it for 2010. I wavered between the 12 month size and the 15 month size but finally opted for the 15 months. I figured that the 12 month may be a bit too small.

It hung in her closet all year and we broke it out last week. The 15 month size is a bit big....I probably would have been better with the 12 month. The dress looked a bit like a tent but she went to school in it anyway and she totally rocked it!

Indoor Fun

Aubrey had gotten this super cool swing for her birthday. The only problem is that it is still sitting in her play room and not hanging outside. Although she would have more fun with it outside she has found ways to enjoy it. She loves to climb in it and just sit and relax.

In the first picture she can see she is totally chillin'. Brian and I were in the kitchen and I looked over and saw that she had climbed in and was just hanging out. I ran over to get the camera and she didn't even move! In the second picture she is in her pajamas and that was a weekend morning. She recently has become interested in her dolls. If I pick one up and hug it and then give it to Aubrey she will squeeze it and occasionally kiss it....way too cute!

Christmas is Coming

Thursday night we finally put the tree up. I took the boxes down from our closet last weekend. I needed to use the stepladder and when I went back into the bedroom after dropping the boxes in the family room Aubrey had climbed up the stepladder. I called Brian into the room to take a look at her and she climbed up the next step and then turned and looked at us with a huge smile on her face. Note to self: Aubrey moves quick. We need to remember that she is into everything!

She has been really good with the tree. Brian suggested that we should not put the glass ornaments up on the tree this year in case Aubrey gets at them and they break. We have a few ornaments up that Nana Donna sent me last year for my birthday that are unbreakable. You can see Aubrey hanging a few. She likes to take them down and then put them back in the same spot. I am sure this will be a game that continues until the tree comes down! I can't wait to see her face Christmas morning when she sees the new things that she has to play with under the tree!

Bed Head

So a year ago at this time I was writing about Aubrey's hair loss and wondering when her hair would grow back. Well if you have seen her lately, or at least seen the pictures, you know that her hair has grown in at full force! It is still fairly short on top but the sides and back are long and have beautiful little curls.

Each night she goes to bed with clean curly beautiful hair. She then tosses and turns all night and the curls disappear and her hair gets matted down. She has an area in the back which her teachers lovingly call "Aubrey's nest". It gets all tangled and nappy and looks like a birds nest! I will say that since we cut out the all night nursing sessions on the 3rd she has been sleeping better. She gets up once and gets into bed with us and then sleeps through the rest of the night (as far as I can remember). Since she is sleeping better it means she is tossing and turning less.

However this morning she woke up while I was in the shower. Brian got her back to sleep and when I peeked in on them they were spooning and the top of Aubrey's head was right under Brian's chin. They both looked so peaceful...it was super cute. When it was time to wake her up I was treated to a sight!She had been restless and her hair paid the price. I laughed hysterically at her crazy, crazy bed head! You can see from the pictures that she was still tired and less than thrilled to have the pictures taken.

Big Girl Seat

Back on Cyber Monday I was perusing the sites when I came across carseats that were on sale at Babies R Us. We'd been talking about upgrading to a big girl seat because Aubrey was still in her baby seat and her legs were just beginning to hang over the edge. The prices were too hard to pass up due to the sale. Britax carseats were on sale for a steal so I did some quick research and narrowed it down to three. We ended up going with the Boulevard CS which Brian describes as the BMW of carseats. The darn thing is uber pricey but worth it! And as I said it was marked down, plus we had a gift card from Auntie Alice and Uncle Bob as well as a store credit so we were in luck!

We ordered it online and it came in about a week later. We unpacked it and it sat in the house for a few days. Aubrey loved climbing in and out and in and out and in and out of it! Last weekend Brian installed it in my car and we've been riding around in it ever since. Sadly I think she liked it better when it was in the living room. It's a bit of a struggle to get her in it now. She likes to stand up in it and touch the ceiling light in the car. It's got huge side impact resistant head rest which doesn't make for an easy view out her windows. She is still sitting backwards in the car so she has a mirror to look at in front of her. In her old seat she could look out the side windows but it's a struggle in this new seat and I don't think she is too happy about that. At some point she'll meet the 20 pound requirement to face forward however it's safer to have her seated backwards so we are going to try and keep the seat that way for awhile longer. Hopefully she'll get used to the seat soon and actually enjoy the car again!

Teeth

Finally some pics! It's been tough to get her to open her mouth far enough and on cue to get pictures but I was finally able to do it. I will say that they are not the most becoming pics but at least you get to see her top two shiny little teeth.

We attempt to brush them every morning and every night but it's a battle. Aubrey has her own little toothbrush that she liked in the beginning. As time has gone she has fought it so we now use my electric. She still really fights with that one too but once I am done I turn it over to her and let her brush them herself. Hopefully soon she'll get into the routine and stop putting up such a battle!

Christmas Show

Today was Aubrey's Christmas Show at school. Her class had two songs. They got wheeled out in the stroller - basically looks like a big car. As you can see they have it decorated with clouds and angel wings. Miss Aubrey got to sit up front - that is for sure one of the benefits of being "fun size". All of the kids had little bells around their ankles and a shaker in their hand. Brian got super close and was able to grab some photos. We figured she'd cry once she looked out into the audience and saw the packed church but she did just fine...not one little peep. She was too busy looking around and taking it all in. The next show will be in the Spring and by that point she should be in the Toddler Room and will get to walk out on the stage. We'll have pictures of that to come sometime in April. Happy Holidays :)