Books, books and more books

During the long Martin Luther King weekend a few weeks ago Aubrey and I reorganized her playroom. I took the book case from her room and put it in the playroom so that she would have easy access to her books. It was like opening up a whole new world for her!

She is very into reading her books. She'll pick one, open it up and really study the pictures. She'll sit there for a few minutes quietly leafing through a book. If we ask her to bring a book over she walk over with one, turn around and then sit down in front of us. She hasn't quite mastered the whole lap thing yet but she'll get there! She loves to have us read to her. Her current favorite is Touch and Feel Baby Animals. She waits until we read the line that says, "Feel the baby (insert animal)" and then she will gently pat the chick, dog, cat and scratch the turtle and porcupine. It is so much fun to watch her discover the world of books!

Let the creativity roll...

Aubrey has the coolest table and chair set up in her play room! Wednesday night I decided to look on Craigslist to see if there was anything that would be a fun activity table for Aubrey and found a great deal on a table, 3 chairs, 2 stools and an end table. I texted the people that had it listed and they said that there was someone already coming to look at it but that they would keep us in mind if it didn't pan out. Bummer....it had only been posted for 2 hours and we were too late. I found another listing that only had 2 chairs and 1 stool and was pretty far from our house but we figured we'd go take a look.

On Thursday afternoon I got a text that the buyer had fallen through for the great deal set so we went to take a look that evening. Everything was in great condition so we packed it in my car and brought it home. We set it up after Aubrey went to bed so the first time she saw it in the house on Friday morning she was very excited! She was climbing in and out of the chairs having a blast!

We've colored pictures on it, played with toys on it and even climbed on it. Yes our little monkey thinks this is just another fun jungle gym! I think we'll have a ton of fun with this as she gets older - it's the perfect size for her now and for years to come!

Breakfast Goodness

On school days Aubrey typically sleeps in with Brian until 6:50 am. I will go in to wake her up, dress her and then she nurses for a few minutes. It's then time to do her hair, grab the bags and head out to the car. Mornings are hectic but I think sleep is important so I want her to get all of the precious moments that she can. That means breakfast is enjoyed at school.

However there are some days where Aubrey wakes up screaming and will not go back to sleep. Those are the mornings where she gets to have breakfast as I am running around trying to finish getting ready. Our breakfast of choice on these mornings is a cinnamon raisin bagel with cream cheese. She sure is a fan! As you can see from the pictures she had a great time eating it and an even better time running her fingers through her hair and all over her face!

Monkey

Yesterday Aubrey woke up with one eye crusted shut and swollen. We headed to the doctor so of course the diagnosis is pink eye.She also has fluid in her ear again so I am hoping that disappears on it's own. We have some eye drops for the pink eye which she absolutely hates!

Aubrey was home with me yesterday and with Brian today. She got lots of play time in and even learned a new trick today. Boy are we in trouble!

Stamps

Aubrey comes home from school decorated on most days! She gets stamps for listening well and following directions. These were from the first day that she got them. She did awesome during Music class so this was her prize. Yay for stamps....I just wish they were washable!

Sleep....An unknown in our house

Sleep has never been one of Aubrey's favorite pastimes. As a newborn she typically wasn't a napper but she'd sleep through the night. She would catch little cat naps but would sleep 8pm - 5am. In January we moved to the house in Gilbert and sleeping through the night thing came to an abrupt halt. It's now a year later and she still has issues at night.

Some nights are better than others. She goes down at 8:00 and sometimes is up at 9:30 and then other times not until 4:30. She gets into bed with us once she is up. In December we stopped nursing when she woke up and that was an easy transition. We had one rough night but then she was easy to settle down with just a little pat on her back. Since she started in the Toddler room 3 weeks ago the sleep issue has become an ISSUE! She wakes up yelling and won't settle down on her own. She is super restless and moves all over the place. We wake up and she is down near our knees. Brian has jokingly referred to her as Shamu because she is up and down and up and down and up and down all over the place.

Believe it or not when she got into bed with us she was in the middle and her head was up near ours. As the night went on she wiggled her way down and then when I got out of the shower I found her like this! Silly girl!

A new place to play

Saturday morning Aubrey was helping me with the laundry. We had folded all of the towels and were putting them in the cabinet when Aubrey decided it was a cool place to explore. She had so much fun going in and out of the cabinets. Silly girl!

15 month stats

This post is overdue but better late than never! We had Miss Aubrey's 15 month appointment on December 30. She now gets to sit up on the scale rather than lay down on it. She's not such a big fan of the scale but we were able to get her to sit still long enough to get a weight. She's currently at 18 pounds 9 ounces which puts her in the 2nd percentile for weight. The young lady is not a big eater. We keep trying to offer her new foods to try and pique her interest. Plus, I will say that she was just getting over being sick and hadn't been eating much so I am sure her weight was effected by that.

She's grown a whole inch since her 12 month appointment. She stands tall at 30 inches which is a long way off from the 19.5 that she was born at. This puts her in the 36th percentile for height. The 12 month pants are getting to be just a tab bit short and the 18 month ones are a bit long. We are in the weird somewhere in between stage but it won't be long before she's well past the 18 month stage. She is growing so fast!

On another note while we were at the doctor's we had another peak at her ears. She had fluid in both ears. She hadn't been showing any signs of her ears bothering her but Dr. Jones thought that we should try 10 days worth of penicillin. We have now finished it....thank goodness. She hated it and it was a fight to get her to take it. We have an appointment on Monday to make sure the fluid is all gone. Wish us luck!

Toddler Room - We Came, We Went and We Tried Again

Monday was Aubrey's first day in the Toddler Room. Right before Christmas we got the news that she'd be moving but she was going to get some visits in before making the official move. She got to go down on December 23 and apparently loved it down there. She spent two hours playing there and when Miss Marissa came to pick her up Aubrey dramatically covered her face with her arm and then cried because she had to leave.

The plan was that she'd get to visit the week after Christmas. I was hoping to take her in on Monday and hang out myself for a little while to get a feel for what goes on and get to know the teachers. However, Aubrey woke up sick on Christmas day and had a fever up until Friday so she and I spent time at home together.

Monday I dropped her off in the room and felt as though we were prepared. I was wrong! We walked into the classroom and I said, "Hi we're new. Where does her stuff go?" One of the teachers looked at me and said, "What's your name?" I looked at her and said, "This is Aubrey". I had a whole lot more than that going through my mind but I decided to be nice. After my response we got nothing so I walked over to the head teacher and asked where to put her stuff. She pointed at a cubby so I put Aubrey's coat there but still had her lunch in her lunch bag in my hand. I had been told by other parents that the kiddos needed a lunch bag in the Toddler Room so I thought we were doing well and looked all prepared. I asked where the lunch went and she pointed to a large bucket. Hmmm.....I took out the milk and asked where the fridge was and she said they don't have a fridge for the lunches. Apparently we are supposed to put an ice pack in their bag. Ok, noted!

I then asked if she had a copy of the class schedule. She promptly pointed to the wall and told me that I could take a look at it. Hmmm....they don't have a copy for parents? At this point Aubrey is upset and clingy to me for dear life. I am now upset and really frustrated by the lack of information that had been provided to us. The head teacher, Mrs. Amy, came and took Aubrey from me and that was it. Aubrey screamed and screamed. I asked Mrs. Amy if it was ok for me to call and check in on Aubrey and I felt as though I got the "look". I said to her, "Sorry I am that parent. I am going to call to check in." And then I was dismissed. It was similar to the awful feeling I had leaving her on her first day a year ago.

She was dropped off a few minutes after 8 am and I called to check in around 9:50. The report was that she had been crying off and on (which they say is normal) and she had refused her breakfast (which is normal for her). She won't eat when she is upset! I then called again around 3 pm to find that she was moved back to her old classroom. Apparently she has screamed all morning so they felt it best to being her back to a safe and familiar space. The report that I was given was that she literally screamed - not one tear - just lots of yelling. Yes that's what Aubrey does at home too!

The rest of the week went much better. Each day she screamed when I dropped her off but screamed less and less each day. She was starting to get used to the new room and the new teachers. She enjoys sitting quietly and watching all of the kids play. She also is super into sitting at the table and looking at books. One of the little girls Lily had been following her around trying to hug her and Aubrey didn't like that very much. Another one of the little girls came over and handed her a stuffed animal when she was screaming and she just looked at it like, "Really? You think that's going to make me feel better?" I am hoping that this week is an easy one for her. I'll keep you posted!

New Year...New Things to Explore

New Year's Day we ventured out to Lost Dutchman State Park to hike. We headed out there with Jeremy, Eunice, Osito and Trixie. Aubrey hasn't been hiking and she had been in the house sick for the past few days so we though it would be fun. Plus it is January in Arizona so it's beautiful. WRONG!

We took the 25 minute drive out there, paid the park fee took one step out of the car and realized that it was freezing out. We bundled up and as you can see from the pictures Aubrey had 2 fleece coats on as well as a pair of fleece pants. We were going to let her walk some of the way and then put her in the Ergo carrier which would allow her to stay warm. We ventured out for about 5 minutes and then made the decision to turn around and go back to the car because it was freezing. The temperature was somewhere in the low to mid 40's and we are not used to that at all anymore!

On the way back to the car we crossed through this little fence. Aubrey enjoyed it and kept walking in and out of the opening. She probably would have stayed all day if we had let her. We are hoping to get out there again when it is warmer and let her explore.