The baby of the family.

The other evening Nate made a pointed but fair statement:

"Your mom can't say no to you, Audra. This is a problem."

As the oldest kids in both of our families, Nate and I have often discussed how our siblings had (have?) it easier than the two of us. We have to meet the crazy high expectations, abide by the over-the-top rules, and fight all the tough fights with our parents...and then our siblings reap the benefits of our work. I have many examples of this (ahem, not being able to ride in a car with a teenage driver until I was in nearly in college) but I will spare you my sob stories.

I have always found this double standard irritating at best. And yet, I find myself in the same spot with my own children. Everything was by the book with Calvin. Everything is off the cuff with Audra.

Nate's right. I can't say no to her.

I do, of course. I haven't totally given up on being a good parent. But honestly, I rarely have to. She's so sweet, so easygoing, so CUTE.

The cuteness is my undoing. Much like her brother, girlfriend has charm for miles. She can be a huge troublemaker, but she smirks at us with this adorable "you know you love it!" face and I can't even deal...much less discipline her without wanting to scoop her up and kiss her face.

The baby who refused to let me cuddle her now whispers "I snuggle you, mama" every night before bed while resting her little head on my chest. (Quickly followed by "I go in my bed now." She's still pretty independent.) She loves singing with me at night — her favorites are ABCs, I Cast All My Cares Upon You, and Jesus Loves Me. She can also be found singing Ring Around the Rosy, Bringing Home My Baby Bumblebee, and Go Tell It On the Mountain at various points throughout the day.

She loves her babies (Baby Dolphin, Baby Girl, Tiny Baby). She carries them around the house, wraps them up, rocks them and feeds them. I recently caught her rocking Tiny Baby and whispering "oh baby oh baby oh baby oh" to her...the same rhythmic line I whispered to both of my babies when they were tiny and inconsolable.

Calvin is her greatest comforter, tormentor, and friend. She calls him "My Calvin." Almost exclusively. When she's upset, she runs over to him for a hug and a "shhhhh, it's okay Audra." When he leaves her room at bedtime she sobs and calls for him. Every fight they have ends the same: A big hug, then "Sorry, Audra." "Sowwy, Calvin."

She loves clothes, shoes, and accessories, and she has definite opinions on all three. I bought her a pair of gold mary janes to wear on Christmas — she's worn them with pjs, with jeans and a sweatshirt, to church and school and everywhere in between. They are her "fancy shoes" and she requests them daily. "I nee my fancy shoes!"

Her tantrums are an adorable series of rapid stomps. She screams a high pitched "EEEEEEEEEE!" constantly — usually out of sheer delight. Sometimes in conjunction with the stomps.

She says "I hold you" when she wants to be picked up; "I gotchu mama" when she wants me to hold her or while giving me a hug.

If you say "I love you sooooo much!" she will reply "so much YOU!" 

She calls Mattie "Mannie." The other day Nate overheard her saying "Hi Mannie guwl, hi Mannie! Good guwl, Mannie."

She says "I a big guwl! I two!" When I ask her what kind of birthday party she's having next week, she says "Two party! George!"

She loves dress up. And carrying Cal's lego guys around. She likes to cook in her play kitchen, and makes little plates of things to bring downstairs to her daddy.

Everything is "mines" right now. And her lunch? "That's mines yunch!"

She got a backpack like Calvin's for Christmas. She calls it her "packpack" and whenever she sees it says "I nee my packpack!"

Nothing makes her happier than being flipped around. She's a maniac. She'll climb up on the couch next to us, say "Weady? One, two, freeee!" then free fall. Quickly followed by "again, again!"

She loves movies. We took the kids to see Frozen on her birthday; she watched almost the entire thing from her own seat. On New Year's Eve, while all the other kids were running around screaming, she quietly sat on the couch and watched Despicable Me 2.

Dairy is her lifeblood. "Milky" is her favorite thing on earth, followed closely by cheese.  She gets hangry just like her mama — food solves almost any tantrum. She's a good eater, except she won't touch a baked good. She looks at cupcakes and donuts with disdain.

I just love her. So much. If there was any way to stop time, I'd stop it now. I mourn the loss of Calvin's baby and toddlerhood so much — it was here and gone before I even realized it, and now it's so hard to remember my handsome big kid as the equally precious and adorable toddler he was then. I know the same will be true with Audra all too soon, which is why I'm far less concerned about doing everything right this time. All I want is to soak her up while I have her. And if that means saying "no" a little less and enjoying her toddler antics a little more...well, so be it.

Sorry, Cal. Welcome to the oldest kid club. I know it's not fair, but you'd better get used to it.

 

 

 

Audra's two year stats: 25lbs 12oz (37th percentile) and 36" tall (93rd percentile)

Parks and Recreation.

Pretty much everyone I know has told me I should be watching this show. Don't worry, friends. We'll get there. Just as soon as we finish Dexter. We're on season two and have been for the past three years, so any day now.

 

This girl is fearless...she was climbing all over the big kid side of the playground and going down the slide totally unassisted. I love her little "one, two, threeeee!" before she pushes herself down.

Yes, I buy Oxyclean in bulk.

Little Lou.

At the beginning of last year, I truly thought I'd be able to keep up with my blog with two kids. Guess I forgot about the part where the baby grows up and I stop being on maternity leave.

I'm really sorry, Audra. I look back at all those posts about Calvin and all the cute little things he did every week (or day) of his first two and a half years and I feel so bad. Does it help to know you are in good company and that every other second (and subsequent) child on earth feels like they got the shaft, too?

I promise that there are plenty of pictures of you, if not posts. But I wish there were more of those, because you are just so adorable in both looks and personality. Your big brown eyes, your wispy blonde hair, your cute little grin. You're tall and you've lost some of your baby chubbiness, but you still have those pudgy hands and upper thigh rolls...not to mention those cheeks. Your skin is perfectly porcelain and so soft. Every bit of you is pure deliciousness and it's hard to stop myself from kissing you all over, so I usually don't.

You are a true girly girl, my sweets. You are obsessed with shoes, and carry yours and mine (and even Cal's) around the house with you at all times. You love to brush your hair, and every time you find a stray clippy or bow you put it on your head. You've gotten much better at letting me put your pigtails in for school...even if you try to pull them out as soon as you see yourself in the mirror. You love hats, and I know you miss them now that it's summer and they aren't readily available. This week you started dressing yourself...the other night you put your jammies on with very little assistance, and one morning I came in to find you wearing your baby's pants around your ankle. You've got style, kid. I hope you always love clothes and shoes the way you do now, because we are going to have some serious fun as you get older.

Your vocabulary has exploded in recent weeks. You now say please and thank you, diaper, ball, car, amen, Cal, Abby (a friend at school), Mickey, Grandma, Grandpa, school, shoe, cheese, snack, juice, milk, book, toes, hat, gummy ("gummy, gummy, gummy" is always accompanied by clapping and your signature happy stomp) and a plethora of other words. You understand us so well and can answer questions and follow along with our conversations and directions. When I ask "what's your name?" you proudly point to yourself and say "Audie!" And then you point to and name each of the people in our family. You've added a few phrases, too, like "sit here," "bye bye, daddy!" and "yay, mama!" (that one is usually reserved for me putting my shoes on, and is always followed by some clapping).

You love to say "by-ee!" and often do so gleefully while slamming books shut. Right now you are obsessed with The Belly Button Book (you say "be bo" in all the right spots!), Each Peach Pear Plum (love pointing out the baby), Down By The Bay, and Let's Dance Little Pookie (you have some serious moves when it comes time to reach, march and shimmy!). Reading with you before bed is one of the sweetest parts of my day.

Outside is your favorite place to be, and you play so well in your playhouse, at the water table, and in your car. You are an independent girl, my little Louie. As soon as I open the playground gate at school in the morning, you're off and running...no looking back. I know you're headed straight for those swings, and will cry when it's time to go in. Your teachers adore you, and tell us you are so laid back and easygoing. Such a relief after all your brother put us through at the same age!

Cheese sticks remain your go-to snack. We took you to your first movie last weekend and you completely devoured the popcorn. Pretty sure that's a choking hazard, but there was no keeping you away from that bucket. I eventually gave up on my efforts to crumble it into smaller pieces, because you were eating it so quickly. G-Pop would be proud, though he would likely advise you to go light on the butter and salt. Luckily, you're a pretty well-rounded eater and devour your share of fruits and vegetables, too. Last Saturday at the farmers' market you desperately wanted a bunch of radishes. Lots of pointing and signing and saying "plse plse plse." Still not sure what you thought those were, but it was really cute.

You love your babies. Last week you wanted them all in bed with you, and after I put you down I heard lots of scraping noises in your room. When I checked on you before bed, you were fast asleep in the corner and all of your dolls were crammed in between the wall and your crib. Daddy and I thought that was hilarious (and so did everyone on Facebook).

Calvin considers you his greatest friend and greatest enemy right now. You are both very jealous of my time and affection, and if one of you gets a hug the other one is right there clawing at me. You've started to bicker and fight with regularity (one of the primary reasons is that you are a HUGE instigator, little miss), but there is no doubting your love for each other. Watching you play and wrestle (?!!) together is hilarious and heartwarming. I'm so glad you have each other.

There have been a million moments worth documenting over the last year and a half, Audra. Even though I haven't captured them all in writing the way I'd hoped to, it would be impossible for any one of us to forget the sweetness and joy you've brought to our family.

We love you so, little Lou.

 

  

**Audra's 18 month stats: 33in (77th), 23lbs 3oz (30th), and hitting those two year milestones with ease!**

Accessory.

Like any well-dressed woman, Audra knows the secret to looking good is accessorizing.

Eh, we'll keep working on it.

Unfiltered Friday

Like everyone else on earth with a smartphone and a kid or two, I take about eight gazillion pictures a week. I try to control my Instagram output (some weeks are better than others) because I know I am way more interested in my children than other people are, but I hate how all those iPhone pictures tend to get forgotten. All of my "real" pictures from the Nikon are filed and backed up, but my iPhone pics just sit in my camera roll until I get the "cannot take picture, not enough storage" message and have to frantically start deleting them.

True story: my Shutterfly app has been backing up my iPhone photos for three days. Still not done.

Anyway, one the blogs I follow does a Friday feature where she posts her favorite Instagram pics from the week. Since I don't typically put a ton of pictures on Instagram, I decided maybe I'd just rip off her cute idea and devote Fridays here to my favorite phone pics from the week. That way they won't be forgotten (especially since I do a much better job of capturing our life with my phone than my camera), and I might actually remind myself to back them up and make some room for new ones on a regular basis.

Probably not, but it's worth a shot.

For the record, this is like half of March, and not just my favorites from the last week. Though I probably took about ten times this many pictures within the last week.

What? My kids are cute.

Bedtime fun with the Bub.

A tisket, a tasket, Audie's in a basket.

Focused on his writing.

Chocolate chip cookies are a staple at our house.

I knew you were trouble when you walked in.

Funny baby toes.

Cereal and juice and Doc McStuffins.

Hmm. Wonder where my birthday cannoli went.

Reading with Louie.

Goodbye, youth.

Hello, middle-aged motherhood.

Blue skies and snow up north.

Frogger.

Post-nap bed head for the both of us.

Grooming.

Regrowth.

I claimed an offer from Cafe Press and I liked it.

A good day at school!

Reading 'bout the ark.