http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GHcuxjuMAUo
Okay, she got them all except J and Q. What a hotshot. :)
Thursday, January 26, 2012
Friday, January 20, 2012
Audrey's Alphabet
I tried to film Audrey saying her letters, but by the time I got the camera out, Emily felt the need to pester me with questions the entire time. I couldn't really stop the moment and explain to her why I wanted her to pleeeeeease be quiet, so in the end, Audrey was pretty distracted. But, she does some nice work anyway! I most of all wanted her adorable pirate-style R, but she toned it down for the video - so disappointed. :)
Part 1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fgtHjHMhFeQ
(I missed her identifying M)
Part 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n77ACNpgKyY
Enjoy!
Part 1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fgtHjHMhFeQ
(I missed her identifying M)
Part 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n77ACNpgKyY
Enjoy!
Saturday, January 14, 2012
Bragging about Audrey
Audrey has opened the floodgates with talking this week. She is definitely more talk than babble, and it's kind of funny that I have to remind myself to listen for words instead of just nodding along with her gibberish. I'm not going to list out everything she can say, but I am going to take this occasion to go through the things she can do besides the language explosion. It's going to sound really conceited, probably, but too bad!! This entry is more for me to remember her milestones. And besides, my girl is amazing!!
Audrey has known the letter "B" for a couple of weeks and gets all excited when she sees it different places, but in the last few days she's discovered that the other letters around it are significant, too. She can now also identify the following letters reliably: A, O, R, S, Y, and Z. She saw the word "SALZBURG" next to a piece of music I was playing tonight and excitedly pointed out everything except the L and G, since she recognized the U that time, too. The next ones I'm pointing out are the ones in her name and Emily's name, since they're on her wall and on a lot of things we have, so, E, D, I, and L. Tonight, we got out the set of foam letters that are all different colors, and she and Emily had a great time with them! Emily is totally confident with all 26 letters, which is great, but, she'll get to learn them all again in a year and a half when she enters Kindergarten - oh well. Both girls enjoyed me quizzing them for a few minutes, but then Emily just wanted to sort them by color. And how can you argue with that, really? So, both girls had a great time sorting, then mixing them up, then sorting, then mixing them up... I asked Audrey what color each stack was, and she can identify all 6 primary colors, plus, of course, PINK! She also can point out shapes of stars, hearts, and circles - and she draws lovely, complete, round circles, too!
And, the singing. Wow, the singing. I can't even list all the lullabies she can sing, plus nursery rhymes and girl scout songs. They are so on-pitch that you really don't miss the words that she can't sing yet (she gets the general gist of them but she's definitely not saying words). She sat on my lap at the piano tonight and sang beautifully while I accompanied song after song after song that she requested, and then she sat quietly and listened for a few minutes while I played a little Chopin waltz. A lapful of girl AND some piano time - how lucky am I?? I really, really need to get this videotaped before she gets tired of activities like that, and moves on to the next thing to work on.
And of course, she likes to take a moment and arrange her fingers carefully, and then hold them up, saying "I twoooo! I twoooo!!!" And have I mentioned that she seems to just get more and more beautiful?? Her hair is such a crazy amazing color, and her blue eyes just get more and more expressive. She came into my room on Friday morning, and I woke to her tapping me on the arm saying, "Nuggo!" (Snuggle!) Who could resist that, really? Then Emily came running in, all high energy and full of plans and ideas and enthusiasm, and she tried to snuggle too but was too wiggley and ready to get moving, so, that was the start to my day. And then, in the afternoon, I went to my ultrasound and found out:
We're having a girl! Another Sullivan sister! Emily says she'll be a boy until her hair grows long, and at first she said she wanted a brother but now she's excited for another sister. I'm relieved to know in advance because I think I could've named a boy if we had gone the surprise route again, but finding another girl name that's as gorgeous and perfect as the first two we chose is going to be nearly impossible. But now I have 4 months, instead of the few hours that I had with Audrey. Travis is glad that we are ready with a stash of clothes, and I'm relieved that our toys will largely be sufficient. I think we'd have to venture into new territory for a boy, and I'll admit that I'm very much intimidated by superheros and trucks and pretend weaponry.
So, Travis is hopelessly outnumbered, and seems to be quite happy to be that way. Lucky us! :)
Audrey has known the letter "B" for a couple of weeks and gets all excited when she sees it different places, but in the last few days she's discovered that the other letters around it are significant, too. She can now also identify the following letters reliably: A, O, R, S, Y, and Z. She saw the word "SALZBURG" next to a piece of music I was playing tonight and excitedly pointed out everything except the L and G, since she recognized the U that time, too. The next ones I'm pointing out are the ones in her name and Emily's name, since they're on her wall and on a lot of things we have, so, E, D, I, and L. Tonight, we got out the set of foam letters that are all different colors, and she and Emily had a great time with them! Emily is totally confident with all 26 letters, which is great, but, she'll get to learn them all again in a year and a half when she enters Kindergarten - oh well. Both girls enjoyed me quizzing them for a few minutes, but then Emily just wanted to sort them by color. And how can you argue with that, really? So, both girls had a great time sorting, then mixing them up, then sorting, then mixing them up... I asked Audrey what color each stack was, and she can identify all 6 primary colors, plus, of course, PINK! She also can point out shapes of stars, hearts, and circles - and she draws lovely, complete, round circles, too!
And, the singing. Wow, the singing. I can't even list all the lullabies she can sing, plus nursery rhymes and girl scout songs. They are so on-pitch that you really don't miss the words that she can't sing yet (she gets the general gist of them but she's definitely not saying words). She sat on my lap at the piano tonight and sang beautifully while I accompanied song after song after song that she requested, and then she sat quietly and listened for a few minutes while I played a little Chopin waltz. A lapful of girl AND some piano time - how lucky am I?? I really, really need to get this videotaped before she gets tired of activities like that, and moves on to the next thing to work on.
And of course, she likes to take a moment and arrange her fingers carefully, and then hold them up, saying "I twoooo! I twoooo!!!" And have I mentioned that she seems to just get more and more beautiful?? Her hair is such a crazy amazing color, and her blue eyes just get more and more expressive. She came into my room on Friday morning, and I woke to her tapping me on the arm saying, "Nuggo!" (Snuggle!) Who could resist that, really? Then Emily came running in, all high energy and full of plans and ideas and enthusiasm, and she tried to snuggle too but was too wiggley and ready to get moving, so, that was the start to my day. And then, in the afternoon, I went to my ultrasound and found out:
We're having a girl! Another Sullivan sister! Emily says she'll be a boy until her hair grows long, and at first she said she wanted a brother but now she's excited for another sister. I'm relieved to know in advance because I think I could've named a boy if we had gone the surprise route again, but finding another girl name that's as gorgeous and perfect as the first two we chose is going to be nearly impossible. But now I have 4 months, instead of the few hours that I had with Audrey. Travis is glad that we are ready with a stash of clothes, and I'm relieved that our toys will largely be sufficient. I think we'd have to venture into new territory for a boy, and I'll admit that I'm very much intimidated by superheros and trucks and pretend weaponry.
So, Travis is hopelessly outnumbered, and seems to be quite happy to be that way. Lucky us! :)
Friday, January 13, 2012
We know, but you don't!
Finally had my 20-week ultrasound today, at 21 weeks! After numerous phonecalls to my doctor and reminders that I should have it done, they finally got the scheduling ready and it actually worked out in my schedule pretty well. Travis met me at the clinic, and I dropped the girls off at my neighbor's for a couple of hours. Everything was great in the ultrasound - a healthy, beautiful baby, as far as we can tell for now!
Travis and I have been going back and forth about whether to find out the gender this time, because Travis REALLY wanted to know for the first two pregnancies. I assumed we would find out, but he was suddenly reluctant to, for some reason (he won't say that it's because i was right, it WAS more fun that way ;) ). So, last night, going to bed, he still was on the fence. I asked Emily this morning, and she thought that she might like a surprise. As the appointment started, Travis was still undecided, and I would have been happy either way. At the last moment to decide, he gave the GO signal and the tech showed us a key picture saying we're having a...
haha not so fast! Now Trav thinks we should try to keep it to ourselves. There's no way I can do it. I will slip up and use appropriate pronouns with reckless abandon. Or I might find myself calling my mom and blurting it out because I'm excited! Hee hee! I'm sure I'll end up posting it later, but for now you're still in the dark!!
It's been a crazy week and the girls are exhausted, which means they saved their best behavior for the two hours I was away from them this afternoon and have howled the rest of the day. It's amazing what getting enough sleep does for these girls. I've heard amazing things about gluten-free diets, and I wonder if they (and I?) would be less dependent on adequate sleep if I ate less wheat? I've pretty much narrowed Audrey's tummy troubles down to onions or corn (cornbread), so I think I've had enough dietary experimentation for the time being.
Travis and I have been going back and forth about whether to find out the gender this time, because Travis REALLY wanted to know for the first two pregnancies. I assumed we would find out, but he was suddenly reluctant to, for some reason (he won't say that it's because i was right, it WAS more fun that way ;) ). So, last night, going to bed, he still was on the fence. I asked Emily this morning, and she thought that she might like a surprise. As the appointment started, Travis was still undecided, and I would have been happy either way. At the last moment to decide, he gave the GO signal and the tech showed us a key picture saying we're having a...
haha not so fast! Now Trav thinks we should try to keep it to ourselves. There's no way I can do it. I will slip up and use appropriate pronouns with reckless abandon. Or I might find myself calling my mom and blurting it out because I'm excited! Hee hee! I'm sure I'll end up posting it later, but for now you're still in the dark!!
It's been a crazy week and the girls are exhausted, which means they saved their best behavior for the two hours I was away from them this afternoon and have howled the rest of the day. It's amazing what getting enough sleep does for these girls. I've heard amazing things about gluten-free diets, and I wonder if they (and I?) would be less dependent on adequate sleep if I ate less wheat? I've pretty much narrowed Audrey's tummy troubles down to onions or corn (cornbread), so I think I've had enough dietary experimentation for the time being.
Monday, January 2, 2012
2012: Bring It!
http://thebloggess.com/2012/01/the-fight-goes-on/ In case you need more evidence that real life is a bitch. The crazy thing is, everybody happens to be living it, everywhere you look. I think this is the post-30 maturity coming out in me, but I'm looking back on my judgemental, narcisisstic 20-year-old self and am a little disgusted. Yes, believe it or not, I've actually mellowed a bit, and yet am still an opinionated jerk!
This has been a really eye-opening year for me. In my family, 2011 has had close encounters with domestic violence, jail visits, and a family member who died suddenly. If I expand my circle to friends and co-workers, the list grows, including a 2nd-trimester miscarriage, a newborn with severe hearing loss AND cystic fibrosis, and an infant hospitalized with skull fractures after an accident. I learned about a friend who gave up a child for adoption years ago, and continued to witness a friend's life with a child with severe disabilities... and on and on. I am SO fortunate to only have experienced these things by association, and just been in a support role. As I look at my beautiful, amazing family and all the blessings of my charmed life, I wonder when it will be my turn, rather than just experiencing vicariously, and whether I will have the strength and maturity of those I've witnessed battling so far. I am so impressed that all of these people close to me have weathered these things with such poise, and continue to seek the joy that life offers. None of these friends or family has chosen to let their situation define them, or taken the "easy route" now that they have an excuse to be unhappy. I've expressed support and sympathy, but really I admire the strength of each of these individuals and have learned so much. I've enjoyed reading The Bloggess this year, and I sure hope she doesn't think that she requires having personal demons to fight with humor in order to write side-splitting blog entries. I wonder if joy happens TO spite difficulties, not IN spite of them.
So, I guess, all I can do with 2011 is learn from it. I went into this holiday season bracing myself, thinking that at least next year will be better - we'll have a new baby, a finalized divorce for my sister, and hopefully my brother-in-law will be released. We'll be excited about upcoming weddings for Trav's brothers. But, I am honestly very thankful for the holiday I did have, because it was absolutely wonderful, even if not ideal. I truly felt the love of family at every gathering, and spent relaxing time with people I love and admire. I laughed a ridiculous amount, and found great joy both in giving and receiving gifts. I got to be Santa, and experience the delight of Christmas morning for young children. Today, I woke to the sound of giggling sisters snuggling in bed with me, and relaxed and did close to nothing for most of the day - what a luxury! I hope it's a sign of the good things to come in 2012, and if not, I hope I have the strength and wisdom to live life as strongly as those around me.
Oh, and also worth noting - Baby count for 2011 (close friends and family) is a whopping 22!! Welcome to the world, kiddos. We're gonna have a great time!
This has been a really eye-opening year for me. In my family, 2011 has had close encounters with domestic violence, jail visits, and a family member who died suddenly. If I expand my circle to friends and co-workers, the list grows, including a 2nd-trimester miscarriage, a newborn with severe hearing loss AND cystic fibrosis, and an infant hospitalized with skull fractures after an accident. I learned about a friend who gave up a child for adoption years ago, and continued to witness a friend's life with a child with severe disabilities... and on and on. I am SO fortunate to only have experienced these things by association, and just been in a support role. As I look at my beautiful, amazing family and all the blessings of my charmed life, I wonder when it will be my turn, rather than just experiencing vicariously, and whether I will have the strength and maturity of those I've witnessed battling so far. I am so impressed that all of these people close to me have weathered these things with such poise, and continue to seek the joy that life offers. None of these friends or family has chosen to let their situation define them, or taken the "easy route" now that they have an excuse to be unhappy. I've expressed support and sympathy, but really I admire the strength of each of these individuals and have learned so much. I've enjoyed reading The Bloggess this year, and I sure hope she doesn't think that she requires having personal demons to fight with humor in order to write side-splitting blog entries. I wonder if joy happens TO spite difficulties, not IN spite of them.
So, I guess, all I can do with 2011 is learn from it. I went into this holiday season bracing myself, thinking that at least next year will be better - we'll have a new baby, a finalized divorce for my sister, and hopefully my brother-in-law will be released. We'll be excited about upcoming weddings for Trav's brothers. But, I am honestly very thankful for the holiday I did have, because it was absolutely wonderful, even if not ideal. I truly felt the love of family at every gathering, and spent relaxing time with people I love and admire. I laughed a ridiculous amount, and found great joy both in giving and receiving gifts. I got to be Santa, and experience the delight of Christmas morning for young children. Today, I woke to the sound of giggling sisters snuggling in bed with me, and relaxed and did close to nothing for most of the day - what a luxury! I hope it's a sign of the good things to come in 2012, and if not, I hope I have the strength and wisdom to live life as strongly as those around me.
Oh, and also worth noting - Baby count for 2011 (close friends and family) is a whopping 22!! Welcome to the world, kiddos. We're gonna have a great time!
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