While I don't intend to do monthly posts anymore, I do want to write things down periodically so I don't forget what Aubrey is like at each stage. The following is a list I've compiled over the last... um... month and a half. Hmm. Maybe I'm not done with the monthly posts after all...
- If one of us lies down on the ground, she'll come and sit on us like a chair. The face is her favorite seat.
- She likes to hold the couch cushions against her face and then fall forward onto them.
- If you have something she wants, or if she is trying to give you something, she'll pry your hands open.
- She says "shuh" for "shoe." She's very enthusiastic about saying it, in large part because she associates shoes with going outside, which she loves doing.
- Every day we walk to get the mail (which is down on another street perpendicular to ours), and she always stops at particular houses on the way. One is the best-kept yard in the neighborhood, and she always points at things they have, babbles excitedly, and refuses to keep walking. The other house is right by the mailboxes, and it has fake bunnies placed throughout the foliage in the very front. She likes to pet and talk to them.
- As previously mentioned, she loves going outside. If you open the door and then close it without taking her outside, she will throw a conniption fit.
- She laughs if you chase her, especially if you're trying to take something away from her.
- When she dances, sometimes she clasps her hands together and twists at the waist. Other times, she just squats over and over again. So. Stinking. Cute.
- On her little singing puppy, she'll keep pressing the buttons until she cycles through to find the songs she likes the best. Then she looks at me with a proud look on her face.
- She says "kuh" for "truck." We always watch the recycling and trash trucks when they come on Tuesdays, and she gets so excited.
- Ever since our trip to Texas and California, she must sleep with Mr. T.
- To my great joy, she no longer throws her pacifiers from her crib and then cries when she doesn't want to sleep.
- She can finally go down stairs on her own! She sits and uses her hands and feet to scoot her bum to the end of each stair until she slides down to the next one. She's very careful about it, which is good.
- If she finds the bubbles container, she'll hand it to me and get upset if I don't open it and get ready to blow bubbles. But then when I do start blowing bubbles, she turns and walks away without even watching.
- She often brings books to us. When we say, "Do you want me to read this to you?" she says, "Yeah!"
- Speaking of books, Daniel is reading the Chronicles of Narnia to me, and Aubrey is obsessed with this front cover:
She stares at it, points to it while babbling, and pets the lion. We have no idea why she's so enthralled by it.
- Annoyingly, she has started trying to stand up in grocery carts.
- She has started picking up items that she shouldn't have (my camera, a piece of candy she could choke on, etc.) and bringing them to me. It's awesome.
- When I say "spinning," she looks up at the ceiling fan. She loves it and repeatedly points at it when it's on.
- Oh, the food throwing. Unfortunately, that hasn't changed. She does it with such a defiant look in her eye too. Punk.
- She plays fetch with us. Like a dog. We throw the ball across the room, and she brings it back. It's one of her favorite games.
- When we're sitting on the ground, she'll come up behind us and pat our backs affectionately. We always do it to her, so I guess she's mimicking. It's my very favorite thing in the whole world.
- She leans in for hugs when I stand her up to put her pants back on after diaper changes.
- Sometimes, if we're really lucky, she'll point to her head or ears if we ask her where they are. But most of the time she's not interested in performing.
- She loves putting things (blankets and clothes) over her face and waiting for me to say, "Where's Aubrey?" and then, "There she is!" when she uncovers her face. If I try to uncover her face myself, she gets very upset.
- During bath time, she starts to giggle when I wash her arms because she knows that next I'm going to poke her and say "armpits!"
- She has two full teeth on the bottom and one on top as well as one coming in on top and one coming in on the bottom, just below the other. So far she has been a very easy teether, but she gets really mad if you try to look in her mouth.
- Out of nowhere, she started blowing kisses. I've done it a few times, but I can't believe she picked up on it. I love it though.
- She loves the Sandra Boynton book Horns to Toes and In Between. It talks about different body parts, and we always touch the places when we say them. When it comes time for the belly button, we poke it to make her laugh. On the page that counts the 10 fingers, she starts to point at the numbers like I do. And then when we get to numbers 6 through 10, she starts to push my hand away and laugh, because she knows that next I'm going to use those fingers to tickle her (as the page says, "We can tickle, tickle, tickle or just count them again."). At the end, I shake her around when it says "shake and shimmy." I love her cute laugh.
- We taught her to clean up! Every night before bed, she helps us pick up her toys. It's a wonderful skill; I love that she actually picked it up. (Hah, pun!)
- If we forget to close the pantry door, she immediately goes for the spices. And she somehow always chooses the celery seed to run away with, no matter where we have put it. So weird.
- She refuses to wear her hat. *Sigh.*
- One of her favorite things to say is "ducka ducka ducka." I really wish I knew what she meant by it.
- We discovered she really likes mini M&Ms (SO my daughter) and ice cream (vanilla, chocolate, and strawberry so far).
- When we take her upstairs for bedtime, she starts saying "shh" to indicate that we should brush her teeth. One time she kept saying "shh" and then cried when Daniel walked past the bathroom without doing it. That's when we realized what she was saying.
- If we squeeze our eyes shut while looking at her, she'll copy us and keep doing it until we stop. She thinks it's funny.
