Crazy hair. Beautiful eyes. Runny nose. Pretty smile. Sharp teeth. Infectious laugh. Audrey Grace. I could probably go on but it wouldn't be fair. She is sleeping now. Ah, sweet baby reprieve. I love the baby but I love the nap time too! I find it funny how she fits a lot of the "baby" stereotypes that people were sure Alex would fit but didn't. She is into everything. She climbs on everything and over anything. She eats anything on the floor, even if it moves. She loves the dogs. She is similar to Alex in some ways too. For example, if there were to be a knife on the floor, hidden from view AND her favorite toys scattered about in plain view she would find the knife first and then attack some toy with it. Babies are drawn to danger. Or maybe that is just Audrey. The other day she was trying to get the outlet cover out. Thankfully she wasn't trying to do so with a screwdriver or something. But the fact that she was trying is a might bit troublesome.

Alex is at his Pap-Pap S's today. They spend most Wednesdays together. Toilet paper. Yes, I said toilet paper. There was a mountain of toilet paper on the floor yesterday. Full double roll portion of paper. Thanks to Alex taking his time going "potty" with the bathroom door closed and me being distracted by Audrey (they may already be in cahoots). When I asked about the paper being on the floor he told me, "That's what monkeys do, mommy!" I wasn't sure how to argue that at the time. Come to find out he was right. That IS what monkeys do, especially Curious George in his full length motion picture film. Alex's favorite, favorite, favorite movie. If he is eating a banana he is acting like a monkey. If he is on my back he is acting like a monkey. If he is running around the house, he is acting like a monkey. He asks me to be the mommy monkey so he can be the baby monkey. Oh, little boys.

Alex has been sleeping in his Thomas the Tank Engine tent he received for Christmas. It has worked to my advantage because it is too small for two people (a boy and a mom) to fit in and sleep. So I have been exempt from having to "seep wif me mommy." At least some nights. Alex also always has a story to tell. And usually they are very descriptive. I love to sit and listen to them. We just need to work on volume control now. He is so smart. I love that boy!

Oh well, time for myself is limited so I better take advantage of it now!

Happy New Year!! A little late. Shouldn’t be too surprising. This past year has been quite a blur. Audrey was born, a week later Alex turned two, and then in July we celebrated eight years of marriage. Well, celebrated is a bit misleading – we dropped the kids off for an hour and ate at the local Mexican dive. But that does beat the seven year celebration of ham sandwiches and Kool-Aid.

This past Christmas was a blast. Alex and Audrey received several million presents. You may think I am exaggerating but we have pictures to prove it. These children are spoiled rotten. Of course, Alex’s favorite and most played with toy? Rubber lizards. I spent $1 for a package of 8 lizards and he plays with them, eats with them, feeds them, sleeps with them, bathes with them, etc. You get the picture. His other favorite toys include anything that Audrey has. It is interesting how that works both ways. Audrey wants anything that Alex has. Which makes for some fun times at this house. Alex yells, Audrey cries, I shake my head, the dogs bark – yes, it is that bad or loud.

Audrey is starting to talk. Her vocabulary includes “da-da”, “ma-ma”, “uh-oh”, & “pop-pop”. She probably says a lot more but I usually can’t hear her over Alex singing. Always singing. Always. The most sung song –“ Old MacDonald had a farm and Bingo was his name-o”. At the top of his lungs. B-I-N-G-O. Alex is also bent on being a baby whenever we tell him to pick up. “I can’t, babies can’t do that. I’m a baby.” And then he starts babbling. It is interesting that he can finally talk and all he wants to do is talk gibberish, especially when we ask him a question that he doesn’t want to answer. Go figure.

Audrey is trying to walk. She has almost taken a few steps on her own. But she isn’t as brave as she wants to be. She climbs on everything. Books, dogs, me, Alex, clothes, boxes, Lorelai (who does not like it one bit) nothing is exempt from Audrey. She also has eight teeth. Eight sharp teeth. Eight big teeth. She is so much fun. As long as she is not being bothered or getting her own way. But still a lot of fun. We love her so much.

Alex is getting so big. We are working on potty training. Not going so well. We try to bribe him but he doesn’t go for bribes. Even a sugar filled cupcake was no incentive. We still haven’t found the perfect thing. We have gone through stickers, plastic fish, tattoos, cupcakes, m&m’s. Nothing has worked consistently. I suppose in his own time.

“Green on the outside, red on the inside and filled with seeds…” Can you guess what show Alex is watching? Sesame Street. And the shape is an oval, hence the watermelon. Time to turn the TV off.