Celebration Time

In honor of Aubrey's 3rd mes-aversary we lined up a whole weekend of new activities. First up, a debate party on Friday night at our friend Tom and Katia's house. Before the debate we put Aubrey in their son Emilio's swing so she could watch a dog and cat play catch (a toy on the swing). She was amazed. Awe-struck. Really. We couldn't believe it. She sat there for at least 10 minutes and then...started laughing for the first time ever. It was great.

On Saturday we did some yard work. I put Aubrey in the Ergo carrier and we raked leaves and mowed the lawn. She fussed a bit at first until I found a good rhythm, then slept the rest of the time. I use a reel mower by Brill: zero fossil-fuel consumption, no CO2 emissions, and the added bonus of mowing the lawn while your daughter naps against your chest. Pretty darn cool. For dinner, another first: we joined Grandpa Daryl and Grandma Kris at the Great Dane. We sat in the courtyard and thoroughly enjoyed the evening.

Today we went to Lake Farm park. Up until a week or two before Aubrey was born we took many walks at this park. T likes the path along the lake shore. This was our first time back. Here is Aubrey, not yet appreciating the view after crying in the car the whole way to the park.

We walked the trail all the way to the train tracks and back again. Aubrey watched the trees go by for a few minutes and napped the rest of the walk. It gave T and I some time to bird watch (yellow-rumped warblers, palm warblers, a tennessee warbler, white-throated sparrows, and a brown creeper) and reminisce about previous walks on the path when T was pregnant with Aubrey. We will definitely be back to Lake Farm soon.

And finally, our last first of the weekend. This one was more for me than for Aubrey. With the NFL already into it's fourth week it was quarter-past time for chicken wings, beer, and the multiple-big-screen goodness that is Buffalo Wild Wings. While it was definitely not the same experience as it was with the MO crew (Craig, Kerry, Pruman, BFF, A-squared, and the rest of the gang), Aubrey thought it was pretty close to heaven anyways. With all her head-whipping, multi-screen viewing-to-the-point-of-not-blinking, wait, what was that-oh my there's another one over there-I'm positive she doubled (tripled?) her lifetime tv exposure in the 45 mintues we were there. My wing craving now satisfied, we are not going back any time soon. I hope we didn't do any permanent damage.

Aubrey the adventurer

Continuing our efforts to share the outdoors with Aubrey, we made an excursion to Olbrich Botanical Gardens. I must confess that it was my first time walking in the gardens since Grandma Trouble and Grandpa J were married there (25 or so years ago). I was surprised at how extensive the grounds were and how, despite being in the city, you could immerse yourself in the quiet beauty of the gardens.

Hitting the gym

Aubrey believes maintaining cuteness shouldn't be hard work. Here for the very first time she is sharing with you her secrets to maximal cuteness with minimal effort. Her simple and easy workout routine contains three focal areas: core development, strength, and flexibility. Simply follow along as she demonstrates - you'll be cute too!

Core development: Sit in the bumbo without falling over. Duration varies, stop just before the point of fatigue. Repeat daily.

Strength: Tummy time, duration 5 minutes, repeat 2-3 times daily.

Flexibility: Toe touches, limit set by attention span, repeat as often as you see them. Works best with boldly patterned socks.

Week in review

Wednesday was a big day. T had a meeting at the Arboretum and I went along to help with Aubrey. "Daddy daycare" was a success. Aubrey took a bottle from me and we spent some time checking out wildflowers until T's meeting was done.

Later that day we celebrated Great-grandma D's birthday. It was our first evening meal in a restaurant with Aubrey. She was really good before and during the meal. After the meal Grandpa Jeff took her for a short walk where they unfortunately met up with an overly friendly woman who scared Aubrey. Poor Aubrey. Strangers aren't her thing this week.

We also started putting Aubrey down to sleep in her crib instead of in the bassinet in our room. So far, so good.

My right foot

Aubrey noticed her feet two days ago. Well, one foot at least. I think the socks were a big help - how could you miss such fancy socks?

Good news

T got Aubrey down for 2 naps this morning but Aubrey woke up both times after 10 minutes. This afternoon T got her down for 2 naps again, holding her this time, and Aubrey slept for 1.5 hours and again for almost 2 hours. Holy Cow! And Aubrey took a bottle from me when I got home. How awesome is that?!?

Guilty!

At 08:00 hours on September 6, 2008, authorities apprehended Aubrey Jae and charged her with being too cute. She was released after posting bond of 2 smiles and giving T a hug.

Tummy time

We've been giving Aubrey tummy time every day with varying degrees of success. In the last few days we seem to have passed a threshold as Aubrey will now hold her head up and is starting to use her arms to push herself up. As proof, we have five minutes of tummy time to video. It's fascinating stuff. Really. Well, okay. It's mostly just her grunting and us saying "good job". So, to save you five minutes I present a stellar text/photo/text depiction of this milestone:

"Uhng!" "Good job Aubrey"

Got 'em

For several weeks now Aubrey has watched her hands when the opportunity arose. They would often fly by her face, leaving as quickly as they came, and she would eagerly await the next sighting. Much to her delight, she is now developing control of her hands and enjoys staring at her fingers, shoving her hands in her mouth, and touching us with her hands. Here she is showing off her hand coordination while also demonstrating a second new skill, head control:

4 Generations of T's family

Great-grandma B, Nana Sandy, T, and Aubrey:

Nana Sandy (standing in for Papa Max), T, and Great-Grandma Alice with Aubrey:

Labor Day Smorgasborg

We celebrated Labor Day with a road trip to see T's family in Minneapolis. We had a blast visiting family and friends. Here's a sample from our action packed weekend...

Sara and Adrian, our newlywed friends (congrats!) from MO visiting family in the Twin Cities:
Kim and Brian (whoops, no picture-sorry!).

Tova, Eric, Kayden, and Lily (Eric and Lily pictured):

Dagan, Carrie, Gunnar, and Mike (how did we miss a pic w/ Aubrey? sorry guys):

Great-grandma Alice:

and Aunt Kim showing off her knack for getting Aubrey to take nap: