The Nathan Face

Last Monday I took Audrey to the doctor because she was having cold-like symptoms with a low-grade fever. She had been that way for nearly two weeks, and wasn't getting any better. When her temperature started going up, I made an appointment. Thankfully, no ear infections! Dr. Moore put her on an antibiotic and she was doing much better within 48 hours. The nurse weighed her and she is 18lbs 3oz! I couldn't believe she had gained over a pound in just a month. She is a growing little butter ball! I asked Dr. Moore about her not eating baby food. She did not seem too concerned right now, but Audrey does need to be doing a lot better by 8 and 9 months old. Dr. Moore suggested trying things with a different texture. Since Audrey loves rice cereal, Dr. M suggested trying to feed her mushy table food and maybe try the "Puffs". She also said she was so chunky because she drinks so much milk. That explains a lot! Haha. I went to Target after the appointment, filled her prescription, and bought a variety of baby food and Puffs. I was so excited to get home and try the Puffs. This was her first time to eat without a bottle or spoon. We got home just in time to see Andrew for lunch. (So thankful he gets to come home and eat for lunch. Glad he works close enough!) We let her try the Puffs, and she immediately made terrible faces. (As you can see.)

She didn't like it too much. Then she started gagging. So we decided that was enough and would try again later. That evening for dinner, I put some Puffs on her tray while Andrew and I ate dinner. She played with the Puffs but didn't try to put them in her mouth. I put one in her mouth and she immediately started gagging. I couldn't find it to get it out and then she threw up. Nasty. I think that is enough with the table food for now....we will keep working on the baby food!

Audrey has done much better with her rice cereal and fruit. I feed her half a jar of pureed fruit mixed with lots of rice cereal in the mornings. We now have to clip her hair back so she can eat. Her hair touches her shoulders when she sits down and it usually ends up being a mushy mess in her hair!

I used to also give her a 2-3oz bottle after that, but we have quit the morning bottle since that last dr.'s appointment. She has been fine without it. She doesn't fuss any earlier than normal. She will go down for her morning nap about 2 1/2 - 3 hours after she wakes up in the mornings. So eating the fruit has been a major improvement for her! I guess this just may be a longer process than I anticipated. I give her a vegetable at night mixed with a little less rice cereal. She has done pretty good the last two nights. Hopefully she will be eating food with no problems pretty soon!

Audrey is definitely reaching more. When I put her in her bed, she will play with her bumper and push down on it. A few times she has tried to pull up on her bed. That is the first she has tried to pull up on anything.

Not only does Audrey like to play the guitar, but she has found her new love of the piano as well. She will probably be a child of many talents. ;) She played and played so hard on the piano. I think she thoroughly enjoyed it!! She had to stop just for a second to take a quick camera break. ;)

This past Saturday, Andrew and I went to Huntsville and shopped for the day. We had so much fun! I tried to talk him into bringing Audrey with us for a fun family day, but he wanted us to be able to do and go and we pleased. He was probably right because we were there until around 4:30 and there is no way she would have lasted that long! Even though she didn't get to go, we did of course buy her some things too. We bought her her very first swimsuit! Oh it's so cute! Don't you think??

When we picked her up and took her home, we couldn't leave her sight without her crying. I think she missed us! I know she had fun, but me and Audrey are rarely separated. I know I had separation anxiety the whole day without her! Haha :)

Audrey has been making some very interesting faces lately. They are hysterical! This one in particular reminds us of Andrew's brother, Nathan. In fact, we call it "The Nathan Face". The reason being because of an incident that happened when Nathan was around 10 or 11 years old. One night me, Andrew, Nathan, and Kara Beth were playing cards downstairs at the Lawrences' house. Somehow, and I do not remember how, Nathan hurt himself and busted his top lip open. It swelled up and we laughed at him because his top lip poked out like a bird's beak. It is hard to tell this in his picture, but we thought it would be funny to compare him to Audrey. This face she makes reminds us of that night. Plus, I definitely think she looks a little like her Uncle Nathan anyway!
Hehe, silly girl!!!

This morning we had quite the adventure. Audrey made a new little friend.....a cute little yellow Lab puppy. The dog is probably 5-6 months old. We jog down JC Mauldin lots of mornings and have never encountered one single dog. This morning, the little puppy came to us when we were close to the baptist church. She followed us all the way down to the end of the sidewalk (the road by Foodland) and back to our house. (About 1.5 miles total.) When we get to the end of the sidewalk and turn around, I always adjust her hat and sunglasses because the sun is in her eyes on the way home. When we stopped, the dog came up to Audrey and licked all over her face! Audrey didn't mind at all. I had to swat a few times to get the dog to stop licking. The germ-a-phob inside of me was turning in knots. But she did stop and we got going again. Once we were home, I had to keep the dog from coming inside with us! She cried and howled on our front door step for about ten minutes. I called the baptist church to let them know, just in case they received any calls about the missing dog. The nice lady on the phone said they knew most of the neighbors around the church and that they would try and figure out who the dog belonged to. The dog eventually left my house...I hope she found her way home! She was a sweet little thing. Andrew said if we had a fenced-in backyard I would have probably kept the dog if no one ever came to pick her up. Probably true ;). One day I want a boy and girl dog, preferably Golden Retrievers, and their names will be Millie and Baxter. But Labs are my second choice. I wanted to call this puppy Millie. Oh me, already getting attached!! Good thing she left :).

I love you, Little Girl. You're Mommy's girl and always will be.