When making dinner, I try to figure out an “Audrey job” that she can do beside me. Usually it involves washing veggies (bonus: she gets to play in the sink!). One of her recent favorites was snapping the woody ends off asparagus.

She also helped make garlic bread the other night. And wow, was it is the saltiest bread I’ve ever eaten! She was liberal with the garlic salt. That meant both she and Kenji liked the bread but I thought it was practically inedible.

Baking is especially fun for us both; she gets to help pour in ingredients, mix it together, and eat the delicious final products!

When it comes to laundry, Audrey is generally most interested in deconstructing my folded piles. She likes to try on all of the clothing items — anything from her own pants to daddy’s underwear is fair game — and shake the clothes, pretending to fold them. Recently I put her to work matching socks (one of my favorite ways to help my mom when I was little).

Of course, trying on socks was part of the fun.

Yesterday I gave Audrey her own spray bottle and let her squirt water onto the windows to her heart’s content, then wipe it up with a little cloth. (Unsurprisingly, she was more interested in the spray bottle than the cloth, and liked using it on the floor, chairs, cat, etc. too).

Audrey has also helped mop the kitchen floor with her own sponge and small container of water.

Last but definitely not least: the vacuum! Audrey is both fascinated and terrified by the vacuum. She likes to turn it on, but bolts away as soon as she does. (I don’t blame her — it is really loud!) Generally she is more of my supervisor, telling me which carpet to tackle next. But yesterday she liked using the handheld part. Until it sucked up her shirt, that is.

The most recent one was at the beginning of the month, when we traveled down to my parents’ childhood home of Portsmouth, Virginia for my cousin Beth’s wedding. Or, as Audrey knows her, bride.

All three of us had fun dressing up for the big event. (And we looked pretty spiffy, if I say so myself!)

Happily, my parents also made it down for the wedding, so Audrey had time for cuddles and hand-holding with Grandnan and Granddad.

Audrey seemed to enjoy the wedding overall but is was the bride she was particularly, no, intensely, interested in. She kept calling out “Bride and groom, dance!” and insisted on being carried over to the vicinity of the newlyweds.

When Beth took Audrey for a spin around the dance floor, Audrey was in heaven.

The day prior to the wedding we went to the Portsmouth City Park, where Audrey got to ride the Pokey Smokey II, before we went to a family BBQ at my aunt Ruth’s house.

It was a beautiful day, so we had to pause for a few photos by the blooming flowers. Audrey put on her best “cheese.”

It was a wonderful weekend, from the lovely wedding to the biscuit breakfasts with my parents. Kenji and I reminisced about our own big day, and how much has happened in our lives together in the seven years since then.

With another wedding coming up this fall, Audrey won’t have too long to wait until she has another bride to chase after.

A few weeks ago, Kenji made two raised beds for an herb and vegetable garden. Audrey was happy to help Kenji build the frame and fill in the soil. She especially liked breaking up the “bumblebees” (chunks of dirt).

Audrey likes to check on the plants and is always ready to put her watering can to use.

A few of our veggies are poking up already!

I feel there are so many benefits to Audrey helping with the garden: outdoor play, sensory experiences with the dirt and water, an understanding of where her food comes from, and a budding (so to speak) stewardship of mother earth.

Now we just need to keep our fingers crossed that Audrey doesn’t get too excited and pluck the tomatoes, peppers, and other vegetables before they are ready!

Silly mid-Atlantic weather.

To beat the heat, we unearthed Audrey’s water table, baby pool, and the sprinkler.

She liked the hose best, though.

With the long, hot summer ahead of us, they’ll be much more of this to come! (Not this week, though. Thankfully it’s back into the more-reasonable 60s and 70s.)

We started celebrating the holiday earlier in the week, when Audrey decorated paper eggs with sequins and glitter. Her favorite part, by far, was using Elmer’s Glue for the first time.

Pouring sequins (“sparkles”) all over the table came in at a close second.

 
Yesterday, the day of the annual Cherry Hill Park Easter Egg Hunt, was absolutely gorgeous. Shortly before 10 a.m. we headed with the throngs into the park. I think every single child living in Falls Church was there.

Audrey seemed pretty overwhelmed by the big event (who can blame her?), but she did manage to score one egg for her basket. And three lollipops, which she proceeded to eat immediately thereafter. Her first taste of a lollipop and it was love at first lick.

Today Audrey got busy decorating the hardboiled eggs sitting in the fridge. I wasn’t brave enough to try dyeing them with her, but stickers and paint seemed to do just fine.

She also got a special basket of treats from the Easter Bunny. She went straight for the (no-spill!) bubbles.

Audrey really seemed to enjoy just carrying her basket around.

Daddy got busy hiding eggs in the backyard, and then we headed out for a hunt.

Her basket was filled in no time. (Seriously, it took her about two minutes to collect them all!) Back in the house, she discovered the treats inside the eggs: stickers, graham cracker bunnies, fish crackers, raisins, and the occasional M&M.

 
After her nap, we headed to Nana and Grandpa’s house for Easter dinner.

The three cousins were so cute playing together. Nana bought sweet matching dresses for the girls. Grandpa staged an egg hunt in the house, which was a huge hit. (“More! More eggs!”)

We managed to get the three kiddos to sit still just long enough for a photo with their filled baskets.

For months now we’ve read potty-related books to Audrey, taken her with us to the bathroom with us, and had her sit (dressed) on the little Baby Bjorn potty chair next to the toilet. I’ve also gotten into the habit of changing Audrey’s (wet) diapers while she stands up — partially out of necessity since she is increasingly squirmy and disinterested in lying on the changing pad.

A little over a week ago our efforts started to pay off when…Audrey peed in the potty for the first time! Over the next two days, she excitedly spent lots of time sitting and reading on the potty, squeezing out anything she could to get her sticker reward. She even was allowed to stick them right on the bathroom wall (shh, don’t tell our landlord).

I immediately got online to order a travel potty and read up on training diapers/underwear.

It all came to a crashing halt, however, when the playgroup came over Wednesday morning. Audrey and her friend Sarah giddily grabbed stickers from the craft station and started sticking them on the bathroom wall, sans potty time.

No complaints from me, though: I really wasn’t planning to dive into true training until after our trip in June. From what I’ve learned, this development — while exciting — will still involve lots of yucky laundry and more difficulty getting out of the house.

Audrey knows the special “potty star” stickers are out of reach on the mantel, waiting for her future successes.

Tuesday’s warm weather and torrential downpours made for perfect puddle stomping in the afternoon.

After Audrey’s nap, we put on our rain boots and headed to the park.

Audrey was absolutely delighted to stick her feet in the squishy mud.

She also got a kick out of collecting rocks and pine needles and throwing them into the puddles to see them splash.

It really felt like spring to smell the post-rain showers air and stay outside right until dinner time.

It was cold again today — but at least we’ve  had a taste of spring!

(The photo above was taken only one day after the federal government was closed. And not a flake of snow is in sight!)

We spent most of our time in the multi-media gallery, which included a few Audrey-sized houses.

Since I was there with her, I didn’t read any of the explanatory text and don’t understand the significance of the structures. But, they were fun to explore — perfect for hide-and-seek!

Another room included a bunch of Lego tables, which Audrey played with briefly. About the time we got to this room our friends arrived and Audrey got tired and clingy. (Not a great combination.)

After a ‘car picnic,’ we headed home. Audrey was asleep before we even crossed the bridge back into Virginia.

The toddler-friendly and free exhibit made for a fun morning out!

At first sight of the snow she said “Audrey, snow! Outside!” but since it was only 6:00 a.m. and we hadn’t yet had breakfast (or coffee–eek!) we held off on venturing outside for a few hours.

After bundling her in a t-shirt and tights, fleece pants, a sweater, snow boots (so glad I ended up buying those from the consignment store a few months ago!), a coat, mittens, and a hat, Audrey was released into the glacial backyard.

Just kidding. The snow barely covered the grass! But it was super heavy, wet snow perfect for snowballs. Kenji and I made a few and started pelting the tree.

Audrey was more interested in eating them.

There was enough snow that we had to clear off the car. (Our car out front, too.)

After about 15 minutes of playing outside, Audrey was ready to go back in the house.

Since it was a special snow day, she got her first cup of hot chocolate to help warm up. Yum.

It’s good that we went outside when we did; in the afternoon the snow became mush as it began raining and sleeting. The snow is long gone now except for a few dirty piles in the shade. As we come across the lone piles, Audrey stomps on them and says “Audrey eat!”

I’m guessing this was our last snowstorm of the year since it’s now March and it’s supposed to be 60 degrees this weekend — but who knows! Next winter we’ll hopefully have a big enough storm to make ‘snow cream,’ one of my favorite childhood treats.

(It’s been so long since I’ve posted regularly that I feel like I have writer’s block, but here we go…)

I think Audrey’s always been entertaining (how could I be a stay-at-home mom otherwise?), but with her rapidly developing speech, this is truer by the day. I’ve spoken to her ever since she was a fetus, but now she can talk back!

In the last few months Audrey’s gone from saying just a few words to talking in full — albeit sometimes nonsensical — sentences. Some of her latest “Audrey-isms”:

I got me two fingers!

Open, please.

Mommy do rock-a-bye.

Audrey have some? Okay. (Audrey used “okay” as her affirmative statement until the last few weeks. Now she’s switched to “yeah.” Note that she answers the question herself before we actually have time to respond.)

I do this one!

And, perhaps the most entertaining of all (said completely at random one morning last week):

Daddy’s got a penis!