Madison Excursion

Our little family drove up to Madison, Wis., to check out the huge farmer's market at the Capitol building and the free local zoo. We had a blast!

The farmer's market was awesome, but crowded. Audrey and I took a break in the shade on the lawn of the Capitol building, eating some fresh vanilla almond scones we just purchased.

Madison has a wonderful free zoo. It was nothing huge, but we were pleasantly surprised. All the animals were out and about and visible. Here, Audrey's taking in the penguins.

Audrey's first carousel ride. She grinned from ear to ear the whole time. I wish I had the camera with me on the carousel.

Kisses for Daddy in the hotel pool.

Fun with Kleenex in the hotel room.

Hanging With Our Friends

Audrey and I had a few friends over today for a visit. All the kids, at their various ages, got along really well. Thanks to Janel and Carla for bringing food--that was so nice!

Audrey helped me get the pools ready for our visitors.

2-year-old Noah playing with Little People

19-month-old Teya and Audrey.

4-month old Nate

14 Months

It's a frequent post kind of week. I guess we just have a lot to share and the time to share it.

Audrey is 14 months old today and really making the transition from baby to toddler. I could write a chapter on the new things Audrey has been saying and doing, but I'll just hit the main highlights today.

She's still too young to get what a princess is, but she is showing signs of liking to dress up. She's become interested in wearing headbands and hats, necklaces, bracelets and purses. The other day I caught her walking around with one of my flip-flops slung up her arm like a shoulder bag. Sometimes I have to wonder what her Grandmas are teaching her...

Audrey talks a lot and is just limited by the consonant and vowel sounds she can make. That will come eventually. In the meantime, I'm learning all the variations that sounds like "buh" and "bah" can have. In our little world, "bah" can mean baby, bottle, bye, ball, belly button, etc. And Audrey is rapidly expanding her repertoire of animal sounds, which include snake, lion, dog, duck, monkey, chicken and cow.

On the same token, Audrey's comprehension of what we are telling or asking her grows by leaps and bounds. I'm often surprised at the things she understands and the requests from me that she responds to.

Other fun things:
--Grandma Patti taught Audrey how to blow kisses.
--Grandma Wetzel taught Audrey how to do the itsy-bitsy spider part with her hands.
--She loves throwing and chasing after any kind of ball.
--She can point out nose, eye and belly button on herself and others.

She is such a joy and a blessing!

Target Clearance Rack

The tutu and leg warmers were too cute (and cheap) to pass up today.

Kane County Flea Market

We spent the better part of the day at the Kane County Flea Market today with Audrey's grandmas and Grandpa W. We didn't buy much, but had a good time walking around checking out all the stalls. Mike did find some cheap sunglasses and plenty of yummy fair food. Audrey spent most of the time walking around with us and took a long nap in the afternoon.


Check out this awesome dog and his sunglasses!


Lunchtime! Audrey enjoyed her pickle the most.


Audrey spent more time pushing her stroller than sitting in it!

More Walking Videos

It took Audrey 2 months from her first wobbly steps to now, where she prefers walking to crawling. So the Wetzel household has been very excited to see our daughter exploring the house. Enjoy the videos!





Audrey really loves her ball.

Taking Steps

Randall Oaks Zoo Again

Hello sheep.

Audrey and I stopped by the Randall Oaks Zoo this afternoon. We've been there once before in the spring. Even though it was hot, we had a great time checking out all the animals. It was fun to see Audrey make the connection from the animals we show her in her books and the real life animals in front of her.


Checking out the huge pig.


Audrey preferred to push the stroller herself.

Feeling more confident in her walking skills.

More interested in the other kids at the zoo than the ducks.

Walking on Sunshine

As promised, here are a couple videos of Audrey walking.




Besides walking, Audrey is picking up new things left and right. For instance, I have rhinitis of pregnancy, which basically means being pregnant makes me congested. So, I have been blowing my nose a lot. This has not gone unnoticed by Audrey.


What else is going on? Hair!

It's growing. Another year and we may be ready for a barette.

15 Weeks

Hard to believe, but I am 15 weeks along now, although I feel like I look like I'm further along than that! I had my monthly dr. appt. today, and so far so good. The baby's heartbeat was strong, my blood pressure and weight gain are good and in four weeks we'll have our first ultrasound--woohoo! Assuming the baby cooperates, we'll find out if Audrey is going to have a little bro or sis.

My doctor also brought up the possibility of inducing me 10 days or so early after he learned that I broke my tailbone delivering Audrey. I'm not so concerned about breaking my tailbone again (although I would prefer not to!), but I would like to avoid three hours of pushing only to have an emergency C-section, which I was 15 minutes away from with Audrey. Thanks to a smart nurse and some awesome bottom of the ninth coaching from Mike, we were able to avoid the operating room :-)

We have several weeks and months to consider that decision, however. In the meantime, I'll be thinking about getting started on the nursery!

And because it doesn't feel right to have a post without a picture, here's Audrey enjoying a couple of books while relaxing in her armchair. It kind of looks like she's reading to her dolls and stuffed animals.

Headband!

Audrey saw that I was wearing a headband today, so for once, she was happy to wear a headband too. And it stayed on her head for the whole day! Normally she rips them off before I can even finish putting 'em on.


Also, Audrey is a WALKER now! She still prefers crawling to walking, but she is becoming more confident and walking more every day. I no longer have to coax her to let go of my hands, and she doesn't cry when she falls. She is starting to explore on her own while walking, although she still loses her balance before she can get very far. I've been trying to get it on video, but I haven't been on top of this milestone like I have with some of the others. Hopefully I will have something to post in the next couple of days.

Tea and Gardens

Today Audrey and I met my mom, sister, grandmother and aunt at the Anderson Japanese Gardens in Rockford and then had lunch at Crumpets, a tea house in Genoa. For the most part, we try to keep Audrey to a routine--morning nap, lunch at 11:30, fun for a few hours, then afternoon nap. But some days don't fit into that routine, and that's good for Audrey, too. But I have to admit that I start these days with a little nervousness about how she will handle it. So far she has always dealt with the change in routine without any trouble, and today was no exception. No morning nap, lunch an hour and a half later than normal, and she handled it like a champ. I was so proud!

At 14 weeks, I'm already sporting a pretty obvious baby bump. Audrey loved seeing the fish swimming in the koi ponds. I think she wanted to jump into the pond with them.

Happy eating a pumpkin muffin at the end of a long lunch.