Artist in the Making

I know there's a fine line between feeding your kid's natural talents and interests and over-booking and pressuring them in to activities that they may or may not want to do; I hope I can find a good balance, because so far, Audrey has shown such a wide variety of interests in all the arts... music, dancing, drawing, painting, and who knows? Maybe some day photography and sculpting. Who can blame her? It's in here genes! She is surrounded by fine artists and musicians... let's just hope she will be given the right opportunities when it matters, and her gifts will blossom and grow!

Audrey and her Crayons

Sidewalk chalk in the driveway with Aunt KK

Finger painting for Great Grandma Greiner

Drawing on the back porch with Mimmy

The Boob-Tube Controversy

Recently, I've been thinking about all the 'experts' out there with 1,001 opinions on letting your kiddos watch TV. It's been on my mind a lot; Audrey is beginning to show markedly increased interest in kid shows, especially anything including Sesame Street characters. Heck, sometimes she even likes to watch the commercials in between grown-up shows. It begs the question: how much TV is too much, if any?

Before Audrey was born, I got my hands on an article released by the AAP, which claimed it was vital to keep kiddos from watching TV before the age of 2, and that every hour parked in front of the TV could be directly correlated to delays in speech development (also supported by other docs and such from other sources). THEN I read about how no one knows for sure what the impact of watching TV is when it comes to young kids, and that you should be safe and keep them from watching any at all for ever and ever, amen. At the same time, I was bombarded with the supposed genius that is the Baby Einstein line. Hmmm.

Out of frustration, confusion, and ignorance, I vowed to keep the tube off around Audrey at all times, and went forward in to parenthood. Well, that was easier said than done. Once Audrey got past the 12-month mark, she really started showing more interest in the TV. Some say it's because of the bright colors, others say it's the noise and movement... Most say kids this young don't even comprehend what they're seeing, and don't understand that what's on screen represents something. However, soon after Audrey's one year birthday, I started putting on Sesame Street while she ate lunch, basically to see if there would be any impact at all. Let's just say she noticed.

From the moment Elmo popped up on the screen, she was riveted, and still is to this day. However, something interesting happened. She immediately picked up on his name, his color, and frequently, even what he's doing. She then picked up on most of the other main characters (the puppets, anyway), and very quickly could pick them out of her Sesame Street pop-up book along with the sounds they make (like, 'Count, ah-ah-ah'). Then one day when she was about 14 months, I noticed she was repeating letters that the characters were repeating (her first being the letter 'X'). It got me thinking...

After hitting the books and parenting websites a second time (now with a new point of view), I was able to find less extreme sources and studies, and it seems like the following are proving to be true, at least for us:

1. Letting your kiddo watch TV only stunts his/her vocabulary if you're letting them watch TV in place of interacting with them. Watching with them, repeating letters and colors, describing what you're seeing, and validating what they say about said show, all makes a big difference (vs. just parking them and walking away).

2. TV used as a babysitter all day is bad for your kid's well-being and development, but a quality show here and there as part of a well-rounded day can be a fresh perspective on what you've been teaching them.

3. As with everything, you have to take expert advice about TV-watching with a grain of salt, because every kid and every family is different.

That being said, Audrey now watches an episode of Sesame Street every day while she eats lunch, and she really gets a kick out of it. It helps her eat slower, and it helps her wind down before nap time. If I were told a while back that this would be part of her regular routine at 18 months old, I would have laughed in your face. Now, as I am so much wiser, I realize yet again- you can't judge until you're there, and even then, everyone's different; the only one that can make the right decision for your family is you.

Audrey watching "Mr. Noodle" on Sesame Street right after lunch

Little Miss Personality

For those who have been around kids all their lives, child development probably comes with a measure of wonder accompanied by a level of expectation. I, however, have spent the majority of my life around people at least my age if not older, and had zero expectations entering in to parenthood. In fact, I had no idea what to expect. To some degree, this has made things a bit difficult, as every normal little hiccup, heartache, and hardship has sent me fleeing to the phone, bookshelf, internet, or emergency room. However, it has also made every little milestone seem amazingly significant and extraordinary.

Audrey seems to develop on two planes: she has her normal pace of growth and development, and at the same time she seems to turn pages in the span of a week with her little personality. It's subtle and at the same time very abrupt. One day, you just realize, 'Wow, she has become so interactive, and she understands what I'm saying!' Or, 'She just made that game up!' Or, 'She is so funny, and she knows it!' Even, 'She looks so much like a kid today!'

This weekend, one of our bistro-style kitchen chairs finally gave in and came apart. Kyle took the chair part off the leg part and was assessing the extent of the structural failure when Audrey noticed the change in her little world. All of the sudden, one of the tall tall chairs Mommy and Daddy sit in was accessible! So what does she do?

All on her own, she grabs a book, walks over to the sized-down chair, and makes herself comfortable.

THEN she starts 'reading' it out loud...

...and even pauses to tell me about it!

Whatever the story was that she was telling, it was quite amusing.

She probably sat on this half-chair for ten minutes or more, just enjoying the fact that she could sit on this half-chair.

Kyle and I watched her with amazement- where did our baby go? Where did this little kitchen gnome come from, with her book and her knowledge about how to sit in this grown-up chair properly, reading a book right-side-up? What will she be doing next weekend? I know we will never stop being amazed by her, and I hope she never stops being amazed by her world.

Potager Building

In February, I got a wild hair up my toe and decided I wanted- nay, needed- a backyard kitchen garden. As the cold rain fell and the blustery wind blew, I jumped online and spent a week researching opinions, history, style and design, developing a plan for what I wanted. In the end, I decided what I really needed to build was a potager garden. I turned my researching energy to the potager, and made short work of a final design (after several rejected sketches). The next step: ordering topsoil to replace the rock-like clay in my backyard. Little did I know, this would be the biggest hangup in the project. I ordered the dirt (7 yards) in mid-February, and it was delivered on April 3rd. Awesome. I sat around, twiddling my thumbs through the weeks that should have been spent planting...

Once the dirt was delivered, it was time to start working! I had debated whether or not to do wood walls around the raised beds, but I ended up deciding on stone. It was, after all, all over the front yard, and thus free. In hind sight, I am glad I did stone, but man was it a lot of work!

Step one: choosing the garden sight... well drained, lots of sun... check.

Step two: marking off the area... 11x11' for 4 raised beds, 4x4' each, with about a 2' path (and room for the stone walls).

The next step was chiseling off the grass and clay topsoil layer in the garden space. This step kicked my butt, took me three days, and didn't leave me in a photo-takin' mood, so use your imagination :)

Once the grass and topsoil was outta there, on to the next step: the first layer of stone for the walls.

I filled the squares with the new topsoil/sand mixture after each layer of wall was laid, so the stones would be supported and stay put!

Finally, all 4 squares have a layer of stone... the hardest part was keeping them square and level.

Filled in and ready for stone layer #2

Completing the stone walls

The back two squares were lower (due to the slope of the yard), and I had to start doubling the second layer of stones to keep the walls level.

One more square to go!

Finally ready for planting! Walls completed- check! Squares filled- check! Compost added- check! Paths graveled- check! Plants and seeds ready- CHECK!

Finally, the work and sweat produces results: clay and weeds turned in to a potager garden!

It took almost a month from start to finish, but we now have 4 raised beds in the backyard, built, worked, and planted by yours truly! Our potential garden (and surrounding area) will hopefully yield the following in a few more months:

Pumpkins

Zucchini

Yellow Squash

Sugarbaby Watermelons

Celebrity Tomatoes

Eggplant

Jalapeño Peppers

Bush Beans

Spinach

Radishes

Carrots

Beets

Parsley

Basil

Chives

Chamomile

Strawberries

Dill

Sweet Yellow Onions

Whew!

The 20-Pound Milestone

Today was another scheduled weigh-in at the pediatrician's office. I was prepping Audrey all week, telling her to eat up, and think heavy thoughts! One day shy of her 18-month birthday, Audrey walked herself in to the doc's office, sat on the scale, and passed the 20 pound mark! Passed? Yes! Passed... well, by .2 of an ounce, but still! Finally!

With a sigh of relief, we chatted with the doc, and she told us that Audrey, although still in the 3rd percentile, no longer needs weigh-ins, because she's in the clear with her growth and development. She's out of the danger zone for growth/development disorders, and we can contribute her small size 100% to genes. She's just going to be a petite girl, and that's OK with us! We have also been informed that, despite her peers passing her up in the teething department, she's well within the normal dental spectrum, too. Clearly she can make those 6 pearly whites work, as she is gaining weight like she should!

So, we are off the every-2-months weigh-in visits and back to the once-a-year well-baby exams, and in the clear to relax and do what we do! Whew! ...now what will I worry about?

Cleburne Park

This past weekend, we took Audrey to the Cleburne park for some fresh air before bedtime. She got to see ducks and geese up close and personal and, after some exploring, we wrapped up the visit with the swings.

Daddy and Gramps walk down to the river

"Duck, wak wak wak wak."

Checking out the ducks and geese

"Oooo, pretty!"

On to the swings, and excitement!

"Wwwwwwwwwwwweee!"

What is Audrey staring at?

It's Dada! Push!

Walking back to the car

Hanging on for dear life

Headed home and to bed!

Easter 2010

I can't believe it's already April, and even more unbelievable is the fact that Easter has already come and gone. This year, as with others, we went down to Cleburne to attend church with Kyle's family and partake of Easter supper at Nanny's. The weather looked iffy, but held out, and we had a great Sunday with our loved ones.

Easter morning: Audrey awakes in her Christmas pajamas (ironic?)

While waiting for Daddy to put on his shoes, Audrey jumps the gun and starts collecting Easter eggs

"Oooooooooo, egt!"

Rolly-polly eggs under the couch

Audrey clings to one of her Easter egg prizes on the ride down to Cleburne

Easter basket and bunny from Grammy and Gramps

Making faces

The Easter outfit

Smelling Nanny's Easter tulips

Bubbles outside with Gramps, Grammy, and Jake

When we got home from the Easter activities, we had our official egg hunt in the living room, wherein Audrey found all 12 eggs almost all by herself, and munched on the prizes inside (vanilla goldfish crackers) till bath time. What a happy Easter!