Babymoon

Well I'm on the Metrolink back downtown, so is there a better time for a blog post?  I think not!  Leslie had another work trip to DC with meetings on Friday and Monday, so it gave us the opportunity for a mini vacation before baby boy comes.  We had a great time and it was nice to be on no schedule and view some of the city's sites (Smithsonian, Air Space Museum, Natural History Museum, and Holocaust Museum).  I think the trip helped us refocus on each other and raising our family.  It was a nice break.

The Toddler Perspective

As Audrey gets older, she is starting to interpret the world around her. While we were on our trip to Florida, there were several moments where Audrey made us all laugh with her thoughts and actions. I had to share them here, because they are too cute to keep to ourselves.

-Audrey fell down outside of the church on Sunday, scraping her left hand on some rocks. We went to the bathroom, cleaned them off, and put a bandaid where the skin was broken. Throughout the church service, she held her left hand palm up so as not to disturb her boo-boo. At lunch, she continued to baby her left hand, refusing to use it to pick up food, her cup, or her utensils. After a nap, we decided to take her swimming, and she asked to take the bandaid off. She swam in the pool, bandaid free using her hand like normal. When we came back up to the house to dry off, we put the bandaid back on. Immediately, she stopped using her left hand again. Evidently, it wasn’t the boo-boo she was worried about, but instead she was trying not to mess up her bandaid.

-When we were on the plane home, the flight attendant announced that we were beginning our descent into St. Louis. Audrey got very excited and started repeating, “We’re going to St. Louis. I want to go to St. Louis.” We smiled at her enthusiasm, because we expected her to be reluctant to come home. Once we got our bags at the airport, we headed for Metrolink. At that point, Billy and I expressed our excitement that we were almost home, to which Audrey responded, “I want to go to St. Louis.” Naturally, we told her that yes, we were in St. Louis. Once we got off the train, we started the four block walk home. As soon as Audrey saw our building, she started crying, “I don’t want to go home, I want to go to St. Louis.” That is when it dawned on us that she was not connecting that St. Louis is where our home is. We tried explaining that, but she continued to whine the rest of the way up to our unit and even after we entered the door.

-Audrey recently discovered her sense of smell. Now she smells everything. Throughout our trip, she would blurt out anything she smelled. "I smell ketsup." "I smell cheese." "I smell sand." On the plane ride to Florida, we were sitting a row behind an infant. He filled his diaper right before take-off, but could not be changed until after we were in the air. For the ensuing 15 minutes, Audrey continually blamed her daddy for the smell.

Beach or Bust

This past weekend we ventured to Destin, Florida to visit my grandparents and spend some time on the beach. Traveling with an almost 3-year old went more smoothly than I expected, and she had a great time. The weather wasn’t ideal most of the time we were there, but we still made the best of it. There was a heated pool that Billy and Audrey swam in daily, and even though the ocean water was cold, walking on the beach is always a good time. Audrey would run up to the waves and then rush away once they got close to her toes. She was also fascinated by the birds, but they always flew away when she tried to get close. Billy liked showing Audrey how to make sand castles, and Audrey liked destroying them. We also found some seashells, slid down a sand cliff and buried our feet in the sand.

The most peculiar activity Audrey picked up on was her Sand Babies. She would pick up a handful of sand, hold it out, and pat it. Then, she’d rock it and sing to it like it was a baby…a Sand Baby. After watching her slide down the sand cliff, I am pretty sure she was the real sand baby.

Fashionista

Audrey is a budding fashionista. I have no idea where she gets it, but alas, she has become quite particular about her wardrobe. Because we knew that jeans were not her favorite, we typically sent them to school as a backup in case she had an accident. However, Audrey was refusing to wear them. When she came home from school one windy and cold day in a skirt and no tights or leggings, we realized that we had to change that practice. She prefers to wear dresses, skirts, tights and leggings and refuses to wear jeans unless she has on her hockey jersey.

While Audrey's attentiveness to her own wardrobe has been apparent for some time, she just recently started noticing other peoples’ clothing. For instance, each morning I put on a scarf with my coat, and she is always commenting on which ones she likes, whether they are soft or long, etc. Last night on TV, there was a man wearing a scarf. Audrey saw him, and turned to me to say, “That man is wearing a scarf. Scarves are for mommies; boys don’t wear scarves.” I assume she came to this conclusion because her dad never wears scarves; I had to explain to her that just because her daddy doesn’t wear a scarf doesn’t mean that no men wear scarves. It is just amazing what she picks up on and the conclusions that she draws about the world based on her limited experiences.

Please have Patience

Those of you that know me well will probably not be surprised by the following statement. Patience is not a strength of mine. I attended a leadership training session at work on Wednesday where we focused on our strengths and identifying the strengths of those around us. It was clear to me during that session that patience is not one of my strengths.

The next morning, I was taking Audrey to school, already running late, got on the elevator, and the swipe card that I need to get up and down the elevators was not in my purse. I knew immediately that Billy had used it the previous day to walk the dogs and had not put it back. I lost my patience.

On the way to school, and person pulled out in front of me and then slowed down to almost a stop. I lost my patience. As I was sitting there staring at the tail lights, I was struck by the poor example I was setting for Audrey. Every day, we strive to teach her patience. We try to teach her to take turns, not chew with her mouth full, and wait patiently for us to cook dinner when she's hungry. Yet, when I am tested with similar little things, I fail to practice patience. How can I truly teach my child patience if I cannot practice what I preach?

Since then, I have been pondering that question and praying for guidance. The good news is that God listens. While driving to pick Audrey up yesterday evening, I was listening to the Christian station on the radio, and the DJ was talking about how Moses doubted his ability to do what God said he would, but he had to come to realize that God can do anything. That is when it struck me...it is not my role as a parent to teach my children to be perfect. Why should I think they will be perfect when no person can be? Instead, God has entrusted me with these children so I can teach them about God's love and help them find their own paths in God's plan. It is he who will bless them with gifts of the spirit, and when needed, he'll nurture those gifts through me. When Audrey was first born, I reminded myself of that often, but that had somehow started to slip from my focus. I thank God for his gentle reminder. I will still pray for patience, but I will also pray that my children will grow to be the people God wants them to be, whether or not that is the same as what I think they should be.