All About Audrey

Last weekend, Audrey and I went to Chicago with my mom to visit my future sister-in-law (Laurenn) and her mother (Laura).  While we were there, we found her flower girl dress for Uncle Brian and Laurenn's wedding and did some shopping.  The dress we settled on meets Laurenn's requirements (thicker straps and a big bow on the back) as well as Audrey's (it twirls well). The highlight of the trip for her was when Laura went into her storage room and got out an old McDonald's drive through play set from when Laurenn and her brother were kids.  Audrey thought it was the coolest thing, and I am pretty sure she would have played with it for hours if we'd let her. 

It was a very busy weekend, but Audrey was an awesome trooper.  With more than 10 hours of driving in one weekend, she didn't complain about being in the car and only asked a couple of times how much longer we had to go to our next destination.  Both Friday and Saturday, we were sitting down to order dinner at her normal bed time, but she didn't complain.  She waited patiently and didn't have any melt-downs.  The closest she came to a melt-down was actually Sunday morning when she first got up, but she quickly collected herself and pulled it together. 

On that note, I want to say that Audrey is adapting to school better and better each week.  She started a check-in system where her teacher fills out a sheet after every subject, and at the end of the day, if she meets a certain percentage of smiley faces, she gets to spend time with her fifth grade buddy.  She has really enjoyed that and gets so excited when she gets all smileys.  She has gotten to a point where she seems a little disappointed if she gets any frowny faces, but we try to encourage her either way.

At home, we designed our own little incentive plan to help her stay on track too.  We created a mountain out of cardboard, paper and cotton balls and printed a picture of Elsa from Frozen.  When Audrey listens the first time, Elsa moves up the mountain, and if she doesn't, Elsa moves back down.  When Elsa gets to the top of the mountain (5 steps), Audrey gets to choose a reward.  They are small things, like a piece of parade candy or playing a game on the kindle, but it works.  She does an awesome job of getting herself ready in the morning and cleaning up after dinner now, because she knows that will get her "Elsa steps," as she calls them.  I am excited that it is working, and I hope these good behaviors become habits to a point that Elsa and her mountain become a play-toy instead of an incentive chart. 

As far as actual schoolwork goes, Audrey is doing awesome.  Every day, she is learning new sight words and showings us new words and sentences she can write.  Just tonight, she saw the word "lake" on my shirt and told me it only had one letter different from the word "like."  So, we sounded it out with the "a" and she learned a new word.  She also loves going to the library and checking out books.  As much as she loves books, I have a feeling she'll be reading in no time.  It is so strange to think of her being able to read; Billy and I are going to have to find code words instead of spelling something out when we don't want her to know what we're talking about!

Audrey also likes her music class a lot too, and is learning tons of new songs that she likes to sing for us.  She also likes art and tries to make it at home all of the time using all of the markers, scissors, tape and glue you would expect a 5-year-old to use.  Audrey is learning more and more numbers as well, and can do some simple addition, but it is clear that math is not her favorite subject.  She would rather write letters and try to spell new words than write numbers and try to count things. 

Outside of school, Audrey is still the same Audrey.  She loves her brother, and she loves to "help" him.  She will often tell him what he should and shouldn't do, and he doesn't really listen.  One morning in the car, she was lecturing him about good behavior and how if he makes good choices then he will get rewards, but if he makes poor choices he will have to go to bed early.  I had to step-in and remind Audrey that she is not his parent, and that she should leave the lectures to me.  We try to teach her that she can help him the most by setting a good example and making good choices herself.  I was really glad she sits behind me in the car, because I didn't have to worry about her seeing me smile. 

Audrey still loves to sing and perform.  She especially likes to make up her own songs.  When we were driving in the car last weekend, she sang many random made-up songs, including one about fuzz from her socks getting stuck in her toes.  She also says a lot of hilarious things, and I wish I could remember all of them.  I always laugh in the moment and try to repeat what she said so I'll remember it, but I inevitably forget.  Anyone that remembers some of her one-liners, feel free to comment and share!