Currently Listening God Made You Special By Veggie Tales see related

Catching You Up

Hello.  I am so sorry that I have not been updating this recently.  I have not had much time to write.  I have been traveling almost non stop.  WARNING: This is a LONG entry.  You may need to take a nap sometime while reading it.  Go ahead and nap.  I will.

Another Birthday Party

After I got back to America, my parents decided that I needed another birthday party.  I don’t know why, but I didn’t complain.  I got more presents and had a great time.  My friend Meredith came over (with her dad or someone).  Also, I got to eat CAKE again!  Here is a picture of me with my cake:

Also, my cousins Michael and Andrew came to see me as well.  Their mom and dad (Uncle Kenneth and Aunt Stacy) came with them.  I enjoyed seeing them as well.  Most people I know are a lot bigger than I am, but Andrew is only a little bigger than I am.  He can talk a lot though.  I learned a lot from home.  Here is a picture of me with my Uncle Kenneth: 

Florida

After I was in St. Louis for a very short time, my parents decided that I needed to take a trip to Florida.  I don’t know where Florida is, but it is NOWHERE near St. Louis.  It took us forever to get there.  My parents strapped me down (like a common criminal) into this “special” seat in the van and then drove forever.  I never had to ride in one of these things when I wasn’t in America and I wasn’t a big fan of it at this time either.  Every time I tried to sleep my head would drop and I would wake up.  It wasn’t fun.  We stopped in Macon, Georgia so Daddy could see a friend of his.  They were very nice, but they had a BIG scary dog.  I didn’t trust it at all.  I never took my eyes off of him.  We finally got to Florida the next day.  It sure was HOT there.  I stayed with my cousin Ethan (and his parents Uncle Charles and Aunt Laura).  They have a TON of animals.  I couldn’t hide anywhere without them around somewhere.  Here is a picture of me on one of the horses:

I got used to all the animals and then I had a great time.  It was fun there.  Daddy told me that we will be moving down here.  I think that I will really like seeing all their animals.

Nashville

On the way back from Florida we stopped in Atlanta and I saw my friend Binna.  I met her when I was only 4 weeks old.  We had lunch and had a great time.  After that, we drove to this place called “Nashville”.  While we were there we went out to eat at a restaurant with a group of people.  It was a lot of fun.  I was in a good mood and I let anyone hold me.  Sometimes I don’t want people to hold me and I let them know it.  We took a group picture and it was really funny.  The person trying to take the picture wanted to get my attention for some reason (I was busy looking the other way like I always do for group pictures).  She said “Audrey” and for some reason this made Valerie laugh out loud.  I guess one of the other girls is also named Audrey (isn’t it neat that they let other people use my name).  Here is that picture:

Here is a better picture of the group:

Showing My Colors

After we FINALLY got back from Florida, Mommy and Daddy decided that I needed to go to visit my cousins in Peoria.  For some reason they don’t seem to want to stay in one place for more than a few days.  It must cramp their style.  Anyway, we went up there to visit and I had a great time.  Since we were in Northern Illinois, I had to show that I am a Cardinals fan.  There are a lot of Cubs fans there and I didn’t want anyone to think that I am one of them.  Here is a picture of me in my Albert Pujols jersey:

I LOVE Toys

You know what?  I love toys.  I got to play with a lot of toys at my cousins’ house and it was great.  He has a bunch of books and toys that I had never seen before.  I had a great time with them.  I think that Mommy and Daddy were watching to see what I played with and what I didn’t like.  Sometimes I try and throw them off and play with something for just a little bit.  I have to keep them on their toes.  Anyway, here is a picture of me checking out a few toys:

Feeding myself

For the longest time I didn’t want to feed myself.  I really liked when Mommy or Daddy would put food in my mouth.  You should try it sometime.  Find someone to cut up your food real small and then put it in your mouth for you.  All you have to do is chew.  It was great, but I decided that I wanted to put some of the food in my mouth.  Mommy and Daddy didn’t always know what food I wanted and I figured out that I could decide for myself what to eat.  It was a little difficult at first, but Daddy helped me to figure it out.  I didn’t understand how to release it once I got it in my mouth.  Here I am feeding myself:

The St. Louis Zoo

I went to the St. Louis Zoo a while back.  I don’t really remember much about it, but I do remember it was really, really HOT.  I sweat a lot and saw some stuff.  It wasn’t a whole lot of fun, but I did see some nice people.  They were friends of Mommy and Daddy.  After a while, we went to this freezing place.  I think Daddy said it was Penguins and Puffins or something like that.  It was TOO cold for me.  I did get my picture with Daddy though:

Granddad

My Granddad is a lot of fun.  Sometimes he gets down on the floor and plays with me.  He acts real crazy.  Sometimes he tells me a secret.  Sometimes he likes to put things on my head.  We have a lot of fun together.  He is married to my Mam-maw.  She is a lot of fun too.  They have come to visit me a couple of times and I have even been to their house.  Here is a picture of Granddad reading a book to me:

Goldfish

Have you ever eating a goldfish?  I have.  OK, so it was in cracker form, but it was great!  My Mam-maw got some for me and I love them.  I will eat them any time that someone gets them for me.  I am not quite old enough to get food out for myself, but Mommy and Daddy better watch out when I am.  I watch them closely when they get the food out so that I will know where it is in the future.  Here I am eating a goldfish (no actual animals were harmed in the taking of this picture):

Cardinals Baseball game

I don’t have much to say about this because I wasn’t invited to the game.  Mommy and Daddy went without me and left me with Mam-maw and Granddad.  I don’t think it was very nice, do you?  They left before I went to bed, but came home after I was in bed.  I don’t know what time they got home, but I think they had a good time.  They took a bunch of pictures of the new stadium and here is one (from their seats):

This is my “My parents went to a Cardinals baseball game and all got was this lousy picture” picture!

The Magic House

I went to this great place called “The Magic House”.  It is a neat place here in St. Louis.  They have a bunch of different things for people like me.  My friend Meredith (and Carter) went with me.  I got to play with water and other things.  I read some books, played with some balls and went down a small slide.  The slide was a little scary, but Daddy was there by me the whole time.  I even read a HUGE book:

Star Fish

Also at the magic house, they had things that I could hold and feel.  I felt this really strange thing called a star fish.  I don’t really know what it was, but it felt interesting.  I looked at it for several minutes, but I didn’t exactly figure out what it was supposed to do.  I don’t think Daddy knew either because he didn’t do much with it either.  I think that it was alive before, but I don’t know.  Here I am checking it out:

Going shopping

I have my own shopping cart!  I can push it around our house.  It is a lot of fun.  When I go somewhere with shopping carts I like to ride in them.  This one is not made for riding, but for pushing.  Grandma and Grandpa sent it for me.  I really have Daddy trained though.  I can push it into the wall (or something else that won’t move) and get Daddy to move it around for me.  If he tries not to, I can give him a little “ungh” sound.  That usually works.  I have Daddy wrapped around my little finger already!  Here I am pushing the cart:

Las Vegas Baby

I went to Las Vegas to see my Grandma and Grandpa (and Oskee!).  I had a great time there.  I played a lot.  Las Vegas is HOT too.  For some reason, Mommy and Daddy love to take me to hot places.  I probably could have doubled my baby food at the roulette table, but I didn’t go gambling anywhere.  Grandma and Grandpa had a great time with me.  Here is a picture of me with Grandpa:

Slices Pizza

While we were out west, Mommy and Daddy decided that I should travel some more by automobile.  We rented an SUV and drove to this place called Reno.  It was a pretty boring drive.  Everything that I could see looked about the same.  While we were in this Reno place, we saw Mommy’s best friend, Dawn.  Her family runs a restaurant in Sparks called “Slices”.  I was there a couple of times and I liked it.  Mommy and Daddy really liked the food.  If you are ever in the Reno area, you should go and check it out.  Their website is http://theslicespizza.net.  Here is a picture of me with some other people at the restaurant:

Playing Piano

I got to play the piano in Woodland.  We stayed with Mommy’s college roommate and they have a piano.  She was nice enough to let me play it.  I didn’t want to have my time cut short so I didn’t start off just banging on the keyboard.  Many toddlers do that and they don’t get to play for long.  I pushed one key at a time and then banged the keyboard.  I switched back and forth so that I could play for a long time.  I don’t think they ever figured out my trick.  I got to bang and keep playing.  Here I am playing the piano:

Spoon Fed

I don’t know if you know it or not, but eating with a spoon can be difficult.  When I can just pick up my food in my hand and put it in my mouth, I have no problems at all.  When I have to use a spoon, I can get all messy.  I don’t always like when Mommy or Daddy are trying to spoon feed me so I take over.  I usually end up pretty covered, but I am getting better.  Sometimes I don’t want to feed myself with the spoon so I let Mommy or Daddy do it.  It is a lot of fun being in charge!  Here I am eating my cereal:

Yosemite National Park

I went to this really cool place called Yosemite National Park (or “Soyemite” as my friend Katelyn called it).  It was a lot of fun because it was not HOT and it was outside.  I had a great time there.  There are a lot of tall things there.  Daddy must really like tall things because he took a lot of pictures there.  Here I am with Mommy and Daddy standing in front of some tall thing:

Walking

I finally decided that I wanted to start walking.  Crawling is great, but this walking thing looks like it has advantages as well.  I have noticed that my legs don’t get as dirty when I walk (side note: When my legs are really dirty, Daddy has to scrub real hard to get them clean).  Walking isn’t easy though.  At first I could only take a couple of steps.  Now I can go a long way.  It still is a lot slower than crawling though.  When I want to get somewhere fast, I just crawl.  When I want to get applause, I walk.  People seem to like to clap, so I try and help by giving them a reason.  Here I am walking on some grass in Yosemite:

HOME!!

I am sorry to say that my computer is broken and I can't really update my blog for now.  I hope to update it soon, but who knows.

Audrey

Currently Reading Kisses for Mommy (Board Books) By Emily Sollinger see related

Teething

I just want to state for the record that I don’t like this so called “teething” stuff.  I have spent too long not feeling up to snuff.  I had a cold and then my mouth hurts!  It is not fair.  Daddy just checked today and he didn’t feel any new teeth yet.  If he would have just asked me I could have told him that they weren’t out yet.  Sometimes Mommy or Daddy gives me something cold to chew on.  I don’t always want it, but I do like it sometimes.  Here I am with one of my teething rings:

Circles

Mommy and Daddy always tell me that I pick some strange favorite toys.  I have really enjoyed playing with paper, paper plates and lots of things.  Recently they gave me a paper towel roll to play with.  It is great!  Yesterday Daddy was looking at me through it.  That was hilarious.  Now I have a new toy that I love playing with.  On the floor in my room I have some squares (I think Mommy and Daddy put them there for padding).  These squares have some strange shapes in them (I heard Mommy say they were math shapes I think).  I don’t really care about what they are, but I do know that I found some small circles that I really like.  Every time I am crawling in my room, I go over and get the circles.  I then carry them around everywhere I go.  It isn’t always the easiest to pull myself up while I am holding them, but I can do it.  Here is a picture of me holding my circles:

BIRTHDAY!

Maybe you don’t know it, but I am now ONE year old.  I don’t really know what a year is, but I don’t care.  I got lots of extra attention from a lot of people and that was fun.  I got to hear all my grandparents sing “Happy Birthday” to me.  I really enjoyed that and danced when they sang.  I even got a couple of gifts from Mommy and Daddy.  They bought me two books.  These books are really cool.  They are very soft and there are some pieces that come out of the book.  I think they are called “Soft Shapes” or something like that.  I really enjoy reading them now.  It is a lot of fun!  Here is a picture of me reading one of my new books:

Birthday Party

I had a birthday party on Saturday afternoon.  It was a lot of fun.  I had a lot of friends come to my house.  I had special plates and napkins that said “Happy Birthday”.  I even had a banner on the wall.  My Ko-Ko made something called a “birthday cake”.  If you have never tried eating birthday cake you should.  It is great.  Here is a picture of my cake (with my napkins and plates):

Number One

For some reason Daddy stuck a number one in the middle of my cake and then lit it on fire.  Daddy told me that Mam-maw sent the number one for me.  I don’t know if the cake needed cooked more or what.  Maybe it just needed warmed up because it was only lit for a short time when we blew it out.  Sometimes grownups do strange things.  They don’t make sense to me.  Here is a picture of me and Daddy looking at the number one:

Cake

As I said before, this cake stuff is great!  I don’t know why Mommy and Daddy have been holding out on me.  I have seen them eat cake before, but this was the first time that I ever got to taste it.  Doesn’t seem fair to me, but what do you think?  When Daddy put the cake on my tray, I just looked at it.  It looked interesting, but I wasn’t sure about it.  Here is a picture of me checking it out:

Then Daddy gave me a bite of the cake.  WOW!  It was great.  I have never tasted anything like it before.  Mommy loves reading me a book to called “Kisses for Mommy.”  In this book it says “Kisses for Mommy are sweet as cake.”  I never understood that line before, but now I do.  Kisses for Mommy are really sweet, but I don’t know if they are as sweet as cake.  Here is a picture of me trying my cake:

Playing

I enjoyed playing a little bit with my cake.  I did not make a big mess though.  I never really make much of a mess.  I don’t like putting food in my own mouth.  I make Mommy or Daddy do that.  I did poke my cake and things like that, but that was about it.  Daddy helped me to take food from my hand to my mouth.  Here is a picture of me playing with my cake:

I am special!

Normally when I eat I have my own special plate or bowl that I use.  This weekend I got to use a very special plate to eat.  Daddy told me that it is called “The Red Plate.”  The plate is red and says “You are special today” on it.  I don’t know why I don’t get to use this plate every day, but I don’t.  Anyway, Daddy thinks that this plate is very special.  I think that Mam-maw and Granddad bought this plate for Mommy and Daddy a long time ago (even before I was born).  Here is a picture of me using the red plate: