Sugar and spice completely describes our Audrey. She still wakes up like she did as a baby, with sweet, sleepy cuddles and a sing-song voice. She loves to sit in Matt’s or my lap, and can be very giving with hugs and kisses (when it is her idea). But she has plenty of spice. She knows how to push Jack’s buttons, and in general likes to give the men in our house plenty of sass. 

Things that I love about Audrey at three years old:

She and I usually go just the two of us to the grocery store on the weekend. She grabs her purse (and usually a baby) and is so happy to go. I really love this one on one time with her. She has so many interesting things to say, and she is actually really helpful. I hope this will be something we do for awhile. And one of the best parts? On the drive home she never fails to tell me how much fun she had. It is the complete essence of Audrey – She makes everyday activities so much sweeter for me.

I took her for her first haircut at my salon last month. She loved it and has been playing hair salon since then. Matt and I jokingly fight over who gets to go first, because it is so nice to have a quiet “game” with your only responsibility to sit and have your head rubbed. Ha!

She loves to sing, and is (like most little girls her age) pretty theatrical about it. Lots of dancing too.

She and Jack have lots of pretend play, and I love overhearing their little imaginations at work.

She also doles out plenty of spontaneous “I love you” to her brothers.

Eat, Sleep, Stats

Audrey is an easy kid to feed. She eats almost everything but she is a little pokey and prefers to eat a bit, get up and do something else, and then come back to it. She has been this way since birth. 😉 She’s a good sleeper too, and is in a toddler bed now. She typically goes to bed around 8pm and sings to herself and flops around for awhile before actually falling asleep and then stays asleep until at least 7. She still takes a good nap most days too. She potty-trained right at 2 and a half years old. And because it was something she wanted to do, she mostly had it down in two focused days at home. If it is her idea, or something she wants to do this little girl can do anything. (Bribery of toenail paining also helps!) And after months of waking up dry, we finally ditched the pull-up at night.

As for stats her three year appointment isn’t until next week, but she is mostly in 4t clothing and is long and lean.

Clearly, I could go on and on about the sweet little girl in our family. We all adore her so much! Happy birthday, dear Audrey! My life is so much sweeter with you!

Well I had a nice post typed up about Jack in June but didn’t get a chance to comb through some pictures to include. Here we are a month and a half later with some visuals to go with the words.

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This sweet boy is 4 and a half this week! Sweet is certainly one of the best words to describe him, especially when he greets you with a ginormous grin and big hug. I’ve got to say that his smile is one of my favorite things in the world.

He is still very much into cars and trucks, but is more inventive in his play creating stories for all of the car action. He can spend a long time coloring or building with his Leggos. Jack is still very much a book aficionado requesting books all times of day. Despite some nice quiet play, he is a rowdy, rough, and tumble little boy constantly running and moving. He loves daytime soccer and gym bus, and recently played in his first soccer league. It was really cute to watch – He always wanted to be part of the action. Jack also got his first real bike this spring! He has ridden a Strider Bike for awhile (no pedals) and is pretty fast. We took the plunge to go to pedals without training wheels. Matt has done all of the following and steadying, and Jack has picked it up much quicker than I would have even thought! He can tool all around the neighborhood now (as long as Matt helps him start).

He is really becoming  a great helper. He wanted to help encourage Audrey for potty training a few months ago and was ready to read to her while we all patiently waited and also wanted to share in any potty training rewards. Ha! Although he has played with Audrey for awhile, he seems to see her as much more of a peer lately. Their conversations are hilarious, they band together for more negotiation power, and (of course!) they fight negotiate often with each other. They were fighting for room in my lap last night with songs, and I asked if they were going to fight with the baby like that. He smiled very sweetly and gave an honest “probably.”

This guy is (finally) a really good sleeper. He only naps half of the time, but sleeps pretty solid at night. Even if he is up before 7, he usually reads in bed before coming to get us. And he is still an adventurous eater, at least trying everything. More than that, he is appreciative. With Matt traveling a lot, I have implemented at least one “breakfast for dinner” night of egg & avocado toast and spinach cakes. The first time we had it for dinner he told me three times how much he loved the whole dinner, taking away any guilt for serving a very simple super. He usually comments on how much he enjoys “all of it” about dinner. He has had a wonderful example of an appreciative, hungry man from his daddy. 🙂

His stats for good measure:  45.5 inches tall, and 45.5 pounds of fun little boy!