Sibling Snapshot - Audra 1 year, Xavier 5.5 years

AUDRA:
Audra had her 1 year check up yesterday and Dr. Jen was amazed by her mobility skills.  Dr. Jen was also surprised to get an "uh-oh" when Audra dropped her pacifier.  Xavier was with us and said he was going to throw up when Audra got her shots.  He's so empathetic :)  1 year shots knocked this girl out and have the cutest big girl SNORE!!



Audra's 1 year stats (a few weeks after her actual first birthday are):
Height: 31 inches, 93 percentile
Weight: 22 pounds, 74 percentile
Head Circumference: 18 inches (1/2 inch smaller than Xavier)

Comparing to Xavier at this same age, Audra is the same exact height but 4 pounds lighter.

Favorite Foods:  Pancakes, oranges, Cheerios, peas, meatballs, cheeseburgers, broccoli, grapes
Favorite Toys:  Stuffed animals, anything with big eyes, her dino ball popper (also Xavier's at this age).
Favorite Activities:  Crawling to Jasper and giving him her toys, giving me her food and putting it in my mouth, sitting on a blanket and playing with her toys in the front yard.
Least Favorite Activities:  Being held or having people give her a kiss or hug.  She will swat at you til you get off her.  Getting her face or nose wiped.  Generally, being touched.
Trademark:  When she smiles really big, she gets the cutest dimple on her right cheek!
Signature Moves:  When we get the Puff's container out (now filled with Cheerios) she gets so excited!  Jumps up and down, flaps her hands, gets the biggest smile!  Audra calls everything "doggy".  She loves to grab the sunglasses off our face and throw them on the ground.  If a large object is in her way, she will just move it and push it away (coffee table, the dog's cage)!  She also takes any object that looks like a cell phone and puts it up to her ear, but more behind her head and then babbles.  She likes taking toys and throwing them behind her head (completely unsure why!).  In the morning when she wakes up, playing in her crib with her bumpers and blankets for an hour or more before she tries to call us to let her out.


Audra's personality is very chill (even as Dr. Jen noticed).  She entertains herself and is always in the best mood.  She rarely cries and has had no signs of separation anxiety, so far.  She loves to laugh her big throaty laugh, especially at Xavier's goofy tricks and funny voices.  She loves meeting new people and gives them the biggest smile.  We love how excited she gets about things she loves and can't wait for what the next year brings as she learns (and hilariously messes up) new words!


XAVIER:
We've said it time and time again; Xavier is a natural born leader.  He immediately becomes center of attention for any sized group of people (kids or adults) he is around.  His pre-K teacher, Ms. Maya, tells us he always participates in class and always has stories to share.  He has developed this quirky voice when talking to adults and correcting their wrong pronunciation of his name.  He asks lots of questions, loves celebrating holidays, and likes having family picnics in the front yard.  Like me, he always makes Daddy write notes (immediately) so he won't forget things to get for him.  Last nights note was to "take the shamrock to work".  A few days ago when I kissed Xavier good bye for the morning, he said "while you're here, can you figure out my snack (for pick up from Karli's)?  I don't like fruit snacks."  X is a master at his math skills, is a huge fan of flat chicken nuggets and chocolate chip muffins, and his favorite gum is Extra's Watermelon flavor.  His favorite music is any dance tunes by Britney Spears and Young Blood (5 Seconds of Summer).




At the OSU planetarium.  I was so proud of all the questions Xavier asked at the end, in front of all the people that were there.


Last night, we played with the neighbors and the kids (all older than him) were figuring out what to play.  Xavier said "let's play hide and seek."  the other kids hesitated and said "Uhhhmm...".  Xavier said "You guys hide and I'll count, 1, 2, 3...."  Next thing the others knew, they were on their way to hiding like "what just happened, guess we are hiding now."  It was so awesome to watch.  I need someone like him on my team at work!

Audra's First Birthday

It's official!  Our sweet, baby girl has turned the BIG one!  We celebrated with my family at Chuck E. Cheese near my hometown.  It's the exact same one that I went to during my childhood, which brought back so many memories!  Xavier had a blast playing all the games and both kids really enjoyed watching Chuck E. Cheese come on stage and do his little song and dance show.

We picked a unicorn theme for her party.  Audra loves her unicorn stuffed animals so it was the perfect choice.  We had a bakery in town make her unicorn smash cake.  It was a two-tiered, vanilla cake with vanilla buttercream frosting.  It looked and tasted amazing!!





We used this cake as her smash cake and handed out cupcakes to the guests.  She very carefully got into her smash cake, putting just one finger in the frosting and licking it.  Steve also helped her by putting some on his finger and letting her taste.  She didn't really like it and wanted to spit it out.  Her favorite part was putting her whole hand in the hair that was on the front.  We also did a smash cake birthday photo session for her at J.C. Penney and she reacted pretty much the same way with that cake.  Although we got some amazing cake pictures from that session, she doesn't seem to be a fan of cake!

For the decorations, I put together a collage of her monthly photos we took of her next to her very first stuffed animal that Steve got for her, a pink penguin.  Steve bought it because my favorite animal is penguins.  It's fun to see how much she grew month to month.



I had a design artist make Audra's sign telling everyone a little about what she's been up to.  I thought it would help family members to get a sense of where she's at now since she's been changing so fast.  Things to note - she loves screaming contests with Xavier!  They sit in the back seat and go back and forth, screaming at each other, laughing hard!  She also calls most things "doggy".  She loves the ABC song and always laughs and claps her hands when she hears it.  And when she sees books with pictures of other babies (I am a Baby), she points to the babies and says "doggy". haha!  She's the best!


For the food, we had pizza and pop provided by the restaurant and everyone went nuts over how good their pizza was.  It was stuffed crust and so delicious.  I can't wait to celebrate my birthday there! (wink, wink)  For the favors, Lori had a bakery she knew of make unicorn decorated, almond flavored cookies and gooey, chocolate cake pops.  Both were delicious and everyone went wild for them.  I had some extra cookies to take to work and got so many compliments.













And last but not least, we put on display Audra's time capsule that she will open when she turns 10.  Inside were some examples of today's product packaging, a kids entertainment magazine, menu from a restaurant, and some receipts showing today's prices.

And just this morning, she waved to me.  She's growing up way too fast!!  Happy 1st Birthday, Sweet Audra.  You've brought so much joy into our lives.  We can't wait to see what the future holds for you and love you so much!