It's been a while

Since my last post the monkey child and I have been back to Pittsburgh to visit with my parents. The flights there were a dream (being upgraded to first class MAY have had something to do with it) but the way back was pretty much awful. I've flown with Audrey on my own (on my lap) over a dozen times and I'm glad to say that will never, ever happen again.

We had a great visit! She picked up right where we left off with Nana and Bapi. After a few minutes to warm up to being in a strange environment it was like they were old friends. Her cousins came over to play for a while and a good time was had by all.

We went to Idle Wild Park with my sister, her kids and my cousin & her kids. I wish there were words to describe how much fun she had. Seriously, I've never seen this kid so happy! She'd walk along all by herself taking in the sights and sounds. I doubt it made a difference to her whether or not anyone else was there - she was totally happy just cruising along. She surprised the heck out of me and went on a few rides. I figured I'd have to tear her off of me to get her to do anything but as usual, she threw me for a loop and had a blast. I can't believe how big she's getting. She's such an amazing kid.

And she's totally weaned. SO bittersweet. I was hoping she'd hang in through our trip to Pittsburgh and she did. She was so excited to see her daddy when we got home and he missed the heck out of her. Daddy did bedtime so that meant no nursing. She apparently didn't even ask for me :-P I did something crazy to my back the next day which prevented me from going up the stairs. So that was 2 more nights of Daddy bedtime. The 4th night I was back in the game and she just conked out all by herself. If we're out and about and she sees someone nursing she'll turn to me and stare pointedly at my boobs and ask for milk but isn't at all fazed when I hand her a water cup. I really couldn't have asked for an easier transition. I'm so, so proud of her. I wish I could articulate my feelings better.

Today was another one of those perfect days. She slept in until 8:30 this morning (?!?!?!?). Well, there was a brief stint of crying/screaming at 5:00 but she went back down without too much fuss. We met a couple of friends at the Museum but Audrey really wanted to do her own thing. She was glorious and enjoyed every single minute of everything we did. We colored, did the slide, carried around a fake chicken breast, etc. The singing, the stories, etc - she just had so much FUN. We went to W.F. after to get some lunch and I heard her softly singing "eyes, mouth, head" - a slightly out of order version of "Head, Shoulders, Knees & Toes". I love that she sings all the time. It makes my heart burst out of my chest.

We had a nice little lunch then headed home for a 3 hour nap. I'm not ashamed to say that I slept almost as long as she did :-) We both woke feeling great and had a blast singing and dancing. Audrey's latest obsession: the potty. I'm really not pushing the whole "big girl" thing at all but it cracks me up when she asks to sit on the potty, pretends to go then wipes/flushes and flings her arms in the air shouting "Big girl!" I need to get it on video. She would gladly go to the potty 100,000 times a day. Not that she's ever actually USED to the potty but I don't mind encouraging her to test it out.

Pregnancy is going well. I think we may have settled on a name but I'm not fully committed yet. I have a midwife appointment on Friday with my former doula's favorite - I'm looking forward to that.