Practice Walking

Audrey shows us each day how much she is growing up!  A couple of weeks ago, she discovered she could walk behind the laundry basket if she pushed it around.  It was a little unsteady to do it with an empty basket, so we put Mila inside it to give it some weight.  She cooperated for a little while. :)  We also bought Audrey an early birthday present, which is a dinosaur that rolls when she holds on and pushes it.  Today when I picked her up from daycare, she was pushing a shopping cart on the sidewalk.  What a big girl!  She has even shown us that she can stand for a little while without holding onto something.  Walking will be here before we know it!

The next day Audrey offered to let Mila push her around, but Mila was not interested.

Great Great-Aunt Dorothy

Audrey with Great, Great-Aunt Dorothy and Grandma Ihde

Two weekends ago, Audrey traveled up to Madison again. She visited Aunt Kirstin's new apartment and enjoyed meeting her great, great-aunt Dorothy for the first time. It was a wonderful weekend spent together, and as usual, Audrey was a trooper through the car ride and some shopping.

Check out Audrey's smile with her mom and aunts!  Can you tell I was tickling her?

Wedding

Last weekend Audrey enjoyed a beautiful day in Dyersville as she helped celebrate her cousin Mitch's wedding to Katie. She did so well during the ceremony, loved munching on the food at the reception, and bounced along to the music when the dance started. She fell asleep immediately during the car ride home and stayed asleep through the transfer. These big parties can wear a baby out!  I forgot my camera, so the first two were with my cell phone, and the others were from Aunt Jade.  Thanks, Jade!

What a beautiful babe!

Family Picture



Audrey with Aunt Jade



Audrey with Grandpa Paulsen

Congrats, Mitch and Katie!



Riding in Style

Audrey had fun this summer going on bike rides.  We bought a used bike stroller from one of Jeremy's co-workers, and it was in great shape!  Audrey would be armed with a drink, and she was ready for the ride.  She loved to make noise throughout, just so that we would remember she was in there.  She usually ended the ride with flecks of dirt on her face!  We look forward to more bike rides next summer!

Nine Months

As always, the eighth month flew by, and suddenly, Audrey was turning nine months!  This month brought full crawling, another tooth up top, lots of fun experiences with food, more pulling up and walking around furniture, and most importantly, waving.  Audrey could wave before, but this month, her wave was truly perfected.  She now waves to EVERYONE.  When we are out on a walk and a car drives by, Audrey puts her arm up and waves until the car has passed completely.  Audrey's love for music really came out this month, too, as she loves to dance when music is on.  Right now she just bounces up and down, but it's adorable.  She's got pretty good rhythm!

Audrey's nine-month check-up went wonderfully!  She needed no shots at this one, so she was happy.  She weighs 21 lb, 2 oz, which puts her in the 85th percentile.  She was 29 inches tall, which is the 95th percentile.  We know we are blessed to have such a happy, healthy little girl.