My Bubble (s)

Halloween 2009

2009-11-03T19:49:00.000-08:00

I am so far behind in posing anything, we have had birthdays and first days of school etc.

But here is a quick pic of the girls anxiously awaiting to go get some candy!!!!

L'enfant terrible. OK...not really.

2009-09-14T08:31:00.000-07:00

We didn't really have any terrible 2s or 3s with Aubrey. I really can't imagine we'll have any in her 4s or 5s. If we have a complaint it's typically more that she doesn't listen very well. Or that she was a little too rough with Charlotte as they play together. No big deal.

It's mainly during meals that we're fighting Charlotte right now (though Tracy gets more during the day). She just won't eat and thinks its funny.

This morning I set some oatmeal down in front of her, she smiled, shook her head and said, "No...I'm not going to eat that". Perfect little sentence. And I made the mistake of smiling - impressed with her future simple verb tense.

Luckily she likes oatmeal, so the moment I walked away she started eating it. I guess hoping to eat as much as possible before I got back; when she'd have to act uninterested again.

-----

Over the weekend we spent a lot of time in the rain (rained all weekend). Backyard, front yard. Stomping puddles. I love that my girls like the rain as much as I do.

Tried to watch football sunday. Aubrey's response, "Are there any girls in this??". Um...no. "I want to watch something else." Tennis is OK. Girls play that. Track and field is OK. Girls do that. Football? Nope. No interest.

More happy tears.

2009-09-09T08:12:00.001-07:00

Since today is Aubrey's first day of school...and her first real day apart from Tracy (which means Tracy hasn't slept in a week), I thought I'd share a quick story.

Aubrey has before talked about "happy tears". We've caught her teary eyed watching Cinderella when everything ends well. She's always going to be an emotional wreck, I guess. Too much drama for such a sweet little YOUNG girl.

So the other day at dinner Tracy and I were talking about how girls will always admit to loving their daddy, but it seems like every grown mom we know mainly talks about how she battles with her own mom. Can't remember what prompted this to come up, but I think it was a friend of hers who was having some sort of conflict with her mom. So I said something about how "maybe when Aubrey's a teenager sitting around with other teenagers griping about what their moms won't let them do - OK...maybe THEN Aubrey won't admit to loving you. But you'll know she does and she'll always tell you to your face, right?"

We didn't realize that Aubrey had been listening intently to this because we looked over and she was softly crying. We thought we'd upset her. Tracy asked her what's wrong? "No, mommy...these are happy tears. I will always love you and I will always tell my friends that I love you. I love you so much Mommy."

That of course was the end of dinner and a round of hugs. It's just so weird to me to have an almost 4 year old who gets so emotional over happy thoughts, not just sad ones. I don't think Charlotte has an ounce of this.

Growing together.

2009-08-12T10:33:00.000-07:00

Talking and more talking.

2009-08-10T09:08:00.000-07:00

Charlotte. 20 months old. She told me last night, "you're my daddy...and I love you VERY much". That's not a paraphrase. That's the exact sentence.

I must also add that as I bopped her the other night before bed I stumbled a bit and heard her mumble, "damn it...".

Yes, we have to watch our mouths better. The other day Jazzmin ran past and Aubrey looked at me and asked, "what the hell is she doing??"

Oops.

Sisters.......

2009-07-11T07:03:00.001-07:00

As of July 4th.

2009-07-08T07:58:00.001-07:00

Quick note on where the girls are.

Charlotte is grumpy a lot lately. Not sure why. She cut two big molars, but they're mostly in now. She still smiles a lot and giggles and plays. But it's SO easy to send her into a crying spiral.

Aubrey is a swimmin' freak. She decided she wants to swim on her on so no more floaties. She's pretty good for a 3 year old. She dives in and swims over to me under water. Mostly kicks. Not much arm movement yet. But she can hold her breathe REALLY well. She's had a few scarry moments when she swallows water and comes up coughing. But in every case she's ready to go a couple minutes later. Tracy's freaked out because she won't even warn us. She'll just launch off the steps and start swimming towards us. Or just out into the middle of the pool. If she could get her head up to take a breathe it would be OK. But she still needs us to pull up on to get her head out. Maybe in a month or so she'll figure it out. For now...it's a process.

Charlotte is also a great little swimmer. We put floaties on her and she just swims around all by herself.

Songs

2009-07-08T07:54:00.000-07:00

Aubrey loves music. But unlike her daddy, to whom the melody is where I'm hooked, she's a lyrics girl. We have to closely monitor her music intake because she listens so intently to what's being said. And she extrapolates FAR more than we'd like.

Yesterday in the car the song Say It Right came on. She was quiet for a minute then proceeded to explain to me what she was singing about.

"Maybe all her friends were always the same. But then they all changed and she didn't have any friends any more. And then no one loved her any more"

So...um...what do I say to THAT?

More photos from the Arbo

2009-06-01T13:35:00.001-07:00

Sisters

2009-06-01T13:24:00.000-07:00

Big step last night. Over the weekend we sold the big furniture and pared Aubrey's room down to just a few larger items. Then last night....WE MOVED CHARLOTTE INTO AUBREY'S ROOM! For the record, this is Tommy writing this - not Tracy. Tracy wouldn't have used caps there.

Don't get me wrong. I already miss her too. But I mostly miss what has already passed by us several months ago when she was a tiny lil' thing in our bed. When she would only sleep holding my hand. When she kicked me all night in the face and pushed me to the very edge of the bed so that she could curl up in my crook. When we got a full night of soft baby sighs. That's all gone. Now she's growing up and falling alseep on her own and waking up wanting to play. So we moved her into Aubrey's room and with a little coaxing, got her to sleep. Aubrey did her part as well, staying quiet in bed until she fell alseep instead of her usual nightly song and dance routine (I mean song and dace as a literal statement). I'm sure this week will be more headache than ease, but it's a nice step to take and both girls seem excited to finally share that room.

On that note, this morning (with a 5:30AM wakeup and Aubrey racing into our room screaming "Charlotte's awake!!!!") I was outside with the girls on the swing. Aubrey started chatting with Charlotte as they swayed side by side.
"I'm so happy to have you Charloote. You know - you'll always have me as your big sister! I will be your mommy if you want me to."

On and on. It was the sweetest thing I've heard in a long time. They truly love each other.

-----

1 night later edit. Spent last night on the floor of their room. Charlotte keeps waking up crying. Aubrey feels she needs to run and tell me (we have a monitor, so we're VERY well aware). I finally camped on the floor so that I could respond each time she woke up. Hopefully this only lasts a few days.

'scuse me

2009-05-27T11:21:00.000-07:00

New phrase: 'scuse me. She says it after farts, burps and right before she rolls over your toes with her baby stroller.

The other night I was bopping her to sleep. She had the hickups. 2 minutes of:
hick...scuse me
hick...scuse me
hick...scuse me
hick...scuse me
hick...scuse me
hick...scuse me
hick...scuse me
hick...scuse me
hick...scuse me
hick...scuse me
hick...scuse me
hick...scuse me
hick...scuse me
hick...scuse me
hick...scuse me
hick...scuse me
hick...scuse me

I was finally giggling so hard I had to drop her in her crib, kiss her and leave. Didn't hear another peep, so I guess she hicked herself to sleep.

FREEZE!

2009-05-26T19:35:00.000-07:00

Stop growing up already! I am happy just as things are right now. How is it that I already have a 3.5 and 1.5 year old. I should be getting pregnant with #3 :) But, that isn't going to happen for me, so I cry every time Charlotte grows out of something, or learns a new word. Aubrey walks away from me sometimes and I am sure that she is already 16. I am not ready. I want them to stay small and in my arms, and in their cribs forever, is that too much to ask? I know, I know what you are thinking - that I should look forward to all of the amazing things to come, but I am trying to come to grips that there will be no more teeny tiny babies, no more of those amazing baby smiles while they are asleep in your arms.........I have to let it go, but it is so much harder than I thought. I love my little monkeys, but they grow so fast! So I say to Charlottle all the time - FREEZE! Maybe she will listen.

Mother's Day Parade

2009-05-14T16:34:00.001-07:00

We had a fun day at the Swiss Avenue Parade for Mother's Day and the Home Tour. We got to decorate our stroller, and hang out with Firemen and be entertained by some guy with puppets that the kids just LOVED!! I need to figure out who he was.

I want to live in that white house.......

Claire!

2009-05-13T05:58:00.000-07:00

Check this out!

2009-05-08T10:44:00.000-07:00

Best Jump Ever!

While Daddy is away, and it rains every day......

2009-05-08T10:29:00.001-07:00

We take baths in the sink.......

And Lots of Scarf Dancing.

But Best of All.....Ballet!!

The girls Missing Tommy in China.......

2009-05-04T06:13:00.000-07:00

Come home soon!!!!!

My Favorite....

2009-04-19T20:29:00.001-07:00

What could be cuter than a cutie in a tutu???

2009-04-19T20:20:00.000-07:00

Most of her class did not show up, but tha meant she got more attention which was fine with her. She felt and looked like a little movie star!!!

Brown Eyed Girl

2009-04-15T11:15:00.000-07:00

Words

2009-04-14T13:13:00.001-07:00

Charlotte keeps talking up a storm. We can't even list the words she knows. Too many. Each morning we bring her to bed when she wakes up for 10 minutes of extra sleep/snuggling/eyepoking (our eyes, her fingers). This morning after a few minutes Charlotte bonks me on the head and says, "WAKE!!". I turned my head towards her just in time for another bonk and a "WAKE UP!!"
Keep in mind, this is a 16 month old. The other morning we got a "TWO!!" out of her after I said, "One"...so she's already thinking she can count. She says, "donwanchu" all the time, which means, "Don't want to". Yep. She's past the "no" phase and went straight for multi-word combinations. "Letsgo" is another favorite.

Life

2009-04-14T13:08:00.000-07:00

One morning as we lay around talking...
Aubrey: I'm sad.
Me: Why are you sad?
Aubrey: Because you yelled at me last night and told me to go to sleep.
Me: Well, that was last night and you were a good sleeper, so I'm not upset.
Aubrey: But you yelled at me and it made me sad and I can't dream any more.
Me: Um....
Aubrey: **taps her heart** You hurt my life.

__

That was a couple weeks ago. Just the other day she mentioned her "life" in connection to dancing and how dancing makes her "life" happy. To Aubrey, her heart IS her life, and that's just fine with me.

Mind of their own:

2009-04-05T10:38:00.001-07:00

Aubrey, get your feet off the table.
But they want to be on the table.
Well, when they try to come up on the table, tell them to stop it.
OK...but they don't listen very well.

More sarcasm:

2009-04-05T07:14:00.001-07:00

The other night I was playing with the girls. I had the AquaDoodle thingie out - sort of like EtchaSketch with a pen. Aubrey said, "draw me!!", so I quickly did a line drawing of a girl sitting on the ground. Aubrey walks up, looks at it and frowns.
"Is that me....or a bumblebee?"

Speak and spell

2009-04-05T07:10:00.001-07:00

Maybe most kids are doing this at 16 months...but Aubrey sure wasn't, so we're pretty impressed.
We're not really the flashcards - teach your kid to do math by age 2 type of parents. We'd rather they play and slowly learn what they need to know. But we've been working with Aubrey on her letters. She knows how to spell her name, but doesn't really like it so much.
So yesterday I said, Aubrey, let's spell your name. I said, "A", to start it for her, and instead of Aubrey taking it, I heard a little "Yoooooo" from beside me. It was Charlotte. Surprised, I looked at her and said, "B"....and she smiled and said "awwwrwww". I said, "E"......and sure enough, she smiled really big and yelled "Y!!!"
So...um...my 3 year old won't spell her name, but luckily her not quite 1 1/2 year old sister is there to help her. A couple more times since has gotten Es and Bs out of Charlotte. So I think the only letter she won't supply is the A, since that's our job to start it with.

Sarcasm

2009-03-24T08:19:00.000-07:00

"Here's your water Aubrey", I say and place the sippy on her table. I say goodnight and close the door. 1 minute later she's back out. Not surprising...she usually comes out and asks for her "big hug". It's part of the ritual. So I pick her up and ask if she wants her hug. "no...it's not cold".
What's not cold?
"The water's not cold".
Oh yeah, I'd used tap water because I hadn't had a chance to put a new water jug on the Ozarka dispenser.
"I know Aubrey, we're out of cold water"

"Well, are we out of ice?"

-------

She's done this before and I might have even blogged about it before. But now it's taking on a new urgency.

Tracy tells Aubrey all the time that "a girl can do anything she wants to do". This is mostly in reference to how a girl can be anything and do anything in life she wants.
Last night I told the girls it was time for their bath. Aubrey starts to whine and said, "but I wanted to play dress up!!!". Aubrey, not now...maybe after your bath.
"but a girl can do anything she wants to do!!!!"

"ok...but just for 5 minutes, then we take a bath"
From there I walked in to tell Tracy that she needs to explain better to Aubrey what that phrase means.

Speaking of explanations...how do you make a child understand what "tomorrow" means. When we say, "tomorrow's gym class", the next day Aubrey asks, "is it tomorrow??". Um. "No, it's today". We're sort of at a loss here.

----

This morning as we played on the floor I pulled a cover over Charlotte and I to hide from Aubrey who was walking in. Charlotte smiled and whispered, "hiding" with perfect pronunciation. So fun.

Dance Recital Costumes!!!!!!

2009-03-17T12:50:00.001-07:00

2009-03-16T11:43:00.001-07:00

How we Miss you.

2009-01-12T12:09:00.000-08:00

My sweet sweet Kasey. We miss you so much. Not to take away from how much my girls adore you, but I often find myself just waiting to see your beautiful blue eyes, and sweet smile walking up to my door each day to make my life so much easier - and to be my friend, my sounding board, my non judgemental friend. We are so different, but the same too - you know what I mean.

The recent gift you sent my daughters was so awesome! You know us well - thank you again.

Good luck on your next journey, I will be thinking of you as I do every day already. Be safe - I know but I had to say it. I cannot wait to see you in April and we will be at the airport to get you if you want!

Love you so much!

The Galloways

Happenings:

2008-12-29T18:24:00.000-08:00

Aubrey has a thing for Peter Pan. Tonight she asked if we could visit Neverland. I said, "sure, when you sleep you can dream about Peter Pan." "No, daddy...not in my dreams...not pretend...I want to go to Neverland" She then proceeded to explain how Peter would be coming to visit her tonight to snuggle with her as she sleeps. Not sure how I'm supposed to take this.

I love:
1. how charlotte waves her arms when she's excited
2. that Aubrey will NOT go to sleep at night if there's a single item in her room out of place. All animals MUST be on bed and in place. No books or trash or toys allowed on the floor. Fan on. Night light on. Water on table.
3. how excited Charlotte gets when we turn on the alarm. she knows we're leaving the house.
4. that Charlotte will sleep in the car. Not "will", in fact, but "does"...every time.
5. Aubrey's love of dance
6. Aubrey's crazy mommy instincts. I get lectured ALL THE TIME about whatever it is that's on her mind. "Daddy, no more sugar for you", "Daddy, you need to be careful...let me help you go potty so that you don't bump your head", "Charlotte, don't carry that. It's too heavy. No MAAM! No MAAM!",
7. how much both my girls love their bath each night. I love it even more when we get through it without Charlotte pooing in the bath.
8. Aubrey singing. She loves to sing. She knows songs I didn't know she knows. The other night I caught her mumble/singing the words to Information Society's Pure Energy.
9. Aubrey dancing. I wish everyone could see her dance. We'll put on the B-52's Rock Lobster ("the Lobster song!!!") and she'll go nuts. The part where he says, "down....down...." finds she and I laying down on the ground until the drums kick back in. funny stuff.
10. coming home. My greeting from Aubrey aren't what they use to be. But Charlotte is soooo sweet. Today she wobbled over, I picked her up and she put her head on my shoulder for a long, very sweet hug.
11. forgiveness. Charlotte is a HORRIBLE sleeper. bad. wakes up all the time. scratches and kicks and slaps my head. for hours at a time. Sits and and wants to play. And most nights I am DONE with that pretty quickly. I'll eventually get upset and say loudly, "CHARLOTTE...NIGHTNIGHT!!" and she'll cry and we'll have to spend more time getting her to sleep until she finally passes out on Tracy's or my head and I'll wake up 3 hours later 1/2 off the bed with a monster pinched nerve in my back. but then, 10 minutes after we wake up...she's laughing and I'm laughing and we're playing on the floor and everything is OK again....until 2AM the next night, when we start over again.

Last Day of Little Gym

2008-12-29T18:01:00.000-08:00

Aubrey Loves Mr. Nick!!!

Snow!

2008-12-29T17:58:00.001-08:00

We got just a little bit of snow - that was fun.

Then on a sad note :(

2008-12-29T17:54:00.001-08:00

We had to say Goodbye to Miss Casey. We all love her so much and the girls are really going to miss her.

Went to see Family....

2008-12-29T17:39:00.000-08:00

We went to see my parents and Aubrey's cousins on my side.

Got to hang with Grandpa.

We built lots of fires on some of thsoe cold days..... BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR

2008-12-29T17:35:00.001-08:00

I love these pics because Aubrey was soooo mad at me that I took her candy cane away, and the expression on her face was hysterical.

Then....

2008-12-29T17:32:00.000-08:00

We went to the Lakewood Tree lighting Party. It was freezing but Aubrey actually sat on Santa's lap. And for those of you who know her - this was huge!

So Many things to post, and so little time.

2008-12-29T17:22:00.000-08:00

We tried this year to attend as many Christmassy things as possible, because Aubrey was totally into it.

First, we went to the Christmas Parade downtown, and man - both of my girls thought that that was the greatest thing in the entire world. Aubrey loved all of the dancing girls while Charlotte was all about the drums - the louder the better.

Wobbly - but walking.

2008-11-18T16:48:00.000-08:00

Charlotte has definitely made progress over the last week or so with her walking. She wants nothing to do with it during the day, insteadf she insists on holding my hand, or being carried everywhere. But, after her bath before bed - she walks all over the place!!!! And she cracks up doing it. She will be one in 2 days, so Aubrey walked much earlier, but I guess I am not supposed to compare, right?

I don't have pics of her walking yet, but here she is playing outside.

2008-11-03T17:01:00.000-08:00

2008-11-03T17:00:00.001-08:00

2008-11-03T16:59:00.001-08:00

Kasey.....

2008-11-03T16:45:00.000-08:00

For those of you have have not met Kasey I just wanted to post a few pics of her. She has been a life saver and my girls adore her and I do too.

Happy Halloween

2008-10-31T09:02:00.000-07:00

In Direct Response to Ang's Blog which made me cry - this will make you laugh.

2008-10-24T12:16:00.000-07:00

Fair

2008-10-21T10:56:00.000-07:00

We went to the fair and had a lot of fun. Aubrey didn't scream this time. She even rode a couple of rides. Well, 1 ride and the carousel. Funnel cake and cotton candy and corn dogs. Charlotte didn't care about dancing dogs so we let her crawl all over the nasty floors. We watched the swan boats float around. Was a nice afternoon.

Here is Aubrey walking off on her own to tap dance class. Those that know her know how happy this makes us to see such independence. She loves her class. Sometimes she'll show us some moves she has learned, like "the boogie".

Charlotte still won't walk. She'll stand up, with no support, in the middle of the room. She can stand all day if she wants. She'll push chairs around the room. She'll push her walker around. Then she'll sit down and crawl to where she wants to go.

Birthday and such

2008-10-14T18:47:00.001-07:00

Aubrey's 3rd birthday party featured the Creature Teacher who brought a rabbit, chinchilla, hedgehog, Guini pig, turtle and parrot. I can't remember the last time I've seen so many 2-4 year olds sit so still and attentive. After the creatures we opened up a bag of 4500 live ladybugs and let the kids go nuts. Some did go nuts once the bugs got up their shirts. Fun, fun!

Aubrey got a Tinkerbell costume from grandma and grandpa!

Tracy spent all night making these cupcakes! Black icing = lots of little smeared black faces.

Grandpa tried to show how strong his knees still are. Showoff!

Now some Charlotte news. Charlotte has been standing up for so long we figured she'd be walking early. Turns out she likes crawling. A lot. Aubrey never did. A couple weeks ago Charlotte started standing up with no support. Middle of the rooms stands. Up and down. Up and down. On Aubrey's birthday Friday she took her first tiny little step. Then she sat down and hasn't done it since. Still...first step is a first step. She's also a climber. Again - very different from Aubrey who, at age 3, still sleeps in her crib (her choice...we've REALLY tried to get her out) and has never tried to climb out. Charlotte, OTOH, climbs everything. She can almost climb out of the bathtub. Below we see how she opened up a dresser drawer and climbed in. Fun.

She also loves to get her hands messy. Loves to eat. Squishes it up in her paws and crams it in. Aubrey took one look at her piece of cake her first birthday and started screaming in fright. I don't think we'll have that problem with Charlotte.

Some Pics.......

2008-09-17T14:18:00.000-07:00

gog?

2008-08-29T11:03:00.001-07:00

Charlotte has a new word. "Gog". She says it whenever the dogs are around. Momma. Dadda. Uh-oh! And....gog.

Words are hard to say

2008-08-28T09:11:00.000-07:00

for an almost 3 year old. We think she speaks wonderfully. The sentences that roll off her toungue never cease to amaze. But to her - she just doesn't know enough words for the thoughts that are in her head. It's almost daily she'll try to explain something to me, get locked up and say, "I don't know the words!!". This morning she went one step further - "I don't know what I'm talking about." Yes, that exact sentence.

To me, it's proof that she actually does know what she's talking about. But for her, just more frustration.

Zoooooooom

2008-08-25T08:12:00.001-07:00

2 weeks. No real accidents = new bike we promised her. Maybe we jumped the gun. But I don't think so. She's a pro.

New favorite quote. I asked her to pick up her toys last night before bed. Reply (with a melodramatic sag of the shoulders): " I don't want to have to...but I do have to."

Math

2008-08-24T11:51:00.001-07:00

This morning:

"I want to watch Tv...and I want to watch a video. That's two things I want to do."

At least her math is coming along nicely.

Piggy tails

2008-08-21T08:11:00.003-07:00

I brought Aubrey up to my office this morning. And since she looked so cute in her pig tails, I took some pictures.

What we know

2008-08-20T09:13:00.000-07:00

1. Power outages are terrifying to an almost 3 year old. Night light goes out. White noise fan stops. About 1 hour later ear splitting shrieks echo through the house. I run into comfort her. She's shaking uncontrollably. Poor little thing. It was like that in Galveston. She'd wake up in a strange place and freak out until she found us....one room over...with the door open.

When you're up, you're up...

2008-08-19T13:19:00.000-07:00

And when you're down you're down. And when you're only 1/2 way up...why, you're neither up nor down.

Such is the pattern of Charlotte's sleeping as of late. And how can we blame her? Why would she stay asleep in her crib when she can stand up, see us sleeping on the much cozier, fluffier bed, cry for a few minutes, and get the transfer she wants?
___

In other weather news: Aubrey is a potting training pro. Weekend before last we sat her down and told her it was really important that she start using the potty. And that she'd get a bike if she did it. Next morning, Monday, we put her in panties. *presto*...she hits the ground running (sometimes literally). Other than a couple little hickups (and none we'd call her fault), she's been perfect since. She tells us when she needs to go. If we pester her she tells us, "in a little bit". She loves her big girl panties and her M&M treats she's been getting. Still diapers at night. No biggie.

We went cold turkey on the paci as well that same Monday. Only for naps and sleep. And again, she's been just fine with the switch!

-----

Sweet girls watching the rain fall.

Aubrey LOVES cleaning. Yep. As long as it involves a spray nozel and a full roll of paper towels.

Sweet, sweet girl.

2008-08-15T07:17:00.000-07:00

For well over a year, Aubrey and I have a little nighttime ritual. We read books. Many, many books. Then we turn out the lights and rock for a minute and talk quietly before I put her into her bed. We generally talk about what she did that day. And the last thing I ask is, "What are you going to dream about tonight??" 389 out of 400 times she has said, "Gorillas". The only break came about July 4th, when it was briefly fireworks. She knows it's a funny game we play and we both giggle and she goes to bed.

Last night as we were talking she got serious for a minute and put her arms around my neck and said, "Daddy, I miss you when you go to your office". I told her I miss her too. Then I asked her what she's going to dream about. Answer? "I don't dream about gorillas anymore." "You don't?", I asked. "What do you dream about".

"I dream about daddy".

__

Edit: The next morning I asked her what she dreamed about during the night. Answer? "Gorrillas".

Beautiful face?

2008-08-12T13:23:00.000-07:00

Changing a smelly diaper. I guess I had my nose and face turned away from the unpleasant fumes wafting my way. Aubrey says, "Don't look away...I want to see your beautiful face!"

Sayings

2008-08-09T18:21:00.000-07:00

As I'm changing a poo diaper today:

Aubrey: Daddy...you have to be soft with my butt!

Me: I know Aubrey, I'm trying. But you know, if you put your poopies in the potty it wouldn't hurt when we wipe.

Aubrey: [silence].......Daddy you have to be soft with my butt because it's expensive!

----

We took all Aubrey's stuffed animals out of her crib today to play tea party. We even brought out some that were in the closet. Right before bed we were cleaning them all up, discussing which would go into the crib and which would go into the closet. She surprised me by handing me her snow monkey, which has been a sleeping staple for many months. "Aubrey, you love your snow money." "No Daddy...he's too hairy. He can go in the closet." He is pretty hairy. I chuckled and put him up with the other cast-offs.

We read a few books. Into bed Aubrey went. Into the living room I went. Tracy finishes putting Charlotte to sleep and goes into say goodnight to Aubrey. The first thing Aubrey says to Tracy? "Daddy won't let me sleep with the snow monkey...he's in the closet".

Otherwise we still all have the stomach ick. Ick.

Things we do

2008-08-06T18:02:00.000-07:00

When mommy is sick and laying in bed groaning....Daddy and Charlotte and Aubrey practice Vogue dancing to Rick Springfield's Don't Talk to Strangers (yes, every song must also be an object lesson). Aubrey's great at the moves and keeps a very straight face. Charlotte giggles and buries her face in the blankets when we sing, "baby don't you know-oh?!?". Next up on the iPod? Rick's Celebrate Youth. And so we did.

Da da da da da da

2008-07-31T07:18:00.000-07:00

I think Charlotte finally gets dada and mama. At least...she doesn't seem to say dadadada much until I come home from work. And mama only happens when Tracy's around. So...YEAH! First words.

Aubrey is off to dance class today. Honestly, we'd pay someone money for almost any excuse to put her into a tutu. We fools and our money are soon parted - and there's not much to part with. Yes, we know. Little Gym. Dance class. And I'll be derned if I don't find a way to get her into ice skates when she turns 3 (already looked into it...3 and up at the Galleria). Soccer maybe at 4. And guitar lessons....I dunno. 4 as well? It would be easier if she'd let me play the guitar now and then to show her how it's done. Instead I get, "Daddy!! Stop singing!!! I play the 'tar".

In other news, Daddy spends all day editing videos of women in their underwear. Mommy spends most days trying to convince Charlotte that she still has to eat some baby food and can't just eat only bananas and avocados and cheerios and beans and rice. Meanwhile all our grass is dying.

Mommy goes out

2008-07-23T09:19:00.000-07:00

Tracy went to see Yaz (Yazoo) last night. I hear they sounded great and she had fun...until a man asked her to be quiet so that he could hear better and not be disturbed as he texted his friends on his iPhone.

Charlotte seems like she feels better today. She got a catheter (sp?) yesterday to check for an infection. Ugh!!

Grumpy Girls

2008-07-21T09:39:00.000-07:00

We have 2 grumpy girls. Charlotte still wakes up 2-3 times a night. Then she wants to get up at 5AM each morning. Not workable in our little house. If we get up with her, we make noise and it wakes Aubrey up. That means Aubrey woke up too early and is grumpy all day. So we try and make Charlotte sleep in. That doesn't work either. Then the dogs jump down when they hear that we're awake and they wake anyone up who's not already awake. So now Mommy and Daddy are grumpy too.

Galveston

2008-06-24T08:15:00.000-07:00

Went to Galveston over the weekend for Uncle Mikey's wedding. Rented a little house on the beach. Got little sleep...but this time (as opposed to our disasterous attempt last year) everything worked out. Aubrey loved the beach. She slept on her mattress on the floor. She played with cousins and Grandpa. Progress.

My 3 girls on the beach. Charlotte mosly wanted to eat sand. But she did have fun swimming as well.

Aubrey was the flower girl at the wedding. She did a great job hurling the flowers to the ground in bunches.

The last night there we went to hunt for hermit crabs with grandpa. Lots of fun. Aubrey held the crabs and helped pick them out of the water.

This is the beach in front of our house. It was wonderful waking up and walking out onto the porch to see the waves and hear them crashing. Since Aubrey would wake up each night in a panic I would go sleep next to her until morning. She'd wake me up and we'd creep outside to munch on cinnamon rolls as the sun rose. Wonderful.

More updates

2008-06-09T19:53:00.001-07:00

Angela and Danny brought over the kids to swim the other day. Aubrey and Daniela prcticed their synchronized dives.

Luka hung out with daddy, ate hot dogs and went down the slide.

Summer's here. That means daily "iceycones".

Another chapter in Aubrey's quest to be friends with all living creatures. The butterfly. Yes - it's alive and yes it is sitting happily on her hand. "got to be careful Daddy", she chides me when I get too close.

Aubrey entertained us the other day with a dance. I'll try and post the video this week as well. It was....um...interesting.

And more smiles.

Charlotte is just about to crawl. She's up and rocking. Aubrey offers to help.

Update 1

2008-06-09T19:50:00.001-07:00

Smiles.

Lest we forget who is also a "baby".

And more smiles.

This is how we like to wake Aubrey up from her nap. We stick Charlotte into the crib with her.

Mother's Day

2008-06-09T19:45:00.001-07:00

For Mother's Day we went to see the horse races at Lone Star Park. It was crowded and noisy, but the girls all loved it. We had never been, so it was fun for us. Especially since we got there late and the gates were open...so...free! Everyone got dressed up to see the horses run around. We bet in $1 bills mostly and walked away $.80 richer.
Notice the basketball game on the TV. Tracy had to watch "ass face" Kobe play against "stupid" Spurs to see which team moved on.
Awwww.

5 Months and other fun

2008-04-24T19:10:00.000-07:00

Part I in Aubrey's never-ending quest to be friends with all living creatures:

The best $7 I've spent on Aubrey - a bag of 1700 live ladybugs. We went to buy some plants and I saw this at the counter. They're supposed to eat other bugs that eat your plants (our cannas!!). So I bought it and Aubrey wanted to hold it on the way home. And of course she couldn't wait to open the bag once we got home. The bugs crawled all over her and she had a blast for the next 3 hours.

Charlotte is 5 months old! So crazy. Still the best baby ever. She slept all the way through the night last night. 10PM to 6:30AM. Ahhhhh.........

At 5 months she: loves oatmeal (we just added a swirl of bananas!), can stand as long as she wants as long as we help her balance, is just about sitting up, loves to talk and gurgle, wants to be asleep around 7:30 or she gets REALLY upset, loves to take baths with her sister and kick and splash around, and always wants to smile and smile and smile!

Part II in Aubrey's never-ending quest to be friends with all living creatures:

I caught a lizard the other day. He didn't move much. I think he was old and headed for the great fly hunting ground in the sky. Aubrey was thrilled. We put him on this leaf, he sat there and Aubrey talked to him for the next hour or so. She would get close...he'd just look at her. She'd try and feed him a flower. He wouldn't move. "my friend!!" she kept saying.

We left and he was gone when we came back. A week later, everytime we go near these elephant ear leaves she asks about him. "Where is my friend lizard??" "Daddy, go find my friend lizard?"

Some recent videos.

2008-04-14T14:13:00.000-07:00

Catching Up....

2008-04-10T07:39:00.000-07:00

Things are going well around here. Charlotte is just a joy, she basically smiles all the time and really only fusses when she wants to sleep. What a difference that makes!!!! She is getting so big so fast, I am a little saddened by that. I actually entertained the thought of possibly having another, and I evened dreamt about it - but that will probably not be a reality for us.

Aubrey is just awesome! Aside from the typical 2 year old issues like pushing and claiming all toys as her own, she is just so much fun! I really don't think that terrible two's is really a term I would use for her. Her speech changes every day, and she is so loving and sweet - I just look forward to every day with her.

I am still working, and have Kasey come in the afternoons to help me. She is fantastic!! Aubrey loves her and asks for her daily - I could not continue to work without her. I will try and find a picture. She is going to China this summer so we won't have her around and I am dreading that.

Anyway - here are some random pics........

March

2008-03-10T19:08:00.000-07:00

Warm, cold, warm, cold. 70 degrees...freezing rain. And finally...some snow!! Being inside so much we've been engaged in arts and crafts. Like painting! This is Aubrey's new favorite thing to do. It's so much nicer to have her wake up and say "I want to paint!" than it is to hear "I want to watch baby einsteins!!".

Humidity. Or in this case...sweaty naps.

Charlotte, meanwhile, continues to mainly laugh, smile, sleep and smile.

This is "AUBREY'S TUPPIES!!!". But sometimes she shares.

Some Pics

2008-03-05T14:07:00.000-08:00

2008-02-21T08:09:00.000-08:00

Yesterday Charlotte turned 3 months! Yeah! She's getting big. She can stand like a champ. She loves to smile and laugh. Her favorite thing is when people sing to her. And she WILL get that monkey's foot into her mouth!

Pics

2008-02-06T07:32:00.001-08:00

Some more pictures

2008-02-01T13:41:00.000-08:00

At the Arbo a couple weeks back. Very windy.
We now just do showers. Much easier.
Aubrey and her "pretty dress". It's pretty much a daily request when she wakes up. "I NEED a pretty dress!!"
Charlotte and her laughs. It's incredible. She also has some pretty good "agooos" going.
"You can share this bed...but we do NOT share blankets!"

Songs to birth by:

2008-02-01T13:03:00.001-08:00

Tracy suggested I put this in writing so that we don't forget when we're old and...well...old. As every good husband would do, I had prepared a selection of songs for Tracy to listen to once we got the hospital for Charlotte's delivery. I spent a lot of time in picking out just the right songs to help her relax, smile and find the inner strength needed at such a trying moment in her life. I loaded the iPod and had it ready. Here are my songs (keep in mind...some were chosen for the title...some for the lyrical content - only qualifications were relevence to giving birth and that Tracy liked the song):

Inside Out - Mighty Lemmon Drops
Comfortably Numb - PF
Avalon - Roxy Music
Newborn History - The Damnwells
Bedspring Kiss - Jellyfish
Pink Bullets - The Shins
Deep Red Bells - Neko Case
Women 3 - OMD
Mad World - Michael Andres's cover of the TFF's song
Human Nature - Michael Jackson
Lay Me Down - Boxer Rebellion
So Have I For You - Nikka Costa
At Last - Neko Case
Hold on (hold on, hold on) - Neko Case (yeah...she was great for this (and in general))
Go Insane - Lindsey Buckingham
How Soon is Now? - The Smiths
In The Airplane Over The Sea - Nuetral Milk Hotel (probably the best written song on this list)
How is your life today? - Porcupine Tree
Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me - Roger Daultry's cover
No Ordinary Love - Sade
Set Adrift On Memory Bliss - PM Dawn
Jesus To A Child - George Michael
I'm On Fire - Catherine Feeny (cover of Bruce's song)
Love Burns - Black Rebel Motorcycle Club
Eye's Without A Face - Paul Anka (cover of Billy Idol)
Love Spreads - Stone Roses
Puncture Repair - Elbow
Hallelujah - Rufus Wainright's cover
Weightless Again - The Handsome Family
Fill My Little World - The Feeling
Gabrielle's Oboe - Yo Yo Ma (from The Mission)
Sexual Heeling - Marvin Gay
Waters Of March - Jobin
Don't Make Me Wait Too Long - Barry White
Orinoco Flow - Enya (which was appropriate...ask Tracy about her water breaking)
It'll never Happen Again - Dream Academy

There were more...but I've since updated her playlist and these are the only ones still on it. Some of these made her laugh. Some she made me forward through. The funny thing is...she LOVED the songs on this playlist and continues to listen to it at the house. So if YOUR husband didn't play Sexual Healing for when YOU gave birth...well...Tracy's just a lucky girl.

Things we say (to be updated later)

2008-01-22T07:26:00.000-08:00

Lately, if Tracy and I try and talk to each other in front of Aubrey it makes her mad. She says "Stop talking!! Stop talking Dada!!". Nice. Attention must be firmly on her whilest Daddy is home.
"Burn!!" "Burning wood!!", she say, with here eyes aglow in the light of a fire. Something a bit unnerving about it all. Need to bump up our homeowners policy.
"There's a bat in there!", pointing to her mouth. Or my mouth. "Spit it out!" OK.
"I farted.....that's so gross!!"

Haiku

2008-01-20T06:16:00.000-08:00

I'm eating breakfast
Oatmeal drops on baby's knee
Still tastes good to me

6 weeks in...

2008-01-04T20:14:00.001-08:00

Antlers rule!

@ 2 weeks.

Daddy's little girl! Especially lately.

This is Aubrey's party dress for Tommy's company Christmas party

Movie night (which is every night now that it's cold).

So we have a new baby. She cries sometimes. If she's hungry or sleepy or needs a new diaper. She wants lots of attention and likes to be held. She wakes up every 3-4 hours at night to feed. And as far as we're concerned...she's WONDERFUL!!

So far we've able to just enjoy having a newborn baby, which is a new experience for us. Aubrey is taking it out of Tracy, of course. Daddy is #1 for the time being. That will change soon enough, I'm sure. Not much else.

Here are some recent pictures.

Welcome!

2007-11-20T18:34:00.001-08:00

Here she is:

Uh oh....no kids.

2007-11-07T14:04:00.000-08:00

I try and take Aubrey to the park at the elementary school near our home each night. Tougher to do now that it's dark so early.

We pull up to the park to find it deserted:

Aubrey: Uh oh, dada.
Me: What Aubrey?
Aubrey: No kids.
Me: That's OK. We can play by ourselves.
Aubrey: No kids. Wanna go home.
Me: You want to go home? But you can just play with dada!
Aubrey: No. Don't wanna play with dada. Go home.

And...that's how dada's heart breaks.

I 'cared.

2007-11-05T14:27:00.000-08:00

Aubrey and I went to the zoo saturday...and sunday...to see some animals. She's recently learned the word "scared" and found a few places to use it at the zoo. The spiders 'cared her. We fed the birds some worms and a few 'cared her. I thought it was cute and so I was quick to take her away from each situation where she was scared.

So sunday night she taking a bath and the mermaid makes her 'cared. OK. I asked her why the mermaid scared her? "I don't like the mermaid". Fine. No mermaid. But when I went to wash her hair, something that always upsets her, she busted out her new word. "no shampoo!! I 'cared!!". Too bad. She still got her hair washed.

Rocker Mama

2007-11-01T09:39:00.000-07:00

Tracy feels big and cumbersome and creeky. She didn't have much fun trick-and-treating last night because she had to stop and rest each stop. Not to mention the extreme numbers of kids bussed into our area, requiring us to wait in line at each house. Yes....wait in line. Sometimes 15+ kids deep (which homes we just skipped....hah, pun....witch homes?).

So I thought I'd remind her that she was not long ago a soccer playin', swimming like a fish, jogging, kicking my but in pool, rock and/or roll band, bass playing mama. And she will again; sooner than she thinks (well...maybe not the band thing, she seems done with that.).

So since this blog is at least partly about us as well as the kid(s), here's a reminder of that Tracy's a roll and roller. Not so far removed, I think:

Click Here: FALL

One more cracker. I mean it.

2007-10-31T13:26:00.000-07:00

A: I need more crackers, dada!

T: No, Aubrey, it's time for bed.

A: 1 more? 2 more? 1 more time?

T: No Aubrey. You just had 2. It's time for night night.

A: One more?

T: Nope.

A: Please?

T: Nope.

A: I NEEEEED more crackers dada!

T: No Aubrey. Let's get ready for bed.

A: Dada...one more time? Please?

T: NO Aubrey. It's time for bed.

A: Dada?

T: Yes?

A: I need food. I'm hungry!!

T: Aubrey, it's time for bed.

A: I'm HUNGRY! I MEAN it!

T: Aubrey...

A: I MEAN IT! I need food. Please??

T:.........

T:..........OK....one more cracker.

Some pics from party and Arboretum

2007-10-16T09:45:00.001-07:00

We had lots of fun, ate some cake and listened to the lion roar.

Sunday we went to see the pumkins at the Arboretum.

Our beautiful almost not a baby anymore girl. Age 2.

2007-10-10T07:26:00.001-07:00

Things she says at the age of 2:

2007-10-09T11:02:00.000-07:00

Tracy was changing her diaper the other day when she said, "NO! MY poopies!". She's saying "my" a lot these days in taking posesion of her little world.

"See mommy?" What she says to me each morning when I go into her room to get her out of bed. She wants to go see mommy and give her a hug.

"Go IHOP?". What she asks for almost daily. I think we may have to give in and take her tomorrow for her birthday. We've gone there a few times and she thinks it's the best place on Earth.

"one more time???" We hear this MANY times each day.

"I got peepee. Need new diaper." Yep.

"No, no, no. hush, hush." To the dogs.

"Get outta here?" Whenever we've stayed somewhere too long for her attention span.

"smells beautiful!" Usually from sniffing a candle.

Favorite words:
rella (cinderella), rella (gorilla), rella (umbrella), IHOP, zoo, castle, mermaid, princess ("mommy princess!" seeing pictures of Tracy in her wedding gown), fwow white, bicycle (which means ether bicycle or fudgesickle), delicious, dumbo, throw high?, and many more I can't think of right now.

Big & Breech - YIKES!

2007-10-08T07:17:00.000-07:00

I had my 32 week visit with my Dr. last week, and found out that baby no-name is "Big & Breech". This really is freaking me out. Needless to say I have been all over the internet researching what that means exactly and what I can do about it, but the Dr. said he is not going to worry about it now, most babies turn on their own, and we will re evaluate at 36 weeks. In the mean time I am debating doing handstands in the corner :)

Also, evidently this baby is BIG, over 5 lbs already and I have a little under 2 months to go. I love this kind of news.

More pics

2007-09-26T11:33:00.001-07:00

Much easier to get into than out. "guck, daddy...guck!!".

"Are you guck?"

"yes! guck!"

I confess that there are some words that we repeat back to her incorrectly because they're so cute as they are. guck for stuck is one. bicycle for fudgesickle is another.

Chocolate milk and bacon. And yes, she's still in her jammies. This is her perfect breakfast.

This is her sleepy for a nap pose. Everyday around noon it hits her - usually as she watches Cinderella (which is a daily ritual). Thank goodness for naps! I've heard some babies are growing out of naps around this age. Aubrey seems like she's just now growing into naps.

Car Wash

2007-09-26T11:29:00.001-07:00

Last saturday Aubrey took a few minutes to wash her car. She took the job very seriously.

2007-09-20T12:59:00.001-07:00

Imagination

2007-09-13T10:59:00.001-07:00

I don't know why I was surprised to realize that Aubrey is capable of understanding what "imaginary" is...but I was.

Aubrey hates guitar picks. Why? Who knows. If I play with my fingers...no problem. If I strum with a pick she screams "pick" and runs and takes it from me and won't let me play the guitar with it. It's now a game, but in the beginning she really did seem mad at the pick.

So I got a cool little early birthday present for myself off Ebay. It's a Yamaha EZEG electronic learning guitar. I thought it would be fun to play with it and let Aubrey bang on it. It has buttons on the frets and fake plastic strings on the body. The other day I was strumming away, not using a pick, but holding my fingers like I was. Aubrey screams "pick" and runs up to grab it. I explained that there's no pick and that I was playing with an imaginary pick. So she takes the guitar from me, holds her fingers like she's holding a pick, and proceeds to strum away. She even went off to show Tracy her "imini pick", which consists of her thumb and index finger in a pinch position. Her pick is pink, by the way. Or so she says.

When mommy's away....

2007-08-29T11:43:00.000-07:00

Mommy was gone for the night having a nice get-a-way at a hotel. So Aubrey and I stayed up a little late and played with the flashlight. Yes, it does look like the Blair Witch Project.

Beauty

2007-08-28T08:20:00.000-07:00

An interesting man once wrote: "Those who find beautiful meanings in beautiful things are the cultivated. For these there is hope. They are the elect to whom beautiful things mean only beauty." This is chopped out of the prelude to A Picture Of Dorian Gray, which I've been reading lately. The rest is quite useless (which sentiment he would approve of).

I think I bounce between the two sides. Sometimes I see meaning in beauty and seek to wrest it to fit my wants and ideals and expectations.

Other times, I look at my wife and young daughter, who are "beauty" to me, and see only beauty.

Tinkles

2007-08-27T08:14:00.000-07:00

Aubrey used her little potty for the first time over the weekend. Twice! The first time scared her a bit because Tracy and I started screaming like loons. But the second, the next day, was better.
So, now she just starts using the potty all the time and will be in panties in about 1 month...right?

Belly

2007-08-20T10:47:00.000-07:00

Someone asked me to post a picture of my belly, so here we are at the Arbo this weekend. I am 25 weeks and counting.

Monkey Dreams

2007-08-10T07:21:00.000-07:00

Daddy post:

The other night I went in to check on Aubrey before we went to bed. This is how I found her - holding hands with her Gorilla. She sleeps with her 'golila' and her 'baby' - which is the smaller, or baby monkey. I just had to turn the lights on and snap this picture.

China Doll

2007-08-06T17:07:00.001-07:00

Tommy brought back these adorable jammies from China. She is so adorable.

Sticker

2007-08-02T19:13:00.000-07:00

I put this sticker on Aubrey's arm today. She took one look at it and said "MAMA". I think I should be insulted :)

WE MISS YOU DADA!!!!

2007-07-31T19:03:00.000-07:00

Tommy is in China and we miss him sooooooo much! In the morning Aubrey asks for him with the saddest look in her eyes, and the rest of the day I try to juggle her and my job, and it is a struggle. I sure do miss how much he does for us every day, and I know Aubrey is confused and she clings to me more than ever. We cannot wait for you to come home!

She was sad, so I gave her an Oreo, which made her sadder when she wanted more!

Then I gave in....

Then she took some self portraits - please note the 'I love Dad' onesie.

We Love you and miss you so much - come home soon!

What's in a Name?

2007-07-24T07:13:00.000-07:00

I am really struggling to name our second baby girl, since I feel her name needs to be as beautiful and special as Aubrey. It is such an important decision!!! Anyway - I am feeling Sappy and Weepy today for some reason. The following is in part the inspiration for Aubrey. Enjoy.

And Aubrey was her name,
A not so very ordinary girl or name.
But who's to blame?
For a love that wouldn't bloom For the hearts that never played in tune.
Like a lovely melody that everyone can sing,
Take away the words that rhyme it doesn't mean a thing.

And Aubrey was her name.
We triped the light and danced together to the moon,
But where was June.
No it never came around. If it did it never made a sound,
Maybe I was absent or was listening to fast,
Catching all the words, but then the meaning going past,

But God I miss the girl,
And I'd go a thousand times around the world just to be
Closer to her than to me.
And Aubrey was her name,
I never knew her,
but I loved her just the same,
I loved her name.

Wish that I had found the way And the reasons that would make her stay.
I have learned to lead a life apart from all the rest.
If I can't have the one I want,
I'll do without the best.

But how I miss the girl
And I'd go a million times around the world just to say
She had been mine for a day.

- Bread 1970

Below is the link to the song.
http://www.tommygalloway.com/temp/aubrey.mp3

Nap of all Naps

2007-07-16T13:50:00.000-07:00

Aubrey is currently taking the longest nap of her life - 3.5 hours! Holy Cow! Of course the poor baby is sick, but still. I cannot believe it! I have heard of other babies doing this, I thought it was an Urban Myth.