Aurora - Twenty Eight Months

You are starting to talk in real sentences! The first one I heard was after I asked you if you took a shower and you replied "yes, my Dada was in the shower too." Well alright ;) You have also started referring to yourself as "me" instead of just as Aurora.

You are totally diaper free! We have completely stopped using them at naps or night and it is going really well. We have been taking you to the potty before bed and then before we go to bed and that has been keeping you dry until the morning. Yay for no more diapers!

You and I have started taking walks around the apartment complex. I think it is really important to get both of us out walking more and not just having you ride in the stroller. These "Rora walks" are about a half mile and take probably a half hour to complete but you seem to really like them.

You are trying to walk up steps rather than putting one foot up and meeting it with the other.

You are still not napping. I had hoped that my taking all the toys out of your room you would sleep, but it didn't work. You only nap maybe 1-2 times a week and were getting pretty bored in there so we started giving you books to read which has definitely helped keep you occupied for "quiet time"

These days you are loving your marble run, beginner wooden pattern blocks, counting bears and of course your books. You are also starting to do some pretend play by putting your old cloth diaper covers on your stuffed animals and then taking them into the bedroom and putting them down for a nap. It's super cute to watch.

You adore an audience. We went to the hospital to see Tasha, Uncle Roger and Rod and you had everyone in a circle around you doing exactly what you wanted. I think I was crying from laughing so hard.

We went to Costa Rica with Nanny, Grumpa, Uncle Allent, Lala & Mason this month. You loved swimming in the pool and were getting very bold by putting your face all the way in the water. I love that you aren't scared of the water, but you clearly don't have any idea how dangerous it can be which makes me a little scared. Your Nanny brought you Sweetie which is a dancing mouse that sings "How sweet it is to be loved by you" and I think we heard the two of you belting it out about a million times that week :)

You enjoyed seeing the crabs, monkeys and cuatis while we were there. You loved telling and retelling the story about how a monkey came down to our pool and tried to take your shoes while you were with Grumpa but Grumpa scared him off and you said "No no no monkeys! That's mine!"

Aurora - Twenty Seven Months

Aurora, you are going to be a big sister! I am now safely into my second trimester so hopefully we will be getting out of the house more and exploring Denver.

Aurora, you have changed so so very much in the past few months. I can't believe how much your personality is coming though. I can see how this period is sometimes considered the "terrible twos" but I think we are lucky in that you are so verbal. It is clear that you want what you want and you want it when you want it, but at least you can tell us all about it. I can only imagine how frustrating it must be for the child that cannot verbalize these things.

You are totally talking in complete sentences! We were looking at a house the other day and you were playing in the yard. When I told you to come in your response was, "Mama, go away. Go into the kitchen and sit on the stool." Hah!

You have started replaying conversations/events that you have happened, "I got out of bed, so Mama locked the door, then I cried. I don't get out of bed anymore."

You are successfully day potty trained and we are now starting nights. Recently you have decided that you have no interest in keeping a diaper on during naps or night... so here we go!

We should now be calling your nap time "quiet time." We still require that you stay in your room for "nap" but you rarely ever sleep. The only time you will sleep is if we go for our walk late in the afternoon and then you will conk out for about 15-20 minutes.

You have this knack for finding our wallets and stealing the licenses out. You just love carrying around "Mama picture" and "Dada picture"

We finally switched your car seat around so that you were forward facing, and you requested we turn it back "backwards."

We started going to a music class with your cousin Breck. You love going but are still acting very shy when we are there. I think it may take you a few classes to get comfortable.

Your favorite toy right now are your Lego Duplos and your favorite games are the Boy/Girl game where we run through everyone you know and you tell us if they are a girl or a boy and "Who get you this?" where you hold up toys/stuffed animals/clothing and want to know who got it for you. It's really too cute :)

Aurora - Twenty Five Months

We moved into our apartment and are all settling in well. Honestly, Aurora, you have taken this whole move way better than expected. 

You are now in a big girl bed! You seem to love it and for the time being have not yet figured out that you can get out of it. I have heard all sorts of stories about littles having a really hard time transitioning out of the crib but as of yet you have taken it all in stride.

You are day potty trained! We have had very few accidents since we have been in Denver. You always did better with using the potty when we were on vacation and I think this move has come at a very good time. You are still in diapers at night and naps but that will come too in its own time.

Unfortunately you look like you might be giving up naps. I don't think it has anything to do with your big girl bed because you napped just fine for a while, but now you just seem to be over it. You are still staying in your room but you spend your entire nap gathering the toys from your shelves and putting them all in your bed. It's actually pretty funny because sometimes you end up passing out among all the toys ;)

You have also stated waking many times during the night. Before we moved to Denver you were sleeping soundly and hardly ever waking. Now you wake up thirsty or with something very important you just have to tell us. It's awfully cute but I still hope it doesn't last long. No one is getting restful sleep these days.

You are getting more and more confident physically. Our apartment is right next to the "blue park" and we try to go there as much as we can. You finally have the confidence to go down the slide by yourself, are starting to really run and love taking a "big step" off curbs.

Aurora - Two Years

We are all finally in Denver! Our apartment isn't ready yet though so we are staying with Uncle Rob and Ginny until we can move in. It has been really great to see them -- I missed Ginny! -- but Aurora is a bit of a handful because we are in someone else's space. She is constantly on the lookout for remotes to mess up Uncle Rob's electronics or opening cabinets to get into Ginny's glass serving wear ;)

Matt and Grumpa drove out in the Cherokee with the dogs and whatever they could stuff in the car. Should be an interesting few months until we find out house because we came with a few suitcases on our last visit and whatever Matt and Kevin fit in the car. Everything else is in storage until we have a house. 

Speaking of which, we came out to Denver two weeks ago to look for houses and had what I can safely say was the worst trip on record. We left New Canaan with double the time we usually allot to get to the airport but the traffic was so bad that we missed the baggage check in deadline by 5 minutes… so there we were at check-in with a two year old, 5 suitcases and Matt's possibly broken foot and they were telling us we would have to come back in the morning. By some stroke of luck an off-duty attendant overheard Aurora's name and took pity on us because her granddaughter's name is also Aurora -- love nice people! Anyway we finally got to Denver after some crazy flights, stood in line for our rental car but despite having a reservation they didn't have a car for us, and then Matt and Aurora both got a violent stomach bug. Ugh.

Anyway, on to you Aurora. Happy Birthday beautiful girl! We are so blessed to be given the opportunity to get to know you as your personality unfolds.

You are starting to express novel thoughts which is sometimes hard for us to figure out what you are saying but is so much fun. I was so impressed the other day when you came out of the bathroom and declared, "Dada loud beard!" after you had watched your dad shaving.

You are also impossibly cute when someone hurts themselves and you hold out your arms for a hug and say, "I got you my love. Don't worry, be happy. I love you!"

You know that your middle name is Lynn, but you haven't quite grasped that Lynn isn't part of everyone's name. Your Dad and I have no become "Mama-Lynn" and "Dada-Lynn" :)

It has been interesting to watch you interact with your cousin Breck. You and Breck must have some sixth sense that you are related because you instantly acted like family. I have never seen you play so well with and then instantly argue so passionately against anyone the way you do when you are with Breck. It's pretty hysterical.

You are starting to get very possessive, yelling "mine!" any time you think someone else might come and use something you think is yours.

You have started telling stories. Most of the story is unintelligible but interjected into the babble we can usually make out the idea . ……..uncle rob……ginny…….in the backyard…… it's awesome to listen to!

Aurora - Twenty Three Months

This past month has been really hectic -- we are selling the house and moving to Denver.  I haven't been doing much except trying to pack and get everything in order for the move.



Probably due to our life being turned upside down, everything seems to be the end of the world with this girl.  She has also been skipping her naps which probably doesn't help the situation.



We started a drop off Spanish program with her this month also.  It just one morning a week for a few hours but has proven to be an absolute disaster.  The first week was great -- she was the only kid that didn't freak out, but that didn't last long.  Week 2 I was told to come get her after an hour and a half of hysterical screaming... poor girl!  So we canned it seeing as we are moving in a few weeks anyway.



This girl loves getting messy!  She has always liked finger paint but we took it to a new level by mixing paint with lotion and letting her go to town in the bathtub.  She loves her "war paint"



A few funny things she has started saying ::
If we tell her she can't have something she replies, "But I NEED that!"
We used to be able to get away with putting things off by saying, Yes Aurora, in 5 minutes or yes we can do that...later... but she has caught on and now replies, "No in 5 minutes, now!"  Or "No later, now!"  She's getting too smart.