Aaron came along to get his 4 year booster shots that we didn't get at his checkup because he'd had a fever close enough to the appointment that they wanted to wait. And eventually I had waited so long, I just took him in with Audrey. He also got his flu shot. So those are out of the way. This was the first time Aaron got shots in his arm. The arm with the TDap swelled up and was sore, which is common on the 4th and 5th doses. I remember getting one after Audrey was born since whooping cough is making a come back in California and my arm was sore for several days. Aaron complained about it, but without as much drama as I might have expected. He just didn't want me to touch his arm or to hug him because he said it was sore. But he hugged me carefully instead. Unfortunately, I'm reading that whooping cough immunity seems to wane after only 3 years, so unless they come out with a new vaccine, I'm wondering if boosters will become a regular event. It is combined with the tetanus, which is supposed to be every 5-10 years anyway.
Audrey's birthday turned into birthday week. She got a present from her nanny the Thursday before (bean bags and a board to throw then through). Then a present from us on her birthday (a wooden tea set). A present from her sitter on Sunday (a doll stroller), followed in a few days by a present from Aunt Janine (a bouncy horse) and finally a delayed present from us (a parking garage) which arrived late. She loves all her gifts and she and Aaron fight over them. Except the bouncy horse which Aaron is afraid he will pop. Here is a video of Audrey the first time she got on her "bouncy". I took it with my phone and can't figure out how to rotate it 90 degrees, but you can still get the idea.
The stroller is one of the most contentious toys. We have two wagons which I always thought could be strollers with a bit of imagination. But nothing compares to a real doll stroller and they both want to push it around. Aaron usually crashes it or gets in the way when Audrey wants to push it. It's a constant battle.
At 2, Audrey is quite a character. She is a very happy, mischievous little being and full of drama if she doesn't get what she wants. She seems to have mastered making her eyes well up with tears with her lips pouting if she hears the word "no". Or "not now", or "after you eat your breakfast". But she is so happy and excited when she announces she wants Autumn Wheat for breakfast. In a bowl. With milk on it. And a spoon! Oh the joys of breakfast. Unless she sees her blue kitty sitting around and wants her blue kitty and you tell her "after you eat your breakfast." (And you have to say "after you eat your breakfast" rather than "when you are finished" because with the latter, she will immediately announce "All done!" with a bowl nearly full of breakfast.)
Speaking of which, her blue kitty is currently her favorite "buddy" (as we call the kids stuffed animals). She gets it up with her every day and carries it around and puts it in the doll stroller with Pink Rosie. Sometimes she loves Mouse more (which is really a bunny), but usually it is kitty these days. She'll be playing Duplos one handed with her other arm wrapped firmly around blue kitty's neck. It's interesting to see because Aaron never had that kind of attachment to a toy. With Audrey, it's not that specific toy so much as it's the fact that she wants to be holding something close most of the time. It's only been blue kitty for a couple of weeks, but before that it was something else.
She has quite a vocabulary. She is stringing words into longer and longer sentences and getting more specific about things. Yesterday it was not just raining. It was "The rain drops on the patio." I don't remember the sentence, but the other day she said something at least 7 words long. I wrote before that at 18 months she had about as many words as Aaron did at 2 years and she has continued to improve her vocabulary every day.
Like Aaron (and their mom), she loves books. She likes to page through them. Both at home and at the library. Below, I had started to stack books we might take home on a table. Audrey sat down and starting paging through them. She pretends to read them. If she knows the title of the book, she'll repeat that for each page. It's adorable.
She is continuing to improve in the potty training department. More and more often she poops on the potty, but 40% of the time it's still in her diaper. Since she turned 2, I've been making more of an effort to put her on the potty periodically and soon plan to switch over to pull-ups more consistently since I think that will encourage her to go. And because diapers are a hassle on someone who wants to use the potty more often.
And now she is awake from nap. She usually naps from 1-3pm every day. Sometimes longer, sometimes a little shorter. But I'd better go get her.
