Road Trip to Charlottesville for Baba's Reunion

Last Thursday we drove to Charlottesville, VA for John's 25th Reunion from UVA.  In this picture A is holding on to "baby" by her feet.

We had been thinking about downsizing a car but based on how lightly we travel with Miss A this seems rather impractical.

Baby pool at our Charlottesville hotel was a hit with Miss A!

In her new cover up her Aunt Paula gave her before this trip.

Flirt alert at St Martens.  This is a restaurant where John worked during school.  Oh my gosh did Audrey flirt (winking,  long drawn out "Hi" and a lot of "kank kank" meaning thank you, etc.)

Friday morning was absolutely beautiful and the 3 of us took a tour of Monticello.

The gardens were beautiful and humidity fairly low.

Smelling the peonies.

Our tour beginning.

At this point we decided A was just a little too animated to make it through the inside part of the tour so John took her for a walk.

Friday a Wine tasting on campus.

Saturday evening picture on the Rotunda steps.

Miss A high 5'ing John's friend Eric.  And she says "high 5" too.

Since she is not shy she also high 5'd Eric's kids too.

With John's friend Nick

Jan L. entertaining Audrey with sticks on the lawn before dinner.

Fortunately for us Audrey is not a picky eater and was quite thrilled with the family style food at this dinner.  The menu ribbon fascinated A and kept her busy for quite a while.

Lynn E not only entertained Audrey with the menu card but also with her bracelets.  So sweet.

Goofing with Baba at the barbecue.

Stroller safari, Walking with Cart and dinner in the courtyard

This past Friday we had our first of 3 Stroller Safari Classes at the Zoo.  The title of this class was Sharing Spaces.  The class is for 18-36 month old.  It includes an animal demonstration and then a guided stroll thru the Zoo for different hands-on lessons.  This particular class was Sharing Spaces.  Our animal encounters included an armadillo and a box turtle.  Audrey was interested in both. 

Afterwards we had about an hour to wander the Zoo before lunch and her nap.  Luckily we got to see the Polar Bears swimming.

 

And a close up view of the Stellar Sea Eagle.  Audrey can say many animal names and I'm sure our many trips to the Zoo encourage this development.

Her hair is growing fast.  Just 6 weeks ago she had her bangs trimmed and now they are almost over her eyes again.

As we were leaving we got to see an Elephant / Keeper encounter.  The elephant on the right is standing on a tree stump after being directed by her keeper.

While Audrey napped Friday I pruned the rose bushes at one of our apartments.

And reaped 2 dozen roses for our home.

Friday night traditional macaroni and cheese at the Bar and Grill.

Surprise face ... part of her baby tricks routine.

My parents asked me to send them pictures of her walking with the cart their friends gave us.

So Saturday morning I got her to walk back and forth repeatedly.

Babies are remarkable compliant.

I expected her to get tired of this and of me taking pictures.

Our neighbors gave her this rocking horse this past Sunday. 

Saturday was beautiful and low humidity so we had an impromptu dinner in our courtyard with our friend and neighbor Paula. 

Wee Wednesday @ CAM

I put this video in just because it is cute. 

This morning we skipped Miss Kelly's Movers and Shakers class (songs and stories @ Hyde Park Library) to attend the last Wee Wednesday event at the Art Museum.  We stopped on the way to CAM to check out the roses at one of our apartments.  They look great and I plan on cutting some for our house when A takes a nap Friday. 

So a little about Wee Wednesdays:  it is free, runs from 10 to 11:30 the last Wednesday of each month from September to May.  This month's theme was When I Grow Up.  "Take your little ones for a stroll through the galleries to discover the art treasures that await.  Stop in the selected four galleries for interactive story times.  Take your time and enjoy the Art Museum at your own pace.  Make sure to stop by the Great hall to receive this month's sticker for your sticker book!"

This was our 2nd story time stop. The painting is Fountain Square Pantomime by Joseph Henry Sharp and is in the Cincinnati Wing Gallery.  The topic of the story time was a book about police men.  But more interesting to me was the docents explanation of the painting. I learned more about this painting including that the man in the top hat was responsible for building CAM in the 1880's, the painter's fiance is in the crowd and the dog's name was "Pretzel".  This painting was commissioned for Mabley and Carew Department Store in the 1890's.

Audrey was interested enough to not be disruptive.  She is a little young for this event meant for 2-5 year olds.  A couple of times she pulled her "Dear Leader" routine which is what we call it when with paper in one hand and the other pointing she babbles.  She was not disruptive though or I certainly would have removed her.

I definitely will take her to Wee Wednesdays again with her in the fall when it starts again.  I'm hoping she likes it then and if she really enjoys I register us for Culture Kids which is more intimate and structured workshops for preschoolers. 

Walking (assisted), crawling, Weekend with Mom-mom and Granddad, Zoo and Butterflies!

Not the best quality (really dark at the beginning... I would edit if I knew how) but cute anyhow.Wednesday evening May 18 Miss Audrey crawled for the first time.  Apparently the correct motivation was the DVD "Signing Time with Rachel" which involves a lot of singing as well as signing.  Help Me Mary is Audrey's Occupational Therapist who is coming to our house next on the 28th and she will be thrilled with both of these developments.  Mary as well as several other experts (pediatrician, social workers,etc.) feel Audrey is focusing more growth on verbal skills which is the reason her motor skills have not progressed as fast.  No one, including us, is at all concerned about her growth and development.  She is such a sweet and happy kid.

Traditional Friday family dinner at the Grill.  As usual Miss Audrey had a grand old time but this time she seemed especially flirtatious too!  This girl loves attention.

One of the family pictures that will be sent to China for our 6 month post placement review.  Thursday May 19th our very favorite social worker Cherie M came to do our post placement interview.  Cherie is the only social worker we have worked with from beginning to now.  The beginning being September 2005 when we enrolled in pre-adoption classes.  Our dossier was not complete and logged in until may 18, 2006.     Anyhow, Cherie is a joy and absolutely loved Audrey and seemed quite happy with our attachment and life together.

A picture of our neighbor and friend Patty W and her very sweet dog Boo.  This dog may be the most gentle dogs with respect to children that I have ever seen.  Patty rescued him and doesn't know a lot about his background but feels he has a lot of experience with kids.

Saturday May 14 Audrey and I went to the Zoo for Storytime with Curious George.  I did not get a lot of pictures as it was just the 2 of us and it rained.  After lunch at the Zoo the 2 of us went to Bloomington to see Mom-mom, Granddad and extended family.

This is the only picture I took while we were visiting.  This is Audrey and Cece (my niece Jessica's 2 yr old daughter).  Audrey has learned many family members names from our family calendar and Cece is one of the funnest names to say. 

We had a lot of fun with Mom-mom and Granddad who she calls Ga-Da but as usual not the greatest sleeper away from home.  It was very sweet to see more attachment with my parents though.

One of our good friends/neighbors/fellow church members, Paula M gave us a Butterfly kit and this week several emerged. 

Audrey enjoyed watching the butterflies being set free from our deck.

Wednesday May 18 Uncle Ted came to visit.  Unfortunately this is the only picture I took of the 2 of them.  I am getting really bad about taking pictures lately.  Oh well I quess you can't document everything.  Ted and John went to a Reds game this night an while they were gone Miss A crawled! 

Friday May 20th we gave a presentation for our minister and his wife's Friendship Force Group about our trip to China.  Again Audrey really enjoyed the attention.  We didn't take any pictures but here are the things I thought were sweet.  First they begin their meeting by standing in a circle and singing  Let there be Peace on Earth.  John was holding Audrey during this but she turned to me and made the face she does when she is really contentedly happy.  Adorable.  Then during the power point presentation John tried to keep her entertained but she was pretty focused on the fact I was talking to the group and often using my hands.  She would imitate me and call out "Mama" loudly and often.  Sweet and really makes me think she will be a performer.

This morning the three of us went to the Zoo for Story and songs with The Berenstein Bears.   

She kept switching between John and I until she settled on standing between us to watch the show.

Afterwards we rode on the carousel. Not surprising Audrey did not want to ride on one of the animals.  Although she is emotionally so bold she is definitely not physically.  Therefore we sarcastically call her "danger girl".    If this truly is her character we feel lucky too. 

This Australian owl was 5 months old and does not even have all his hair.  Owl is a word she learned several months ago.

Tomorrow we are going to church in the morning and then after her nap we have a neighborhood "Spring into Summer III" party at our friends Bob and Jane's house.