Everybody wants to rule the world...

Apparently Aurora is no exception! Yesterday her teacher told me that Aurora has a "take over the world" mentality, and is so diplomatic that she always gets her way without making the other kids cry in the process.

The only example of this I've seen was actually the thing that spurred the conversation. I came to pick her up right as Miss Alice was telling the kids that they were going outside next. Aurora came over to me, gave me a hug, then lead the group outside. She definitely knows what she wants and is a budding leader.

First thing when we get home everyday, she goes up to her highchair and tells me she wants in, which means she's ready for dinner. After food, playtime, and a bath, she knows it's bedtime and wants to go to sleep. Between 6-6:30pm she's reaching for her wubby, then easily communicates that she's ready to for bed. Not only is she smart - she's a very good girl and makes it easy. I will enjoy that for as long as it lasts!

She's definitely grasping language. She knows what I'm saying all the time now, and usually does what I say while trying her best to repeat me. Right now she's all about "B" words; ball, book, boo, and bellybutton are her favorites, and she knows exactly what each of them mean. We're kind of into animal noises right now too - if I howl, she'll make the funniest little baby-howl noise back!!!

So, that's what's going on with the little Rora Rooster. The only photo I have to share with you is the ceramic tile she decorated at school last month. It was fired and returned today, and it's pretty impressive! I mean, great coverage, nice colors, and you can make out some colorful hand prints...

Perhaps the title of this blog should've been "My daughter's a genius and I'm not biased at all."

Having a ball

And a new chair...

Rashy Rooster

This afternoon we got a call from the Children's Center asking us to pick Aurora up because she had a low-grade fever and a red, bumpy rash all over her head and torso.

She'd had a fever on and off all weekend while we were in San Antonio, which I attributed to teething. She just cut a new molar on one side, and the other is popping through - along with all the teeth in between! Here she is showing off her rashy face AND her bottom teeth!

I thought perhaps the rash may be a mild food allergy, but didn't want to risk it being something worse. We made a same-day appointment with the doctor and she said that all the symptoms have been due to some kind of virus, and this is just the last phase of it. She wrote us a note saying Aurora's fine to go to daycare tomorrow. Thank goodness!

I just realized that this blog will serve as an excellent record of all Aurora's childhood illnesses. I can go back and reference each time she's been sick, the exact date, symptoms, and even photos. These pics enlarge so you can see the rash better (I know, just what you wanted). Aurora truly is a healthy, vibrant little girl - I guess this just comes with the territory. Ahhh, the joys of parenthood!

San Antonio

This weekend we took Aurora on a road trip and stayed a couple nights at La Mansion del Rio – a beautiful historic hotel right on the Riverwalk. We booked a pool side room so that we could take advantage of the pool and courtyard, both with Aurora and after she went to sleep.

We really had a fun and relaxing weekend, though Aurora’s teething so we didn’t really get as much sleep as we would’ve liked! We did spend a lot of time on the Riverwalk; eating, walking, and exploring. Of course, we explored beyond the Riverwalk as well! I think the pictures tell it all, and there are WAY too many for me upload, so CLICK HERE to see them all.

Aurora was a great little traveler, and San Antonio is just such a short, easy drive from Austin. I’m sure we’ll be back soon!

LAF Picnic

Last year I debuted my 1-week old baby girl at the LAF Company Picnic. This year, my co-workers got to see our silly toddler running around splashing in dog water bowls and trying eat other people's food.

She didn't take a long enough nap beforehand at daycare, so she was actually kind of tired and even a little shy at first. She did love poking all the other babies, playing with water balloons, and wearing other kid's shoes (no surprise there), but I have to say all the dogs kind of scared her! Here's a cool group shot with me throwing Aurora up in the air.

We were happy that Chuck could show up for a little while to enjoy some grilled meat, and it was so nice seeing all the other LAF families. We also got to spend time with Brittany before she moves back to Houston.

We're really going to miss you Britt!

Dressing up

I’ve had this idea from the beginning that if Aurora was going to be a girlie-girl, it would be of her own choosing. Julian made it clear to me that fighting girly-ness was futile, and I’m starting to believe him! I’m a no-frills gal myself, but just because I don’t promote pink princess diva stuff doesn’t mean I don’t love cuteness, and these days Aurora’s been doing some pretty cute stuff.

It all started when she moved into the Bunnies room. They have a little dress-up corner with big hats, dresses and purses. One day when I arrived to pick her up, she didn’t come straight over to me as usual–she looked at me, then turned and walked over to pick up a little silver purse. Yup… gotta grab your purse before you go! Then last week she followed me into my closet and found a little black purse, just right for her.

So far she doesn’t care if a hat is pink or blue or black, she just loves putting it on her head, putting it on my head, and laughing the whole time.

Rora really is a well-rounded little girl. She likes playing with trucks and loves running around with her soccer ball, but lately her favorite things are dancing to music and playing with purses, hats and shoes. Her shoes, my shoes, Chuck’s shoes – it doesn’t matter, she wants them on her feet. Yes, this is Aurora trying to wear my flip-flops.

And she's only 13 months old!!!

Biker Gang

This morning Kim, Karen and Mona biked all the way from downtown to the Wadey rest stop, located in the beautiful Texas hill country. We had apple wheat pancakes, hard boiled eggs, blackberries, and fresh juiced grapefruit, oranges and apples. Talk about a classy rest stop!

The gang played with Aurora for awhile before heading back out - just before the most torrential downpour we've had for a good while! It started raining just as Chuck, Aurora and I were finishing up a post-brunch walk through the neighborhood, and I'm pretty sure the girls got wet during their 17 mile ride back into town.

It was the perfect start to what should be a relaxing, low key weekend. These amazing women kept talking about how much they'll be riding, swimming and running this weekend, training for triathlons, etc... me, I'm about to go take a nap!

Our Little Artist

Chuck & I first met each other in Jr. High Art Club, then 5 years later were voted male and female Art Students of the year by our graduating class. While I don't want to force anything, I have to admit I do have some expectation that Aurora will be creative, and plan on encouraging her to explore different mediums and use her imagination as much as possible. Well, at least I thought that would be my plan, and my responsibility. Turns out daycare is giving me a head start. Now that Aurora's in the bunnies room, she does art projects everyday! Here are a few pictures of our cute little artist at work...

I love how disinterested she looks here... or perhaps she's contemplating her next masterpiece? I think she's just chilling with a paintbrush in her mouth! Don't worry, they're not using real paint - it's all edible.

Aurora's teacher Stephenie took these photos one week, then moved into the infant room the next. Aurora's new teacher, Miss Alice, may or may not take pictures of the kids at play. Here's hoping she does, I love them!

My Day

This weekend wasn’t a whole lot different than any other weekend, but just being a Mom made it feel special.

Saturday one of Aurora’s favorite teachers from daycare came over to baby-sit while we had a relaxing lunch and went to see Star Trek. It was the perfect afternoon. Today we went to the park, then headed to the mall for lunch and shopping. I decided what I really wanted Chuck to get me was a new swimsuit. The last time I bought a swimsuit was… oh, maybe 14 years ago? We just booked a hotel in San Antonio for Memorial weekend and I plan on making use of the pool! Lucky for Chuck, I knew exactly what I was looking for and bought the first one I tried on.

While Chuck didn’t really plan anything, he took most of the weekend off, did laundry and made fresh juice (nice!). Then this afternoon I came home to a box of tulips on the front porch, sent by Nancy. The flowers really did surprise me and truly made it feel like Mother’s Day! Here’s hoping all the wonderful Mom’s in my life felt just as special.

Brie and pesto

As I was leaving work today, my coworker Sarah asked me what was in the containers of leftover food I was holding. I told her the yummy little open faced brie sandwich and pesto pasta would become Aurora's dinner, she found it quite interesting that she gets such fancy food! The truth is, Aurora's a big eater, and she'll try most anything.

Here's what Aurora ate today:

6:45am Milk, fruit leather

8:30am Rice Crispies, bananas, milk

11:30am Steak fingers, mashed potatoes, pineapples, milk

2:30pm Yogurt, graham crackers, water

5:30pm Brie cheese, bread, pesto pasta, chicken, grapes, and yogurt

6:45pm Milk

All done! Daycare provides most of her food, so I'm primarily responsible for deciding what she eats for dinner. Eventually I'd like us to eat family dinners together, and I'll expect Aurora to have whatever we're eating. As it is now she's asleep by 7pm, which is about when Chuck comes home... so, one of these days she's either going to have to start staying up later, or he'd better start coming home earlier!!!

Facing Forward

It seems like Aurora’s getting bigger every day. This weekend she grew up just a little more than usual. You see, at her last doctor appointment she finally weighed over 20 lbs, and once a child is 1 year and 20 lbs you’re allowed to move their car seat into the forward facing position.

I wasn’t really in a hurry to turn her around, but these last few days I could tell she was ready. Now that she takes one long nap in the middle of the day, she doesn’t take naps in the car anymore and she’s been getting frustrated during car rides. That and the AC doesn’t reach her as well when she’s rear-facing, and this weekend it got HOT in the ATX.

It’s so cute driving with her facing forward. She waves and giggles and cycles through all the words she can say, which is pretty much “hi,” “thank you,” “mama” and “uh oh.” Okay, so she still gets a little frustrated if we’re in the car for too long… I mean, she’s an active kiddo, she needs to PLAY!

Speaking of playing, today Aurora got to play with some of her favorite friends. Well, I guess I should say some of MY favorite friends! We had brunch with Amelia, then spent the afternoon with Teresa and Bailey at the Hill Country Galleria. We shopped, we ate, we played in the fountain… weekends just don’t get much better!

All better!

Aurora started feeling better on Thursday, and we all had a normal day at work and school on Friday. It's a good thing, because Aurora and I get bored when we're cooped up at home.

Today was great. We spent the morning at the Palmer Events Center for the "Celebration of Families," which included all kinds of kid-friendly booths and activities, along with a few hundred kids for Aurora to say "hi" to. That's her thing right now... well, she has two things right now: saying "hi" to anybody and everybody constantly (including Tater), and saying "uh oh" as she purposefully drops her food or sippy cup.

Aurora's favorite part of the expo was a cardboard box tunnel maze. The volunteers monitoring the maze couldn't believe that she just ran in the way she did - this girl has no fear, and she loves to play!

She also loved watching the clowns make balloon animals. They made her a miniature balloon animal to go on her wrist.

I took this next picture after we'd been in the car for maybe 2 minutes. I think we wore her out...