Smiley Myrus and Gaseous Clay

While "Lil' Bit" is still the most used nickname for Audrey, there are two others that we use fairly frequently: Smiley Myrus and Gaseous Clay. And of course, this modified scene is what now plays in our head:

"Sugar Ray Robinson's the greatest farter that ever lived."

"What about Joe Louis? - 'The Brown Bomber'."

"That was a great farter. - You're darn tootin'."

"I suppose nobody in here's ever heard of Gaseous Clay?"

"He's got a point. Gaseous Clay was a baaad farter."

"I ain't saying Gaseous Clay ain't bad. I stopped liking her when she changed her name to Audrey Elisabeth."

"Wait a second, wait a second. A girl has the right to change her name to whatever she wants to change it to. And if a girl wants to be called Audrey Elisabeth, you should respect her wishes and call the girl Audrey Elisabeth."

"Her momma call her Gaseous. I'm going to call her Gaseous."

Music and Mumblings

It's video Thursday!!!

We start with our virtuoso:



And end with our talkative girl, telling us all about her day at school today:

Pretty in Pink

Somehow a rumor started
And it just isn't true
That I'd prefer to dress my daughter
In the color of blue,

Or yellow, or purple,
Or any color I can think!
As long as it isn't
The color of pink.

Not true, not true,
Not true! I say.
My daughter is beautiful
Dressed in any old way.

In case you don't believe,
In case you now laugh,
I dressed her in pink
And took this photograph:

Three Months Old

Today Audrey turned three months old. We can't believe our Lil' Bit (a new nickname is starting to take hold) is a quarter of the way to her first birthday.

Today we celebrated her quarter birthday by taking her to the Aquarium. She loooooved the tanks and would watch the fish swim back and forth.

Later, she finally convinced us that she was old enough to take the Jumperoo for a spin. She is still not 100% sure about it, but she has her moments.

Happy three month birthday, Audrey.

Zoo, Take Two

After our Zoo Lights trip on New Years Eve night, we decided we needed to go back when a) it wasn't quite as busy, and b) when it was warmer than 20 degrees. Kelly counted (to compare with the aquarium) and there were a pitiful 22 cars in the parking lot. Sunday morning in Utah is definitely the time to go out and have places to yourself. And with the weather being a balmy 33 degrees, I guess we accomplished both of our goals!

With snow covering all of the exhibits, most of the animals were tucked away inside. Our goal was to find big animals this time, since they would be more likely to catch her attention. The little snakes and lizards don't do much for her right now.

The elephants didn't agree with our "balmy" description of the temperature, and they were hidden away. Luckily, visitors are allowed inside the giraffe building and Audrey was mesmerized by the 20 foot versions of her Sophie the Giraffe toy.

Moving on, the Amur Tiger was out and about and also entertained Audrey for a while and did a great job posing for pictures. But in the end, the Zoo got the best of Audrey and she zonked hard. Another successful outing.

Trial Week

This week was a big one.

After three months of q.t. with Audrey (both in utero and ex utero), Kelly is now back at work part time, three days a week. There are a variety of feelings that I know she is dealing with: sad to be away from Audrey at times, happy to be back at work at times, feeling guilty when she is happy at work at times, etc. But all in all, I think Kelly is handling things very well. As a few people have pointed out, her being in a decent state of mind allows her to be a better mother than if she were an emotional train wreck.

My duties this week? A spot finally opened up in the childcare center we wanted to be in, but it doesn't start until next Monday. So this week, I was at home giving us a chance to get used to Kelly being away for the day. It's nice because until now, we've only given her an occasional bottle and we really had no idea how much she was eating. These few days really gave us a chance to figure out how much we actually need to bring to daycare and made Kelly realize how much of a slave to the pump she will be for a while. And of course it's also nice because I get to have some of my own q.t. with my little girl.

The camera has been tucked away most of the week. It's amazing how taking care of a little one doesn't leave you with much time for anything else. I did manage to snap this picture yesterday morning before I went to work: