A Mid-Summer Night’s Dream

Is it still July or is it August? This summer has really flown by! We had so many things go on this summer. Mommy and Daddy have had a trying time (medically speaking), but we hope to be on the tail end of that (yes, pun). Lucye, on the other hand has been the picture of excellent health. God is good. He knows we couldn’t have handled her having any troubles!
Did I say she didn’t have troubles? Let’s clarify that statement. She had no “medical” troubles with the exception of one vomiting incident that was over fairly quickly, but confirmed an allergy to Red Dye #40 we think (it was the Jello, it was the Jello – Trading Places). So out with all the junk food (and most cakes and cookies as well).
Some really exciting positive events that took place this mid-summer:
*She named, by herself, a stuffed animal. She named the white dog Popcorn.
*She was fed an entire meal by cousin Sarah at Great Aunt Joanna’s family gathering.
*She is as tall as a yardstick at barely 2 years old. Wonder what her percentiles will be next time?
*She has an amazing vocabulary. She and I discuss the “stated purpose” of a toothbrush as she uses hers to clean the grout in the tub (a no-no).
*She played with the Kisselburg triplets at a park in Marietta, if only for a brief time. (Melissa, bless her heart, is an incredibly strong woman.)
*She has become great friends with our neighbor to the right, Mr. Bill, and often says she worries about his house falling down (don’t ask—we have no idea).
*She LOVES Petco. Lulu loves to visit the fishes and the birds and the mice, etc.
*She was down right friendly to the Comcast (cable) and Coolray (A/C) men. I think the former stranger anxiety is about done.
*When I said to her on the porch “She sells seashells by the seashore.” Her response was: “Well, that’s what Grandma says.” Then she puts a shell up to her ear and says: “I hear ocean.” That child never forgets a thing.
*My out-of-town lifetime friends Lynn and Jan stayed overnight and she had sooooo much fun playing with the girls on the big bed! Those ladies had such fun toys! Makeup bags, clothes, cell phones, etc. make the best toys. She screamed bloody murder at bedtime when I had to take her away from the big girl fun. I’m not sure if Lynn and Jan have recovered yet ;-)
*Finally, she has memorized many of her books, and she now reads to us at night instead of vice versa. We see an end to the crib soon. Can’t wait for the toddler bed era (insert heavy sarcasm).
Did I mention she's ready for college? We said, "Well, maybe JUNIOR college..."

June Bug

Our June was packed full of some exciting times. Most of them fun. The pictures are on this website under Pictures > June 2009.

The events include:

*Autrey Mill excursion with the Burdett family and then lunch at our place
*Lucye’s first pool (it sits on our porch). That night Lucye said “Daddy, I’m too tired to hear tonight’s bedtime story. Can you just email it to me, and I’ll read it in the morning?” True story. Okay, I lied. It wasn’t true. But she was exhausted.
*Lots of fun gardening: new additions and a deer siting!
*Clothing drive (that blonde is Teri in the picture—she stayed for hours to help unpack and sort the 4 boxes of clothes Amy loaned to Lucye for the summer—hooray!)
*Eating MORE mouse-k-teer pancakes that Grandma Marilee taught Daddy to make. In fact, Lucye is eating us out of house and home. Literally, she likes tile.

A few things didn’t appear. Notably, we discovered a new dog park! Our neighbors got a new dog and told us about the dog park at the East Roswell Park (one street over from our subdivision entrance). Lucye and Anna had so much fun; I could have kicked myself for not taking the camera. What’s one more bruise? I’ll get pictures next time.

Another June event of interest was the death of a pop icon. Yes, I said it. Although Lucye didn’t know MJ like I did (ha), she will hear his music one day. She will know he was famous for good things, and then, unfortunately, bad things (which I'm not convinced were true). Since God will be his judge, and I can’t throw stones, I choose to remember, and to share with Lucye, the joy his music brought to my life. The 80’s wouldn’t have been the same for me without him, and I’m so glad he shared his God-given talent with the world. In his day, he supported many charities world-wide with his talents. As I see it, his music uplifted and healed many in my generation. Lucye will know, that like most people, he wasn’t all bad (okay, I had to get that pun in there on his album Bad). Love the sinner, but not the sin. I try to keep that in mind and show her the good in people. Can’t -- let -- evil -- win…

See you in July!

Dune

Okay, I'm back to the movie titles I guess. Does anyone even remember this sci-fi movie from 1984? Come on, you know the one, with Sting and Sean Young (James Woods' stalker). Anyhoo, I digress (as usual). We just got back, a week ago, from our annual Family Beach Week on 12th Street (beachside) at Tybee Island. Lucye absolutely had a blast! She loved the dunes (hence the name of the blog) and the ocean equally, oddly enough. She wanted to touch and experience everything the new world had to offer. And with all the diseases going around this summer, rest assured, we used plenty of sand hanitizer.

The trip was awesome, but I'm so tired that I'm actually telling Lucye to do things like "Don't eat with your mouth full," and "Don't talk with your mouth closed." You know, the same old tired-and-true advice I'm sure your parents gave you.

I'm making this blog short. My apologies for not keeping up the website lately. I do plan to catch up the last 9 months or so this summer. Better late than never. Lucye won't notice until she's, like, twelve I think. Who am I kidding? That kid is smarter than sliced bread. See? Enjoy the pictures of our trip under the Pictures tab of this website (Beach Trip 09). Love, Aud

Doctor, Doctor, Gimme the News...

Today was the 2-year check up. We have the form that you can print off the Internet and fill out prior to arriving at the appointment. So, we are riding along in the car on the way to the doctor's office answering the questions about our tot’s lifestyle, when the following question is read aloud by Daddy:
“How many ounces of juice, soda and other sugar sweetened beverages does your child consume each day?”
Mommy answers “Zero”; Lucye answers “Not yet.” True story, I swear.

And for the grandparents…the checkup went fine. Well, it went fine with the exception of her vomiting when they wanted her to stretch out on the exam table to measure her height. Nothing else upset her like that. Not even her shot. The nurse never could get a measurement with her on the table, thanks to our fish, and we had to take her to the “big kid” measuring stick on the wall in the hall. What a baby!
75-90% in the height category though! Yeah, she takes after her parents ;-)

Words of the Day: Hot Dog Bun

So my aunt, uncle, and cousins from Cumming were coming for dinner (hee hee). I knew I needed to stun and amaze them with my ever-increasing phenomenal vocabulary while we were dining. It was a pure stroke of genius when I uttered "hot dog bun" for the first time. It just popped out! I swear I didn't plan it. They were only mildly impressed, but my parents...it was music to their ears. And I don't mean AC/DC, I mean Mozart...speaking of....that furry little white dog is our house guest this week, and I can't get enough of chasing him around and around and around (and it's only been about 4 hours since he arrived). As a side bar, for my afternoon snack, I made Mommy laugh. She said "Here is your yogart...um...I mean Smoothie, if you will." And I responded back to her "I will!" She thought that was pretty funny. These big people are pretty easy to amuse these days.

Why am I crying and in my Dad's underwear in the picture? Well, I always help Mommy with the laundry. When I swiped this pair with the airplanes on them (how cute) and put them on, Mommy tried to take them away from me. So I cried. But, she didn't argue the point that Dad's underwear is the most interesting thing we wash. Two, I said I'd be two next weekend.

St Pat's Day Dilemma

Well, here I am stuck in Roswell again! Honestly, who does that on St. Pat's Day? What was my mother thinking? I should be in Savannah where the rivers are green and so are the people! Because of my "situation" I couldn't decide what to wear...there was no point in dressing in green as it would only depress me. Maybe next year I'll have the luck of the Irish (and be old enough to drink, errrr, I mean, make it to Savannah).

Nobody Nose the Trouble I've Seen...

Mommy is always complaining about something…and I was so tired of the constant whining, so last Thursday night, I gave her something to really grumble about.
The day was a bit different than our average Thursday. My friend Jessica Patrice Burdett and her Dad (that’s Chris “Birdie” Burdett to the big folks) came over that day for lunch and a play date. They live pretty far away, so it is always a special treat to see them. I, of course, entertained them with my new-found vocabulary.
Even after my nap, I was still a bit exhausted from all the extra activity. Well, we all know what happens when I get overtired—hypercity. Dad tried to wear me out in the basement playroom, but I was fired up. At approximately 8:00PM Dad took me upstairs to get my before-bath milk. He went to the kitchen; I made a beeline for the master bedroom where Anna and Mommy were lounging. What fun! I wanted to lounge too…but I didn't really know how. So I crawled up the leather ottoman and onto the bed and immediately started laughing and wallowing around in the pillows. The next thing I know, I hear Mommy scream…I had fallen backwards on her face! The back of my hard little head hit her square in the nose and broke it. She told Daddy it sounded like a chicken bone snapping in her head. She’d never had a broken bone before…ever…and she is an old lady. Imagine that! I was perfectly fine, of course. I didn’t understand why she got to have my goldfish icepack AND my polar bear icepack on her face though…they’re mine! She had those things out of the freezer within a minute. I guess it paid off to steal my toys though, because she has only a little black bruising around her right eye and that’s it…..for now. She went to an ENT during my nap yesterday, and he put some drops up her nose and then stuck a camera in there! So cool. He told her the swelling was so bad inside (but not outside, I’m so proud of my icepacks) that she’d have to come back in about 3-4 weeks for another exam and see what the bone had decided to do. If is makes a bad depression or grows into a big bump or gives her congestion fits, she might have to get it “fixed” (whatever that means). That bone better behave! There are so many things to do and see in this crazy world. I didn’t even have breaking Mommy’s nose on my to-do list…I guess when you’re a toddler, you just somehow find time to do the fun things.

CSI: Roswell

It is March 1st, and I am still sick. CSI is in full swing (Coughing, Sneezing and Irritating). It's been fifteen days now. Mama plans to take me to the doctor on Tuesday if I haven't gotten a whole lot better. I'm sorry I was grumpy when my Mom's family gathered here to celebrate a major milestone in my grandparents' love life—oh wait, that was my MOM! I hope little Sarah didn't notice. She was so sweet to me, and even gave me hugs. I had to cancel so many plans this month (and last month) over this bug. I don't like bugs. They give me a headache. Anyway, I just wanted to apologize to all the people I have let down on my social calendar of late because of my cough due to cold. Speaking of....check out my calendar for upcoming events...a certain someone is going to have to make up for lost playtime real soon...and someone has a birthday coming up!!!!Yipppeee... I want more books and some baby binoculars....and....and....It's snowing today! Check my new video that Daddy made today to see GEORGIA in the snow. Stay well...and Run DMC (Daddy, Mama, Child).

Mailboxes, Etc.

Oh happy day! Ron the mailbox man installed our new HOA-approved mailbox and post a few days late (after the big party for my grandparents), but we are tickled pink none the less. Our old mailbox was sad, sad, sad. I was embarrassed for my friends to stroll by it in their strollers. My GrandPoppa will most likely curse the fact that Mama let them just take—yes, I said it—"take" away the old box and wooden post. I'm quite certain he would have wanted it for his collection of re-usable stuff that often takes him years to re-use, as I understand it. Admittedly, I was torn as to whether or not to attempt to clean out my toy box for him and store it. We pack rats like to stick together...it is almost our duty to pass on what we know another may cherish. However, the fact that it wouldn't fit in a Camry trunk for the trip back to Savannah (well, that's what my Mom said anyway), combined with the gross factor I witnessed on the bottom of the post as it was plucked out of the ground..well, it all added up to nix-a on the rotten-a. Sorry GrandPoppa! We still love you....