Sad Goodbye

Today was Kaia's last day with us and we are so sad to see her go. She has been staying with us and nannying Audrey since Liz went back to work in July. She has been amazing with Audrey and we wish she could have stayed forever (or at least until Audrey goes to college). There is one lucky classroom full of 4th grade kids who are going to get the best teacher ever in a few weeks! Here are some pictures of Audrey and Kaia as well as one of Audrey "petting" Rudy. It is really more like Audrey pulling on his ears and trying to put them in her mouth.

Tall Blond Girl

At almost 4 months, Audrey is almost too tall for 3-6 month clothes. I tried to get some shots that show how tall she is and some without the beard of slobber she seems to wear most of the time these days!

First Pair of Shoes

Not exactly what I was thinking when I pictured our daughter's first pair of shoes but she will be playing soccer in no time! For now, she just wears them around the house over her pajamas.

Blondie

Audrey is finally getting some more hair. It is so light that it is difficult to see in pictures but these shots show off her new mane!

Playing Catch-Up

I know it has been almost two months since I last posted any photos and I apologize to those of you who have been asking for updated pictures! Since the last blog posting, Audrey has:

*Flown to England to see her Granny, Uncle Ben and the rest of the UK family
*Driven to Minnesota to see Nana and GG and meet Uncle Chris, Aunt Brenda, Cousin Cash and Grandpa Lloyd (and many more friends!)
*Started laughing
*Gained a few pounds and grown a few inches
*Been sleeping 10-12 hours every night (this is mom and dad's favorite accomplishment!)
*Met her Uncle Jon
*Survived her mom going back to work (harder for mom than for Audrey)
*Had a great nanny who will be heading back to Minnesota to start teaching soon
*Been enjoying summer in Chicago

Here are some pictures from the last two months of the best summer ever!

Preparing for the flight to London

On the Plane with Daddy

Luggage for 1-Week Trip (almost all Audrey's!)

Hanging out with Uncle Ben

Do I Look Like My Uncle or What???

An English Summer Afternoon at the Pub

My First Pub Lunch

All Dressed Up to Meet the Family in Canterbury

Enjoying my Crib at the Lake Cabin

Cousin Cash Playing with Rudy

Getting Bigger

Three Months Old Today

My New Favorite Activity...Playing with my Feet!

On my Changing Table Looking at Some of my Favorite People

Another New Party Trick...I Can Put My Whole Fist in My Mouth

Smiles All Around

This week, Audrey has been doing a lot of smiling. Her whole face lights up when she grins and it is adorable! Unfortunately, we can never seem to capture it on camera. Here are some photos from two attempts at catching a smile...no smile but some cute faces nevertheless! Mom and dad are smiling, too....Audrey has had two nights in a row sleeping from 9 pm until 7-8 am!!

Audrey's New Friends

This week, Meredith and her kids, Aven and Claire, visited us in Chicago. Much to our delight (and embarrassment as I had told Meredith all about Audrey's "fussiness" in the evenings), Audrey was a complete angel for the entire visit. Aven in particular took a shine to Audrey, calling her "the little guy" and teaching her new tricks. According to Aven, he taught Audrey the following "tricks" while he was here:

*How to wave

*How to say "gah"

*How to point her finger like a "gun"

We went to the Field Museum, the Aquarium, Lincoln Park Zoo while they were here so Audrey has had plenty of culture and educational experiences for a 7 week old! Here are pictures from the week. The first is Claire, concentrating on her drawing. The next is Aven is doing his T-Rex imitation...which, of course, made Audrey smile every time! The third is Audrey in her bouncy seat while learning her new tricks from Aven.

By the way, when I dropped them at the airport today, Aven took my face in his hands, looked me straight in the eye and said... "now you take care of the little guy for me". Too precious!