For Posterity's Sake: Week in Review: 27

This week has been part recovery from vacation (reestablishing Audrey's earlier bedtime and routine/taking comfort in our own soft, comfortable bed/tackling that massive laundry pile) and part taking on new adventures (a huge on-going yard project/new creative projects and garden ventures). Audrey has her own way of showing us that her life is all about new adventures and absorbing everything around her. Now if only we could get her to embrace the recovery/rest part with such enthusiasm.

We got home from our trip on Monday. En route to our house, we stopped by Grammy's to pick up Emmy, our dog. Grammy's boyfriend was talking on the phone when we got there. Audrey ran over to him, put her hand up to her ear in pretend-phone-fashion, and began carrying on her own conversation full of "uh-huhs". I asked her who she was talking to. She said Bryan (her uncle who had just been on vacation with us. I said, "What was Bryan doing?"

She said, "Checking his email."


Wednesday we were having a little snuggle/reading session. Audrey had chosen a Halloween story (Yes, we keep the seasonal books out year-round. I keep meaning to make some sort of storage containers to house the seasonal books in, but keep putting it off.). She informed me she was going "to find her mommy" in the story.

"In this story?" I asked. She was adamant, and I was starting to wonder just where I was in this story, when I turned the page to a picture of a mummy.

She pointed to the picture. "See. My mommy."


Later that afternoon, I went to retrieve my shoes from the master bathroom closet. Audrey had followed behind me and then disappeared. Emmy's crate is just outside the bathroom. I heard it close. Audrey is notorious for locking Emmy in her crate. I walked out, saying as I stepped, "Audrey, it's not nice to lock Emmy in her crate."

Audrey wasn't standing right outside the bathroom where I expected her to be. First, I thought she'd made a run for it. Then, I looked in the crate. There she was, closed inside. I pulled her out, telling her she's never allowed to go into the crate, which is Emmy's private space. It's not until I've scooped up Audrey that I see Emmy, huddled in the back corner of the crate, not making a sound.

Thursday night Jason took something (I can't remember what it was now, probably a kitchen gadget) away from Audrey that she shouldn't be playing with. Feeling unjustly robbed, she ran into the kitchen, pointed a finger back at her Dad and said, "that man took it from me!"

One other big adjustment phase we're going through this week is trying to teach Audrey to tell us when she has to go to the bathroom rather than randomly trying to get her to go. For the most part, this has been a total bust. Except when she's in her bed. Audrey gets rewarded with a little marshmallow when she uses "the big girl potty." (We began rewarding her with chocolate covered raisins, but they lost their luster after she discovered marshmallows). This week, it is not uncommon to begin and end our days with her shouting from her doorway (while rattling the baby gate that keeps her inside), "I have to potty! I want a marshmallow!" Sometimes, this happens in reoccurring 30-minute increments after we've put her to bed until we have to tell her she can potty, but the marshmallows are closed.

We hope you are enjoying your weekend, either taking on new adventures or taking comfort in the things that make your home the place you want to return to again and again. If you're spending your weekend visiting someone else's home (or crate) we hope they welcomed you as if their place was your own. See you on Monday.