I didn't forget about this post, I've been thinking about it and "working" on it for months. I think I just need to finalize and post it! So, here are some of the day-to-day Aubree things I want to remember (or at least record!):
*Aubree is ALWAYS singing. Sometimes she sings real songs, but more often than not she makes up stories
and turns them into song. Lately her singing has gotten increasingly intense. She furrows her eyebrows, cocks her head, and belts out her tunes with deep feeling.
*While Bryce loves to wake up at the crack of dawn, Aubree is more like me - she likes to sleep in. If I ever want her to roll out of bed before 7:30 or 8 am, I literally have to pick her up and set her on the ground. Usually she responds to my wake-up call with an answer like, "Mom, I just want to sleep for hours." I think she might already be a teenager. For the record, she's almost always asleep by 7 or 7:30 pm, so she's not sleep deprived! The only times she gets up "early" is on the weekends when Dad's home. Then she hops happily out of bed as soon as she notices Bryce and Dad are up. Go figure.
*Aubree's a stickler for rules. She chastises me if I don't fully stop at stop signs or if I talk on my cell phone while driving.
* Aubree knows the truth about Santa. A few months before Christmas she asked randomly and seriously, "Mom, is Santa real?" It caught me totally off guard. I don't have a problem with Santa, in fact I appreciate the idea of what he represents. While I was content to go along with the concept of Santa, I couldn't bring myself to "lie" to her, so I answered her question honestly. She seem unfazed, and even acted like that made more sense to her. My biggest concern with her "knowing" was that she would tell her friends and ruin their belief, so I cautioned her against telling them. "But Mom," she argued, "they're WRONG!" She is still very concerned about what's "real" and frequently stops me when we're reading books or she's hearing a story to inquire as to whether it's "real or not."
*Aubree has some interesting quirks. For example, she likes to be sick and she likes to get shots. During a recent illness she wasn't eating her lunch, so I said, "you have to eat or you won't get better." Her response? "I don't want to get better, I like being sick." Why? She says it's because she likes getting medicine. And just to be clear, she got exactly one teaspoon of Tylenol over the course of her illness -TOTAL. 
She handles being sick so well - she didn't get that from me! A few months back we took Bryce to the doctor to get his follow-up flu shot. When Aubree found out Bryce was getting a shot, she cried huge crocodile tears - not from sympathy, but because she wanted a shot too.
*In the last few months Aubree had her first dentist and eye doctor visits. She was a little nervous about going to the eye doctor, but ultimately handled both exams in her usual calm, "it's-no-big-deal" manner. The eye doctor said her vision was, "perfect." Hurray!!
*Though I can honestly say that the vast majority of the time Aubree is happy and helpful and wonderful, she certainly has her moments. Since turning four I've noticed that she's been a lot more emotional. Little things (like being asked to pick up her dress-up clothes) will occasionally result in her lying in a crying heap on her floor. A couple months ago we had about a three week period where she developed some serious attitude. Previously unheard phrases came flying out of her mouth in anger, such as, "I'm never playing with you, EVER
again" (and she was talking to me, not Bryce), or "You're so MEAN," or (my personal favorite), "You're BOSSING me" (why yes, yes I am!). These were often accompanied by a slamming door or a full-fledged tantrum. Very, very un-Aubree-like. She's generally so even-keel and rational. Thankfully the serious sass and attitude was (in retrospect) short-lived, but it still sometimes sneaks into her daily behavior.
*During that same "attitude" time, she was really testing her limits and being uncharacteristically naughty. She was experimenting with lying and drawing on EVERYTHING: the walls (with fingernail polish!), chairs, tables, herself, her dolls, the blinds, her brother, the underside of the sink...it was maddening! At one point after discovering she'd drawn on her doll's face I threatened something extremely rational along the lines of, "If you don't stop I'll take away ALL your things and make you stay in your room with nothing!" She looked right back and said, "then I'll just draw all over the walls in my room." I'm pretty sure I had to pick my jaw up off the floor. Again, I'm happy to report there have been no inappropriate drawing incidences since those few terrible weeks.
*Aubree LOVES babies - she always, always has. I can remember her being only 10 months old and spending an entire 6 hour plane flight staring at a baby a few rows away. I believe she would be very sad as an only or youngest child. So, to
say she's excited about the prospect of a new baby in our family would be the understatement of the year! She's stopped saying "hello" or "goodnight" to me, instead she always addresses the baby in my belly. A trillion times a day she asks how or what the baby is doing and I sometimes wonder if she is also attached to my stomach. If I ever sit down, she's immediately in my lap, lying across my middle to feel the baby kick and roll and "give her a high five."
*Every single day, Aubree tells me, "Mom, that baby sure is growing." Yes, dear. I know.
*Before we decided on a name for our new addition, Aubree frequently came up with suggestions. Some of her offerings included: "Keedan" (her running favorite), "Rintinco", "Meenter," etc. Good thing she didn't actually get to choose.
* The other night, while saying her night-time prayer, she prayed, "and please bless the baby that he will grow and be healthy and be smart [pause], like us." She has an abundance of self-confidence.
*Aubree still spends a
great amount of time role-playing. For a while, she liked to pretend to be Cinderella or Sleeping Beauty. When we played Cinderella it always cracked me up because she'd assign me to be Cinderella right until it was time for the Ball, then she'd take over the role. Why? Because "the glass slippers wouldn't fit my feet." Of course. I think it might also have something to do with not wanting to have to do lots of chores. Another popular, though somewhat disturbing, game is "Run-Away." In this game, Aubree and her siblings (and we're all assigned to be siblings) have to run away to "Uncle Eric's house," because our parents are either really mean or dead. Fun stuff.
*
Aubree is very curious, observant, eager, and creative. Her drawings lately blow me away. She must have inherited her Grandma Graff's artistic ability because sometimes she honestly draws better than I do (not that, that's saying a whole lot...). One day we got a package in the mail and before I could throw out the box, Aubree asked if she could turn it into a robot. She pulled out her supplies and created the masterpiece you see to the left.
*Aubree is ALWAYS singing. Sometimes she sings real songs, but more often than not she makes up stories
and turns them into song. Lately her singing has gotten increasingly intense. She furrows her eyebrows, cocks her head, and belts out her tunes with deep feeling.*While Bryce loves to wake up at the crack of dawn, Aubree is more like me - she likes to sleep in. If I ever want her to roll out of bed before 7:30 or 8 am, I literally have to pick her up and set her on the ground. Usually she responds to my wake-up call with an answer like, "Mom, I just want to sleep for hours." I think she might already be a teenager. For the record, she's almost always asleep by 7 or 7:30 pm, so she's not sleep deprived! The only times she gets up "early" is on the weekends when Dad's home. Then she hops happily out of bed as soon as she notices Bryce and Dad are up. Go figure.
*Aubree's a stickler for rules. She chastises me if I don't fully stop at stop signs or if I talk on my cell phone while driving.
* Aubree knows the truth about Santa. A few months before Christmas she asked randomly and seriously, "Mom, is Santa real?" It caught me totally off guard. I don't have a problem with Santa, in fact I appreciate the idea of what he represents. While I was content to go along with the concept of Santa, I couldn't bring myself to "lie" to her, so I answered her question honestly. She seem unfazed, and even acted like that made more sense to her. My biggest concern with her "knowing" was that she would tell her friends and ruin their belief, so I cautioned her against telling them. "But Mom," she argued, "they're WRONG!" She is still very concerned about what's "real" and frequently stops me when we're reading books or she's hearing a story to inquire as to whether it's "real or not."
*Aubree has some interesting quirks. For example, she likes to be sick and she likes to get shots. During a recent illness she wasn't eating her lunch, so I said, "you have to eat or you won't get better." Her response? "I don't want to get better, I like being sick." Why? She says it's because she likes getting medicine. And just to be clear, she got exactly one teaspoon of Tylenol over the course of her illness -TOTAL. 
She handles being sick so well - she didn't get that from me! A few months back we took Bryce to the doctor to get his follow-up flu shot. When Aubree found out Bryce was getting a shot, she cried huge crocodile tears - not from sympathy, but because she wanted a shot too.*In the last few months Aubree had her first dentist and eye doctor visits. She was a little nervous about going to the eye doctor, but ultimately handled both exams in her usual calm, "it's-no-big-deal" manner. The eye doctor said her vision was, "perfect." Hurray!!
*Though I can honestly say that the vast majority of the time Aubree is happy and helpful and wonderful, she certainly has her moments. Since turning four I've noticed that she's been a lot more emotional. Little things (like being asked to pick up her dress-up clothes) will occasionally result in her lying in a crying heap on her floor. A couple months ago we had about a three week period where she developed some serious attitude. Previously unheard phrases came flying out of her mouth in anger, such as, "I'm never playing with you, EVER
again" (and she was talking to me, not Bryce), or "You're so MEAN," or (my personal favorite), "You're BOSSING me" (why yes, yes I am!). These were often accompanied by a slamming door or a full-fledged tantrum. Very, very un-Aubree-like. She's generally so even-keel and rational. Thankfully the serious sass and attitude was (in retrospect) short-lived, but it still sometimes sneaks into her daily behavior.*During that same "attitude" time, she was really testing her limits and being uncharacteristically naughty. She was experimenting with lying and drawing on EVERYTHING: the walls (with fingernail polish!), chairs, tables, herself, her dolls, the blinds, her brother, the underside of the sink...it was maddening! At one point after discovering she'd drawn on her doll's face I threatened something extremely rational along the lines of, "If you don't stop I'll take away ALL your things and make you stay in your room with nothing!" She looked right back and said, "then I'll just draw all over the walls in my room." I'm pretty sure I had to pick my jaw up off the floor. Again, I'm happy to report there have been no inappropriate drawing incidences since those few terrible weeks.
*Aubree LOVES babies - she always, always has. I can remember her being only 10 months old and spending an entire 6 hour plane flight staring at a baby a few rows away. I believe she would be very sad as an only or youngest child. So, to
say she's excited about the prospect of a new baby in our family would be the understatement of the year! She's stopped saying "hello" or "goodnight" to me, instead she always addresses the baby in my belly. A trillion times a day she asks how or what the baby is doing and I sometimes wonder if she is also attached to my stomach. If I ever sit down, she's immediately in my lap, lying across my middle to feel the baby kick and roll and "give her a high five."*Every single day, Aubree tells me, "Mom, that baby sure is growing." Yes, dear. I know.
*Before we decided on a name for our new addition, Aubree frequently came up with suggestions. Some of her offerings included: "Keedan" (her running favorite), "Rintinco", "Meenter," etc. Good thing she didn't actually get to choose.
* The other night, while saying her night-time prayer, she prayed, "and please bless the baby that he will grow and be healthy and be smart [pause], like us." She has an abundance of self-confidence.
*Aubree still spends a
great amount of time role-playing. For a while, she liked to pretend to be Cinderella or Sleeping Beauty. When we played Cinderella it always cracked me up because she'd assign me to be Cinderella right until it was time for the Ball, then she'd take over the role. Why? Because "the glass slippers wouldn't fit my feet." Of course. I think it might also have something to do with not wanting to have to do lots of chores. Another popular, though somewhat disturbing, game is "Run-Away." In this game, Aubree and her siblings (and we're all assigned to be siblings) have to run away to "Uncle Eric's house," because our parents are either really mean or dead. Fun stuff.*
Aubree is very curious, observant, eager, and creative. Her drawings lately blow me away. She must have inherited her Grandma Graff's artistic ability because sometimes she honestly draws better than I do (not that, that's saying a whole lot...). One day we got a package in the mail and before I could throw out the box, Aubree asked if she could turn it into a robot. She pulled out her supplies and created the masterpiece you see to the left.
