Aubrey Evelyn
Noble Ruler. Beautiful Bird. We didn't even look up the meanings before we decided on a name. In the almost 20 months that she's graced our lives, these meanings have come to fit her perfectly.
Aubrey is my strong-willed child. She will nod her head in agreement and then do the opposite of what I ask. She will watch me leave something for a split second, waltz over to it, grab it and run away laughing the entire time. We taught her to wave, say "bye bye" and blow kisses. She did them each - once. Then she decided that she had impressed us and had no reason to do so again until she chose to.
The other night, as we were putting little sister to sleep, we heard screaming suddenly come from Aubrey's room. In a panic, I ran to her room and threw open the door. What I saw astounded me. There was my 19-month-old baby girl running laps in her crib, swinging her blanket in circles above her head. No lie. When she spotted me, she stopped, said "hi mama" and continued her rain dance. We don't set the timer on her sound machine anymore. We found her waking up in the middle of the night and turning it back on. What happens if she gets tired of "Rock-a-Bye Baby"? She just changes it to the sound of rain or a heartbeat.
What about our bedtime ritual? Whatever we're doing, I say "Aubrey, let's go take a bath." She then proceeds to tell everything in the room "byyyyyye" and runs to the bathroom. When we're finished in the bath, she puts on her pajamas, runs back into the living room, kisses her Daddy and sister and ALL her dolls and animals, grabs her blanket and heads to bed. We then have a conversation about the letters in her room, the humidifier, the curtains, her stuffed animals and the mobile hanging above her crib. I don't hear anything else out of her until around 11 the next morning. She's never crying - just singing at the top of her lungs - so I go in and get her and we begin our day. I told you - she's amazing.
She occupies herself in a way no child ever has. Of course we play together every chance I get, but sometimes little sister needs a bottle or some attention of her own and Aubrey is left to her imagination. I didn't realize how tall she was getting until I left my makeup bag too close to the edge of the counter. She never attempts these things until I'm unavailable, so I knew she was up to something. She was sitting in her lady bug chair with my makeup bag when I began seeing q-tips sailing across the living room. She's all about taking things out and putting them back in containers so I knew she would clean up the mess when she was ready. What I didn't know was that each and every q-tip would have to pass through her nose and mouth (in that order) before reentering the makeup bag.
I share these stories because they made me smile. They made me realize what an amazing little woman we have and what great responsibility we have to train her in the way she should go. She's strong-willed and stubborn, and when she flutters her eyelashes she will melt your heart. Noble Ruler. Beautiful Bird. And now my beautiful bird is singing her morning song.
Aubrey is my strong-willed child. She will nod her head in agreement and then do the opposite of what I ask. She will watch me leave something for a split second, waltz over to it, grab it and run away laughing the entire time. We taught her to wave, say "bye bye" and blow kisses. She did them each - once. Then she decided that she had impressed us and had no reason to do so again until she chose to.
The other night, as we were putting little sister to sleep, we heard screaming suddenly come from Aubrey's room. In a panic, I ran to her room and threw open the door. What I saw astounded me. There was my 19-month-old baby girl running laps in her crib, swinging her blanket in circles above her head. No lie. When she spotted me, she stopped, said "hi mama" and continued her rain dance. We don't set the timer on her sound machine anymore. We found her waking up in the middle of the night and turning it back on. What happens if she gets tired of "Rock-a-Bye Baby"? She just changes it to the sound of rain or a heartbeat.
What about our bedtime ritual? Whatever we're doing, I say "Aubrey, let's go take a bath." She then proceeds to tell everything in the room "byyyyyye" and runs to the bathroom. When we're finished in the bath, she puts on her pajamas, runs back into the living room, kisses her Daddy and sister and ALL her dolls and animals, grabs her blanket and heads to bed. We then have a conversation about the letters in her room, the humidifier, the curtains, her stuffed animals and the mobile hanging above her crib. I don't hear anything else out of her until around 11 the next morning. She's never crying - just singing at the top of her lungs - so I go in and get her and we begin our day. I told you - she's amazing.
She occupies herself in a way no child ever has. Of course we play together every chance I get, but sometimes little sister needs a bottle or some attention of her own and Aubrey is left to her imagination. I didn't realize how tall she was getting until I left my makeup bag too close to the edge of the counter. She never attempts these things until I'm unavailable, so I knew she was up to something. She was sitting in her lady bug chair with my makeup bag when I began seeing q-tips sailing across the living room. She's all about taking things out and putting them back in containers so I knew she would clean up the mess when she was ready. What I didn't know was that each and every q-tip would have to pass through her nose and mouth (in that order) before reentering the makeup bag.
I share these stories because they made me smile. They made me realize what an amazing little woman we have and what great responsibility we have to train her in the way she should go. She's strong-willed and stubborn, and when she flutters her eyelashes she will melt your heart. Noble Ruler. Beautiful Bird. And now my beautiful bird is singing her morning song.
Comments
Post a Comment