Happy Second Birthday, Audrey Grace

Happy second birthday, Audrey Grace!

Our wild child is officially two years old. I know I say it way too much but I really have no idea how this happened so quickly. It really feels like she was born only a few months ago! It’s crazy to think that our last baby is already two years old and growing so quicky!

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HAPPY SECOND BIRTHDAY, AUDREY GRACE

Audrey is obviously feeling very “two” and does only what she wants.

“Hold this sign so Mom can take my birthday photo? Nah.”

We have had a lot going on with Audrey over the past six months. I mentioned in her 18-month update that we were struggling with her weight. Unfortunately, this has only gotten worse. Audrey was diagnosed failure to thrive by her GI in April when her weight dropped down the 2nd percentile.

Because her weight dropped so much, we made the decision to give Audrey whatever she would eat instead of avoiding any possible allergens. But I feel that because her diet was so restricted for several months, we actually caused her to become super picky with food which caused her poor weight gain. It’s so frustrating to see her refuse meal after meal and then proceed to cry all evening because she is hungry.

Not all days are like this, though. Some days she will surprise us and eat everything we offer her. Some days she’ll try something new and actually like it. But because those days are so few and because she was diagnosed failure to thrive, we recently had her evaluated by Arizona Early Intervention. She was approved for feeding therapy with an occupational therapist. This will begin the first week of August. We are hopeful that we can get her eating balanced meals and that she will grow and develop appropriately.

I’ll admit that her weight and food avoidance weighs heavy on my mind almost daily. But there are a lot of really great things happening, too.

She is sleeping so well at night and takes one long nap during the day.

And Audrey is so smart! She talks so, so much! She is learning new words daily and she has started using 3-4 word phrases. Often I catch myself being so surprised by how much we communicate with each other.

Some of her favorite phrases:

“That’s mine!” Used if the object is or is not hers. She doesn’t care. She believes it is all hers.

“I got it.” Used when we try to help her with something that she thinks she can do herself.

“I don’t want it.” Used when we try to get her to eat, put on clothes, sit down, etc.

“I love you much.” Used when she is being super cute & sweet trying to get us to forget about how difficult she can be!

She has stopped calling Noah “boys” and instead calls him and Connor by their names.

Audrey loves to play with LEGO Duplos and reading (and ripping up) books is still one of her favorite things to do. She loves the pool and thinks she can swim so she doesn’t want anyone to hold her in the pool.

We are going to start potty training in a couple of weeks. She’s showing signs of being ready so I am really hoping she’ll do well and catch on quickly.

I am really excited about this next year and stage in her development. She’s so much fun and I can’t wait to get her involved in classes (we are starting a music class in August) and around more kids her age.

Sis, you are wild and fun and challenging and really sweet. I love being your mama and look forward to watching you grow and learn. Happy Birthday, Baby. I love you!