Christmas Recap

I know I've only done this Christmas thing twice, but I'm starting to notice a pattern. Christmas Eve clam chowder at Nana and Papa Mike's, Christmas breakfast at home, and Christmas dinner at Grandma's house. Mom said I should not expect a change in schedule anytime soon, as the Williams' are big on tradition. Speaking of clam chowder, Dad sure got excited when I ate four of his buttered garlic clams cooked right in the shell on Christmas Eve. Nana and Mom were not as impressed, but they were pleased that someone ate their share of the clams.


Check out my new wheels! Thanks, Santa!

Mom pulled out the fancy crystal for Christmas breakfast and Daddy made his bacon gruyere bread pudding for the second year in a row. I smell the start of another tradition!

Christmas Ships

Another advantage, besides swings, to living so close to Matthews Beach Park and Lake Washington is that we can walk to see the Christmas ships. For the past three years we've had family over to walk down to see the ships and and listen to the carolers. Then we all head back for yummy food and drink - this year 1) roasted bell pepper, oregano and pork shoulder chili and 2) beef barley and mushroom soup. It is also fun because all five of my cousins get together.

Almost there!

The gang!

What's up cuz? O que pasa primos?

I am excited for the Solemnity of the Nativity (Dad, can't we just call it Christmas like everyone else?) I've been looking at these pretty blue boxes long enough. I don't really care what is inside, I just want to play with the cardboard.

Corks

Thanks to Daddy there is no shortage of wine corks around the house and while I've got 20 years before I can truly drink it, I've master the art of the sniff. This particular cork, if you can't tell from the symbol on it, came from a lovely bottle of Folie a Deux Zinfandel that we cracked open for cousin Nicholas' 21st Birthday dinner. It had a lovely tannin with hints of plum and cherry.

A December Night on the Town

This week the family decided to head downtown for an evening after work.

The night started at Tom Douglas' Serious Pie restaurant for some of Seattle's most renowned pizza.

We then headed to Pacific Place for the 6 o'clock snow show. After the snow we checked out many nutcrackers and shops. My favorite store was Top Ten Toys; I could have stayed in there for hours. Dad told mommy I was acting like a kid in a toy store (mommy groaned too).

Anyhow, here are some pictures of the night's highlights.

Spicy pepper bomb and venison sausage - Yum.

Let it snow - Seattle style - every night in December 6pm at Pacific Place.

Whoa daddy, that dude has a huge head.

Hhmmm? I wonder why dad made me try this Sounders FC jersey on in three sizes and then asked for a gift box?

Advent Season Activities

It has been a busy first two weeks of Advent. It took four days to get the Christmas decorations up . . . thanks to me! I had a fun Saturday night on the vigil of St. Nicholas with the Feeneys, Hanzelis, and Laurinos - the best part about that of course was that Dominic and Daniel were here; and I guess daddy cooked a nice French meal. We took a trip to Leavenworth; daddy sampled 32 wines and I loved the spicy paprika salami. We've done family nights out to Laurelhurst Park and Green Lake for Christmas lights and carols and Christmas music is usually on in the house or car.

What you don't see photographed was after mommy set me down, the major league fit I threw! I wanted to continue playing with the lights and shiny balls. I haven't been back on the table since!

Here I am inspecting daddy's progress putting up the Christmas lights.

The Hunt for O Tannenbaum

On the first Sunday of Advent (note the appropriately themed purple outfit) we set out to find the perfect Christmas tree. For some reason mom and dad decided we needed a shorter tree this year because they want to elevate the tree on a table. With my potato rosemary bread in hand, off we went to the local tree stand in Wedgwood to find a cute noble fir. Mommy made sugar cookies, we drank hot cocoa and played Christmas tunes.

I was confused that I couldn't play with all the shiny balls (a.k.a. ornaments). One casualty was the Virgin Mary's wooden head of the Nativity Scene that I dropped, (thankfully reattached with a little super glue), the other casualty was the folks nerves as I got into EVERYTHING! Here are some of the things I overheard mom and dad say:

"Where's the super glue?"
"Do we need all these decorations?"
"Does the tree need lights?"
"No."
"Does Audrey need to take a nap?"
"Oh no!"
"Give that to mommy."
"Don't put that in your mouth."
"Aye!"
"Do you think she can reach that?"
"I think we will need a new centerpiece."
"No No No!"
"I love you Audrey Bernadette."

Is this the one?

O.k. let's go home

The Zoo Part Deux

During the busy Thanksgiving weekend mom, dad, grandma and me took a couple of hours to go to the Woodland Park Zoo. It was my fourth time there, but two of the other times were just for ZooTune concerts. We had a grand time, there was almost no one there yet the animals where out in force.

Walking the Walk

I've been dabbling in this walking thing for about a month or more now, and I think crawling may still be a faster mode to get around, but according to mom and dad November 25 was probably the first day I actually walked more than I crawled.

P.S. - just in time to help with eating Thanksgiving dinner, I am cutting my first molar.

I don't like dairy

I have a remarkably broad pallet so far in my early eating adventures. For example I tried daddy's homemade tapenade recently (Niçoise and Kalamata olives, capers, anchovies, and lemon zest) and I loved it! Lamb, veal, ox tail, all green veggies, most fruits, white and wheat breads, potatoes - all good.

There is one notable food group I can do without however -- dairy! YUCKY!! Cheese - No, yogurt - barf, milk - gag. But a girls got to be reasonable, so I've made two exceptions to my no dairy rule - ice cream and whip cream. Here's a recent photo my cousin Gabrielle took as a sampled mommy's famous homemade whip cream. YUMMY!!

Hey Daddy, Why the Long Face?

This is daddy and me moping around after Sounders FC lost recently to the darn Houston Dynamo in the playoffs. Truthfully I think daddy was more sad about it than me, I mostly like playing with the scarf.

I am looking forward to 2010 season though because the word on the street is that I will be a big enough girl that mommy and daddy might take me to a few of the games. They thought the noisy crowds would scare me this year.

Halloween & All Saints Day

It was a busy weekend. First was Halloween. I was a scary lion when I rrrrrooooarrrrred! Clearly you can see how scary I am in these photos. I made the rounds to see my cousins, Aunts, and grandparents. If you listen closely in the video with Nana you will hear my roar.



All Saints Day was also a great occasion as Fr. Steve Maekawa O.P. was in town so saw him at Mass at the Catholic Newman Center. We saw him the prior weekend too at Blessed Sacrament. (Yes, mommy is a bit of a Fr. Steve groupie.) He is the priest who baptized me back in January and he is very special to mom and dad.

We ran into many friends after Mass and here is a picture of me with my blog buddies Daniel and Dominc, their daddies, and Fr. Steve. (From L to R: Christopher, Daniel, Dominic, Matthew, Fr. Steve, daddy and me!)

Fall Leaves

With so much wind and rain this week, the giant dogwood in the front yard lost almost all of its beautiful foliage. I thought I better get in some play time before daddy rakes up all the leaves. I love to place the leaves on the stone bench. And boy did I get my a bunch of dirt underneath my fingernails!

Audrey's One Year Photos

We recently had Audrey Bernadette's First Birthday Photos done by an amazing photographer recommended to us by our wonderful friends Amy and Joseph. Please check them out here

10 Oct 2009 - I'm ONE!!!

Here’s a little about me on my first birthday

Height – 2 feet 6 inches, 67th percentile
Weight – 18.3 pounds, 9th percentile
Shoe size – 4 ½
States visited in Year 1 – Washington, Oregon, Hawaii, and Illinois

These are a few of my favorite things:

Girls in white dresses with blue satin . . . just joking
Favorite word – Hi
Favorite sound to mimic – “Uuufff Uuufff” which is a barking dog
Favorite fruit – raspberries
Favorite veggie – asparagus
Favorite meat – salmon
Favorite snack – original goldfish
Favorite drink – mommy’s milk
2nd favorite drink – N/A
Favorite park – Matthew’s Beach Park
Favorite head movement – rapid shaking of head no no no no
Favorite activity - swinging
Favorite activity when mom and dad aren’t watching– climbing stairs!
Favorite nighttime activity – waking up about every 2 hours or so
Favorite game – peek-a-boo
Favorite song – "I’m Yours” by Jason Mraz
Favorite character – Eebee baby
Favorite book - That's not my Pony
Favorite prayer – Prayer Before Meal followed by a brief Litany of Saints (I try to make mommy and daddy laugh)
Favorite saint – St. Bernadette of Lourdes (naturally)
Favorite Poem –
Wherever the Catholic sun doth shine,
There’s always laughter and good red wine.
At least I’ve always found it so.
Benedicamus Domino!

Thanks for checking out my blog during my first year of life. I hope you’ve enjoyed it. Please continue to be an abdub.blogspot.com follower as I grow and grow.

Pax – Audrey Bernadette Williams

PS – birthday pictures coming soon

Smore Time

Aunt Laura, Uncle Albert and my cousins Nicholas and Gabrielle came over recently for an excellent Greek dinner followed by a not so Greek dessert - smores in the back yard.

Me and the family around the fire pit waiting for perfect coals. Appears Cousin Nicholas was still a little blue about the Seahawks loss.

Hanging with my godmother - Aunt Laura.

I'll have a smore please! Daddy says only dark chocolate though, minimum 60% cocoa.
Daddy is always looking out for my best interests.

Mommy, Mommy - not the fire - I promise I'll sleep better tonight.

Did I mention I love to swing?

In a previous post I mentioned how much I love having the Matthew's Beach Park swings only two minutes from home. But now it is even better, Auntie Patti got me my very own plane swing and Daddy hung it on the back porch.

♫ Let's go Swimming, Let's go Swimming ♫

Mommy signed me up for 10 weeks of swim lessons at Meadowbrook Community Center. Here's a couple of photos from my inaugural splash. I was a little unsure at first, but under mommy's care and protection, soon I was all smiles.

On a related note, I've not been all smiles lately. I am cutting more teeth. Number 7 just popped through and I think several more are about to. It makes it hard to sleep. On Friday I woke up for good at 2am and last night at 3:45am!! No wonder mommy and daddy call Starbucks St. Ourbucks.

Play Time at Matthew's Beach Park

I had a grand time at Matthew's Beach Park on a recent family walk on another glorious September afternoon. I was especially fond of the swing. I think it is most excellent that home is only a two minute walk to the park swings.

Play Ball

Daddy wants me to play volleyball and soccer . . .

Mommy would rather I play cello. . . .
So far, it looks like I am a daddy's girl. Exhibit A .

Crawling Update

You might be wondering why my blog was updated on August 8 and again on August 9, but then nothing for over three weeks? Easy, I started crawling on August 10, opening drawers on August 11 and I pretty much gave up napping too!! They chase after me every moment. In fact it has taken daddy over two hours to do this update as I have interrupted him 27 times . . . so far. Here is one of the many crawling videos they've captured.

Walking through Fields of Lavender

Here's a nice photo of daddy's beautiful ladies amongst the lavender fields on a recent family outing to Whidbey Island.

Summer Styling!

Mommy's best friend Emily bought me this excellent summer outfit. I found the sunglasses to be more useful as a teething ring than sun protection.