Audrey walks amid turmoil

Audrey did her first real walk yesterday, taking as many as thirteen tottering steps across the living room floor. And happily, Hosanna got it on video:



This amid what has otherwise been a very turbulent couple of weeks, during which neither Audrey (constant teething, general restlessness) nor Aria (nightmares, feeling sick) has slept very well. We finally brought Aria's bed into our bedroom because we couldn't handle the constant comings and goings from her room, and because she kept saying things like "I don't want to be away from my family" when we'd put her to bed. After the move, Aria's mood improved a ton, but none of us is sleeping any better. So I guess it's still a work in progress.

The dynamic when Audrey started walking was very eye-opening. Hosanna and I were obviously very excited, but the more Audrey started walking, the madder Aria would get. From her perspective, all that was happening was we were paying attention to Audrey instead of playing the game with Aria. After the walking, Aria was more aggressive to Audrey than usual: pushing her over, grabbing toys away, yanking her hands off the couch, etc. It was really hard to watch. I really feel for Aria in these situations, because Audrey has exploded her world in so many ways, and you've got to think that she knows exactly what Audrey walking will mean: "Now she's going to be in my stuff even MORE." But at the same time, I'm so excited for the growth Audrey is going through, and just love watching her develop and explore the world in a way that's so different from how Aria went about it.

In other news this week, one more of Audrey's teeth came through - the final bottom front one. It didn't stop her teething behavior very much though, so more may be coming.