So as all of you know, Travis, Aurora, and I are finally living together in a not-too-shabby place in Yelm, Washington. Yelm is a growing town (still not much bigger than Williston...a few big grocery stores, a car wash, etc etc, and LOTS of housing, but still a "small" town), and for me, it's major highlight is the SUPER Wal-Mart. "Why?," you may ask...well, because there is NEVER too many people there!! :-) I can always find parking in the HUGE parking lot that isn't too far away from the entrance. YAY!!
I promise to post many more pictures of the inside once I get the whole house unpacked and in order. Yes, I have not finished unpacking. Don't ask. Lol.
Now on to the little one....
Aurora is nice and adjusted to the new house. One of her favorite conquests is climbing the stairs, and for those of you who already knew that, I bet you didn't know that she knows how to climb DOWN now too!! Travis taught her a few days ago, and she did it a couple of times, but she prefers to pretend she's a damsel in distress and likes to be rescued anyway.
She is also very into letting us know when she doesn't want to do things. She shakes her head from side-to-side when we ask her to "come" to us, or "you want to brush your teeth?", or "GET DOWN!"....well, she just smiles at me with that last one...and THEN shakes her head "No" at me.
She does have her cherished moments where she spontaneously comes over to me and wraps her little arms around my neck and squeezes as hard as she can. We call that "Love Love". Or, we say "Kiss Kiss" or "Damelo Beso" and she opens her mouth and leans in for a kiss. I don't know why she keeps her mouth open, BUT she doesn't bite anymore!! :-) YAY!!
On April 12th, she took her first steps. On occasion, she will stand on her own for a few seconds, but eventually falls back down and continues on crawling on her hands and knees. She's also developed a strange crawl where she plants both feet or one foot one the ground and crawls that way. Back when she first took her first steps, she seemed enthusiastic about her ability. Lately, however, she's retracted a little bit, and doesn't really take much interest in walking anymore. But I'm sure in time she will.
Her vocabulary is getting a bit more extensive. She says "Dada", "Dad", "Da" a LOT more than she says "Mama" or "Mum", and in a much happier tone. The only time she calls for me is when she's mad that I won't pick her up, or after we put her in her crib for the night. Other than that, she sure loves to call out for her Daddy. She recognizes who is who and knows how to associate some words with items. For example, when I ask her, "Donde esta agua?" she looks at her cup of water. When I say, "Where's your cookie?" she looks at the toast cracker I'd given her. When it's dinnertime, she lets me know she's hungry by jumbling lots of baby jargon in with "num num" somewhere in there. And I've finally figured out what "Baba" is....Bottle.
Aurora loves to suck on ice cubes, as the video below portrays. Don't worry. We supervise her efforts very very closely when she's gumming it down. Watch her facial expressions as she touches the ice. I unfortunately missed the initial expression, but this quick preview gives you an idea...
Aurora has a newfound pleasure in feeding US food. She finds it quite humorous when she picks up a piece of food, holds it out to either Travis or myself, and we lean in and gobble up her whole hand in our mouths until she releases the food. She will alternate between feeding herself and feeding us. She is learning to share. :-)
"Here Daddy...Want some saimin?"
"You're so funny, Daddy!"
Banana-milkshake face
Travis and Aurora have become very much acquainted at this point. They are like long lost friends. She loves to play rough with him (spinning around, wrestling, hanging upside down, or sitting on his shoulders) and always seems to know when 5 o'clock rolls around and that Daddy is supposed to be home. Once she hears the garage door opening, she whips her head around and says "Dada!" And when he comes through the door, she is the first person to get greeted upon his arrival because nobody can ignore that precious smile from ear-to-ear.
Daddy giving Aurora a bottle after work.
Rough-housing in the kitchen
Our trip to Washington was uneventful (Thankfully!) except for two very quick, but very worthwhile visits. Aurora got to meet her Uncle Jimmy and Uncle Zach for the first time. My brother, Jimmy and his family (wife, Jennifer, and daughter Maylina, 8) live in Chandler, Arizona. We stopped in only for a couple of hours, but it was well deserved after crossing 6 states prior. The following day, we made it across the rest of Arizona into California, where we met up with Travis' big brother, Zach. We also were privileged to meet Zach's girlfriend, Fern as well. Zach and Fern were gracious enough to give Aurora a nice LOUD toy to keep her occupied and happy for the duration of our trip. And yes guys....she STILL loves that stupid turtle. Lol. I unfortunately have no pictures of either reunions because both Travis' and my cameras died somewhere along the trip and we didn't know where our chargers were. :-(
Aurora was not the best of travellers THIS time, but who can blame the kid, right? As a matter of a fact, I retract that statement. She was GREAT for being cooped up in her carseat for 6 days. We made several necessary stops at rest stops, restaurants, and hotels to recooperate and stretch out our limbs. Aurora very quickly learned what getting back into the carseat meant, and was sure to let us know that she was NOT happy to return to the seat so soon. It took a while after finally arriving here before she realized that getting into the seat now doesn't mean we'll be taking a drive all day long. The trick is distraction. ;-) That turtle toy sure does come in handy now-a-days....
Travis is becoming adjusted to his new post and new company slowly but surely, as I am becoming quite acquainted with the house. Travis has gotten to know a fellow soldier named SPC John Zonker so far. John's wife, Christine, was very eager to get acquainted with Aurora and myself. They have 17-year old and 5-year old sons, but to my horror, I've forgotten their names as I've only met this family once. Besides Christine, another acquaintance who is quickly becoming a close friend is Kate. "Katie" (as I like to call her to drive her crazy) is an Airman's wife, and her husband is stationed on McChord Air Force Base. Kate has 5 kids, 2 of which are newborn twin girls. She tells me a hundred times a day how adorable she thinks Aurora is (how ironic...), but I can't get over how darn cute HER kids are!! Kate's already been awarded a gate key to our community, because I keep telling her I'm going to go crazy being cooped up in the house without occasional visitors. I've visited her home on McChord once before and enjoyed the company and the chaos that ensues when that many kids come together in one room. Kate's been to our home once, but we plan to make our visits more regular.
So that's about it folks. I've included everything that I can think to include. I apologize for not having more pictures, but I promise to keep my posts frequent.
Take care everyone, God Bless you all, and don't be afraid to write, email, or call. :-)
-The Hynsons-
(360)894-1493
18124 Sundown Ct SE
Yelm, WA 98597
hynsons@gmail.com
