All about Audra

It's been a little while since I've posted.  We've been busy living life!  Here are some recent photos to prove:

 My beautiful girl!

 Lunch at Five Guys...a step up from McDonalds

and for a little variety!

Wish all these burgers were actually putting some weight on her!

 

 Wearing mommy's glasses

 Putting on make up like mommy

 Loving Philly soft pretzels :)

Audra likes:
Having her hair done
Wearing hair bows
Folding or rolling paper...especially newspaper
Imitating our gestures...it's hysterical!
Looking at pictures...especially pictures of herself :)
Looking at herself in the mirror
Going down the slide
Taking her medicine (even in her sleep)
Peanut butter...by the spoonful
Eating, in general...but especially ice cream
Scratching daddy's back
Giving high-five's
Having daddy kiss the back of each of her hands like she's royalty

Audra dislikes:
Brushing her teeth
Baths (and getting wet in general)
Swings
Pizza (the only food she has ever pushed away)
When someone takes a bite of HER food
Using a fork
Walking barefoot in grass
Animals, especially dogs
Characters (people in costume)
When mama grabs her keys and purse...she knows it means I am going somewhere

Words she knows in sign language:
More
Please
Thank you
Eat
Potty
All done
Stop

Words she can say:
Mama
Baba (daddy)
Pop-Pop
Bye bye
Ball
Stop
Potty
Bubble
"Woo-woo" (for woof-woof when she sees a dog)

She is starting to learn the names of body parts and colors.  She really is so smart, considering she has only been hearing the English language for 12 weeks  (did I just type that?!...tomorrow will be twelve weeks that she has been with us!!)  She can follow many commands with no gestures from us at all...so she understands most of what we say to her:
put on your shoes
get dressed
time to eat, set the table
put that in the trash
pick up the toy
let's go outside
time for a bath
brush your teeth
it's bedtime

She still speaks to us in Cantonese all day long.  Lucky for us, she doesn't seem to be upset by the fact that we have no idea what she is saying to us.  I keep taking video clips of her chattering, I don't ever want to forget the adorable sound of her talking in Cantonese.  Someday it will be gone, and I will miss it. 

It is still very difficult for her to settle down and fall asleep.  She does not like to be touched when she is trying to fall asleep, so no cuddling.  (Although, she does love to cuddle, snuggle and be held during the day)  She will roll all around for a long time until she finally gives in to her exhaustion.  She seems to need the room completely dark and silent, she will fall asleep much faster that way.  But the long summer days are not helping since it is still light outside until at least 8:30pm...which means her long bedtime routine can't start before then. 

As for a medical update: 
Last week Audra's bloodwork showed normal inflammatory markers (**yeah**) for the first time in two months!  This is very good news :)  She also had another ultrasound which showed no change in the abscesses from two weeks prior.  So they are still there, but they are small.  So, because they are small and her bloodwork was normal the Infectious Disease doctor said she could stop the antibiotics.  Secretly, I was kinda hoping we could just keep her on the antibiotics until she is, like, 18 years old...since she has been feeling so good while on them.  But, obviously that is not an option, so now we will wait and see how she does off them, hoping that the abscesses will eventually go away on their own over time.  We were told that ANY fever she has needs to be evaluated by her pediatrician right away, and she will need to have a urine culture and bloodwork done. 

So for now...just loving life antibiotic free!  Which her belly really appreciates :)