Christmas Day

Santa brought Matti a bear bigger than her! We had a wonderful Christmas which we were able to celebrate with Dana's family this year. Matti was definitely not forgotten by any of the family. It was so much fun to have kids around on Christmas morning. It brings back some of the magical aspects of Christmas that seem to fade a little as you get older. Matti is getting closer and closer to being able to roll over. She can make it about 3/4 of the way and then that silly arm gets in the way of letting her roll over the whole way. Matti has discovered her fingers and seems quite fascinated by them, particularly as a mid-day snack!

Matti and mom at the como park conservatory sunken garden.

Matti in her new chair

Snow Day

Matti is all ready for all the snow we are getting!

Rebecca and Aubrey

Auntie Rebecca battled the subzero MN temps to come and meet Aubrey

Mommy's First Day Back at Work

Daddy is babysitting - or rather "parenting" - Peanut today as Mommy went back to work. It's a tough transition and it will take some time for Mommy to be separated from the baby for this long, so we're easing into it. To help Mommy feel better, Daddy and Peanut made a video to say hello!

Our Hoot Owl

Yesterday and last night Aubrey wasn't quite sure what she wanted: fuss, eat, fuss, fill a diaper, fuss, sleep, fuss some more. Daddy sent Mommy to the gym to relax and managed the chaos for awhile.

We often joke that Aubrey looks like a space alien at night, when all you can see in the dark is her grayish, perfectly round little peanut head with two black eyes staring at you. It sometimes makes you want to look out the window to see if the mother ship is parked outside. Now that her personality is really starting to develop, she thought she'd have some fun with Daddy as he was putting her to bed. Her eyes were closed, but as he was laying her down in her bassinet the little black eyes popped open. She grinned and said a quick little "hoo!" It was hard not to say "hoo!" back.

Aubrey is sitting at the table in her high chair now during meals

A few of Mommy's favorite pictures

Our trick or treating outfit

In the outfit from Great Aunt Audrey

Just home from the hospital

12 hours old

Taking a bottle from daddy

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The Eyes Have It

The one sure-fire (well, pretty much sure-fire) way to get Aubrey to sleep in the evenings is to sit with her in the rocking chair, at just the right angle so her head gently lolls a little bit back and forth, back and forth, until the sleepy time magic starts to take effect. Hence the blog name, since we're rockin' with her pretty much every day.

At least for Daddy, some of my favorite moments have been those times when I'm rocking her and she's not quite ready to go to sleep. She looks up at me and smiles, and I look down at her and smile back, and we'll just hold that gaze and smile at each other for a long time. Her little eyes will twinkle like she has a little secret to tell me, that she can't quite put into words yet. But sometimes she'll let loose with an "oooooh" to try to tell me anyway.