48 weeks - 11 months

So much has gone on this week.  Where do I begin.

Let's start with food since that seems to be a staple ingredient of the day.  Avery continues to eat just about everything that you put in front of her.  We started giving her scrambled eggs this week and she loves them!  I also have had to start buying kids meals now since she eats just about as much as we do.  She is such a little piggy.  I do love taking her to Souplantation since she eats so much and she can try so many new things there. She also got her first Popsicle this week...let's just say she had fun!

As far as her schedule goes, it has stayed the same going down for bed around 7:30 and waking up around 6:30 or 7.  We have been in SD since Wednesday and there has been so much going on here that she has gotten a little off schedule but I think that it is a result of all the craziness going on with Christmas and family and friends around but she has done a pretty good job sleeping through most of it.  When she is napping she is out and there is not much that will wake her up.

This was Avery's first Christmas and boy did she have a good time.  She is old enough to know she is getting some cool stuff but clueless to the rest of it.  In fact she is still a little more interested in eating the wrapping of it.  I will say there some of the toys she got she was really into and I am sure it will be a constant cycle of what toys and books she likes for the moment.

Christmas Eve was quite a treat for us in that my cousin Aly got surprised engaged and married!  I know that may sound a bit strange bit it's the truth. Let me rewind a month or two.  Aly and Joey have been together for about 5 years now.  They found out a few months ago that they are expecting a baby girl in early May(hooray, a friend for Avery!).  Anyways, they knew they wanted to get married but now it was all about timing.  Joey called and me told me he wanted to surprise her on Christmas Eve and propose and get married all at once without her knowing anything.  Well he pulled it off and she was SOO surprised and excited.  I am sure it was a mix of emotions but all the right kind.  She looked beautiful as he told her they were going to a ball of some sort later that night so they were both dressed up.  It was a perfect evening and that much more special that it was on Christmas Eve!

Grandpa even came down to spend Christmas with us.  This is his first time meeting Avery and he has not been down here since our wedding, over four years ago.. It was great to see him!

She also met a cute little boy who is Aly's best friend Jen's son.  They sure hit it off!

We spent the next day on Christmas laying low after all the craziness of the day before. After Avery's first nap we had a nice breakfast and opened up presents. Santa left a nice fun present for Avery that we call "Charlie horse"  You can just see the excitement in her eyes!

She has such a fun time looking at her new gifts and walking around the room checking things out.  I know this is just the beginning of many wonderful Christmas's to come.

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and have a safe New Years!

47 weeks

Mr and Mrs Santa Clause was the big news of the week!  We finally made it to meet Santa and Avery didn't cry.  I wasn't sure how she would do since she is majorly in a mommy only stage but she actually did pretty well.  She didn't cry and didn't smile but overall did pretty well.  We may try it again this next week if we get a chance.  She really was just quite interested in starting at Mr. and Mrs. Clause the whole time.  She kept staring at them.  Here is a picture from it.

Avery has finally allowed us to put shoes on her.  In the past she would rip them off in two seconds but I think that she has finally got used to them and since she walks all the time I think she likes them on her feet rather than her bare feet.

Here schedule is still the same... Sleep by 7:30 and wakes up around 7.  Then her naps are from 10-12 and 3-4:30 or 5.  She is a never eating machine...the girls never stops and there are very few foods that she doesn't like!  That sure makes our lives easier!

This last week she has really turned a corner as far as understanding what we are saying.  If I tell her to go get something that she is familiar with, she will go get it and bring it back.  I will tell her to go get a book, or her ball, or her blankee.  She will look for it, go get it, and bring it back.

Every morning we have the same  routine where she will wake up around 7, I will go get her and bring her back to bed to feed her.  Once she is done, she sits up, points to Sophey, since she knows she is under the blankets, and then we play and snuggle for a bit.  Then I get out of bed and wash my face and brush my teeth while she plays on the floor with anything that she can find.  She has some toys in there but she prefers any and all of my things which I don't mind.  I am sure that it is just the beginning of her wanting what I have...

She still loves to stack things and put things inside of other things.

She can blow kisses and is becoming such a good little snuggler! She is growing every single day and every day she seems to understand more and learn new things.
Along with her new found "tricks" she has also learned to test her boundaries.  She throws little temper tantrums when she doesn't get what she wants and it is pretty hard not to laugh at her.   I know she is just learning what she can and can't get away with so we are trying to figure out how to best handle them and what we as parents should be doing.  It sure is a learning curve though!

We are excited for Christmas this next week and looking forward to spending time with friends and family.  Here are some pictures from the week.

Step....and....

Fall!

Ok I will just pick it up!

46 weeks

And we have another tooth!  She officially is a four tooth little monster.  She still has not been affected by teething but I do know that may not always be the case.  I will just continue to count my blessings for having those teeth come in with no problem thus far!

A few things have changed this week.  First off, our little walker has been sleeping until about 7 am every morning which is so nice!  I love waking up and having her still be asleep.  She is still going down between 7:30 and 8 at night.  My opinion of that extra hour of sleep is that now that she is walking she is exerting more energy so she needs more sleep.  What gets me though is that she still takes 2 solid 2 hour+ naps every day.  So all in all she sleeps about 16 hours each day right now which is crazy!  I will just enjoy it while it lasts!

Secondly, we had a few incidents last week with biting while I was feeding her.  With two teeth on top and bottom it did not feel too good let me tell you.  What I realized was that she was getting agitated because she was not getting enough milk so I called her doctor to figure out what to do.  Because she is 10 and half months the Dr. said that was able to start on regular milk rather than starting her on formula.  So, after 10.5 months, she had first sippy cup of regular organic milk.  I am now just feeding her in the morning and night and we have not had any other incidents.  I am really happy that I was able to give her just breast milk for this long and that she likes regular milk and takes it without a problem.  We are just giving it to her a few times during the day in a cup so hopefully by the time she is 12 months she will be off bottles completely.

Every day and week with Avery continues to be an adventure.  She is really growing into such a fun little toddler right before our eyes. She loves to dance and now knows her head, toes, ears and will do them on command.  She also loves the "if your happy and you know it clap your hands" song and will clap and stomp her feet on cue.  It has got to be one of the cutest things in the world to see.  As soon as any music starts, she starts to dance and bounce and just moves her body in every which way!

Eating is another fun adventure.  She continues to try new things but still loves olives and quesidilla the most along with apple sauce.  I have just about given up on bibs because she rips them off in two seconds! She has even begun to try to feed herself with a spoon which has been quite interesting.  In fact here is a picture of her shirt after one of her attempts at feeding herself.  I know practice makes perfect right?

Sophey and Avery continue to love each other and they don't really ever separate.  They like the same toys and there are many nights when we have to go get Sophey out of Avery's room when its time for us to go to bed.

She also loves to look at the Christmas cards that we get each week and even tries to put them back where they belong although that doesn't work too well!

We celebrated Hannukah this week with Ben's family and Avery had a ton of presents to open yet all she wanted to do was eat the paper.  She did get some pretty great things from Grandma and Grandpa and Aunt Stephanie and Cousin Mordechai!

Here are few pictures from the week.

45 Weeks

We spent the last week in San Diego..again!  I feel like we spend the majority of November in San Diego but we are finally home, at least for a few weeks! I am just really happy that Avery sleeps so good when we are not at home or else don't think that I would enjoy being in San Diego as much!

So let's see, what has changed in the past week.  Avery continues to be a avid walker and in fact she really doesn't crawl too often any more.  She still falls a little bit but now instead of falling and crawling she falls and gets right back up. She hasn't had any nasty spills or falls yet so I am praying that doesn't happen but I am sure at some point it will.

I took a couple of days off of work last week and we got out a bit in San Diego.  We went to the zoo with my friend Christy and her daughter Gwen and then had a few other friends over that night with their kids so it was a mommy and baby party.  It sure is nice to get together with my friends in SD who have kids and I am looking forward to watching them grow up together.  Now all we have to do is move back to San Diego.  Here is a picture of three of the kids when Avery was 4 months and then again at 10 months.  We created the same picture on the same couch.  What a difference a few months makes!

Avery continues to expand her palate and pretty much eats whatever we give her.  I actually just went to Babies R Us yesterday and returned all of her baby food that she wants nothing to do with.  Our little baby is turning into a full blown toddler!

She is still having milk three times a day and taking two solid naps at 9 and 2.  I know at some point she will move to one long nap but I am not sure when that will happen. She really is a happy baby but in the past 2 weeks she had really developed a distinct personality.  She knows what she wants and when she wants it and gets a bit vocal if she doesn't get her way.  I am trying to teach her that she won't always get what she wants and I am sure that this is just a fun stage she is going through!  She also got her first top tooth so that may be contributing to her new found personality!

Here's to another great week!