44 weeks - 10 months

What a week.  This week was full of firsts!

We started the week out by driving out to San Diego late Tuesday night when it was her bed time.  The idea of having Avery in a car when she is awake for 5 hours seems awful with how busy she is so we wait until its her bed time then pack her up in her car seat and off we go.  She slept just about the whole time and then when we got to San Diego she was awake for about an hour getting settled and checking the place out.  She did sleep in until almost 9am the next day which was nice.

Wednesday we went to Legoland and she had a blast!  She went on her first mini roller-coaster and the funny thing was that when we got up in the front of the line, the guy asked if she could walk.  I said yes she could but she is not used to walking in shoes so she is a little wobbly.  He said that if she could walk three steps then she could go on the ride.  So, I put her down and she took her three plus steps and she was cleared to go on the ride! We explored the park for a few hours and Avery was just in awe of everything there.  I loved watching her soak everything in there.  You could just see her little mind working in overtime!

The next day was Thanksgiving.  As a tradition, we always run a 5K in the morning as a family so off we went to the 5K.  Avery was such a trooper and enjoyed being pushed in her stroller while everyone else ran/walked.  Aunt Beckie wanted to take her out of the stroller with about a mile left to hold her but I think she quickly realized that was a bad idea trying to hold 23+ pounds while walking a mile!

Later that day we went to my Aunt's house for Thanksgiving.  Avery tried pretty much everything that was on the menu.  She did like the green mashed potatoes that we had too!

Over the weekend we hung out with some friends that we don't get to see too often and spent a lot of time with our family. Avery has quite an array of toys here that range from new ones to ones that were ours when we were kids.  It does seem that the ones that she prefers are not toys at all but rather boxes or measuring cups! We also went to Costco on Saturday and there was no one there!  I think Avery had every single sample possible and loved them all!

My parents got the Christmas tree out yesterday and she is having a good time exploring the new things that are coming out.  I am getting excited for her first Christmas this year.  She is going to be into everything!

Avery continues to take her two naps and the last few days I have had to wake her up from her afternoon nap which has been from about 3-5:30.  She funny thing is that she is still ready to go to bed at 7:30 or 8 even sleeping that late.  In fact the other day we had some friends over and they were playing in the room and around 8pm Avery left the room and crawled all the way to the bathroom and starting getting into the bathtub.  She sure knows her routine and she was ready for her bath! She is eating whatever we have and I love that I can pretty much give her anything.  That doesn't mean that she likes everything but at least I don't have to worry about only baby food.  I have a bunch of food left so I will to figure out what to do with it!

Here is a cute picture of Sophey from the week.  When we come here, she is exhausted since we are always on the go.  Her days of sleeping all day when we are home are non existent since we are either gone, Molly, my sisters dog is here, or someone is in the kitchen which she can't miss out on!  This picture just captures how tired she is when we are here!

Here are some other pictures from the week!

43 weeks

This was really a big week in terms of development for Avery.  She is changing so much right before our eyes and our little baby is on the verge of being a toddler.

I went to buy her some new toys this week because she loves to stack things and put things inside of other things.  She loves little balls that have texture and can spin and twist.  She has a empty puff tin that she absolutely loves and enjoys putting things inside of it and dumping it out.

She has also learned how to stack things that are meant to be stacked.  She has this Winnie the Pooh stacker and she could never figure out how they are supposed to go but she has now learned that the hole in the center of the rings goes around the toy and really enjoys stacking them and then knocking it over and starting over.

She also loves her books and can sit there forever with them.  Sometimes she wants me to read them to her and other times she just flips the pages back and forth and looks at the pictures.

We finally have gotten back to her normal schedule before the time change.  I know its only an hour but that little hour can really make a big difference when we're talking about 5am or 6am...I am just happy that we are back to normal now!

Avery has officially dropped her 9 am feeding so she is only getting milk three times a day now.  Right when she wakes up, before her second nap, and then right before bed.  She is still taking two naps a day at 9 and 2 and wakes up around 6 or 630 and goes to bed around 730.  Her naps are pretty solid too, typically about 2 hours each.  Sometimes I have to wake her up from her second too if she goes close to 5pm...

I think we can officially call her a walker now.  She has been walking the past couple of weeks but this past week I think a light bulb turned on for her and she has so much more confidence now.  Before she would crawl everywhere but now she will walk on her own and can go clear across the room.  We are still trying to find shoes that fit her since she wants to walk but being bare foot makes it a bit challenging when we are outside of the house.  She hates socks too and just pulls those off as soon as we put them on her!  She sure has a mind of her own.

This past week I came down with a 24 hour bug and thank God for Ben and my mother in law who were there to take over baby duties while I was bed ridden.  I don't know what I would have done without them.  There is nothing worse than feeling terrible and having to follow around busy little baby all over the house!

Every day with Avery is something new and I have more fun with her every single day.  She is becoming a little girl and has such a distinct personality.  She can say "baby" and "dada" and we are still working "mama".   She can wave bye bye and when you ask where her head is she touches her head.

I do miss when she was a little peanut but this stage she is in is so much fun and I just laugh at her all day.  She is such a little turbo machine; she goes full speed and then falls asleep for her naps. I love you Avery!

Here are some pictures from the week.

A little clip of Avery dancing in the car....starts slow... 
PS..you may need to pause the music on the bottom of the page to hear the video's music.

42 Weeks

Busy, Busy, Busy!

We spent most of the week in San Diego again and this time she was back to her normal self on the flight.  She slept the entire time both ways.  She is always busy busy until the moment that we take off and then she is out.  I even get an hour to myself to read or sleep on the plane which is pretty nice.

Avery now takes about 7 to 10 steps at a time and to be honest she typically falls because she seems scared rather than really falling.  Her feet still are SO tiny and fat and I am wondering when they are going to grow and thin out.  With the cool weather she is going to need some socks and shoes so I need to find some things that fit her!

Avery has also officially said her first word.  For awhile I thought it was just sounds that she was putting together but she continues to say the same thing when looking at pictures.  So, her first word is NOT mama or dada, but baby.  She says it over and over and it is one of the cutest things ever!

Avery was able to spend some quality time with Nana, Papa and Aunt Beckie while we were in San Diego.  I had a conference to attend so my mom watched her during the day.  One day, my mom had to go to the dentist so my dad was left in charge.  Avery woke up from her nap and so he got her up and got her dressed for the day.  Here is the "great" outfit that Papa picked out for the day!

Ben flew out for the weekend and we went to a birthday party for my friend Eden's first birthday party.  It was an amazing party and Autumn did a great job planning.  I need to get on the ball since Avery turns one here in about 10 weeks!

Avery has also expanded her palate quite a bit.  I have continued to give her more and more real food and she has begun to outgrow baby food.  She really enjoys to feed herself so I try to find as many things that I can put on her tray to let her eat on her own.  The strangest thing that she likes so far is olives which I hate!  I am still waiting to find something that she takes after me in! We went to Pat and Oscars last week and I had to order her her first kids meal!  I know this is just the beginning of going out to eat costing more!  She sure is worth every penny.  Her smile and laugh are worth a million dollars in my book!  She continues to be a extremely happy baby but if she doesn't like something or want to do it, she lets you know that's for sure!

Here are a few other pictures from the week.

41 weeks

We spent the first part of the week in San Diego and then Avery and I flew home on Tuesday night.  Every flight that we have taken she has slept just about the whole time.  Well on this flight she decided that she wanted to be awake the whole time. Although she didn't cry at all, she would not sit still for anything.  She wanted to crawl and walk and the hour flight literally felt like it was 5 hours.  I am hoping that our flight this week goes a little better!

Avery spent some time this week at her Grammy and Grandpa's house.  Ben flew to West Virginia on Thursday morning to spend some time with his brother and I had six friends fly out for a weekend getaway here in town.  We stayed that Planet Hollywood this weekend and stayed up way to late but I had a great time with my friends!

Avery is getting better at walking every day.  She still takes about five or six steps at a time although most of the time that she is trying to walk she looks a bit drunk! She has been such a good napper this past week taking 2 solid hour and a half to two hour naps.  Some days she stretches them to two hour plus.  I think she must be going through a growth spurt! We are still waiting on more teeth to come as she only has those two teeth that she got when she was six months old.  She sure has found her voice and out of nowhere she will start screaming just to hear her voice, and let me tell you, she has a loud one that's for sure!

She also has learned how to go through Sophey's doggy door.  She has been quite interested in it for some time but last week she was sitting at the door watching Sophey outside and I think a light bulb finally went on that she can do this.  She proceeded to push her little hands through it, then her body and then her feet and there she was, outside and pretty proud of herself!  It was pretty cute. 
 

Her and Sophey have continued their funny relationship and have now begun to even share toys!

Here are some pictures from the week!

40 weeks - 9 month update

Another busy week that's for sure.  We had Avery's 9 month check up and here are here statsHeight : 28.5 80% percentile
Weight : 22.1 90% percentile
Head : 17.25 45% percentile

As you can see we have a very healthy little girl.  She is thriving in every possible way and is on the fast track to beating every milestone long before the average time.  Dr. Glasser was overly impressed with her and even though we had to wait almost an hour to see her, Avery was an excellent patient and pretty much explored the entire room waiting for her.  When the Dr. came in she apologized for running so late but that she had a really sad case in the other room and had to take some time with the patient.  I immediately was fine with her being late knowing that I have a healthy and happy child.  Here is a picture with Dr. Glasser.  I don't have a picture with my pediatrician so I wanted to be sure to take one with Avery and her Dr.

Last Thursday Ben and I celebrated our 4th anniversary so we stayed the night at the Hard Rock and went to dinner and a show.  Avery had a sleep-over at Grammy's so that we could have our big night out on the town!  We had a really fun night and it sure was nice to sleep in. Unfortunately Ben had to wake up pretty early to be at the baseball field for a tournament with his high school kids!

Later that day Avery and I caught a flight to San Diego to spend the weekend and Halloween there.  Our flight was delayed and it was the first time that we have had to wait a long time in the airport.  I put her on the ground and let her crawl around and yes, I know how dirty that floor is but what can you do!  She was really good while we had to wait and then as soon as we got on that plane, she was out!  Ben stayed behind in Vegas since he team has a baseball tournament.  We both miss Daddy and Sophey but we will be home in a few day!

Avery has also turned a corner as far as sleeping goes.  The last week or so she has slept in till almost 7 each day.  I really feel like 7 is so much better for all of us.  I just hope she keeps it up.

Saturday we went to Orange County and went to Gwen's birthday party.  I didn't get any pictures with her and Gwen but we did get a few of her and one of her other little friends Kaylyn.  She got to wear one of her Halloween costumes up there but despite the pouring rain and everyone dressing for the cold, the sun came out and we all roasted quite a bit so needless to say the costume was the first thing to go!  Sunday we went to see some friends of ours and then spent the rest of the day at home with the family.  I was going to take her trick or treating but everyone pretty much laughed at me so we didn't go.  We had a nice day though and I think she had a lot of fun on her first Halloween!

She has continued to be the avid crawler that she is and stands on her own for some time now.  She also started taking quite a few steps on her own....I think she will be full blown walking here in the next week or so!


Here are some other pics from the week.

Playing with my new toy Aunt Beckie got me in New York!

Uncle Grant trying to feed me!

He's sure got a lot to learn!

I hate this hat!

My tongue does not stay in my mouth!