Week in Review ~ 6/26

After only one week of vacation summer break, my days are starting to run together. This could be due to the fact that I lead a slightly mundane life. So that I can remember the good, bad, and ugly of the summer I'm going to try to keep up with weekly recaps. There are pictures at the end if you're bored already.

I've already posted about our Father's Day on Sunday, so I'll move right on to Monday. We did nothing! I might as well lump Wednesday and Thursday into this too...more nothing. We had no plans to go anywhere or do anything these days. And, it's been so miserably hot, we were inside most of the time. Avery seemed to get progressively fussier as the week progressed. While I would like to blame teething, I'm starting to worry it's frustration over not being able to walk. We had major issues with this before she started to crawl. She's not even standing alone, so I think we have awhile...

On Tuesday Avery and I set off for Newsoms after her morning nap. We had lunch with Lolli and then she kept her while I went to my hair appointment. I enjoyed some mommy time, but it was so hot out I didn't feel like running any extra errands. Avery really started pulling up, and unlike most babies, she doesn't cry for someone to help her down. She just thumps back down on her bottom. When we got back home that night we met Avery's Mimi, Uncle Rob, and his new girlfriend at the Mexican restaurant. We were all a little concerned because there was a new family working that night. We were also a little concerned about the lack of air conditioning and left sweaty messes.

Friday I spent the majority of Avery's afternoon nap working on her birthday invitations. They have a picture of each month from birth through 11 months, and uploading each picture to the website took some time. I'm just hoping they come before we leave for the beach! Friday night we had the Ducks Unlimited Sponsor party, and Lolli and Poppa came to stay with Avery. Ned is the chairman of this chapter, so he spent most of the day working to get everything ready. After Avery's fussy day I was ready for Kristin to pick me up. Ned did a great job organizing the event. The best news of the evening is that we came home without any prints (our walls are full)AND without one of the two black lab puppies up for auction. Kristin and I were able to sneak away before Ned and Lucas could leave, but it was still almost 11:30 before I got in the bed...way too late when there's an early bird in the house.

Saturday was a pretty low-key day. Ned was home for most of the day which was a nice change. After Avery's morning nap we went to look for a new sofa. Ours just seems to get filthier by the day, but we saw nothing that we could make work. We had someone to come at the pool table, and I hope to have it gone SOON to fund the new couch. I did my weekly grocery shopping while Mimi, Rob, and Stephanie came to visit. Avery is not a fan of strangers getting in her face and that seems to be the first thing people want to do. There is usually screaming involved, but after a bit she comes around and is ready to play.

This week is going to be busier, and we're also hoping Avery's mood improves. If not, we may be off to see Dr. Applewhite for an ear check. I've included a few more pictures that I took on Wednesday when she turned 11 months.

The new friend above Avery's head is Giraffi. We are hoping that she will replace the much-loved "rags" (cloth diapers) that Avery is so attached to. Giraffi is acceptable as long as there is no rag in sight, but she doesn't reach for Giraffi like she will one of her rags. Giraffi had to escape to a higher location because she kept getting tossed to the ducks.

11 Months

Avery is eleven months old today! Where has this year gone? Since we haven't been to the doctor recently, we have no official height and weight updates, but I think she's done some growing in both areas. She can still wear 12 month clothes but is fitting into all the 12-18 month clothes for summer. She still wears a size 3 diaper. Avery's sleep habits remain about the same.

Avery's eating has slowed on some days. She is really enjoying table food, and there are days when I worry she's given baby food up for good. That would be good on my wallet, but it's so much easier to be able to offer her a variety of healthy baby food. It also seems like sometimes she's refusing for us to feed her and much prefers to do it with her fingers. Feed her with an adult fork off an adult plate and she happily complies. We discovered this month that Avery is fully capable of drinking from a cup, she is just choosing not to at times. Offer her food or a cup she doesn't want, and it's a good possibility that she will get mad, especially if she's teething. We're still at 4 teeth but I'm pretty sure she's working on some now. I'm so tired of getting snickers when I whip out my Pampered Chef Mix n Scraper for her to chew on that I'm going to break down and order her this. The Mix n Scraper also gets flailed around like a baton, and there was worry of her wacking someone with it at church Sunday (not to mention the drool flying from it).

Moving on to moving...boy has she taken off! Avery started crawling a little over 2 weeks ago and now looks like she's been doing it forever. This month she also started getting into a seated position from stomach, waving bye-bye, and pulling up. Just yesterday I noticed her little feet slowly moving her around her activity table. That's called cruising my friends, and I'm not ready! She still enjoys her toys but is also happy crawling around getting into whatever she can find. We'll never need bells on her shoes to keep up with her, and she'll never be able to sneak up on anyone. She is constant sound with each crawl she makes. She likes to test her full range of sound in the car...sometimes happy sounds and sometimes not. She continues to ride rear-facing as she is not one yet, but she will continue to for some time. We are certainly willing to listen to some squawks in order to keep her safe and wish more parents would do the same.

And because I have a REAL baby (unlike the babies I read about on Facebook who never cry and are already running marathons and eating steak), of course there are issues. We came off the medicince for constipation this month after having to add Milk of Magnesia because the medicine wasn't cutting it. After a week or so of explosive poops, we stopped everything but have had to add the medicine back once a day. Avery continues to be quite the little biter, although I do not believe she's doing it in anger...yet. She's been super happy since she started crawling, and our fussiest times occur at meals now when we're just not getting her messages. Avery goes by the book of Avery and not any of the baby books I've read. She is God's way of adding a little "fly by the seat of my pants" to my life!

We said good-bye to Jen-Jen last Friday and are now home for the summer. What a busy summer it will be! We have plans for 4th of July, a beach week, and a birthday bash! Avery continues to keep us on our toes while filling our lives with love and laughter.

Daddy's Day

Yesterday was Father's Day, and we had a busy day planned. Maybe that's why Avery was up at 5 am. I think we have some teething issues going on which always make for early rising. Poor Avery has not quite learned that she doesn't get out of bed until 6, no matter how early she gets up. Somehow though we were still a little pressed for time. We made sausage and cheese muffins for breakfast and fixed Ned's coffee for him. Then it was rush, rush, rush to make it to church in Newsoms with Lolli and Poppa at 9:45. Avery did great in church, which was good because they don't have anyone in the nursery. I had a bag full of tricks and probably drew some attention as I whipped out a bamboo spoon, a Pampered Chef Mix n Scraper, and diapers for her to play with. I never once thought I was going to have to take her out. That means she was very quiet, as I'm really funny about not letting her be a disruption anywhere.



We got some pictures of Ned and Avery in Newsoms but did not manage to get any of Avery and Poppa. We gave Ned the snazzy tie he's wearing. I know that's like the number one gift NOT to give on Father's Day, but it was Ned's request. Avery gave Poppa a coffee mug with her picture on it. Poppa loves Avery and mugs, so it was a big hit!



We ate a yummy lunch and stayed long enough for Avery to nap. She is doing really well napping there but did not nap long enough considering her morning nap was in the truck and she was up so early. Poppa was finally able to see Avery's fantastic crawling skills and was happy to be the one to rescue her from the crib.



Lily, however, did not enjoy the crawling and found some peace by the door. She's probably really starting to worry about the beach vacation in three weeks. (Can you tell the door is a favorite spot? Notice all the "debris" on the door from where she gets excited and blows her nose).

Avery made Ned an extra-special shirt at Jen-Jen's. Ned modeled it for me after she went to bed. As you can see, I couldn't get him out of the chair. Avery and I certainly hope the daddies in our lives had wonderful day.

Backyard Fun

10 Months

Avery turned 10 months old today and spent the day doing some celebrating. She enjoyed her first biter biscuit (kind of like a cookie) and managed to cram an awful lot in her mouth at once. She also spent a lot of time playing with her Fisher-Price Learning Home that we got last night. These exciting activities made her think there was no need for napping! I'm not sure whether to blame our night out last night or the tons of sleeping she did yesterday. Who knows with this one!

We don't have any official height and weight updates since we (hopefully) don't visit the doctor this month. Avery is still fitting into her 9 month clothes but is also filling out her 6-12 month and even some 12-18 month clothes. She is wearing a size 3 diaper. We're still trying to love shoes! We made the switch to a new pacifier this month and moved Avery into convertible carseats in each vehicle instead of her infant carrier. Car rides are still sometimes loud, but I'm starting to realize we may just have a loud child...She seems to have an awful lot to say and will sometimes just lay on the floor and talk.

Avery is quite the eater! She eats most any Stage 2 foods we give her including meats and meat dishes that she once turned her nose up at. We have tried a few Stage 3 meals and she looked like we were trying to kill her. I'm not sure if it's the texture of the taste. We introducing some table food slowly, not because she's not ready, but because Mama just can't find good instructions! She's had a variety of Gerber snacks, yogurt, banana, potatoes, green beans, mashed beans, chicken, bread, Cheerios, and a little piece of pancake at Jen-Jen's. She doesn't seem to quite know what to do with the chicken. She tries to use her sippy cup with water or diluted pear juice but seems to enjoy chewing on it more.

Avery likes to play and really enjoys her Songs and Smiles Silly Town, standing at her activity table (or anywhere), blocks, and rings. I think her new Learning Home is going to be a big hit. She loves books and always giggles at the kitties. Her most favorite play things are anything that could poke out an eye, call 911, reprogram the TV, or break into a jillion pieces. I'm hoping that by the summer we'll have some play space downstairs also for a change of scenery. Avery still loves outside and is always happy in the stroller as long as it's moving. At Jen-Jen's I often find her outside sitting in one of the Cozy Coupes! She is rocking back and forth on her knees like crazy and has done a few crawls forward and backward before hitting her stomach. She gets VERY frustrated when she can't move like she wants to! She loves to stand and is trying to pull up on whatever she can.

Avery's sleep habits remain the about the same. She goes to bed between 7:30 and 7:45 and wakes around 6. She has 2 naps a day that last about 1.5 hours each, although somedays, like today, naps don't work out well. Yesterday was amazing for sleep! She slept until almost 6:45, had to be woken from an hour an 15 minute morning nap, and then slept over 2 hours in the afternoon. I think there's hope for the summer! At the same time I know that we really can't complain.

I think next months post will contain lots more movement, and I'm not sure that we're ready. Our days can have yelling and fussing but also infectious belly laughs, big smiles, open-mouth kisses, and pat-pats on the back. We're all excited to see what the next month will bring and eager to slow it down as much as possible.

All in a Day's Work

It was Daddy daycare for three days this week. I'm sure that in a few years this will consist of Avery running around naked outside playing with fishing lures and eating junk, but Ned rose to the occasion this time. Their days were spent having naptimes and meals at home and then heading off to Lankford Insurance. I was very uneasy about this...what if she's fussy, what if they're robbed and Avery's kidnapped (yes, I think these thoughts), but according to Ned it went well. Avery enjoyed playing with toys on the floor, watching the customers and the fish, and banging on anything Mimi would let her bang on. The only slight glitch occured when Avery banged a little too close to Ned's keyboard as he did a quote and changed someones homeowner's coverage from $200,000 to $2,000,000! Luckily Ned caught those extra zeros! Daddy daycare also meant that I got to leave Avery home in her pajamas, so I could get up at a very reasonable 6 am. I enjoyed getting to school at my pre-baby arrival time and even treated myself to a breakfast biscuit this morning. It's back to Jen-Jen's we go tomorrow. I'll be up earlier, at school later, and a little more rushed in the morning. But that's all worth it to have Chinese jibberish being squawked from the back seat during the drive and watching Avery kick her feet with glee and pat-pat her Jen-Jen to death. Hopefully Lankford Insurance will get put back in order too. Last week Sammy was scaring customers out the door. The people are probably starting to wonder.

Purple Fingers

So this explains why Avery had purple fingers and a purple smear on her leg Wednesday! As much as I love this sweet gift, I believe I love our babysitter even more. This is the second special gift that Avery has done at Jennifer's. I don't even paint with my second graders, yet she was brave enough to do handprints of children ages 4 months to 4 years. Avery is so lucky to have so many people to love her, and I am so thankful that she has made me a mom.