Avery's 1st birthday

Wednesday, October 24th at 1:54 am Avery turned 1 year old. She really is one of the happiest babies we have  ever met & we are not just saying that, she truly is. She is always smiling, laughing, babbling/talking, squealing in joy & playing. She does have a bit of a temper & we are working on that with her. 

She is talking so much too. She seems to learn or pick new words every day, although she isn't saying Emma yet which is weird to us. She does of course say Mama & Daddy (she has already moved passed Dada). Some of her other more frequent words: Please, thank you, bye bye, hey, uh oh, ball, baby, good girl, all done, all gone, go. She will pretty much repeat anything you say, if she can & she watches your mouth while you talk to her to try to figure it out. She is just so smart.

She isn't walking yet, but is pushing everything around the house, walking toys or not, so it won't be long. She still only has 2 teeth (on the bottom). She eats pretty much anything, especially meat. If you give her meat with veggies or fruit she always eats the meat first & then asks for more. She has been off the bottle for over a month now & we are weaning her off formula by mixing it with cow's milk but she is not a fan. I am not sure if its the flavor or the fact that cow's milk is normally served cold. I do warm it up a little at times but I am not sure if it makes a difference to not. She isn't fond of anything other than formula/milk in her cup & Emma was the same way for a long time. So I guess thats a good thing??? 

She is still taking 2 naps a day & normally sleep pretty soundly. She is very mechanically inclined. If you show her how to do something she can pick it up after being shown once or twice. She seems to play well independently but also loves hanging out with Emma (Emma is still trying to get used to being a big sister). 

Playing with the blocks she got from Emma for her birthday.

Sharing with her big sister

Her cake

The first bite

 She only took a few bites & this is as messy as she got.

Patterson Farm 2012

We took the girls to Patterson Farm/Pumpkin patch last weekend & they had a great time. They had several different things this time which Emma really enjoyed. They had a large corn maze (normally its very small), tractor wheels to climb on, stuffed pig races, face painting and corn hole. Avery of course wasn't able to do very much since she isn't walking yet, but she loved the corn pit, farm animals & watching all the other kids. Next year I fully expect her to be chasing Emma around wide & being wide open.

 Emma wasn't interested in taking pictures yet so Avery got to do some solo.

Emma joined in & with a silly pose

 Emma feeding the sheep

 Avery feeding the goats

 Cute baby pigs

Stuffed pig races (They have real pig races too but I didn't take pics of it.)

 Tractor wheels

 Corn pit

 Face painting while we were waiting for the hayride to the pumpkin patch

 Pretty butterfly

The first pumpkin Emma picked & one of the largest ones in the patch.

The pumpkin we actually purchased.

9 months old

Last Tuesday, the 24th, our little Avery turned 9 months old & she is hitting all the developmental milestones right on cue. She is officially crawling, not very fast but she is mobile & thrilled to death about it. She mimics our sounds & words, she watches our mouths when we talk & is saying, "Bye, bye", "Mama", "DaDa", "Hey" and "Uh-Oh" but not intentionally yet. She really enjoys self feeding & will probably be off baby food soon if she keeps rejecting it & asking for what we are eating instead. Right now her favorite things to eat is fruit & yogurt, but she will try most anything. She is down to only 18 oz of formula a day & is starting to get the hang of her sippy cup. 

She still takes 2 naps a day, loves her paci & blankey Minnie while she is sleeping & maybe teething. She has been quite fussy this week & not sleeping well, so we shall see if any teeth pop thru. We lowered her crib mattress Tuesday since she started sitting up in her bed. She is also becoming more aware of strangers & strange places + more attached me Mama. 

July 4th

We headed to Mama's beach house again this year & had a great time even though neither of my sisters or their kids were able to join us. My mom was there for part of the time though & Emma was thrilled. 

We split up our days with 2 days on the beach & 2 days at the pool which Emma really enjoyed. Since we don't have a neighborhood pool she doesn't get to swim very often, so any chance she gets she loves it. I think she may have enjoyed the pool more than the beach this time. For some reason she was scared of the ocean again & would hardly get in it at all. So her "surf board" didn't get much use this time, except for Chris attempting to keep Avery from eating the sand by place her on it. It worked for a while but then we had to distract her with buckets of water to splash in which worked great.

Avery seemed to have a great time regardless where we were except for her eczema flaring up again. Poor thing, I ended up taking her to the dr a few days after we got home since it wasn't getting any better. The dr gave us more steroid ointment & informed me not to use spray sunscreen on her (which we only used to reapply) since it aggravates those who have sensitive skin (I never knew this). All there other things we were doing correctly, Avery just has very sensitive skin prone to eczema. Now she is having random flare ups & I haven't found her triggers other than the norm - sun, sand, ocean & chlorine. Luckily the most recent flare ups don't seem to be bothering her very much, little to no itching. YAY!!!

Avery with a face full of sand, even though she is on the board.

 Now the buckets of water enter the scene.

I love this float for Emma but it got a hole in it while we were at the pool & we had to trash it. 

Memorial Day 2012

We took our normal long weekend to the beach for Memorial Day & had a great time, as always. The trip really seemed to wipe Avery out. She took 3 hr morning naps & slept late every morning while we were there. She is normally an early riser, 5:45-6:00am every morning, so it was great to sleep in a little.

Emma has been dying to get a "surf board" aka boggie board so we got her one while we were there & she had a blast riding it. This was Avery's first time playing on the sand & she had a blast too. She wasn't very fond of the ocean but neither was Emma until she was at least 2, so there is a lot more time for her to get used to it.

Oddly enough, both our girls learned how to sit up at the beach. Emma learned when she was 9 months & Avery learned at 7 months. Avery does still fall over from time to time but she loves being a big girl & sitting/playing.

 Avery's 1st time playing in the sand.

 

 I love this one of Emma spinning.

One happy little girl with her new "surf board". 

 Avery's 1st time in the pool.

Avery at 6 months

Avery turned 6 months old last Tuesday which means she is growing up way too fast. She is quite the vocal little girl. She squeals in excitement or to just get our attention & Emma isn't very fond of it. In fact in brings Emma to tears she says it scares her. She can get really loud. We are trying to teach her NO & whisper but have had no luck so far. 

She is pretty much on track developmentally except for rolling over. She has only done it twice. The first time was about 2 months ago & it scared her to death but last night she rolled over again. (I missed it both times). She is sitting supported & really close to sitting on her own. We pulled our the walker & jumper a week ago & she loves both of them. She already is very active, I can only imagine what she will be like once she is mobile. 

She has been eating cereal for about a month & started on baby food over the weekend. I started her off on carrots but I am not sure she likes them. She makes some terrible faces & spits a lot of it out. She also hasn't really wanted her cereal very much in the last week, so I am not sure what that is all about. She also hasn't slept well the past few days, maybe she is teething? I haven't seen or felt anything yet so we shall see.

She weighs 16 lbs, 5 oz & Dr. K said she was a little chubby but also said she wasn't to worried about it. I hope she doesn't think we over feed Avery because it is very clear when she is hungry. She eats every 4-5 hrs like clock work. She did tell me to stop mixing formula in her cereal & I had already cut back on it. (I wonder if that has something to do her not wanting her cereal???) She is 25.75" tall, which is a little short which I think makes her look chubbier than she really is. 

Dr. K also wants Avery to be evaluated by PT for a stiff neck. She heavily favors turning to the right & sleeping on her right side. She even will try to turn all the way around from her right instead of turning left. Hopefully if PT thinks she needs to be seen it won't be for very long. 

 Jumping for joy, literally.

Trying out Nana's walker that lights up, talks & sings.

Easter 2012

As usual we headed to Mama's beach house for the easter weekend, but it was a bit chilly. We played outside a lot, dyed easter eggs, took pics with the Easter Bunny, went to an egg hunt at Ocean Isle, celebrated my bday with my family, went to church in Myrtle Beach & took Emma to the beach to play in the sand.

We did a lot in the few days we were they & wished we could have stayed longer, but Chris had to come back home to work. We will stay longer when its warmer & we can actually enjoy being on the beach. It was really hard keeping the little girls out of the water.

 Avery of course wants to be in the middle of everything, 

so she is in her Bumbo seat watching the egg dying.

 Eating the box

 Let the dying begin

 Emma's finished products

 Emma & the Easter Bunny

 Avery's first Easter

 All 5 cousins but 2 are not cooperating

 Emma & big cousin Kaylee

 Love this one

My favorite

This is so Avery. 

Her hands behind her head & a big sweet smile

 This is the only pic I could take of Morgan & Emma together, 
playing in a hole uncle Bob dug. 

 Having a great time in the sand, even though it was quite chilly.