7 months (yes, this is VERY late)

Avery Bug,

I'm sorry I've been such a slacker.  Things have been SOOOO crazy!!! With school projects, and family and friends.  You are asleep, and I finally have a few minutes to myself where I'm not doing homework, cleaning the house, doing dishes or folding laundry (although some of that needs to be done).  Daddy is out with Shaun and Cooper and you finally fell back asleep.

You had your first Christmas yesterday and I was so impressed at your alertness!  You enjoyed pulling paper out of the bags and eating the bag itself.  You got a bunch of new toys, books and formula (on wait, that last one is for my benefit).

Ok, so, here's what's new.  You LOVE to stand.   You would much rather stand than anything else.  You enjoy being in your saucer and spinning around.  You also like to sit like a big girl.  You can sit and entertain yourself for quite some time.  You rarely cry unless the following happens:
1 - you're hungry
2 - you're tired
3 - you've pooped
4 - you're on your stomach

Oh yes, that last one is very true.  You HATE being on your stomach for more than about 30 seconds.  You are amazing at rolling from your tummy to your back, but you've yet to roll to your stomach, mostly because you see no reason to be there.  Daddy and I have tried to get you to roll, crawl, push yourself...you're having none of it.  You can scoot backwards out of frustration, then, you get rewarded with a bath, because you love baths!!!

You love to laugh and mimic sounds.  You spit and blow bubbles (or as I call it, drool) you pretend to cough and make silly noises.  You enjoy telling people about your day.  You're much more vocal in the evenings than any other time.  You love to smile at Mommy, Daddy and Aunt Sissy.  Other people are fine too, but we get automatic smiles.  You're not much into snuggling unless you're REALLY tired or being held by me.  You like having your tummy blown on, you like peekaboo, you LOVE to dance and being sang to.  Your smile lights up my whole world.

I'm not sure how much you weigh - I'd guess at most 15 pounds, but you've grown a lot this last month.  You're wearing 3-6 month clothes and just barely starting to grow out of your size 1 diapers.  You sleep, you are a really good sleeper.  You sleep about 12-13 hours a night.  And this is a blessing to Daddy and I.  You even take a couple naps during the day (at least one that's over an hour long).

You have NO teeth, but are a REALLY good eater.  You will eat ALMOST anything I blend up for you.  Last night we made sweet potato, peaches and pears.  You thought that was pretty delicious.  I'm really picky about what I feed you and make sure that if I wouldn't eat it, I'm not going to feed it to you.  I make all your food (except cereal) and you seem to be pretty happy about that.  Grandmom has been pretty awesome about buying us some pretty fun food storage to make preparing food a breeze.

Merry Christmas to the most WONDERFUL little girl in the whole world.  You're such a happy girl and you are a show stopper almost everywhere we go.  Everyone loves you, everywhere we go.  You're such a sweetheart!  I love you!!!!

6 Months - Too Fast

Avery Bug,

I can NOT believe you're six months old today.  The time has FLOWN by!!! I love you more and more each day.  You are my world and brighten my day, every day.  You are about 2 months smaller than a "normal" 6 month old, but what is normal???  I'm guessing you weigh somewhere around 14 pounds, but we haven't been in to the doctor in almost 2 months.  You're JUST fitting into 3-6m clothes.

You smile - all the time.  You give your daddy and I big bashful smiles and grin at almost anyone that smiles at you.  You LOVE to chew on everything.  In order to feel something, you put it in your mouth.  Your favorite is the crinkly fabric.  You started to sit in the last couple of weeks and get significantly stronger every day.  You amaze me!  Peek-a-boo is starting to entertain you, but it's still not your favorite game.  You grab at things, reach for things, and when you're really tired, you rake your fingers across my shirt.

You started to eat green beans, apples and peaches.  But, bananas are by FAR your favorite.  You also like oatmeal over rice cereal.  You're such a good eater!  The only issue we have is you getting distracted by daddy or the animals in the room. 

I just happened to look at the clock at the exact right time today - EXACLTY 6 months after you were born.

your feet hit flat to the bottom now :)

Mommy LOVES snuggles!!!

Helping Daddy on his computer

Starting HALO a little young I would say...

The ultimate definition on "sleeping like a baby"

5 Months

Well Avery, things have changed a whole lot in the last few weeks!!!

First, you had your 4 month appointment almost a month ago and you, darling, are in the 2%ile for your weight and the 3%ile for height.  But since you're so proportionality built, the doctor says you're JUST perfect!  I had to admit I was shocked when they told me you only weighed 11.12 pounds....shocked.

We started you on rice cereal a few weeks ago.  You took it on your first bite.  I was so impressed.  Since then you've had a couple bowls of beans and for the first time this morning, you had some apples.  You gave me such a silly face with the tartness of them.  Yesterday morning, you learned that you can make noises on command.  Daddy and I thought you were coughing, but really it's a "laugh" you're trying to do.  You smile when I walk into the room.  You smile at Daddy.  And you smile at Aunt Sissy when you see her in the mornings too.  You're one happy little girl.  You've learned that you can pull your binky out of our mouth and it took you a few weeks to figure out how to get it back in.  You can now turn your binky around and put it back in all by yourself.  You can also turn from your tummy to your back (pretty quickly when you're mad), but you can't go from back to tummy quite yet.

I wish you would sleep through the night, we're still not quite there yet.  We usually get in about 6 hours.  But still not all night.  Last week you slept for 9.5 hours and Daddy went in to make sure you were still breathing.  I think with a couple more pounds on the little body of yours, you'll start sleeping all night.

You're the sweetest little thing in the whole wide world.  You are so amazing and I swear you get cuter ever day, if that's even possible.  

I love you Avery!!!

(and you love hunting)

Love you always and always,

Momma

4 Months

I finally have some time to sit down and reminisce about this last month.  It's been SUPER busy!!!  Daddy and I are both back to work.  You spent the end of August in my classroom with Aunt Rachey and Grandma.  You were all tons of help. 

The first day you were home with Aunt Rachey, you cried and cried and cried.  You were not a very happy camper.  I told Rachel that you would learn to love her, and I was right :)  Both of you have fun during the days.  You sleep a lot and are just barely starting to gain some weight and fill out.  Your chubby little legs make me laugh, because they only have one little roll in them.  

You trying SOOOO hard to laugh.  You love to mimic faces and stick out your tongue.  You are one slobbery little kid, especially with your fingers in your mouth ALL the time.

You still HATE being hot.  And apparently, you don't mind being cold at all.  We left all the windows open this week and it was below 60 in the house, and all you had on was a onsie.  You didn't care at all.  Silly girl.

You love being outside, trees, the breeze.  You love "ducks" on the phone and iPad.  You like smiles and music.  You can grab at your hanging toys.  You like to grab our toys with your feet and kick, kick, kick around.  You're totally ok with your half and half milk/formula mix.  

I think you'll be playing peek-a-boo pretty soon.

I don't love being away from you.  I don't even like being away from you.  But, I do love my job, and I do loves those kids, AND you're in great hands with Aunt Rachey all day.  I know it's been a huge adjustment for all of us.  I miss you when I'm away from you.  I love you with all my heart.

3 Months

Avery Girl!!!

3 months ago, you were born today.  You are the sweetest darling in the whole world!  You've been such a joy every day.  I am so lucky to be your Momma.

Things you LOVE:

Your hand more than your binki
Snuggles with Momma
Rocked to sleep
Your mobile
Your hands in the air
(sadly) The TV
Music
Like Mommy, Halo sounds to fall asleep to
Your new owl security blanky
Your vibrating chair/bed
SHORT car rides
Being outside
Your hands you LOOOOVE your hands

Things you're not to fond of:

Pooing every day (your little bum is so raw)
The car seat - we ruined that for us by traveling ALL of July
 Being hot
Being left alone
Tummy time - your poor arms aren't quite strong enough yet

See how many things you love!!??!!

Pretty soon you'll be hanging out with Rachey every day.  I'm sure that within just a few days, you'll love her too.  I know the two of you are going to have so much fun, because you're both such fun people.  Aunty Rachey is so excited to take care of you.  She's so excited to bond with her niece.  And I know you're going to be the great little girl you've been for Daddy and I.

You're somewhere around 10 pounds.  You like to make faces at us and stick your tongue out,  You're SO close to giggling.  You love to coo at everyone.  The one thing that makes you super cranky right now is your poor little raw bum.  You are much more regular, but that just means your bum doesn't know how to keep up with it. 

My all time favorite. :)

.

I love you baby girl.  This time next month, you'll be close to eating solid foods and sitting all on your own

2 Months!

Oh my heavens, how time flies. Miss Avery, you are 2 months old today. You've grown up so much! The world opened up last week when you were able to see and focus on things around you.  You started to smile 2 weeks ago, but are consistently smiling every day now. Granny Janny thinks you'll be talking next week. I agree, you definitely are trying to say something!

Things you love:

Mommy's face/voice

Car rides

Having your hands free

Your binky

Being held

Sounds to fall asleep to

Kicking

Bright lights

Ceiling fans

The Bjorn

Things you could live without:

Heat

Being irregular

Gas bubbles

Being alone when you're awake

You've traveled to Seattle, rode the ferry, and loved being in the cool weather. Next week you're headed to the Oregon coast to experience it all again.