memorial day weekend

so far, we've had a very productive weekend. on friday, avery went to her first hip hop show. she was apprehensive at first, (after all, it was really loud, and dark!) but we held back and by the middle she was laughing, and clapping. by the end, she was so tired, she almost fell asleep in spite of all the noise! that's how she's always been though; as long as i'm holding her, no matter the noise level, she can fall asleep eventually. it amazes everyone who sees her.

saturday morning, we went to the farmer's market in springfield. not alot of stuff yet, i guess because it's still so early in the season. avery had fun pointing out all the puppies and saying woof woof. she seemed to like looking at all the different kinds of plants, too. then we went to the grocery store, and got a whole bunch of stuff. it takes me so long to grocery shop now, because i read the ingredient lists on everything!! when we were done, it was time for avery's nap, so peter and i did alot of yard work. when she woke up, he finished mowing and making my garden boxes, and melanie came over and we played in the yard with avery. then we went to Meredith's drama show - where peter had to take her outside because she kept hitting me and saying "mom, mom. mom." pretty loudly during the performance. so they went home at intermission, and i came home after the show was over. we have a few plans for today and tommorrow, so hopefully we can feel relaxed and refreshed by tuesday. this is sure going to be a busy summer!

avery, i think you are such an amazing little person. i love watching you get so excited to go outside, almost breathless. you're completely fearless - running, jumping, rolling on the ground, going down the slide, chasing birds and bunnies...it scares me sometimes, but at the same time i'm so proud of you. you are such a pleasure to be around. i can't believe all the things you are learning..every day you say or do something new. being your mom has got to be the best thing ever. i love you so much!

new teeth

avery is getting more teeth! she already has a little mouthful, including some molars, but you can see it's all red and swollen, with little white tips, where her eye teeth are coming in. peter calls them her fang teeth :)

we called grandma the other day, and at first avery was shy to talk to her on the phone, but after watching daddy a little bit, she wanted in on the fun! she told grandma all kinds of stories that we didn't understand, except a little about bailee, and pretty.

peter asked her this morning if she wanted a little sister...she said no. then he asked if she wanted a little brother...she said no. he asked "do you want to be the only baby" and she gave him a big smile and said "baby!" guess that's our answer for now :)

avery's goldfish already died...before we even named them! mommy obviously has some serious issues when it comes to takking care of fish!

avery is going to her first hip-hop concert this weekend...we're going to see her friend elise's daddy perform! we can't wait to what she does, because she really loves to sing and dance to music, and we've been practicing our hip-hop moves :)

on a side note: i didn't have to go all the way up to whole foods to find sunscreen and bug repellant...i went into babies'r'us the other day, and they had the 'jason' brand of both! so i got a sunscreen bottle, and some of their bug repellant, and just ordered a sunscreen stick from california baby online. babies'r'us actually had alot of new stuff-organic snacks and drinks, household cleaners, laundry detergent, diapers and wipes from seventh generation, all natural bath and body products from methodbaby...yay!

avery had her 15 month checkup today..she is a happy, healthy girl. she is now 32 inches, and 21.7 lbs. she absolutely hates getting measured and weighed - she had big crocodile tears for both. the doctor was very happy with her appetite and diet...but warned me that her willingness to eat everything would probably start changing soon :) she showed off for the doctor, climbing up and down her chair and saying her words. i had an enjoyable visit with the doctor, and was able to ask questions about when we take her to the dentist (not until she's at least 2 and able to cooperate in the chair), what kind of sunscreen and bug repellant to use (a visit to Whole Foods is in order), what i'm learning about vaccines, ( Dr. Sears' book "the vaccine book" is my latest), about the importance of the first year of life ( she told me about a recent study that was really interesting)... it's amazing to me what a difference the doctor you visit with can make. when we first started going here, we had a different doctor who made me feel as though i wasn't caring for avery if i didn't agree with everything she said. i would get so nervous before the visit, and always left feeling as though i had done something wrong, or fallen short of their expectations. then i met rachel, and have scheduled every appointment with her since then. i love her!! i respect her opinions, and feel like she really respects my decisions with avery...i didn't realize how important that was! avery and i both left the visit with big smiles on our faces.

15 months old

Tommorrow is Avery's 15 month birthday. She is growing so fast! She loves to play outside, and likes to go down the slide all by herself. She actually yelled at me because I stayed at the bottom to try and catch her! She is very independant, with a strong mind of her own. I have no idea where she gets that from :) She can say so many words already, and everything we say gets repeated in her baby language. We got her 2 goldfish yesterday, and she gets so excited when she sees them. She also loves to see Bailee, and can not only say her name, but tells her to "go lay down" and "nice puppy".

We went to Amelia Park last week with Nonnie, and she was so good about smelling the flowers, and not ripping them off their stems. She sits at the table with us in her booster seat, and eats pretty much anything you give her! She hasn't started being picky about her foods yet, which is a blessing for me. She LOVES mushrooms (daddy's girl) and spinach (mommy's girl), but of course, ice cream is her favorite. She loves to be read to and tries to read to us too. Curious George book the her favorite right now, and she will bring it to me to read to her every day. She can point out where George is, say monkey, and tries to make the "ooh ooh aah aah" monkey noise. She still sticks her finger up her nose pretty often, and kisses with mouth wide open - two habits we're trying to break....okay mommy is trying to break them, daddy still thinks they're funny.

She loves trying on hats and sunglasses, and when we tell her how pretty her dresses are. She laughs hysterically when someone falls down or gets hit - she definitely has mommy's sense of humor. She is a total daddy's girl, and gets sad in the morning when he leaves for work.

She has a mouthful of teeth that we brush every day, and soon will have to go to the dentist. She doesn't like going to the doctor's office, and gets upset whenever we have to go. She loves being naked, and taking a bath. I can't wait to see her in the pool this summer, and i wonder what she will think of the sprinkler! She tries to blow bubbles, but ends up tasting the wand instead...and just like everything else, gets mad if mommy tries to do it for her :)

She is by far, the sweetest thing.