On Being Avery

Here's a little update on Avery's progress as a human being.

We now have 9 teeth in that little mouth of hers. This last one has been a doozy, it's a molar on the upper right side and it has disrupted her sleep and has severely interferred with mine. Her teeth enable her to eat pretty much whatever she wants. She loves strawberries, blueberries, bananas and Junior Mints. She's also partial to peanut butter on a spoon, grilled cheese sandwiches, granola bars and chocolate milk. She's gotta have the good stuff!

She can say a few words very clearly: Dada, Mama, ball, there, that, no, dog, pee-pee, poo-poo and Bubbles!...she says it just like that too...Bubbles! Bubbles! Mama, Bubbles! She understands sooo much more..to the point that we have to be careful now what we say around her. If I say the word "potty" around her she immediately pulls down her pants and diaper and instructs me to set her on the closest potty where she will sit for 15-20 seconds, wipe with a piece of toilet paper and then get down. She has yet to actually pee in the potty, but she knows that she should be sitting there just like sister. She also knows that after sitting on the potty, she is to wash her hands. She loves to wash her hands.

She sleeps pretty well. Nap time is never a problem, when it's time, I lay her down and off to sleep she goes. Bed time is sometimes an issue, she really likes to hang out in sister's room after reading books. They're so cute rolling around in bed together. It reminds me of when I was a little girl and shared a room and at one time a bed with my own sister.

She loves to be outside now that the weather is getting nice. She just got her very own princess coupe and loves to cruise around the back porch in that. She also likes to go to the park and go down the slide or hang out on the swing. Avery definitely has her little posse her and really enjoys her weekly playdates with all her little friends.

It really is quite remarkable to me how very different she is from Ryleigh. Avery is much more calm than Ryleigh ever was. Maybe that's because I'm more calm these days. I cringe to think of Ryleigh at this age, back when I was working full time and carting her off to daycare every day. The closeness that I have with Avery makes me realize how much I missed with Ryleigh. I didn't know it then, I thought I was handling work and motherhood with great balance. Maybe I was, I don't know, I just know that I really miss Ryleigh at this age. Avery is so sweet and loves to cuddle. Her chubbiness makes her very easy to cuddle with. She is a very caring child, she loves to mother her baby dolls and her older sister. She gets frustrated when she can't do some of the things that her big sister can do, like going up and down the hill in our back yard.

She's a good kid, definitely a keeper. I just got a baby hiking backpack and can't wait to give it a try the next nice weekend we get. It appears that Ryleigh shares our loves for the outdoors, here's hoping that little one will too!