6 Months Old!

Avery turned 6 months old a few days ago - it's crazy how fast the time has flown by. In honor of her 1/2 birthday, here's a list of the top 10 things she has taught me so far:

10. Even the expensive brand of diapers lets poop leak out.
9. There's no shame in talking about poop.
8. By some strange force of nature, when it's your baby, drool, spit up, (and yes even poop) isn't nearly as gross.
7. Perhaps by the same strange force, if a baby's hands can reach it, it really does go right into their mouth.
6. Everyone has baby advice. They will share it with you whether you want it or not.
5. No matter how mundane the object, if you're seeing it for the first time, it's absolutely fascinating.
4. Babies don't care what time it is. If they're awake, so are you.
3. If you don't like the way a food tastes, it's perfectly acceptable to spit it out.
2. I worry about her. All. The. Time.
1. I will probably never again love anything as much as I love her.

Oh and I suppose one other thing - you can never have too many pictures - some of the latest:

I made her put this on because I "HAD" to have it - I had no idea it was completely impractical. This is the first, and probably the last time she'll wear it.


This is the first time she really took a bink and wanted to keep sucking on it. It put her right to sleep. If only it were always so easy.


No I wasn't sucking on my toes, I swear.


Avery is required to have a bink when playing with paper so she doesn't eat it. Thankfully Dustin was easier to train.

Baptized!

In the hope of giving our beautiful girl a wonderful start with God, Avery was baptized last Saturday, December 5th. We just had a small celebration with our parents and grandparents. Thanks to everyone for coming, and to Grandma Beth for the beautiful white dress for the occasion.

The whole fam . . .


Godparents Andrea & Ryan and Mommy and Daddy. . .


Avery already loves Fairy Godmother, Andrea.

Ooooh, Shiny . . . .

Feet, Beer and other stuff

Little Avery has made a new discovery lately - her feet! And yes, she is capable of sucking her own toes. Awesome.


In going with the theme of everything goes in her mouth, she has a nice habit of just opening wide and diving face first at something assuming it will magically make it into her mouth. . . . Dustin is taking lessons.


Should we call child services now, or wait until we have further documentation of our inability to raise a human? Great job daddy.

Work sure is exhausting - for Avery.

In the baby bjorn carrier - what a superb invention.


The turkey book is Avery's favorite.

It is also delicious.

Another day, another milestone

Avery's been eyeing up mommy and daddy's dinner like a fat lady at an all-you-can-eat buffet. So, we're now at the beginning stages of introducing solid foods - she had rice cereal for the first time on Saturday! It wasn't as big of a mess as I expected, though we did have a couple near-miss situations: Avery's flailing arms + a glass bowl = a disaster waiting to happen. She made a lot of funny faces, but kept opening her mouth to take several bites. Dustin has also let her lick a few things like apple, banana and carrot. Yes I said lick - since that's about all she can do at this point. Won't be long before she's throwing Cheerios and spaghetti on the floor (and our house becomes heaven-on-earth for Fred and Ginger).

In other news: Avery's really taking notice of the dogs and making all kinds of new talking noises - I could listen to her all day long and not get tired of it! You can all remind me of that when she's a teenager and I'm complaining that she won't shut up :) She's also taking note of sounds a lot more, especially ones that are loud and scary. A while back she cried the first time I used the Vita-Mix and when I sizzled some veggies in a skillet. But the latest was her total panic over the coffee grinder. She cried instantly (complete with tears) including becoming red-faced and shaking her tiny fists. From now on, the grinder will be referred to as "the evil one" and has been issued a restraining order so as not to come within 50 feet.

I've discovered that I'm as amazed by her crying as by her smile - just one more side of her that puts me in total awe over having created a human - I admit to the part of me that just wanted to sit there and watch her cry to absorb even that moment - but in true mommy fashion, I scooped her up immediately to soothe her. Although I know it's impossible, I hope I'll always be able to make the bad things go away . . . . -- Anita

Close Encounters . . .

I guess when you're as cute as Avery, EVERYONE takes notice . . . Should I be worried?????

Happy Halloween

Even though Avery didn't have much on her social calendar for her first Halloween, dressing her up for the photo opp was a must! Dustin and I went out to dinner for his birthday and Grandma Beth babysat - we found out only too late that she, too, has a bee costume - that photo would have been priceless. I'm also thinking Avery likes being a bee because I was able to capture a great smile on camera!

Wearing her Halloween outfit from Aunt Amelia:

Wearing her Ghost t-shirt courtesy of "Aunt" Sam:

I call this one "If you take another picture, I swear to God . . . " or perhaps "I ain't afraid of no ghost" cue Ghostbusters music . . .

Just some fun with daddy - the baby throwing games have begun. Lord help my heart as I'm sure it only gets crazier from here!

Still Growing

At 4 1/2 months old, little Miss Avery is 14 lbs, 4.6 oz and just shy of 25 inches long. Doc says this is slightly above average for both height and weight - more like daddy every day!!!

4 Months Old Today!

Avery is 4 months old today!!!!! Time is flying!

Camera Fright

So I've decided Avery becomes scared and/or a bit retarded when I get out the camera. For any of you familiar with "Friends", there's an episode where Chandler can't seem to smile right for the camera - he gets a stupid face as soon as the camera comes out. Well, Avery has Chandler-syndrome. Just had to share these pics because I found it hilarious that the 10 minutes I spent snapping photos resulted in every one of them being a little "off". She was giggling and smiling, then as soon as the camera was out, bam - goofy face!

Eight

Eight glorious hours - that's how long Avery slept, uninterrupted, in her pack-n-play crib last night - yaaaaay! Please, God, tell me this is the dawn of a new era!!!! Last week was pretty rough in the sleep department, as Avery hasn't really been napping much, nor sleeping very well at night. Overall the weekend was pretty good though, so we're hoping maybe she was just going thru a "thing" and is coming out of it now.

Had a busy day on Saturday - went to Aunt Abbie and Aunt Amelia's volleyball games - she made sure to cheer them on, "talking" much of the time. At first audience clapping was scary - a pouty-lip half-cry came - but then was no big deal. She didn't nap much that day and was asleep by 7:30 p.m. and other than being up twice to eat, she slept until 9 a.m., which was pretty darn good. That followed by 8 straight hours on Sunday night has us hoping - times, they are a changin' . . . .--Anita

Here are some fun pics:

No, wait, I'm not ready - how's my hair?

Look into my eyes . . . you're getting sleeeeeepy. . ..

Asleep in her carseat at Bob Evans - notice toy still in hand . . .

H.E.L.P.!!!!

No, not the shampoo again. . .

As it turns out . . .

Disclaimer: To all of our sensitive blog followers who might not like to read about my hooters, now would be a good time to stop reading this post.

So as it turns out, I really didn’t want bigger boobs. It’s not like I had miniature melons or anything – my 34 B’s were perfectly good. But it seems like we always think bigger is better. Well, thanks to the miracle of breastfeeding, I now have the long-sought-after bigger boobs and I’ve decided they aren’t all that.

All of my shirts, especially those button-down kind which would nicely hide my slightly rounder post-pregnancy belly, are too tight in the cha-chas. And that safety pin I once used to politely smooth that gap between buttons (a problem that you’d think the fashion designers could have solved by now) didn’t stand a chance! That thing popped open so fast I imagined certain death from a pin-prick to my heart!

My sympathy also now goes out to all those naturally-well-endowed women who rightfully hate jogging. There is not a sports bra in the world that makes it comfortable.

To top it off, my friends are telling me that once I stop breastfeeding, the twins will not only lose their once-beloved perkiness, they’ll be smaller than they were before. Smaller. How does that even make sense?

Finally, for my husband who probably thought, “Sweet, the funbags are bigger!” - forget it. Just when he thought Christmas came early, he’s not allowed to touch the new toys because they’re “working boobs” now.

So to my new-but-temporary bigger boobs: thanks for nothing.

--Anita

Too Cool for School

Papa was a rollin' stone . . . . or just had a really sweet mohawk . . . Dustin shaved his head this past weekend but decided he needed to rock it out with Avery for a few minutes midway thru the task. . . Thanks to our friend Rhonda for the baby sunglasses so Avery can look just as cool as Daddy.

Miss Avery rocking her hat . . . I'm not sure a kid can get more adorable!

Avery supporting our Cleveland Browns and livin' it up in leopard print Uggs. She's with her cousin Devin (who's just 2 weeks younger than she is) - look at the size of that boy's head!!!!

Avery holding that head up high so she can watch the big screen TV with Daddy.