Avery's Best & Worst of 2010

In honor of the new year . . . .

Avery's Top 5 Best Things She Likes To Do:
5. Read books (especially Dr. Suess Hop on Pop)
4. Try on all of her pairs of shoes
3. Dance (especially to the Fresh Beat Band on Nick Jr.)
2. Climb, jump and bounce on Fred & Ginger
1. Push buttons (as in remote controls or really any kind will do)

Avery's Top 5 Worst Things She Hates To Do:
5. Stop playing with buttons
4. Get OUT of the bathtub (the bath didn't quite make the 5 best, but getting out of the tub certainly makes the 5 worst as she cries every single time)
3. Watch anyone (especially her aunts) leave
2. Sleep
1. Get her diaper changed

And below are this year's Christmas pics:





Sure hope this book works (Potty Time with Abby)!


Super sweet new light-up shoes from Aunt Amelia

Awww, family.

She had more fun with these packing peanuts than I knew was possible.

New kitchen! She most enjoyed talking on the "phone" while she made some "coffee"

Brobee, from "Yo Gabba Gabba" on Nick Jr. She rolled around on the floor with him for 10 minutes!

Mozart. or something.

Looking for "butterflies" playing Elefun. I think her aunts enjoyed it more than her though.

Her very own Sit-n-Spin - thanks Aunt Lita. We'll call you every time she falls off and gets a bruise.

Awesome Christmas, I think she enjoyed it!

The Last 6 Months . . .

Little Miss Avery is very smart these days. She really enjoys watching the "Your Baby Can Read" DVDs. I'm not sure if she's really learning to read, but she is certainly learning all sorts of "tricks" from copying the kids on the DVD. I'm sure I'm forgetting some, but here's a list of the things she's learned to do when you ask her to:
Put your arms up
Wave
Clap
Stomp your feet
Touch your eyes, ears, nose, knee, elbow, head, hair, hand, fingers, toes, feet and belly button
Shake your head yes, and no
Dance
Stand up, sit down

And over the last several months she's really starting to say words, some are clear as day, and others we would recognize by knowing what she wants, but the average person might not be able to make it out. Here's her list of words:
Uh-Oh (this was officially her first word)
No (her second, how fitting)
Hi
Daddy
Momma
Bubble
Apple
Gingy (Ginger the dog, Fred's name is apparently also "Gingy")
Hop (as in the Dr Suess book, "Hop on Pop")
Dog Go (as in the Dr Suess book, "Go Dogs Go"
Jack (as in Jack the puppet from "Jacks Big Music Show" on Nick Jr)
Pretzel (trust me, you'd have no idea this is what she's saying)
Whoa!
Ball
Bye-Bye

And of course, here are some pics from the last 6 months:



For the record, she put herself in this predicament


Serious coloring happening . . .it's not her fault she also colored the carpet


She only wants to wear MY hats, not any of her own


How can you not love this?


Sophisticated eating . . . .




Not so sophisticated . . .and yes, she ate off the spoon AFTER she let Fred lick it.


Stripped down after above eating debacle


Baby Face!

Yep, sheeee's naked, and riding a zebra. Classic.

At Luigi's in Akron with the fam after a shopping extravaganza.

Avery's 1st Vacation

Avery had a blast on her first beach vacation - here are some of the pics:

She LOVED the pool, and her super-cool raft


The sand and ocean, not so much


As long as her hands were occupied, she left the sunglasses on

Out to dinner

Coloring with Mommy

Dancing with Daddy

I guess Avery taught that lady in the background how to do "arms up"


Baby in the desert at Jockey's Ridge - she's not really a fan of sand in her toes


On our last night we stayed in a hotel - she helped clean out the fridge by getting IN it

Unpacking . . . .

That's it in a nutshell. Great relaxing vacay, good times with the family, now back to reality.

And just like that . . .

. . . an entire year of Avery has gone by in a flash! I can't believe she's already a year old, and yet, I can't remember what life was like before she was part of us.

Two nights ago, the night before her birthday, she took TWO steps on her own. Okay, so she hasn't done it since, but who's keeping track? She has 2 teeth, and 2 more seem ready to come any day now. She eats all kinds of food, though we recently discovered she has quite a few allergies so milk, eggs and nuts won't be in her diet for the near future - thanks once again to Grandma Terry who made her a special milk and egg-free "smash" cake for her birthday party. The party last weekend with all of our family and friends was a hit, but then, if you're reading this, you were probably there and already know that!







Here she is watching her favorite DVD in her princess chair thanks to Grandma Beth - she's showing you "clap".



Tomorrow we're off to vacation - Avery's first trip to the beach. More pictures will come from that, but for now here's some of the goodies from her first professional modeling gig . . .













Utterly unimpressed with this costume change!!!






Practicing "arms up" that she's learned from her video.




Didn't intend for the "greek goddess" look but we'll go with it.

Kissing, teeth and other stuff

Avery will be 11 months old in a few days - where is the time going??? She finally had her first tooth appear about 2 weeks ago which seemed to happen without too much trouble - one day I looked in and there it was! She's babbling more than ever and also learning waving and kissing. She likes watching the "Your Baby Can Read" DVD and loves playing with her growing supply of books thanks to Gaga & Papa. She's also taken up toilet flushing doing it every chance she gets - shame on me for not recognizing the sheer joy in such a task in all my years. She's also starting to enjoy dancing when daddy plays music and stealing credit cards out of his wallet when he's not paying attention. Well without further ado, here's some of the latest photos:

A typical night in our house - Fred and Ginger, exhausted, trying to get far far away from that thing with the tiny fingers.


There is an amazing fascination with electrical outlets. who knew?


Cute faces - not much else to say about these.

Awwww.


She puts the baby in the basket . . . .

Sometimes when you're a baby, you have business to take care of.