Avery's Witch Pumpkin

Darren decorated a pumpkin for Avery and she was thrilled with it.  

She got a bit of sawdust on her finger from the pumpkin stem.

She is trying to share the chair with her pumpkin.

She is tired of the pumpkin being in the chair, so she is trying to move it herself.

Darren trying to keep track of both of his girls.  They always tend to go in opposite directions when we are outside.

Avery is Eighteen Months!

Avery is eighteen months old!  Darren and I are still in shock that our baby is now a toddler.  

Here are some of Avery's favorite things to do right now:

• Talk constantly.  Some of it is understandable but a lot is a language only Avery understands.
• Play with Sage.  She LOVES Sage and will do anything to get attention from her.  She also likes to yell at Sage to come inside when she is in the backyard.  She yells, "Sagie, come" and then a bunch of jibberish I can't follow.  Sage usually comes when Avery calls her.
• Of course, she still loves reading books. Now she likes to read the first few pages and then moves on to the next book.
• Avery loves to be chased by mommy, daddy, and Sage.  She will tease Sage to get a chase from her.
• Go on walks.  She stands at the gate and yells "walk" while trying to open the gate.
• Avery's vocabulary has exploded in the last month.  She learned cake from this photo session.  When I ask her what she wants to eat, she will tell me cake now.  She is able to tell us what her needs are by saying bottle, eat, etc.  She also accompanies these requests with the baby signs.  
• Avery still has a binki.  In the middle of the night when she can't find her binki, she will say "binki" and then Darren or I will find it for her and put it in her mouth.  She then says, "Hi, binki" and goes back to sleep.
• Avery loves to sit on the couch right beside Darren or me while reading books, eating a snack, or (if she is lucky) watching a television show of her request.  Avery must watch TV at grandma's because she will bring us the remote and say "Ba Ba" and then point it at the TV.  I don't know what Ba Ba means but if I give in and turn the TV on, she gets all excited. 
• Overall, Avery amazes me everyday and I am so impressed with the sweet, little girl she is growing up to be.

New Words

Avery has had a fever for three days and it finally broke last night!  Anyway, Avery has a new bedtime routine where I have to snuggle her and we sing songs until she falls asleep.  Last night while we were singing, she kept saying "pretty" and then smiling really big.  She is our pretty girl, so I guess she finally wanted to tell us!

Avery also needs her monkey or bear blanket buddies to fall asleep.  I had pushed her monkey blanket off of the bed and she was looking for it.  She made monkey noises to let me know she needed it.

This afternoon she was pushing her walker and got it stuck on the couch.  She lifted up her arms and said, "stuck" and looked at me to fix it!  I am constantly amazed at what our little Avery learns each day.

Daisy Fun

Avery has been playing with the daisy rings from her cake.  She loves when Darren puts them on her toes!

She thought this was so funny!

Avery is Fifteen Months!

Our little Avery has grown so much in the past months.  She has added words to her vocabulary such as, crack (for cracker), stinky (plugs her nose when saying), quack, clock, duck.  She mimics words constantly but won't say them later.  She understands so much it is amazing.  I asked Darren what time it was the other night and Avery said, "clock" and pointed to it.

Avery's favorite activities involve lots of movement.  She loves playing with Sage, walking around furniture or with her walker, climbing on anything, watching for butterflies or birds in the backyard, playing with her dolls by giving them hugs or making them dance, and going on walks.  She also likes to relax and read books to herself.  

Daddy Dress Up

Avery really likes to dress up Darren.

Darren is always a good sport about it.  Sometimes Avery insists that Darren wear her bows in his hair!

Avery also likes to dress up Sage but keeping hats on Sage is tricky.

Avery is getting sleepy.

The flash was a bit too bright!

This is Avery's favorite spot in the entire house!

We went to Parker's house to play today!  Avery was very cranky and ended up getting a fever later in the evening.

Singing Purse

One of Avery's favorite toys is this singing purse that Grandma Sue gave her. It sings about putting on your lipstick before going out the door...not my favorite tune.

Avery ran errands with us today and wasn't enjoying it.