Adventures in Toddlerhood

Mom brain much? I did a 12 month update, cute pictures and all, and forgot to post it. But as much as I tried to stop it, Avery did turn 1. And boy did she! So a day after her 13 month "birthday" (I'm not doing all that month stuff anymore, y'all) here's an update. 

Avery is blossoming into a little girl right infront of our eyes. At 12 months she was walking. Now, she walks from the door to the car, into her daycare classroom, in Target, holding our hands, but mostly by herself. 

She loves everything. She is so curious and eager to learn. She is adventurous, concerned, loving, sweet, fun, funny, silly, mischevious, skeptical. She is so many things smooshed into 17 pounds. She is the absolute love and light of our lives. 

Avery is very smart. She can find things, show us things, give us things, take things back. She can sign a few words and say a few more. She can open doors, open drawers, slide, stack rings, do simple puzzles, kick balls, throw balls, throw tantrums, and pretend to throw tantrums. One is the new two people. 

She gives hugs and big, open mouth kisses. She blows kisses and waves hi and bye to everyone. 

She has the best belly laughs.

She loves playing in water and books before bed. She always reaches for her bed at bedtime but always ends up cuddling mommy or daddy before going to sleep.

Eleven.

Eleven months old!! That means the big 1 is next and I'm having a hard time processing it. 

Health: Avery doesn't have a check up this month but I'd bet she's about 18 pounds. We saw our ENT and everything looks great. He gave us an antibiotic for her never ending cold and it cleared right up...for about 2 weeks. I'm convinced she has allergies. 

Personality: Happy happy happy. She loves people and seeing new things. She's sweet and cuddly, shy at times but so personable too, silly, hilarious, and did I say sweet? 

Eating: Everything. Especially if it's something we're eating. She MUST have it. The only purées she really eats are the pouches if we're out and about. Other than that, it's all table food. She is having table food at daycare too! She's still taking bottles at daycare but at home she only gets sippy cups and does great with them. She still hates a straw but does great with the soft spout or cup rim sippy. She is getting formula but only for a few more weeks. I'm sooo ready to be done buying formula.

Sleeping: About the same. She sleeps through the night about half of the time. She's had some teeth break through so I'm hoping she's back at it soon. When she does wake up, it's only once and for a quick bottle. We're going to start trying to wean the night bottle but will follow her lead with that. She's still a bad napper but I'm starting to figure that's just how she's going to be. She takes a short nap at daycare and then usually comes home and crashes at 5:30. That's pushed her bedtime back but again, we follow her lead with these things. 

Her favorites: Avery loves bath time, playing in her car seat (when it's not in the car), waving at people, brushing her teeth, playing with the Tupperware and opening cabinets, drawers and doors.  

Things she could do without: Straw cups, grass, and getting her nose wiped. She hates them all.

Milestones: We have a walker!! And she's doing pretty good too! Avery has 5 teeth and can wave and clap. She says dada, mama, bye and hi. 

Big events: This month we celebrated Avery's first Easter and went to aunt E's wedding in Greenville, SC.  

Mommy: Other than being in denial about Avery's first birthday, I'm good! Darrell is starting a new shift and I'm really looking forward to having him home and some help in the evenings. 

Double digits.

My baby is 10 months old and it doesn't seem possible. She's growing so fast and seems smarter by the day. 

Health: Avery is 17 lbs and about 27". She's still so small! She still wears a lot of 6 months clothes and some 6-9, even though they're still big. She continues to stay sick and we're having issues with congestion and her ears again. I'm so over it. And I know she has to be. She's such a little champ because if she's uncomfortable, you'd never know it. 

Personality: This girls kills me every day. Her personality is shining right now and it is fabulous. She's very social and loves people and attention like me, but at the same time has a bashful side like Darrell. Avery also has a little mischievous side. If we catch her getting in to something she isn't supposed to, she takes off "running"/ super fast crawling and laughing.

Eating: Avery loves food! She has seemed to cut back her formula and up her solid intake. She loves noodles, veggies, chicken, and carbs...like mama! She is taking her bottles at home in a soft spout sippy cup but still takes bottles at daycare. She loves to drink water from our cups so we got her a leak proof rim cup and she does so well with it. The girl can not get the concept of the straw to save her life. She'll get a sip every once in a whole but mostly she just gnaws on it. 

Sleeping: Sleeping is so-so and inconsistent. Her top two teeth are close to coming in so that and her being sick don't help. If she wakes up, it's only once and she's back down quickly with a small bottle. Her naps at daycare are getting better! 

Her favorites: Avery loves anything and everything that she isn't supposed to. She loves climbing the stairs (which we let her do with close supervision), putting her hands in the toilet bowl (which we do not let her do), opening and closing doors, riding in the stroller, being outside and taking baths. 

Things should could do without: Avery isn't a fan of strawberries, brocolli, or getting in the car seat. She still fights diaper changes. And let's just ignore the eye and ear drops... 

Milestones: Once again, so much!! Avery started standing up by herself and for longer and longer each time. She's definitely not walking, but she has taken a few small steps. She's clapping, saying so many more sounds when she babbles (including a few "mamama"s in there!!), and imitating "bye" occasionally. 

Big events: Avery went on two trips this month. One with just mommy to Greenville for Erin's bridal shower and a night with glamma in Asheville. We just got back from another trip to Asheville. 

Mommy: I'm doing pretty good. I still haven't figured out the whole working out thing in to my schedule but everything else seems to be balancing out. Life is good and I am one lucky girl!! 

Nine.

A day late, but my baby girl is nine months old. That seems like such a huge milestone. Probably because 1 is right around the corner but I can't talk about that right now. 

Health: Avery is great! At her 9 month appointment yesterday she was 16lbs and 27" long. She dropped from a little under the 25th percentile to close to the 10th, but her doctor doesn't seem concerned at all, so I guess I won't be either. My little peanut. She's still in size 3 diapers and I think she will be for a while. She is still wearing mostly 6 months clothes, especially pants, and some 6-9 outfits.

Personality: Seriously, Avery is the happiest, most fun baby girl. She is all about exploring right now. Every where she goes, her eyes are wide open and she's looking around everywhere. It's so fun to watch her learn and grow. 

Eating: Avery is pretty much eating finger foods for her meals at home. She gets a mix of pureed and diced fruits and vegetables at daycare. She does get baby oatmeal every once in a while in the mornings. She had some diced chicken and ground turkey this month which were both new. She did really well them. The girl loves to eat! We've been letting her practice with sippy and straw cups but she just gnaws on them like a teething toy. She does really well drinking from an open cup rim if I hold it.

Sleeping: Much, much better. She really seems to be back on track. She is rarely waking herself up at night anymore, and if she does, she usually puts herself back to sleep within a few minutes. She still sucks at napping away from home, but I'm to the point where I'm over it. If she's sleeping at night, I'm rolling with it.

Her favorites: It seems like Avery's favorite thing to do right now is bang toys and squeal very loudly. She looooves her daddy and gets such a kick out of saying "dadada" and talking. We got her a walking toy and she really seems to love it...love playing with the toys on the front, not walking with it. 

Things she could do without: Diaper changes are still the devil. She does not like when I don't share my food with her. She also hates when I won't let her play in the toilet water or climb the stairs. Crazy girl!

Milestones: So much is happening these days! Avery is sooo vocal, which just makes my little speech therapist heart so happy. She has her two front bottom teeth. It seems like the top front two may be coming soon. Avery is pulling up on everything and taking steps all along the furniture and holding to toys and our hands. She's doing the hilarious little attempt at clapping. 

Big Events:  We started the month off with a visit from aunt Chelsea and uncle Chris. She adores them both. The love is mutual I believe. We had a few nice weather days and took advantage of them by taking Avery to park. She swung for the first time and crawled everywhere. Avery stayed the night with her glamma and papaw this month while Darrell and I were in Greenville, SC for my best friend's couple shower. She also took a long ride to Atlanta and hung out with Darrell and some new friends while I was in class. She did really great on the car trip.

Mommy: Ugh, I'm still fat. That's basically it. I can't find the time to work out and my eating could be a lot better. At the end of the day, I'd much rather be spending these moments with my little family than on the treadmill. For example, Darrell was home early today, which is rare, so I was going to go upstairs and get on the treadmill and do some weights. Avery was a little cranky so I picked her up before I headed upstairs. As soon as I did, she cuddled up on my shoulder and started to fall asleep. There was no way I was giving those snuggles up. She won't always want to do that so the treadmill can wait. 

On a more positive note, in Atlanta I got to meet some girls from my June moms group on The Bump. I was never big on online relationships (of any kind) but we've kept in touch and actually become pretty close. They are just as amazing in real life! 

PS- pictures are hard with mobile babies.

Eight.

Sweet pea is eight months. That's only one away from nine months which seems like such a big deal. 

Health: Avery is so much better!! She got tubes on Januray 10 and has been a totally different baby. I thought she was happy before..but now, she's just so much fun. She hasn't had any more ear infections and when she does get congested, it drains and moves on. It's not days of being miserable. I was so nervous but it was definitely the best choice. 

I think she's about 15-16 pounds. I don't know, she feels heavy and we moved up to size 3 diapers. She doesn't go back to the doctor until next month.

Personality: That picture up top says it all. Avery is so much fun. It just gets better and better. She giggles and squeals so much. She is silly and joyful and brings so much happiness into our house. I do have to admit that she's a bit spoiled. She's already protesting. If we take things away from her, ya know like plastic bags, she plops down and cries and looks up at us. She's so pitiful. 

Eating: Everything. She is still getting mostly homemade purées for meals but she also gets some table food. I don't think we've come across anything she doesn't like but her favorite right now is blueberry applesauce. Darrell and I kinda love it too! 

Sleeping: Some serious regression. Well, I'm a drama queen, it's not that bad. She's started waking up once a night again. I know, don't hit me but when you've been getting a full nights sleep since your baby was 10 weeks old, starting this new routine is rough. She didn't wake up last night but I'm not holding my breath, this has been going on for over a month. The good thing is, most nights it's a quick bottle and right back to bed within 10-15 minutes. The extra sucky nights are when she wakes up and is ready to party.

Her favorites: Avery is finally big enough for the harness on the stroller to fit so we've been going for walks and she loves sitting up in her stroller. She looks all around and kicks her feet like crazy. It's presh. She loves Sophie, Olivia the Owl, the bathtub, riding in the shopping cart and her activity table. 

Things she could do without: All of the sudden, she hates getting her diaper changed and getting dressed. She just wants to go everywhere! 

Milestones: This really is such a fun time. Tooth number two is breaking through, which isn't super fun. She is crawling everywhere and is pretty fast. She's pulling up, babbling and puts everything she shouldn't in her mouth. She's also holding her own bottle now and will sit in her chair to take it which means we get other stuff done. That's huge! 

I also think she loves me more than Darrell for the first time ever and that's a huge milestone for me!! 

Big Events: Avery saw her first ice storm last week. It was...uneventful. 

Mommy: I've finally started to lose weight. It's slow but it's coming. Work is going well and we're getting into a good afternoon/evening routine which makes things a lot less stressful. 

I'm doing this one mobile so all apologies if it's all screwy.