Tooth #2

It's about to break through the surface, but it's been lingering there for week now and hasn't broken through. Avery is currently gnawing on a frozen Eggo for relief :)

Pulling up, a.k.a. the end of my ability to 'look away'

Apparently, Avery's got something for milestones and the 16th of each month. Last month it was crawling on June 16th. This month, on July 16th, it was pulling up to a standing position without assistance and completely in view of me. She had done it once before (to my knowledge) in her crib, but I didn't see her do it again for many days.

Now it's progressed onto pulling up on the couch, the ottoman, the barstools, the knees of my pants, the dog, toys, the television...

You get the picture.

While I obviously am so excited that she's reached yet another milestone, I'm also a little taken aback by the fact that now not only has the living room turned into Babyland, it's also turned into the local jungle gym!

I will try my best to get some video of this. The part that cracks me up the most is that she does it so quickly and stealthily that I don't often know she's up until she squeals with delight and calls my attention to where she's standing.

How long before she walks? !!!!!!!!!!

Oh the dirt...

I've always known that my house is hairy because of the dogs, though I do vacuum countless times everyday, and I've also always known that it gets dusty quickly because we just don't have that much carpet in the 'common areas,' but I try to keep on top of it the best I can. I would say that I sweep several times a week to keep the dust on the slate floor to a minimum, but it never really seems to get a lot better.

I never really got down on the floor and crawled around to see just how much dirt, dust, and hair there is on my floor. Now I don't have to, of course, because with Avery cruising around on the floor, it's obvious to me that I need a maid (or 4 arms with 6 fingers on each hand...)

After really crawling like a mad baby the last few days, Avery is dirty. Her legs are dirty like she's been playing outside. The tops of her feet are dirty. Her hands are dirty. She even gets dirt under her fingernails!

So, this must be when the every-other-day-bathing-of-the-baby turns into every-day-bathing-of-the-baby-because-she's-too-dirty-not-to. I'll add that to my list of things to do. That list is exactly 42.3 miles long.

Well, with crawling comes...

...a whole new set of joys and frustrations. The joys are watching her move around to go where she wants to go to get what she wants to get. I see her spot something across the room and go for it to get it. It's also just funny to watch her maneuver around and cross the room sometimes crawling, sometimes stopping to sit and look around, sometimes screeching and talking to herself while she moves. It's a total crack up! The frustrations are that I can no longer leave her sitting somewhere and expect her to be in the same general area when I come back. Even just a quick trip to the restroom means she'll cross the living room and be pulling on things she shouldn't be and crawling near sharp edges and dangerous terrain. She also can't be contained... if I put her in the Pack N Play she instantly whines and throws a fit! She also doesn't really want to sit on my lap much... she'd rather be moving around! Overall, it's so much fun to watch her learn new things, but all the while I've got white knuckles as I stress myself over her bonking her head or hurting herself somehow!