Standing unassisted and talking? Yikes!

This weekend, while we were out of town up on the Central Coast, Avery did a few things that really surprised me!

First of all, she stood without the help of anything to balance on a couple of times. She would pull up, then stand there and let go of what she had pulled up on. The first time, she realized she wasn't holding onto anything, and sort of got scared and grabbed back on to what she had been leaning on. The second time, she did the same thing, except didn't really look scared, more like excited, and then sat down without using the support she needed to stand up. So exciting!

She is also mimicking things we say to her a lot -- things like "All done" and "What's that?" She was nursing, let go, and said "All done" for like three days in a row! Now, of course, she hasn't done it in a few days. The "What's that?" doesn't have any meaning yet; she'll say it for no reason, or right when she wakes up. It's pretty funny. I think I can make out "Who's that?" too, but not sure.

I can't believe she'll be a year old in about 6 weeks.

Avery's first crush is on

the vacuum. She loves the vacuum. She pushes it back and forth, she follows me around while I'm using it, she pulls up on it and bangs on the compartment that houses the attachments. It's so cute. I don't have the heart to tell her we need a new one and our current machine will probably die a lonely death in the garage.

Cruising!

Well, her recent tradition has held true for this month as well... on the 16th, she started slowly taking steps while pulled up and is not crusing the furniture! I'm excited and exasperated at the same time ;)

Teething again?

Avery has really not been wanting to eat much for about a week now. She pushes everything away -- I have to trick her to feed her by giving her something to hold while I shovel it in.

Here is a video to show you what I mean!
Avery Eating (or not)

My suspicion has been confirmed.

Avery is a daddy's girl. Today, her daddy came into the room, she lit up and smiled and squealed, as usual, and said "Da Da!"

I think "mama" will be pretty far down the list considering I'm the one holding her all the time, pointing out items and their names, and repeating them over and over. Today we looked at several pictures in frames of my husband and I, and each time I said "That's 'Dada' and that's 'Mama,'" hoping she could learn who "mama" is too!

Last night was almost as good...

She went down at 8pm, woke up at 11pm, and then slept pretty soundly until 5am. From 5am to 7am, she whined a couple of times, but mostly slept. I tossed and turned a lot during that time thinking she was going to fully wake up any minute, but I did manage to fall back to sleep for a little while during that two-hour chunk of time. Let's hope this continues!

She slept through the night!

I about had a heart attack this morning at around 3am, when I realized Avery hadn't woken up since I put her down at 8pm. I followed my pediatrician's advice and changed our routine and let her cry. She cried for 6 minutes, then slept for 9 hours. I am still in disbelief! Of course, I didn't sleep that well because my sleep cycle is all out of whack, but the possibility for her to sleep better is there, and that's what matters. I'll get my sleep cycle sorted out after she is more reliably sleeping through!

Yay!

A late 9-month appointment...

Today Avery had her nine-month check-up -- only about 3 weeks late. Everything looked good; she is now 21.3 pounds, 29 inches long, and her head isn't too big (meaning I don't remember how many centimeters around it was).

Her are some comparison charts that show what percentile Avery is in and has been in in the past:

height:


weight:



Her pediatrician also suggested letting Avery cry herself to sleep. She said she's definitely able to go 14 hours without eating at this point. So, tonight we changed our routine; instead of being nursed to sleep, I fed Avery before her bath and book time. Jed bathed her and then brought her to me so I could read her her regular 'line-up' -- "Pop-Up Jungle," "Zoom" (written by our neighbor -- Avery's rubbing elbows with authors, already!), "Where are you Roo?" and "Goodnight Moon."

After book time, I sat quietly in the rocking chair with Avery, only a dim lamp was on, then I told her "night night" several times, played with her hair, hugged and kissed her, and put her into bed. I then turned off the light and shut the door (per my ped's advice to put her in the crib awake, turn out the light, and leave the room). It took her 6 minutes, but she fell asleep.

Very advanced for an almost 10-month-old...

Well, that's what we're telling ourselves -- Jed and I. Avery has decided she can kiss us now. We ask for a kiss, and she willingly, lovingly, adorably turns her head, lips toward ours, but instead of puckering up, she opens wide and awaits your lips. We've tried to explain to her that opening your mouth during kissing is a little bit of an advanced behavior for an almost 10-month-old; when the alternative to opened mouth kisses is no kisses at all, however, I'll take her version any old day :)