The week in review.

Monday.

Opened cabinet to get frying pan. Made a discovery.


Tuesday.

Continued to provide a "girly" room for my girl.


Wednesday.

Start to clean up kitchen. Check on baby. Make another discovery. Vacuum.



Wednesday. Ten minutes later. Vacuum again. Bring baby inside and lock door.



Thursday. Run around the pool table. Notice the dust collecting on the pool table leg. Ignore it.


Thursday, after dinner. Teach child ridiculous table manners. (Click picture for video.)



Friday. Make stars at Gymboree. Look forward to more mischief this weekend.

"Who's on first?"

Avery and I had an actual conversation today.
It went something like:
"Listen, do you hear that?"
followed by Avery cupping her hand to her ear and saying "something?"
and me replying "Do you hear something?"
Then she'd say "Chee-chee?" for birdie (which was what the sound was that we were listening to)
and I'd say "Yes, I think it's a birdie"
and she'd say "Where?"
"Outside," I'd reply.

Then we'd hear the bird again and I'd say "Listen, do you hear that?" and the whole thing would start over again.

We must have gone on that way for 30 minutes.
Now she keeps putting her finger to her mouth, saying "Shhh," and then cupping her hand to her ear and saying "Sissen" for 'listen.'

Maybe we'll learn to be quieter this way? She's also picked up screeching at the top of her lungs for no reason and absolultely unprovoked. Fun fun.

It's amazing to me the things she remembers after only being told them one time. Today we were looking at shapes, and I explained that a kite is in the shape of a diamond.

Later, we were at Target, and they had a bunch of photo albums with a window on the front for a picture to show through in the shape of a diamond. She kept pointing at them and saying "Kite, kite."

At first I had no idea what she was talking about, so I said "Light?" thinking she was pointing up at the lights. Then she'd answer "Where?" which means to me that no, that's not what she was talking about. (If I acknowledge the thing she's trying to point out to me correctly, she'll stop saying it and move on to the next thing of interest).

I looked around, pointed to the diamond shape and said "Kite?" and she said, "Okay." I was amazed.

Latest art project...

I'm sure you OBVIOUSLY already know these are sunflowers...

Melt my heart!

Avery told me tonight "Lu boo" in response to my "I love you" as her daddy was putting her to sleep. So sweet!

Movin' on up...

We bought Avery a toddler bed today. Now of our four bedrooms, she has fully claimed two -- having a bed in each one. We're going to slowly make the change from her current room to her new room, and once she's out (we're hoping it's within the next four months) the nursery and the office will switch rooms. We have a lot to figure out and how to make it all fit functionally.

Who would have thought that we could go from barely filling a 2-bedroom condo to having too much stuff to fit into a four bedroom house that's more than twice as big? Whew...

Here's Avery trying to help her Daddy put the bed together:


Can I test it out yet?


Now we have another dresser to buy, and probably an area rug for Avery's room too to help protect the carpet. So much to buy, so little money!

Trip to the San Diego Zoo

Here are some pictures to share -- click on the picture below to see the album :)

Attention!

This and this and this are what happen when an 18-month-old child is left unattended in a plot of dirt.

Take heed.

Easter Pictures

I wish it had been a little warmer so Avery could have shown off her cute spring dress a little more, but it was a nice, sunny day nonetheless. Click on the picture below to view the slideshow.

My caped crusader...

For some reason, this favorite blanket of Avery's has now been transformed into a hat or a cape or a cloak or something. All she wants to do is wear it on her head. She'll walk in circles, get dizzy, fall down, and do it all over again. Next I suppose we'll move on to eating paste.

Avery's First Official Art Project

We've done our share of painting and coloring here, but this was one she did at Gymboree. Auntie Merzy was the one to take her this time, so I'm not quite sure if the painting is supposed to be something in particular, but I do know the cotton balls and shredded wheat are a bird's nest. I am going to have a hard time trying not to save everything!

Counting to ten, take two!

Avery has been practicing her numbers all week. It's tough to get on camera because she doesn't sit still for long, but here goes nothing.

Counting to ten!

Newest Seating Preference

Forget the Bumbo, the flower chair, the princess chair, and the rocking chair. Avery's new seating preference is the dog bowl. For the past two mornings, she has dragged it out onto the area rug and plopped down to watch her morning Sesame Street. I'm thinking it's just a novelty and not really all that comfortable. We'll see how long it lasts.

"Junior Wild Hairs"

The nickname is courtesy of Avery's Grammy. It was Uncle Tyler's nickname at one time too.

Here is Avery after her hair has been towel-dried after a bath. You'll see she does indeed have hair. It's sparse and thin and still fuzzy in places, but it's there!

Today's backyard activities

They consisted of picking weeds and bouncing on the patio furniture. We've had so much rain lately that there was no going in the dirt (which is mud right now) and Avery wasn't all that happy about it. I got some great pictures though!

Update on vocabulary...

I stopped updating the list of words Avery says because it was growing by several new words everyday and I couldn't keep up. I also figured that Webster already has a collection going, why did I need to type it all again?

Now we're into phrases. It's so funny to hear her say these -- it makes me realize what I say to her all the time.

She will say:
There it is!
There I is! (my little grammarian)
Eat _____ (insert cheese, toast, grapes "bapes," cookie, cracker "cacker," apple, peaches, Kix, puffs, etc.)
Read a book?
Want some!/Have some? (one is a demand and the other a request)
Where'd it go?
What's that?

I'm sure there are others -- I'll have to update the list when I remember them all!

My computer has been on the fritz so I apologize for my lack of photographic evidence for the week. Jed promises to fix it just as soon as he gets home, but the week before tax season is a bad week for him! I am using his computer to upload for now, but it's a much slower process...

Counting to ten!

Or, we're getting there anyway!

Counting to ten

Making Auntie Anna proud