Catching up with pictures...

Our week began with a huge furniture move onto the non-carpeted flooring areas of our house so we could get our carpet cleaned. Suffice it to say we've spent the last few days with a double bed mattress, boxsprings, and bedframe in our dining room, a changing table in our front entry, a file cabinet blocking our front door, and junk EVERYWHERE. The upside is, well, our carpets are clean! We got most of Avery's things moved into her future room and all of the nursery furniture moved into the office. The office has moved to the former nursery. Confusing, I know.



While waiting for the carpet to dry, Avery and I had some fun with her stuffed animal friends. I sure hope her attachment to stuffed animals is normal. Here we were having a tea party, minus the tea, but WHOA, what a party.


Avery also got to shower in the big people shower this week, mostly by herself. It was time to get out, but Avery protested with every fiber of her being, so I figured there wasn't any harm in letting her sit under the shower as it mostly just dripped down onto her as I sat by and watched. I did leave the room for a moment to get my camera, but Avery lived.


It's safe to say she loved every moment of the danger I put her in. This is a terrible picture, but they all came out blurry because I had the flash off and she was on the move.


Lastly we have Little Red Stocking Hood. Avery found this pair of red stockings in the Great Furniture Shift of 2006 and since they're hideous and I'm not sure why I have them, we made a hat out of them for a while. At first she wasn't into it, but then she saw herself in the mirror, and OH, that made a big difference in her willingness to be photographed.


Sorry for the lapse in VERY important updates while our computer was out of commission.

Things I've said today...

Here is just a sampling of the many things I've had to tell Avery today. Remember, she's only 20 months old.

"Avery, please do not color on your clothes."
"Honey, please eat something."
"No, you cannot play with that cable wire."
"Sweetie, did you really poop again? Already?"
"Don't lay on the dog beds! Yuck!"
"Avery, please do not color on the TV."
"No, don't rub banana in your hair."
"You just told me you didn't want any milk -- now you do?"
"Did you just rip a page out of the library book? Nooooo!"
"Avery, you can't color on the highchair."
"Honey, please don't rub milk all over the couch."

Yes, you're right, it's exhausting. The poor child can't do anything destructive. We're so mean!

Bathtime, revised

I can no longer put Avery in the bathtub and actually give her a bath. My knees hurt, I can't lean onto my stomach, and I'm just too awkward. So, bathtime for now is going to happen in the sink. I'll still have Jed do it in the bathtub a couple of times a week just to keep her used to getting a bath in there, but when I bathe her, it'll have to be this way. She doesn't seem to mind.

Video of us hanging out...

Avery takes a stab at the alphabet and other silliness.

View it here.

A girl and her dog

Winston will let Avery literally do just about anything to him. And she adores him right back. Murphy doesn't like to be used as a horse, but he's so gentle with her too. We really lucked out!

Last Week's Pictures

Windy, Marylin and Trinity (Marylin's cousin) came to visit at my mom's house last week before my mom had to leave on a business trip. We went swimming and had lunch and just hung out in general. It was a nice, sunny, relaxing day.

Before the girls arrived, Avery needed to be distracted from the pool (my fault, I talked swimming up in the car quite a bit to keep Avery from whining on the drive there). First we trapsed through the flowers, with the Dora and Boots pool toys in tow. Then we visited the horse, like usual, and pretended to drive the tractor.




While visiting the horse, Avery suddenly got brave and crossed the Sahara alone... though she did have Zoey, her trusty sidekick along for the trip. She went all this way without looking back and with no fear.


Afterward, our friends arrived and we went for a swim.


Trinity and Marylin wanted to visit the horse too, so we made the trek out again to see Summer.


After a few hours, Windy, Marylin, and Trinity had to say "Goodbye," and Avery had to take a nap. When she woke up, she harrassed the cat for a while and we just loafed around trying to stay cool. We can't wait to see our friends again, and Grammy Gigi, please come home soon.

Busy day today...

GramZ picked us up this hummingbird feeder...


... so this morning's task was the make the sugar water to put inside. I figured it was a simple enough task to have Avery help me, so I pulled her up a chair and away we went. Her favorite part was the stirring part -- though her idea of stirring unfortunately involves some splashing here and there. We'll work on that, Auntie Jodi. Good cooks don't splash like Avery did this morning. She got a little peeved with me when I took the pot away. See picture number three below.


After the stirring came the boiling. Apparently boiling water is fun to watch. Just ask Avery. Thankfully it only required two minutes' worth.


Last we hung the feeder and waited for patrons. So far we've seen none. The bird seed feeder go a lot of action, however, so much so that it's fresh out of seed and I am fresh out of refills.


Later we headed to our friends' house (Brad, Vickie, and Jacob) for some swimming and fun. Avery and Jacob had a blast in the pool together and Avery even told Jacob "No splashing, Jacob!" at one point. It was pretty funny. Later she kissed him goodbye and Vickie pointed out that Jacob hadn't ever purposefully kissed anyone on the lips -- until Avery. I guess they're a match made in Heaven.



For dinner we had pasta primavera, and I let Avery make a mess everywhere. I took her tray away when we were done and gave her some red Jello as dessert... brilliant me let her use a spoon thinking she might be able to feed herself while I did the dishes. Turns out that wasn't the best idea I'd had all day. It didn't take long for her to ditch the spoon and dig in with her fingers. I'm sure they'll still be red tomorrow.

Father's Day

We didn't do much today because I'm not feeling great and it's too hot outside. Mostly our day consisted of laying on the living room floor, reading books, drawing pictures, and watching the golf bonanza on TV.

Avery seems to know it's Father's Day and has layered on the kisses and charm for Daddy. I couldn't capture all of the moments, but here are a few.



And the hair was all her idea. I swear.

Pure Harassment

Of the baby-on-puppy kind.

Avery and her future father-in-law...

This is our friend Stephen. He and his family (wife and two boys) moved to PA a year ago, and he came back to CA last week to attend the graduation at the school he'd worked at for several years. We missed Amy and the boys, but we were glad to see Stephen just the same.

He wasn't sure whether or not he was cute enough for me to post these pictures on Avery's blog, but what he keeps forgetting is that he's Avery future father-in-law, so whether she thinks he's cute or not, he's making it onto her blog to 'butter him up.' I think the flirting she was doing in these pictures proves that she thinks he's cute enough though, and luckily, his son is a cutie too.


In addition to the pics above, he also attached a picture of Avery's future husband, Severin. Avery and Severin already had their first kiss, back when Avery was about 10 months old. She'll never forget it (because I won't let her!) Oh, and Severin isn't as scary in real life as he seems in this picture.

Visit to GramZ and PapaZ...

We went for a visit to GramZ and PapaZ's house today (no, they no longer have real names, and yes, Jed and I call each other "Mama" and "Dada" sometimes... what happened to us?)

PapaZ barbequed some great steak and chicken while the rest of us wandered around the backyard trying to engage Avery in some photo opportunities.

GramZ handed Avery her watering can (Avery's, not GramZ's) and Avery watered some of the flowers with imaginary water. Yes, she was close to the pool, but don't worry, GramZ was just out of the picture in some of the shots. I'm sure Avery would have loved nothing more than to fall into the pool. She is officially obsessed with water, swimming, pools, and fountains. Anything a small toddler can drown in, really.


We thought that since her love of statues comes second to her love of water that she'd be enamored by this little man taking a siesta. She wanted nothing to do with him, surprisingly. The hibicus, however, promptly caught her attention, and she strutted around proudly with one behind her ear for longer than any normal toddler would strut. I am sure she was helping me out with my photo op... what a gal.


Since those shots made all the subsequent pictures pale in comparison, I'll just share one more of Avery watering the tiny little dandelion with the enormous watering can she ended up finding during her search of the yard. I tried to capture the enormity of the watering can and the daintiness of the flower, but toddlers move fast, and you've got to get a shot while it's available to you.

Avery's Joke

Well, this isn't quite the same as when she spontaneously did it, but here we are talking about it:

You want to eat what?

Local Farmers' Market

This evening, since it was cool but still very light outside, Avery and Merz and I headed over to Market Night because Merz wanted to see what fresh fruit they had.

First, we decided to grab a bite to eat at Rubio's, where Avery fed herself her favorite food of the month, rice. She missed more than she made it into her mouth, but really, how else will she learn? Besides, someone else has to sweep it up at Rubio's.




After dinner we headed back over to the street where they hold Market Night and watched the ponies for a while. Avery desperately wanted to ride one, but she is just still too young. She wouldn't hold on well enough for me not to have a heart attack.

Afterward, we walked up the block again to see the clown, which Avery ended up being TERRIFIED of, so we didn't stay long. After all, clowns ARE terrifying. I don't blame her for crying. The funniest part was once we were 1/2 a block away, she started to look back and say "Bye clown," like she was sad that she hadn't given poor old "Lollipop" a chance.

Wrapping Paper Fun...

Avery pulled out an old roll of wrapping paper today and went to town. Naturally, I didn't stop her. Of course I had to get some video of it... it was quite entertaining.

I'm trying to encourage that imagination of hers to blossom. If it means sacrificing a perfectly good roll of ugly green wrapping paper, so be it. All in the name of creativity.

Dear Avery:

You are not destined to become a hairdresser. You are, however, destined to silliness with me for many years to come.

Love, Mama

First Joke...

Avery told me both today and yesterday that she wanted to eat dirt for lunch. It went something like this:

Avery: "Wanna wanna eat."
Me: "You want to eat?"
Avery: "Okay!"
Me: "What do you want to eat?"
Avery: "Hmmmm.... dirt? HAHAHAHAHA!" (yes, it was a loud laugh like that)
Me: "You want to eat DIRT?"
Avery: "No... silly!"

What a cut up she is.

Recent things Avery has said...

and has totally shocked me...

Yesterday, we were playing peek-a-boo. Each time I'd uncover my face, I'd say "I see you," which she's been saying in return for quite a while. Yesterday, however, when I uncovered my face, I'd say "I see you," and she'd say "I see you too!" The 'too' part kills me!

Also, at Gymboree, we were discussing up and down. She and a few other toddlers were standing up on this bridge type thing they'd constructed, and were throwing bean bags down into a bucket. At one point, she handed another little boy a bean bag and said to him, "Your turn!" I was amazed!

Now if I could only get her to eat something other than 'snacks.' That has become out newest battle. Grrr!

Splashing!

Video from today -- there aren't many other ways to entertain this child when it's already 100 degrees at 10am!

Avery's First Chore...

Jed and I have joked about how we're waiting for Avery to start to wash the dishes and mow the lawn, and in all seriousness, we're serious! She can pull her weight around here when she's big enough, there is nothing wrong with that.

We thought it'd be fun for Avery to help Jed wash the truck today -- she's obsessed with water and being outside, so what better way to introduce her to the world of doing chores?


Avery, however, had different ideas. At first she didn't want anything to do with the soapy bucket of water and the sponge. She wandered around on the sidewalk for a while, and then decided she did want to help. She wanted to help waste water.

Pretending not to be interesting in the water/hose/washing the car activities:


Then she slowly warmed up to the idea of getting cooled off by helping Daddy:


By the end she was soaked, but I guess that was the whole idea.