Avery Update

Can you believe that in just about a month and a half, Avery will turn one?!? Where has the time gone? She's such a big girl these days! She's drinking juice out of a sippy cup. Her favorite breakfast is reduced sugar yogurt. She loves to eat (basically) whatever we eat for dinner, just in chopped up versions. She walks with her walker all over the place. She also loves for me to stand behind her and hold her hands and she just walks all over the place. The other day, we walked half a block to the mail box and back. I thought that I'd end up carrying her half way but she did the whole thing, just very slowly!! I think she'll be walking on her own in no time at all! She just needs more balance. As it is, she can only stand up unsupported for 15 seconds max before she realizes that she's not holding onto anything and then grabs something for support. She's very close though!! She just needs the confidence that she can do it and then she'll be off!! She is babbling a lot more with a variety of complex syllables. It sounds like Chinese sometimes! The words that she can say include "ha" with a wave(hi), "dada", "mama", "dogie" (doggie), "da" while she points (that), and "tatal" (turtle) - her favorite bath toy. She also sings "ra ra ra" (supposed to be la la la)! She loves her dogs & cats. Her main focus these days is chasing our cat, Jackson. He teases her, always being around and then runs away when she gets near him. The other day, he was sitting on the couch armrest and she pulled herself up to reach him. She was poking him so he took his paw and playfully batted at her (he's declawed). After he batted at her, she poked at him. She thought that this was hillarious!! She just laughed and laughed. He then took his turn and batted back. This back and forth went on for at least 2-3 minutes. We were just frozen, watching this because we didn't want to ruin the moment. If only I had my camera!! It would've been winning material for something like America's Funniest Home Videos!

We got Avery a new car seat the other day! She is quickly outgrowing her infant carrier car seat & is miserable when we put her in it. However, she has to be 1 in order to go in a forward facing seat. So I found the perfect solution. We bought her a "big girl" forward facing car seat that also converts to a rear facing car seat for a child up to 35lbs. This way, she can still face backwards for as long as possible (which I'm told is advisable) and she can have more room. Hopefully that will make car rides more pleasant for her!

We're starting to get ready for Avery's 1st birthday party. When my mom was in town last week, we went and bought her a cute birthday outfit. Her party theme is going to be cats & dogs. I found the cutest plates and decorations!! One set of plates has a little chocolate lab puppy wearing pearls and the other set has a kitten in a pink purse. So girly, I love it!! You have to see the plates. Check out http://petpartyware.com/images/partypets_dogs_dessertp_l.jpg and http://petpartyware.com/images/partypets_cats_dessertp_l.jpg to see them! My good friend Kylie is going to make dog & cat cupcakes and cookies. For anyone that knows Kylie, you just KNOW that they're going to turn out amazing!!

I've been in Mexico for the last week so I don't have many pictures to post. More pics to come!!