Visits from Nanas

We've been blessed recently with visits from both Nana Judy and Nana Patsy/Papa Gilbert. Avery loves spending time with her grandparents- singing songs and showing them all her hand signals. She gets lots of loves, hugs and giggles when nana and papas visit and we love having them spend time with Avery. Here are a few favorite pictures!

Gymnastics Class!

I met a neighbor on our street who has a son just 3 weeks older than Avery. She told me about a toddler gymnastic class nearby and we checked it out. Avery LOVES running and learning how to somersault and I love the social aspect and exercise we both get. Not only is Avery learning how to tumble, but she's also learning things like how to wait in line (not so good yet) and share with others (kind of doing ok). She loves to just run all over the gym and always wants to be with the older kids class. Enjoy these pics of our class!

It's been a long time!

I can't believe it's been 2 months since I've updated Avery's blog! Yikes! It's been a busy season for me with Young Life in full swing and keeping up with Avery as she walks, runs, talks now. Time is flying by!! I dont know where to start to catch everyone up. We've taken lots of pictures since the last post on Sept 5th so I'll have to gradually get some in here. It's November and Avery is very vocal- trying every word she hears us say. She LOVES animals- every day she tells me about "ditties" (kitties), horse (sounds like "hsss), doggies (woof, woofs), and cows "Mooooo!". We go on daily outings on our street to find the 2 orange "ditties". She runs toward them and squats down to get a closer look. Speaking of squatting- she's also very interested in "pee pee in the potty". We won't go into great detail, but suffice it to say we went out to buy a training potty because she's imitating everything I do :-) Avery also had her 18 month check up this week and is doing very well- 32 inches (1 foot growth since birth!), and is a light-weight at 21.8 lbs. The dr is very encouraged by how social and engaging Avery is with everyone- lots of "Hi!" "Buh bye!" and blowing kisses. Never a dull moment with our girl!

Our little Picasso!

Avery's getting pretty good at her hand coordination- holding her spoons during meals and picking up/holding onto balls. We thought it might be time to get her some crayons and see what she would do. On Friday, Sept 3rd (Avery's 16 month bday!) I taped a paper to her high chair tray, gave her some crayons and let her draw! Of course we think the resulting artwork is perfection! It was so exciting watching her be creative and get excited about the colors. Of course she wanted to eat the crayons about as much as she drew with them but she did make quite a masterpiece- check out our little Picasso!

Valenzona Family Visit

We had another great visit from family last weekend when Guy's parents came to stay. It was wonderful to have them see our place for the first time and get to spend so much time with Avery. It was also fun to have Guy's brother Grant and his son, Elliott, join us on Saturday and Sunday. It was a packed house and lots of fun for Ms. Avery! The only bummer was that Avery wasn't feeling well that Thursday so I took her to the Dr on Friday before the valenzonas arrived. Turns out she had a double ear infection, a fever from her immunizations and a bronchial cough. Poor girl! She seemed ok between naps, but when it came time to sleep she was miserable from ear pain and teething. The Valenzonas were troopers during her sleepless nights and we felt like we had a newborn all over again. The antibiotics kicked in after 48 hours and she started feeling much better.

Childhood friends

Guy and I are blessed to have so many wonderful friends and, despite many having moved out of town, to keep in good touch with them. We love when friends visit the area and we can catch up and share Avery with them. A few weeks ago we were thrilled to have Christie's childhood friend, Jenna, come to town from Eugene, OR. Jenna was staying in SF with our other childhood friend, Ann, so we planned a time together over lunch. Ann and her husband Dan have an 11 month old boy, Nico. He and Avery had a great time playing together. It's been fun and interesting to see Avery's personality come out as she plays with other kids. It's a crack up because she loves to kiss everyone!! We think she learned this from her old babysitter's daughter who used to hug and kiss her every day. Avery doesn't shy away from leaning into new friends and trying to plant kisses on them. She also loves to pat their hair down- at least she's not pulling hair anymore! That made our very first playdate interesting a few months ago. Here are a few pics of Avery, Nico, Jenna and Ann

Girl's weekend!

Almost every month since Avery's been born, my mom has been able to fly up and help for a week. It's been a tremendous help and blessing, and great quality time for my mom and I. We've also started a traditional Girl's Weekend when my sister's been able to join my mom in July. They came this year again and we had a blast! We went for walks with avery, checked out Fort Cronkite and went to church together. Thanks to Michelle and mom for helping so much while you were here. Here are a few pics from our time together- can't wait until next year!

Foote Family visit

This summer has been jam packed with great family visits. Guy, Avery and I have made 3 roadtrips down through Central California (Lompoc) to Orange County to see both of our parents and extended family. We've gone down for Avery's 1 year bday, Christie's 20 year high school reunion and a family wedding. We consider it a great blessing to be able to see so many family members and share in Avery's growth and development. Toward the end of the summer, we had family come visit us at our new house in Novato. In late July, Guy's sister and brother-in-law and their three girls came to stay for a week, to take care of Avery while Christie went to Young Life camp and Guy was able to work. We were SO grateful for their visit- we know it was a lot of work (and fun!) to have all 4 cousins together. Some of the more precious moments were Avery and Lily (looking fairly identical!) loving each other. Check out these pics!

Avery's walking!

We've been waiting and waiting for Avery to start walking and the time has come! She's been pulling herself up on any furniture she can find and cruising with the help of anything in her path, but she finally took those first steps of faith without support! We're so excited! It's so cute to watch her- she's cautious and wobbles for about 5 steps then plops on her bottom. She is really fast and strong when she cruises with her shopping cart or mini car. It's any day now before she's running around the house! Here is a short video we got tonight of her 4-5 steps. yeah Avery!

Nana and Papa

Nana Judy and Papa Bob visited us last week to help with Avery while Guy was away at Young Life camp. During the week Avery got really good at saying "Nana" and "Papa", in fact, she started making "Nana" sound more like "NAAAAANAAAAA" and then a quick "Papa". At the end of the week we blew up a new mini-pool avery was given for her birthday and while having fun there she started echoing my mom with "naaaanaa". I caught it on video- too funny!

More swim video!

Wanted to post another quick video clip of Avery yesterday in swim class. The teacher encouraged us to try and float the kids on their back to see if they would get used to their head getting wet. This is the step prior to dunking them under the water. Avery was amazing! I put her on her back and she just layed there, so mellow, like she was waiting for me to bring her food and drink- ha! She just looked at me- not afraid at all. Check it out...

Averys swim lessons

This has been a fun week as I've taken Avery to her first swim class! The class is Mon-Thur from 10:20-10:50 at the local community center and it's been great. Guy is out of town at Young life camp so my mom and dad are here and it's been fun for them too. They've done a great job taking pics and video at the edge of the pool. The greatest thing is that Avery LOVES the pool! She smiles and laughs and even loved being dunked under! (mommy was the most nervous about that part but Avery did great). Here is a short clip of class yesterday.

Stairs!

Our new house has 2 sets of stairs so we've had to get the baby gates going and watch Avery closely. Turns out she loves them and is pretty agile. She can only go near them when we are right nearby. It's so cute to see her scurry up- with us right behind her. I like that the stairs are carpeted- more padding for her. She's quick and strong. i think we have a little athlete on our hands!

Almost Walking!

We've had such fun watching Avery develop every single day. It seems each day brings more words (Nana, Papa, Daddy, Mama, Baba, Ouch, Hot, cheese, shade) She's a talker! She's also started using her two "push" toys- encouraging her to stand up and take a few steps while holding on. It's very exciting to see her so confident and strong. Check her out!

Mother's Day

Mother's Day will always be a special day- not just because I feel so blessed to be a mother- but because it will always be the same week as Avery's and my birthdays. it's a week of wonderful celebration! This year we went to church and then to a nice brunch here in Marin. It was fun to dress up and now that Avery is eating table food, she was able to enjoy most of the buffet with us! We took a few pics before brunch (we loved the hand-me-down dress/head scarf from auntie melanie) and tried to get in her 12 month picture. We don't have as much success with the monthly marker papers these days as she tried to eat them :-) it was easier when we leaned her against a pillow and propped the paper against her. We still can't believe our little girl is 1!!

Avery's First Birthday!

We still can't believe Avery's first birthday has come and gone. Where did the time go? It was so much fun having a picnic in Orange County to celebrate Avery's big milestone. The weekend started with our first flight home with Avery. She did great! We loved visiting family and friends and then having a gathering at a local park near my parents house. It was a beautiful day and we had such a wonderful turnout of extended family and dear friends. Thanks to all who made it. Of course the big question of the first birthday is always how they will handle the cake. Avery's been a good eater and always fairly clean, but I wondered how she'd feel about all that sugar! She dug right in and even rubbed a bit in her hair- success! It was a wonderful day!

Adventures with Avery

We got a few short snippets of video during Avery's first easter egg hunt with Guy's office. It was a bit difficult because it had been raining in the days prior so the grass was wet and muddy. We didn't want avery getting all dirty so we would bend her down over the eggs so she could grab them- not exactly the most graceful egg hunt, but she LOVED holding the eggs. She wouldn't even put them in the basket- she wanted to hold them the whole time. Classic!

Avery's first Easter Egg Hunt

Today was such a fun day with Avery! We headed down to Guy's office in Palo Alto for their annual Easter Egg hunt celebration. There were tons of families- Guy's co-workers from both offices- and lots of little kids running around. They did a great job- we started with a big easter egg hunt around the grass and pond. The grass was wet from recent rain so we carried avery around and leaned her over so she could grab eggs and put them in her basket. Note about Avery's easter basket- this is a very special basket, made by my grandmother for me when I was little. My mom saved it and sent it to us for Avery. It made the day even more special! Avery LOVED holding onto the eggs- she was so distracted we couldn't get her to smile for the camera all day- a rarity for our girl! They had the Easter bunny there too- check out Avery's reaction. Looks VERY similar to her reaction to Santa at Christmas!! How funny! They also had a clown making balloon animals and a woman painting faces. Avery's favorite part was just sitting on our blanket and playing with her basket full of eggs. Life's simple pleasures. We're excited to spend Easter tomorrow at our new church and then have brunch and another egg hunt with new friends the Kramer family. Happy Easter to all- He is Risen!

Green Family visit

My cousin Jan, her husband, Gerry, and daughter Neily came through town on a roadtrip last night and stayed the night at Casa Valenzona. We loved having them visit our home for the first time. We shared a few great meals (it's lucky i know lasagne for dinner and pancakes for breakfast- 2 of my limited specials!) and stayed up late for girl talk with good wine (Jan and Christie) and boy talk with good cigars by the pool (Gerry and Guy). Neily was so sweet to bring boxes of her toys to hand down to Avery and some very special hand-made gifts. Thank you Neily! Avery will love her new books, dolls and games. Unfortunately, Avery came down with the horrible-sounding, but very common "Hand, Foot and Mouth virus" and a cold the day before their visit so our normally joyful, sleeps-through-the-night baby was a bit irritable and decided to wake up crying every hour through the night! Sorry, Greens! We hope they will get more rest at their hotel in Monterey tonight. We hope they love the aquarium too. Here are a few pictures taken before they left this morning for SF and Monterey (please note Christie's sweet pajama attire and bright green socks- it's the uniform for all deliriously tired mommies :-)

Fun in the Sun with my Nana

Now that Avery can sit up strong by herself, we've been getting her out to enjoy the great weather and crawl around on a blanket in the grass. It's so fun to watch her feel the grass for the first time- we take these things for granted! While mommy was away doing some work, Nana set up a picnic on the front lawn and Avery and Nana had so much fun with their cups of water and hats. This close- up shot is one of my new favorites- I just love my sweet girl! Avery also loved showing Nana the coastline at Fort Cronkhite today. Such pretty views and nice warm weather- we are loving the approach of Spring!

Sunny days are here again!

After weeks of rain, the sun has come out and the weather is warming up! We try to keep Sundays as family day, so we headed to Fort Cronkhite- right near the GG Bridge- for some lunch on the beach and a walk along the coastal trail. It was the first time for Avery to wear her flappy sun hat she got when she was born- it was great at keeping the sun off her pure, sweet skin. It's weird to think that her skin has really never been affected by the sun and I wish I could keep it that way for the rest of her life. I'm sure she'll reject my idea of having her wear a turtleneck in the sun when she's 5! We had a great day together and took some fun pictures. Avery has a bit of a runny nose in these pics because we think she's finally teething. Hard to believe she's almost 11 months!

Fun with Nana

Nana Judy is visiting this week and we've been having a great time! I always love when my mom visits because Avery gets to spend time with her Nana and it gives me support and help. Avery has been crawling up a storm and Nana has been spending a lot of time around the house watching her crawl. We have an area set up in the living room that is safe for Avery to crawl freely- basically a circle of furniture as barriers. On this day, we brought her into the other room to crawl around, but kept having to turn her around when she found a non-baby proofed area. She's also babbling alot and has a few key words- "Hi!" and "up" when we pick her up. It's amazing to see her develop. I hope you will enjoy this new video!

She's Crawling!!

So I posted our video of Avery crawling for the first time and accidently hit "post" before writing anything, so you can see her in the post before this one. For the past month or so, Avery has made her way onto her hands and knees and then started rocking back and forth- a sure sign that crawling was on the way. The past week or so she started crawling backwards- so funny to see and apparently very common. Guy and I were a bit worried that our daughter would never move forward :-) but just last Sunday she took her first crawl. I was out at church with some Young Life girls and Guy was home with avery because he'd had to go to work super early that day. Avery got in her crawling position and Guy grabbed the video just in case. he was encouraging her and wouldn't you know, she moved forward! I got home and he casually says "hey- look at this video I got". I had a total mommy moment as I freaked out laughing realizing she had just crawled and then immediately freaked out sadly because I missed it. Hormones, anyone?? Thankfully Guy's used to the rollercoaster that is motherhood. That entire day Avery crawled more and more- so cool and yet, oh no, she's mobile!! Now we're constantly checking the floor for tidbits she might put in her mouth and we're on to babyproofing what we can. next step- standing and walking!

Pretty in Pink- my yoga baby

Avery and I played dress up the other day, putting her in a pink hat and dress that are a bit too big but so darling on her! I couldn't resist taking some candid pictures as she played. She is 9.5 months now and each day her personality gets more engaging. She is laughing, babbling and crawling backwards! We love watching her each day. The other picture is what I call "yoga baby". As she learns to crawl and sit up, she continues to explore how her legs and feet work together. She was playing and grabbed her foot into what looked like a yoga position. Who knows what she'll try next?!

Special time with Nana Judy

Nana Judy made her monthly visit at the beginning of February and we loved having her here to help around the house and, more importantly, to spend quality time with Avery. One thing that has become fun is in the early mornings, when Avery wakes up, Nana takes her to spend time together and play while Christie gets an extra hour of sleep. Nana and Avery have come to love sitting in the front window, watching cars, kids and dogs walk by. Nana points out new things for Avery to see and Avery squeals with excitement at her new view on the world. I couldn't resist taking a sweet picture of their time in the front window. We also had an impromptu photo shoot while the 3 of us sat near the front window one day. Nana took some precious pictures of mommy and Avery. It's fun to capture her developing personality!

Belly Laughs and the towel

Today Avery and I were hanging out at home and she was feeling a bit fussy so I put her on my lap while I folded some laundry. The funniest thing happened. I folded a towel and patted it down to straighten it and Avery cracked up so hard! It's the best belly laugh I've heard from her. I patted the towel again and she cracked up again! It was so random and funny that I slyly got the video camera and got some fun footage. I hope this makes you laugh too!

We love Leap Frog!

My old roommate Tiffany just got a new job in the corporate offices at Leap Frog right across the bay in Emeryville. We are thrilled for Tiffany's new job because a) it's great to get a new job in this economy and b) Leap Frog makes excellent educational toys for kids. I've told Tiffany we would love to be guinea pigs for any toys that need focus groups for :-) We've gotten a few Leap Frog toys for Avery and she loves every single one. Tiffany came to have dinner with us last week after work and brought Avery a great gift- his name is Scout and he is a green and white dog that you plug into your computer, pull up the Leap Frog website and enter Avery's favorite things- colors, animals, food. Believe it or not- it downloads the info to Scout and when you press his different paws he sings her songs or spells her name or just says "I love you Avery!". His little voice is so cute too (apparently it's the voice of the son of a Leap Frog employee). While Avery's still a little young to push the buttons herself, she is mesmerized when Scout says her name or her favorite animal (for now, giraffe, in honor of Sophie the amazing teething giraffe toy!). Here are a few pics of Avery's variety of excited faces over her new toy and also Auntie Tiff. Thank you Tiffany!