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!