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!