Ending the Year with New Things!

Yesterday, Avery went to her 6 month check up. She measured in at 26" long and weighs 14lbs 5.5oz. She's a little above average in height, but only in the 20th percentile for weight. We were told we could start doing other solid foods now-fruits and veggies and that we could also start giving her a sippy cup to practice with. She had to get a bunch of shots too-5 of them! She had 3 regular ones to get and then she also had to get the seasonal flu vaccine and the H1N1 vaccine as well. She was very good-didn't cry much at all. She was pretty crabby the rest of the day and most of the day today as well so I'm sure they had something to do with it.

Since we got the OK to start new solids, why not end the year with something new? Today was carrot day! I had some in the house so I cooked them up and pureed them in a blender.
Looks tasty huh?!

Of course we had to get some pics of her trying them:


Can you guess how she liked them?


Yeah, not a big fan. She was doing her gagging thing like she did the first time we gave her cereal. She wasn't too thrilled. We'll keep trying and see if she warms up to them.

I also decided to give her a sippy cup today to play with. She has become obsessed with watching people drink. And she LOVES when I drink out of a water bottle-she gets so excited and grabs it from me and tries to eat the bottle. So I figured a sippy cup would be right up her alley-it's see through so she can see the water, she can chew on it, etc.

When I gave it to her, it was like she knew what to do with it-she put it right in her mouth!


She was chewing on it and loving it....until she got a taste of the water in the cup....

She disliked it so much that all she had to do was look at the cup and she would make this face:

Priceless!!

Happy Birthday Gabe!

Today was Gabe's birthday. After I got out of work, we had some company. My Mom came in from Buffalo to spend the night and Gabe's parents and our nephew Owen came over as well. We ordered some food for dinner and had a yummy Carvel cake to celebrate his special day.
Yummy snowman cake!

Happy Birthday Daddy!

Make a wish!

Happy Birthday Honey! Hope you had a wonderful day!!

Six Months Old!!

Today is Avery's half-birthday...she's 6 months old!! Again, I can't believe how fast it's going by-her real birthday will be here before we know it!

Avery is now rolling all over the place-front to back and back to front. She loves playing and chewing on her feet. Everything goes into her mouth these days-she loves to chew on things! She hasn't mastered sitting up yet-she folds in half when you sit her up.

We started her on cereal about 10days ago. She wasn't too fond of it the first time, but now she loves it! She gets so excited that she attacks the spoon when it comes toward her! She goes to the doctor in a few days so we'll see what he says about trying other new foods.

Avery is still obsessed with Jerri the cat-she laughs and gets excited whenever Jerri enters the room. She doesn't take her eyes off of her and likes to pet (and grab) her. Jerri is very tolerant of her...so far! We'll see how that changes when Avery is more mobile.

Avery started napping in her crib about 10 days ago and is doing very well with it. I couldn't get her to nap for me at all before so this is a huge step for us! Now she's napping twice a day in her crib which is great. She still wakes up twice overnight to eat-I'm hoping she'll eliminate one of those feedings soon. Other than that, all is going great!!

Here are her new pics-as soon as I put the giraffe next to her, she had to attack it!







I had to get some with the Santa hat since it was so close to the holidays!

Baby's First Christmas!

Christmas was very special for us this year since it was Avery's first Christmas. To be honest, I haven't looked forward to Christmas this much in a very long time. I know she's too young to understand what's going on and to really enjoy everything, but I still looked forward to it a lot this year. It gives you a different perspective to see a holiday through the eyes of a 6 month old.

Of course today was another bustling day. My cousins came over to my Mom's house at 10am for brunch. My one cousin was in from Tennessee and we haven't seen them in a few years. He came over along with his 2 daughters, Jessica and Jodi-they brought their significant others and their kids as well. It was quite a house full once again!
Madyson and Cayden opening gifts:

Madyson:

Grandma and Avery:

Avery opening a gift-she got a kick out of the wrapping paper. She would hang onto it real tight and we would pull the gift to unwrap it. Of course she wanted to eat the paper!

A new teether!

Let's try it out!

My Uncle Joe and Aunt Marion also stopped over to bring Avery a gift:


A new jacket and hat!

Avery really enjoyed my cousin Paul (in from TN):


After everyone left, we did gifts with my Mom....

A new doll:

We got a lot of nice things! Avery got a lot of practical things (cups, spoons, plates, clothes, etc) which was nice-I was expecting toy overload, but it wasn't too bad. Mom got us some nice things-clothes, slippers, entertainment book, a digital picture frame.

We left Buffalo around 4:45 and on the way home we stopped at Gabe's parents' house to say hello. We stayed about an hour and by that time it was past Avery's bedtime already so we came home and put her to sleep.

Once Avery was in bed, Gabe and I exchanged gifts. He got me a Starbucks gift card, a mascara sampler from Sephora and a beautiful piece of "Mommy jewelry". I'll have to take a picture of it to post-I love it!

We still have to celebrate Christmas with Gabe's side of the family-that will take place on New Years Day so we still have a celebration to look forward to.
Merry Christmas everyone! I hope you had a wonderful one!

Christmas Eve

Let the chaos that is Christmas begin!!

We started today by leaving our house pretty early-by 11am. For us, that's pretty good! We headed to Buffalo to start the whirlwind that is normal for this time of year.

Our first stop, the Polino's house! My friend Katie currently lives in MD and only makes it back to Buffalo twice a year. The last time she was here was when Avery was born and I saw her for maybe an hour when she came to the hospital to visit us. She was staying at her parents' house so we stopped over there to visit. It was great seeing all of them and of course her parents put out a spread of food for us (gotta love those Italians!). We also got to see Katie's son, Roman, for awhile. The last time we saw him was at our wedding a year and a half ago-and he was only 3months old at the time! So it was a visit that just had to be done while they were in town!
Here is Katie with Roman and Avery:


Both of us with the kids:

Roman opening his gifts:


Avery checking out the horsie:

After our visit there, we were off to my Mom's for a few hours. Megan, Todd and Noah stopped over for a visit so we could exchange gifts.

Then is was off to my cousin Rachel's house for our annual Christmas Eve get together. My Mom's cousins from Florida came in and we haven't seen them in about 5 years so that was a treat! They had quite a house full as always and it was a lot of fun. Avery did really well with all of the new faces and everything-she was such a good girl!!
Here she is showing off her Christmas dress:

Cousin Taylor opening her gift:

Cousin Eddie opening his gift:

Family photo:

Opening some of Avery's gifts:

My little Christmas angel:


After Rachel's, we went back to my Mom's, got Avery to sleep (which took awhile), then just relaxed and went to bed. Had to gear up for another full day to follow!