Current Obsession

The Cat book....she'll read it over and over

Ten Months Old!!

Yesterday my baby girl turned 10 months old!! It's crazy that I'm already starting to plan her first birthday party-where has this year gone?!

Avery is continuing to grow and change so much-she is just a barrel of laughs these days! New this month-her version of dancing, clicking sounds with her tongue, pulling up to stand, using her sippy cup all by herself, making her scrunched up face, doing "sooooo big", pointing, and doing her fist sign "all done".

She is still nursing really well and eating lunch and dinner. She tried a few new foods this past month-pastina, toasted cheese, pancakes, black olives, cantaloupe, canned peas (which she loves!), banana bread, and hamburger. She's really funny with meat-she will not swallow it for some reason. She just keeps it in her mouth for like a half hour! I have no idea why, but we haven't been too successful with it yet!

Avery is still napping twice a day for us and does pretty well at night-she either sleeps all the way through or just wakes up once to nurse. So it hasn't been too bad! She has her nights here and there where she keeps us up for hours at a time, but thankfully it's not too often!

Her favorite toys at the moment are the fisher price stackable rings-she doesn't go anywhere without them! She usually has a ring in each hand and crawls around like that-it's too funny! She is also obsessed with a Cat book Molly got us-we read it numerous times a day!

Here are her 10 month shots-once again she was very tricky to take a picture of!

Trying to lunge off of the chair:


Yanking at the sticker:

The rest are my favorites of the bunch:

This is her doing "sooooo big!":

Again yanking on the sticker:

Loving her FP rings:

Daddy lifting her up to see the fan:

Seriously?!

I woke up to snow this morning....

Seriously Mother Nature, have you seen the date on the calendar????

Nice Weekend!

Another Sunday night....the end of a weekend and back to "the grind" tomorrow.

Friday Avery and I went to a friend's house for a playdate. I of course forgot my camera, but it was fun! She played with Ryan who's about a week or so younger than Avery. Avery spent most of the time chasing their 3 cats around the house-it was pretty funny. She could have cared less about the new toys-she just wanted the kitties!!

Yesterday was such a nice day out! We decided to make our first family trip to the public market for the year. It wasn't really busy and we bought more stuff than we ever have-sausage, burgers, rolls, pineapple, grapes, cheese, cookies, oranges....so many good deals! Avery loved watching everything and she had a great time!! When she went down for her afternoon nap, I went grocery shopping then started getting ready for the evening. Our friends Julie, Richie, and Carly came over for dinner! Again I didn't take any photos (shame, shame) but we had a very nice evening. We always have a nice time when we get together with them!

Today we had a pretty relaxing day. We had lots of play time with Avery....and hopefully she got tired out!
One of her new things is to check under the furniture for things:

Her favorite toy of the week is her stackable rings...she loves them and doesn't go far without one (or two!) in hand. So today I picked one up and looked at her through the hole and she came up to me and looked at me at the same time. It was so cute! Gabe got a few pics of her doing it:


She hates the rings actually stacked-she wants nothing to do with stacking/unstacking them-she just wants to carry them around everywhere with her!

Of course she did lots of crawling:

And had fun playing with her "purple ball":

We went over Aunt Connie and Uncle Francis' for dinner-they haven't seen Avery in awhile and wanted to make us dinner to thank Gabe for fixing their computer. It was a very yummy meal and a nice visit. Now Avery is in bed and I'm just winding down the evening before checking into bed!

Rest In Peace Grandma Bobbie

Gabe's Grandmother passed away today.

She has been battling Alzheimer's for years now but finally gave in. She lived with Gabe's parents for years so Gabe and his sister were very close to her. I met her several times when we first got together and she seemed like a wonderful woman. She was still living with his parents at that time.

Eventually her Alzheimer's got bad enough that they decided to put her into a nursing home so she could get the care she needed. We visited her a few times while she was there, but she really didn't know who we were anymore.

Earlier this week we got the news that she wasn't doing well and her kidneys were starting to fail. They thought she only had a few days to live so Gabe and his sister went to see her one last time. Sure enough, today we got the call that she passed away.

We'll be going to her memorial service next week to celebrate the wonderful 87 years that she lived.

Rest in peace Grandma Bobbie-you will be dearly missed.

Caught Some Cuteness!

I finally caught Avery "in the act" of doing things today. When she does new things I try to get photos or video and most of the time she doesn't perform for the camera! Today I got her in action though so I had to share!!

She has perfected drinking from a sippy cup now (yay!)-it took her awhile to master tipping it back, but she finally got it about two weeks ago!

I mentioned in my last post that Avery has been making a funny scrunched up face and breathing heavy through her nose....well, she did it for the camera at lunch today!

And at dinner we have her new trick....

She's just so darn cute!!

No Longer a Member

So the end of this month ends an era....my gym membership at Midtown Athletic Club will be cancelled.

I'm definitely sad about it, but excited about finding a new place to join as well.

The funny thing? Gabe was a member at Midtown when I met him. When I moved out here, he had me go with him a few times as his guest and I wasn't too sure about it-it seemed to "uppity" to me and not what I was used to. Since I was living in my apartment when I first moved out here, I didn't join because it was too far away and my complex had its own gym.

When I moved in with Gabe almost 5 years ago (wow!), I ended up joining Midtown since he belonged there and it just made sense. And I grew to really like the place. It's a very nice club and has almost everything you would want in a gym.

There are some downfalls to it though...a lot of things cost extra money on top of your ridiculous monthly fee. Like daycare, some exercise classes, playing tennis and other things like massages and special events. For the price you pay to go there, it seemed crazy to charge you extra for these things.

Before I had Avery, I was going 3-4 times a week so I could justify spending the money to go there. Gabe ended his membership a few years ago so it was just myself going. Now having Avery, I make it once (maybe twice if I'm lucky) a week for a class and that's it. Hardly worth the money to go there. So after doing some thinking, I decided to end my membership and move on.

I'll definitely miss it there-I had a few favorite classes and a few favorite instructors and I'll miss all of them because they were so great. Now I just have to decide where to join next....decisions, decisions!

Goodbye Midtown-it was nice while it lasted!

Another Weekend Gone By

We had a pretty busy weekend again.

Friday I had off (as usual) so Avery and I took a roadtrip to Buffalo. My friend Katie and her family was in from Maryland so I had to go visit them while they were here. They only make it in twice a year or so, so any chance I can see her, I try to! Katie and Roman stopped by and it was funny-both kids napped most of the time they were over! But it gave Katie and I a chance to hang out and catch up which was nice! Once the kids woke up, they played for awhile and posed for a quick pic before they had to head out:

Avery and I stayed for dinner then came home.

Yesterday Avery and I went to the Strong Museum of Play with some of her daycare friends. I of course forgot my camera, but I don't think I would have gotten any photos anyways...Avery was being a beast and wouldn't let me put her down at all. She barely played and just whined and fussed most of the time we were there for some reason. After that, we came home for dinner and I went grocery shopping once Avery was asleep.

Today my Dad came for a visit which was nice-we haven't seen him in awhile. We went out for lunch at Dinosaur BBQ-it was so good! After he left, I did some running around-had to pick up Avery's photos, went to Babies R Us and Target, then came home to do a few things around here to get ready for work tomorrow.

Yesterday Avery started making this funny face and breathing fast through her nose-it's too funny! I tried getting a video, but of course she wouldn't do it for the camera! But I did get a quick pic of the new face-she cracks me up!

First Injury

I'll start by saying that my birthday yesterday was very nice. The girls at work treated me to lunch from Zebb's. After work, I picked up Avery from my in-laws then came home. We fed Avery dinner, had some lasagna my Mom sent home with us over the weekend(yum!), then I opened my gifts (a new webcam and a Dunkin gift card) and we had some chocolate peanut butter cheesecake courtesy of Cheesy Eddie's....yes it was a "terrible" as it sounds! It was a very nice day, that's for sure!

************************************************************************

On another note....

I got an email from Gabe today that Avery injured herself at daycare today. I left my cell phone in Buffalo on Saturday so I'm without it all week (torture? Yes! How did we ever survive without them?!). Apparently our daycare provider tried calling me, but I didn't get the call since my phone wasn't with me. So she called Gabe and filled him in.

Avery has been standing up on everything the past few days. So at daycare today, she tried pulling up to stand using another child (who just turned 1!). Well, when that happened, both of them toppled over and Avery's face met the floor and a hardcover book that was on the floor! She of course screamed her head off I guess. The daycare provider called her Mom, who's a nurse and filled her in. After talking, they decided she was ok, had no serious injuries, etc.

When I went to pick her up, she was totally fine and as if nothing happened which is good. She seemed like herself all night tonight-giving kisses, laughing, dancing, etc. so I'm sure she's fine.

She'll just be sporting this nice mark until it goes away:


My poor pumpkin!

Birthday Weekend

Tomorrow is my birthday-another year gone by!

Yesterday we drove to Buffalo and spent the day there to celebrate with some friends and family. My friend Renee stopped over first and visited awhile. Then my cousins Taylor and Eddie came over for awhile to see us. They enjoyed playing with Avery since it has been awhile since we've seen them!



My Uncle Joe and Aunt Marion came by, then Megan and Noah visited (I forgot to take pics of him and Avery AGAIN!). Lastly, my cousins Kim, Doug, Kayla and Nathan came over. My Mom ordered some pizza and we had some birthday cake! It was a nice little "party" that we had!
Avery helped me with my cake:

And we took a few photos:


We left Buffalo around 6:30 and Avery slept most of the way home...just the way we like it to work out!

Today I did my usual grocery shopping then played with Avery awhile. She has been pulling up onto everything these days! Her new game is to pull all of her books off of the bookshelf. I caught her in the act earlier:


This one looks good to toss!

Gabe, Avery and I went out for dinner for my birthday. We haven't gone out in a long time! I chose Monte Alban since it was so darn good the first time we went and I was in the mood for Mexican. Again it did not disappoint! Gabe told them it was my birthday and they brought over the huge sombrero and sang to me and smeared whipped cream on my nose! It was hysterical! Gabe sent me a video of it, but I can't get it to open on my computer. So you'll have to settle of this pic he took of Avery and I instead!

No plans for the big day tomorrow-have to work and that's about it.

Here's a flashback for ya....me on my birthday last year! Quite a difference huh?!

Rough Stage....

Lately it seems that Avery changes and learns new things daily. I have her baby book out and update it when she does something new-I think I've written in it almost everyday this week.

She has started her own version of dancing which is so cute. When she hears music or you ask her to dance, she'll do it.

Her new phrase is "nananana".

She has pulled up to stand before, but starting a day or two ago, it's constant. That's all she wants to do is stand up. Especially in her crib-as soon as you set her down, she stands, then sits, then stands, then sits...get it?

Today for the first time she used her sippy cup all by herself! We started giving it to her about 3months ago and she gets the concept and knows she'll get a drink, but she hasn't mastered the whole tipping-it idea. She would pick up the cup and put the spout in her mouth and that's it. If you tried to tip it for her, she would let go of the cup...but she would drink if you tipped it for her. So today at dinner she tipped it up all by herself and drank from it!

Yes it's so fun seeing her grow and change so much so fast....but....

this stage is hard too.

She's starting to "flex" her independency muscles in many ways. Lots of things are now a protest-getting in the carseat, getting in her highchair, naps and bedtime. She puts up a stink for all of those now where before she didn't mind.

I heard that as soon as they are able to stand, that naps/bedtime becomes a challenge. Yeah, they're right about that. Avery typically is good about going to bed-we had her cry it out months ago and since then she napped and went to bed pretty well for us. Now she protests like a champ. Tonight she was soooo tired-she didn't nap very long at all today. So I took her up almost an hour early for bed (she was already digging at her eyes). I nursed her and as soon as I put her in bed, she stood up and screamed her head off. And all I could do was leave the room. She cried for a good half hour then finally passed out. After months of not hearing her cry, it's hard to get back into that again. I hope this stage of protest goes by fast....I'm not a fan!

She's lucky she's so cute!! Haha!



eating cheerios:

A short dance clip:
most

Happy 1st Easter Avery!

Easter....to me, one of the signs of spring.

The start of life every year-flowers blooming, birds chirping, (hopefully) warmer weather, seeing the green grass appear from under melted snow, pastel colors, and kids dressed in their "Easter best".

My Mom decided to come out Saturday night for a visit so she could see Avery for her first Easter. Mom couldn't wait until Easter day to bring on the gifts, so we opened them early!
Avery opening her pink stuffed bunny (that didn't get photographed):

What could be inside?


Avery's own garden!


Easter morning we woke up and Gabe and Avery searched for their Easter baskets. I had Avery's hidden under a side table and she got excited when she saw it! Here she is taking a look through it:

I tried getting a nice photo of her with it, but she just wanted to destroy the basket!

Thanks for the yogurt melts!

I didn't put much in her basket this year-a few packages of yogurt melts, some bubbles and a chocolate fish (that Gabe and I will indulge in of course).

Mom made us a nice casserole and some cinnamon rolls for breakfast which was yummy. She left around noon to go into work.

After Avery's nap, we went over to Gabe's parents house for dinner. We had a nice meal of pork, stuffing, pasta, salad, applesauce, and Easter bread. I made a birthday cake for dessert (his Mom's bday is the 6th). Gabe's Dad set up an Easter egg hunt outside, but our nephew spotted the eggs outside before we even arrived so by the time we got there, he already found all of the eggs!!

Unfortunately I was a bad Mom and didn't get a picture of Avery in her Easter dress! I'm so bummed-I didn't realize it until I was putting my photos on here. It's not just her Easter dress so I know she'll wear it again, but I'm disappointed I didn't get the pictures! Things just got busy and the camera really didn't make it out of the bag at his parents house.

Hope you all had a Happy Easter! Bring on some more spring time!

First Trip to the Museum!

When Avery was born, I knew there were 2 places I wanted to get memberships for...the zoo and the Strong Museum of Play. We got an offer in the mail from the museum that was too good to pass up....so we joined about a month ago. I've been wanting to take Avery, but wanted Gabe to be able to come the first time we took her. The weekends there are typically busy so weekdays are better if you can go then. It just happened that Gabe and I both had off on Good Friday and the museum was open so we decided to go!

The place is really huge and honestly, it would take you all day to go through it and look at everything. They don't have a ton for babies, but they had a baby area that we took Avery to.

The baby area had lots of crawling space, padded walls, and baby friendly toys. Avery of course made a bee-line for the rings (her new obsession)...



She loved seeing the "baby" in the mirror:

She attempted going up and down the hill a few times:


We stayed in that area awhile then walked around the rest of the museum. There weren't too many other places for her to enjoy, but we found a lot of open spaces for her to crawl around in. I think we tired her out, that's for sure! I can't wait to take her when she's older-she's going to love it! Now is the time for us to enjoy the exhibits we want to see!

******************************************
Since it was so warm and Florida-like today, Avery tried on her new outfit that Pa and Grandma bought her in Florida....


The visor didn't stay on too well though!