Avery's Journal - 2011

October 2011

Here are Avery's 18 month stats:

20 lbs 4 oz (5%)

30 2/4 inches (25%)

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Last Sunday Lexi held Avery's hand and walked her down the hall to nursery.

They were wearing matching pink dresses,

and look adorable.

The just walked into nursery together and never looked back.

She has been loving it.

And Lexi loves having her in there with her.

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We gave Avery her first Oreo and she loved it.

She kept asking for more.

 

Fall 2011

I get asked if my girls are twins like twice a week, no joke.

Seriously, twins?! They aren't even the same size!
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Both the girls got croup for the first time.
They didn't get it that bad but we still had to go to the doctor's several times.
To help the girls breath I would take them out in the cold air.
 In fact, one night I wrapped up Avery and took her out on our deck at 1 am.
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Whenever Avery wants to go anywhere she grabs her "do's" and says "bye?"

And then will bring everyone else their shoes too.
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Avery loves coloring and loves stickers.
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Every night when we read scriptures every is really great about grabbing scriptures for everyone and sitting down and "reading" with us.
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Avery loves books. She especially loves a Beauty and the Beast book we recently bought at the thrift store. She will look at it for 10 minutes straight turning the pages and saying "Belle" and "East" (Beast).
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Avery loves, loves, loves Caillou! She loves Dora too.

This girl just really loves TV, a little too much if you ask me.

Avery loves to put chap stick on, brush her teeth, comb her hair and pick out her own jewelry to wear. She is so girly and so independent. Anything Lexi can do she can to.

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Avery loves, loves, loves the Disney princesses! She says "Rora" for Aurora. "Rella" for Cinderella and "Belle."

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Avery recently learned out to say no. Which she now says all the time. But she is just so darn cute when she says it. She just makes me smile and want to kiss her.

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Avery loves throwing things. She gets in trouble for it pretty much every day now.

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Avery is a great helper. When we say it's time to clean up she happily helps to her toys away in their bins.

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I swear Avery is growing because she is always signing and saying eat.

September 2011

We went to the state fair.

My girls had never been before.

Avery especially loved the petting zoo.

This girl LOVES all animals!

Avery went up to each animal and made their sounds and would wave and say, "hi."

She was very friendly.
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Avery had her first dental appointment.

Avery had 14 teeth at her check-up.

She wanted nothing to do with anyone.

She was a pill, just like I knew she would be.

August 2011
The other day Avery woke up a little before 7 and I ignored her and she fell back asleep until 8:20.

When I went to go get Avery out of her crib I found her with one arm out of her sleeve and instead sticking out the collar of her shirt.

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Avery is our tiny dancer. The second she hears any music she begins dancing. 

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Avery is learning her body parts. Her favorite is nose.
She is always touching our noses and says nose.
The other touch she even touch one of my friends noses, even though she didn't know her!  

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Whenever anyone is going outside, or Avery thinks they are,
she will run around looking for her shoes while says, deet. For feet. 

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Every night when Sean gets home Avery gets so excited.
She looks out the dinning room window and waves and says hi as fast as she can. 

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Avery loves to run up and hug Lexi so hard that they both fall over.
Avery is actually a really tough little girl.

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Avery loves books.
She will grab books all day long and bring them over to me and force her way into my lap.

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Avery doesn't listen.

The other day I told her to sit down when she was standing on her little car that she rides on.
She didn't listen.
The next thing I knew she had fell over and had a bloody nose.
The fall didn't make her cry as much as the blood did.
She was bleeding like CRAZY. Seriously, she and I were really covered in blood!

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Avery's favorite TV show is Caillou.

If you ask her if she wants to watch Caillou she says yah and starts dancing. 

She loves to dance to the theme song. 

I know Caillou is a little old for her but she watches because Lexi does. 

And now I think she loves it more than Lexi. 

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I've started sending Avery to time out.

Mostly for pulling Lexi's hair.
When she does it we say, "Naughty. Time out in crib."
And she instantly begins screaming like it's the end of the world!

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Avery loves brushing her teeth. Whenever Sean or I are brushing our teeth

or are just in the bathroom, Avery will come up to us and say "tee" for teeth.

July 2011

Avery is 15 months old.

Her stats at her check up were: 19 1/2 lbs (5%) and 29 1/2 inches (20%).

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Avery is full of personality and she requires a lot of attention

because she loves to do things she's not supposed to.

Avery's two new favorite toys are the computer and the dishwasher.

Avery will push a chair over to the desk and get up on it and play with the keyboard.

If we are at the computer and get up for one second Avery is instantly on our chair

and playing with the computer. She is fast.

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Avery now say "ya." So now when we asked her if she wants something she'll say, "ya."

She doesn't know how to say "no" which is really nice.

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One of Avery's new favorite things to do is pull Lexi's hair.
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Whenever we sit down at the table Avery automatically folds her arms to pray. And when I get up to go get something for the kitchen and sit back down Avery folds her arms again. She is always reminding us to pray.
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Avery now using forks and spoons.

June 2011

Miss Avery turned 14 months old on the 28th.

She has changed so much since her birthday.
Avery is no longer a little baby, she's a feisty, adventurous toddler.

Avery uses sign language to say: more, please, milk, eat, and all done.

And Avery can say:
mama, dada, hi, nana (banana), chee (Cheese), deedee (baby or blankie), up and da (dog).

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Avery is a lot more adventurous than her big sister.
Just yesterday she figured out how to climb up on one of our dinning room chairs.
She can now stand up in shopping carts,
it doesn't seem to matter how tight I tighten the harness, she still always manages to get free.

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Avery is still the biggest Momma's girl you have ever seen.

If someone is moving towards her or acting like they are going to pick her up she screams
and runs to me or wraps her arms around me if I'm holding her.

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Avery loves music and dancing.
If you say, "Avery dance." She starts shaking her hips.
She dances in Sacrament meeting at church to the hymns.
She also waves her arms and pretends to conduct the music at church.

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Avery's favorite things are babies, animals and me.
She's such a fantastic independent player, just like Lexi.

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Avery will eat anything she can get her hands on.

Just this morning I found her sitting on the floor chewing on a day old corn dog she found.
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Avery gets really excited when Sean comes home.

She runs to the door and puts her arms up in the air for him to pick her up.
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Avery goes to bed earlier and wakes up earlier than Lexi.

In the mornings, when Avery is ready for Lexi to wake up and go play in their room she'll knock on their bedroom door. And the second I open the door when Lexi is awake, Avery runs in saying, "Hi."
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Avery is obsessed with phones. Whenever she gets her hands on one she runs aways with it.

And whenever Avery sees us talking on the phone she wants to talk too. She just says hi over and over and over. It's adorable.

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Whenever Avery sees dogs she says "da" and starts panting like crazy.
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Avery is so friendly. Whenever we go to the store or on walks she waves and says hi to everyone.

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I am teaching Avery her body parts. Right now we are working on: feet, belly, nose and hair.
She does a pretty good job recognizing them.
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When I get out my camera, Avery will often stand up against the wall, look at the camera and say "chee."

 I hope that never changes.

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Avery is one tough little girl. Sadly she is used to being pushed over and knocked down.

May 2011
We bought Avery a little floaty boat thing to sit in while we're swimming.
She HATES it. She just wants to be held.
Avery isn't too excited about the pool. She would just rather sit outside and eat on my lap.
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Avery loves the freedom that walking gives her.
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I can't explain how much I love my Avery.

She's so fun, feisty, curious, adventurous and sweet.

And HELLO, she's ADORABLE!!!

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Avery recognizes bananas and calls them nanas.
She gets really excited about nanas, not because she likes eating them
but because she can says nana.

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Avery also tries to say cheese. Well she says, chee.

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She now walks and even tries to run.

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Avery thankfully no longer nurses (I was so ready to be done).

Instead of nursing before going to sleep I now read to her and she LOVES books!

AVERY NOW SLEEPS THROUGH THE NIGHT!!! HALLELUJAH!!!

Avery does sleep through the night but she is a really early riser, like 5:30 am ish. 

Which is really hard for me. I'm not a morning person, AT ALL!
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 Avery now has all four of her 1 year old molars. She only has 4 regular teeth left (she has 8 regular teeth now) and then she will be all done with teething... for now.

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Avery has a favorite baby doll (she loves baby dolls) and a "lovie" she loves to chew on and sleep with.
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Avery signs more, all done and milk.

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When Avery wants to kiss you or it's time to go to sleep she will walk up to you and say, Muah.
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Avery loves wearing necklaces, scarves and anything else she can wrap around her shoulders.

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Both of the girls got strep throat for the first time.

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I can do real big girl pigtails with Avery's hair!!!

May 26, 2011
Avery NEVER crawls anymore! She's a little walker.
She first started really walking a lot the day after her birthday 

and is just getting better each day. In fact, she even ran way from Sean yesterday!

And not only does she walk and run, she climbs! And loves it.
Avery is a little hand full. But we sure love her!

May 5, 2011
Lexi wanted Avery to model her new swimsuit and Avery was a good sport.

Easter 2011
After we headed to the temple. We did our family Easter egg hunt there.
The girls had a lot of fun. 

Avery really got excited about crawling around in the grass and picking up eggs.

April 28, 2011
 On the morning of her birthday, Avery mostly played with her Grandpa
while my mom and Lexi made the cupcakes and I finished up party decorations.
Then Avery napped and I actually had to wake her up to go to her party.
We had the party at my friend Tiffany's house.
It was a small gathering, just some of my friends and their kids.
Really it was an excuse for me to just hang out with my peeps.

I did make some decorations though.

I hung up pictures of Avery, sewed a banner, painted Avery's name 

and made some tissue paper balls.

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That night we went out to Sadie's, one of our favorite New Mexican restaurants.
I made sure that the servers sung to Avery for her birthday.
They even brought her dessert.
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Avery had her one year check-up and she's little.
18 Lbs 2 Oz, 28 inches.

10% for weight and height.

Small but perfectly proportioned.

April 14, 2011

We rearranged our bedrooms today.

Before Avery was in the bigger bedroom with us.

Now Sean and I are in the smaller bedroom.

And the girls are in the bigger room, which is great because

all of their toys are in there with them!

The girls have done AMAZING as roommates.

It makes me wonder why I wanted so long.
Avery still usually wakes up once to nurse but Lexi has never been woken up by Avery's cries.

And they LOVE being in there together.
It was meant to be!

April 5, 2011

Avery took her first steps today!!!

She also got her first blooding nose today.

The two were not related.

And three out of the last four nights Avery has sleep through the night! 

HIP HIP HURRAY!!! FINALLY!!!

March 28, 2011

One more month until Avery's first birthday!

I can't believe my baby is already 11 months old!

She just keeps getting more fun and more adorable.  

She's got us wrapped around her little pudgy fingers.

Avery makes the cutest faces.  

And I melt every time I look into her big green eyes. 

She loves exploring everything around her.  

I love watching her discover and learn new things. 

There is nothing better than hearing her saying, "mama" and "dada."
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Here are some things I want to remember about Avery:

She mostly just says, "Mum."

She signs "more" and "all done" when she's eating.

She LOVES music and singing. And will instantly dance or sway when she hears either.

Lexi can always make her laugh.

She now walks along the side of things.

Avery can crawl faster than any other baby. She's so quick.

She now waves when we say, "hi" or "Bye, bye."

As soon as Avery hears the water running in the tub she books it for th bathroom.

This baby LOVES the bath! She often splashes so much that Lexi wants out of the tub.

Avery LOVES babies. And squeals when she sees them. And always wants to touch them.

Avery is one of the loudest babies I know.

March 23, 2011

Today Avery climbed up on Lexi's bed and got some books.

I had no idea that she knew how to do this.

Now even Lexi's room isn't baby proof anymore.

I took a video because Avery was just so cute and seemed so proud of herself.

February 2011
Avery LOVES watching Lexi's Disney Princess Sing-a-Long DVDs. She just sits on the floor as close to the TV as she can and rocks back and forth to the music.
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Avery loves the bath even more than Lexi did. She is a splasher and a squealer in the tub.

January 28, 2011
Avery turned 9 months old. I can't believe it! We are really enjoying her age. She is getting so fun!
Her latest trick - pulling herself up to stand.
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We have since lowered the crib and she can no longer chew on the crib.
Note to self: never buy a dark colored crib!
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9 month stats: 17 lbs 4 Oz (20%), 28 inches tall (60%)

Avery is almost EXACTLY the same size Lexi was at 9 months.

 

January 15, 2011

We like to call Avery our puppy. She crawls all over the place and especially likes to follow Lexi around. She also loves having things in her mouth.

The other day I found her in her crib she had her blanket in her mouth.

Socks are one of her favorite things to put in her mouth.

She really is always crawling around with something in her mouth. That's our puppy for you.

January 2011

we created a potty chart for Lexi. Each time she went in the potty she got a sticker. 

And she just got her 20th sticker, completing the chart. 

So we took her to Target to pick out a princess toy. She was so excited!

She picked out a Cinderella toy, complete with carriage, mice, horses and the fairy godmother.

hen we got to the cash register she gave the cashier her potty chart. The cashier seemed a little confused but Lexi didn't notice she just wanted to make sure that she got her toy.

Now that Lexi has a new carriage she will let her sister Avery play with the Little People carriage.

 

January 13, 2011

We've been potty training Lexi for two weeks now and she's doing great. 

We have had very few accidents and she is really good at telling us when she needs to go. 

She has been wanting to wear under ware for a long time but I just wasn't ready to potty train. 

So we told her after Christmas she could wear under ware. 

For the first week, we gave her a Jolly Rancher gummy treat every time she went potty, 

then we moved on to Tic Tacs. Now we have a sticker chart. 

Eventually we'll stop rewarding her but for now it's good encouragement. 

We have been putting Pull Ups on Lexi when she sleeps but I want to start weaning her of that. 

We were originally putting Pull Ups on her when we went out but have stop, 

expect for church on Sundays (I don't want to deal with an accident at church). 

Last night, we were at church for our weekly youth activities and Lexi kept wanting to go potty. 

She loves washing her hands and flushing. 

She wasn't actually doing anything, she just wanted to "try." 

Finally, on her 10th or so "try" I took Avery with me. 

I was trying to make sure Avery didn't touch anything while trying to help Lexi balance on the big toilet. 

I didn't do such a good job though. 

Lexi was moving too much and I wasn't helping enough and she fell in the toilet! 

Completely fell in. Like her legs and arms were sticking out but her body was in the toilet. 

She just had a very surprised look on her face and I just couldn't stop laughing. 

I pulled her out, took off her clothes, dried her off and put a coat on her naked body and we went home. And the good news is that I don't think she is going to be traumatized.

January 6, 2011

Lexi has been potty training for a week and and has been doing AMAZING! 

As a reward by parents bought Lexi a Belle dress. Lexi was SOOOO excited.

Lexi already wears Belle dress up shoes and Belle Barbie. Yeah, Belle is her favorite.
But that seems fitting since she was my favorite
and Sean thought she was the prettiest of all the princesses.