Averyday Life: February 2011

Saturday, February 26, 2011

Friday, February 25, 2011

I'm noticing more and more that 90% of the pictures I take are either of the top or the back of Avery's head. She is constantly in motion and she might look at the camera for a second... and then look away right as I snap the picture.

What can I say... It's a busy age and she is exploring the world.

This one cracks me up because she dropped the remote control on the floor and the batteries exploded out of it. So she went and gathered them up and tried to put it back together. (Spoiler alert: it didn't work):

VIDEO: IF YOU'RE HAPPY AND YOU KNOW IT (for the millionth time)

WPPI

Our photographer Richelle Dante attended the WPPI (Wedding & Portrait Photographers International) Convention in Las Vegas this past weekend, and was a guest speaker at the Digilabs booth, where she gave a talk about Baby Photography.

She just put up a post on her blog with some photos from the convention, and I was so excited to notice that Avery was a part of her slideshow during her presentation! (You'll have to look very carefully, but you can see the "Princess and the Puppy" picture on the screen).

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Auntie Day

On Sunday we enjoyed a visit from Auntie Jennifer and Auntie E. Although I don't have any sisters by blood, I have known these two almost as long as I have been on this earth, and they are like sisters to me, so they have definitely earned the title of "Aunties"!
Let me take a trip down memory lane for a moment to illustrate my point...

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Jennifer moved in one house over when I was 1, and she was 2.

Our moms still live in the same houses that we grew up in.

Swimming in my Grandparents' pool with our moms, circa 1981:

Swinging in Jennifer's backyard, 1982:

Sixth grade graduation, rocking our huge bangs, 1991:

Hanging out in West Hollywood, 2008:

Jennifer holding Avery at the hospital the day she was born:

I don't know life without Jennifer. Jennifer and I attended the same preschool, the same grade school, the same junior high, and although we went to different high schools, we ended up at the same college together. We have truly been lifelong friends, and I hope that never changes.

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Erin and I met on the first day of kindergarten. My brother Aaron was just a newborn at the time. Erin and I became instant friends, and at some point I started calling her "E" to distinguish between "Erin" and "Aaron." The nickname stuck, and she is still "E" to me, and will definitely be "Auntie E" to Avery.

Our First Communion Day, 1988:

Waiting backstage for our turn to perform in the Taft Elementary School Talent Show, 1990 (where we did an awesome dance to

"Under the Sea" from The Little Mermaid):

Wedding day, 2005:

Clubbing in WeHo, 2008:

Holding Avery at the hospital the day she was born:

E has been an undying source of love and laughter over the years. I don't know what I would do without her. And what could be better than having an amazing friend? Having two amazing friends, of course. Jennifer and Erin became friends as young kids too, and the three of us have always been like peas in a pod.

So now that we have justified their roles as "Aunties".....

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Getting back to Averyday Life.... The girls came over on Sunday and we had a fun time just hanging out and snacking. We wanted to go to the park but it was too cold.

Stay tuned for more fun "Auntie Days" to come!

Monday, February 14, 2011

Happy Valentine's Day!

Two weeks ago, I took Avery to get these photos taken (mainly to surprise Josh for Valentine's Day). It is kind of a production anytime we do photos, but it is even harder when I try to do it alone. That morning I had brought along a separate outfit and hairbows to daycare. I asked Lizzy to please put her hair in pigtails and have her ready at 5:00 pm sharp so we could make it to our appointment on time. Lizzy had her looking perfect when I arrived after work, and I had stashed snacks and toys in the car to distract Avery on the way to the portrait studio so she wouldn't be tempted to pull her pigtails out. (I can never get her hair looking as pretty as Lizzy can).

We arrived on time and everything was going according to plan, until I took Avery out of her stroller. She immediately took off running and did a faceplant on the carpet, giving herself a big rugburn on her forehead before we had even gotten one single picture. The photographer assured me that with the bright lights, it would probably "wash out" the red mark and it wouldn't be seen in the pictures. So we went into a room, where the photographer pulled down the backdrop, and sprinkled some rose petals on the floor. I set Avery down in the middle and she instantly burst into tears. Not just fake tears, REAL tears, rolling down her beet-red cheeks. Again, all this before we had gotten one single picture. SIGH. The next 20 minutes were spent coaxing her with treats to get off my lap so we could attempt to get some shots.

Look at this sad face. (And notice my black and white striped dress that she is sitting on. I had to lean out of the picture because she wouldn't get off of my lap without tears).

I kept trying to move her towards the center (where the flashes would work the best) and distract her with different props, but she wouldn't budge. At one point I had the idea that I would just be the backdrop. So I covered myself in a white blanket and held it up behind her. (See my fingers at the top of the picture?) But still so much sadness!

We were SO lucky that the family who had appointment after ours had cancelled, because it took Avery a full 30 minutes to warm up. When she finally did, we miraculously got these shots:

Happy Valentine's Day!

Sunday, February 13, 2011

Basketball Dreams

Avery loves baseballs, basketballs, kickballs, bouncy balls, or anything that even resembles a ball. Earlier today I heard her shouting "BALL!" followed by a couple of loud thuds. I came around the corner to discover her throwing apples down the hallway.

At the park today, she found a basketball on the grass, and spotted the older kids shooting hoops.

She was so determined to join in...

It's not easy to explain to a one year old that she is too small to play with the big kids and is going to get trampled. It was kind of sad!

She reminded me of a little Chihuahua that thinks she is a German Shepherd and runs after the big dogs. But we still made sure she had a fun day.

At the rate she is growing, it won't be long before she is able to play with the older kids.

And we're in no hurry for that.

Saturday, February 12, 2011

Chuck E. Cheese's

Today Avery was invited to a birthday party for one of her friends from daycare, so we spent the afternoon at Chuck E. Cheese's (which I like to call "The Petri Dish"). That place is louder than a Monster Truck rally and has no shortage of shrieking rugrats and bacteria. Luckily Avery is too small to climb up into the overhead tunnels, so she was content to just wander around and watch the other kids play.

I think part of the reason I have an aversion to Chuck E. Cheese's is because I still remember a trip there as a kid with my family, where we witnessed a little boy punching Chuck E. Cheese in the stomach (the real-live-person-in-a-costume Chuck E., not the animatronic Chuck E). The teen girl inside the fur suit became enraged, and started chasing the little boy around the restaurant. I remember Aaron and I watching in horror as we realized this was not a lighthearted chase; this was an angry, vengeful pursuit. Most of what happened next is a blur, but I do remember Chuck E. Cheese taking off her oversized head so she could see who she was chasing, losing a foot during the action, and a little kid picking up the big fuzzy rodent foot and toddling off before the teenager was escorted into the back through an "Employees Only" door (where I'm sure she received her final paycheck and was sent packing).

No such horror today (unless you count a pushy woman smacking Avery in the head with her wrecking-ball thigh and violently knocking her down). When we first got there, Avery was a little unsure of what was going on. I was nervous that she was going to freak out over the giant animatronic rat (whom the little boy pictured below was calling "creepy").