Sneak peek

This week we spent a lot of time gearing up for our family photo shoot this evening. The photographer suggested rather than all of us wearing the same color that we coordinate around whatever outfit Avery was wearing. So I hunted around for some baby clothes with simple patterns/colors I thought might work for everyone, and of course I had to get some new clothes for myself too. A friend from work bought some headbands for Avery to wear, so I was trying to work those in too.  The main goal was to get some pictures of her with my Grandpa and Grandpa Shafor. (Avery's Great-Grandparents). 

Trying on the headbands and practicing her smile: 

Terrorizing the cats:

Killing time waiting for the photographer, riding Rocko!

And last but not least... A sneak preview of our photo shoot tonight.  These are the only two Richelle has sent me so far, but there will be more to come soon!

Four Generations:

High fives all around!

So tonight I discovered that Avery knows how to give high fives.  Lizzy's kids must have been working on this with her.  She kept turning around to watch the cats while I was feeding her, so in an attempt to distract her and get her to turn back toward me, I said, "Avery, gimme five!" She then turned around, and repeatedly, without hesitation, proceeded to give me as many high fives as I asked for. 

This is the tray to her bumbo seat. (Which becomes a tasty snack if you are a T-Rex).

Also, a funny story from last week... Remember this tiny baby who looked so small and delicate in her infant bathtub?

Well, last week we decided it was time to graduate her to a bigger tub since she can sit up on her own now, and is outgrowing the infant bathtub.  We bought her this inflatable duck bath at Target while Josh's family was here visiting.

However, the duck bath is apparently her worst nightmare. After one (very unhappy) bath in the duck, she would scream and cling to me at the mere sight of the duck bath.  So now duck bath is deflated and back in the box.  He will make his return in a few weeks when she has (hopefully) forgotten about him!  In the meantime, we will just have to let these long legs stick out of the water.

Testing, testing...

Ok so I am a little behind, but I finally decided to try a blog instead of mass emails... I feel like every new mother in the universe has a blog now and it is kind of cliche, but Avery has many relatives around the globe so I feel like maybe have an excuse.... Right? ;)

In the last two weeks, our little T-Rex has made some new advancements. Add to the list of skills:

• Pulling herself up to standing, and then sometimes letting go (she has way more confidence in her balancing abilities than she should)
• Regular crawling instead of army crawling 
• Pushing herself into a sitting position on her own
• Making sounds that indicate attempts at words (mamamamama when I leave the room, umumumum when I try to get her to say "yum" after taking a bite of food, etc.)
• Advanced signs of understanding object permanence (not only looks for dropped objects & enjoys peekaboo, but if an object rolls behind her from left to right, she will look for it as far as she can turn her head, and then turn her head around the other way, as she knows the object will appear on her other side)
• Will entertain herself with a toy for longer periods of time

Yesterday was Avery's first time at the grocery store riding in the cart like a big girl instead of riding in the cart in her carseat. Josh wasn't with me so I am always nervous to try new things with her by myself. I have a crippling fear of being "that lady" with the horrible child having a meltdown in the middle of the store and disturbing everyone around me. However, I always seem to forget that Avery loves to go places (except the baseball game), and I usually underestimate her. She was perfectly happy riding in the cart and did not try to escape. She did, however, try to turn around the whole time to see where we were headed. I guess she doesn't like the idea of having her back to all the action. She also reached for a few items on the shelf but was unsuccessful, and became especially excited on the baby aisle when she was surrounded by colorful boxes of diapers with big pictures of babies smiling back at her. She smiled & played peekaboo with me, and waved and smiled at other shoppers, eliciting such comments as, "Ooooh, what a cute baby!" Next time I will try to remember to leave my fears at home and bring my camera.