Test Results

Avery’s doctor just called and said that the ultrasound came back, and she has “spaces in her ventricles, consistent with benign autoaxial cranial [blah blah blah]…….. Basically a long-winded way of saying it’s nothing.”   (I just love Dr. Messinger! He kills me).

So she’s doing great. We will just keep insisting that she has a really big skull to hold that really big genius brain of hers....  ;)

Tower of "Uh-oh"

More "uh-oh" videos... She is really amusing me today!

Part 3:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mdZzCl85_rc 
Part 4:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WTMQH1VxgVM 

As I was loading these videos and testing the links, Avery heard her voice and my voice on the computer and crawled over to take a look. I pulled her up on my lap to watch. Every time she would hear "Uh-oh" on the video, she would say "Uh-oh" back to the screen. And when it was over she clapped for more.

Uh-oh

I have been trying to upload these videos for the last 24 hours and was having trouble with the Youtube website... But finally I was successful after about 10 tries!

Part 1:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LYwyquvmlPw 
Part 2:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=liN6DGIWZNs 

I Stand Corrected

Today when I got to Lizzy's house to pick up Avery for her appointment at the hospital, I told Lizzy that Avery said "Mama" over and over yesterday, and we're pretty sure it was an actual word.  I also mentioned that she is saying what sounds like "Uh-oh" a lot.  Lizzy said, "Oh yeah, she says 'uh-oh,' and she also says 'Ojo'" (Pronounced "O-ho," meaning "eye" in Spanish).  So apparently the kid knows at least three words already, and is bilingual. I am way behind.
Sure enough, when we were in the waiting area at the hospital, Avery dropped her teething ring and her bottle over and over and over again, so that she could say "uh-oh," and hear me say "uh-oh." The woman at the desk even remarked that it was so cute how she just loves to say "uh-oh!"  I explained that it is one of three words that she knows. The lady said, "What are the other words? Baba?" I said "No, she says 'mama' and her babysitter taught her 'ojo,' which is 'eye' in Spanish."  Just then, Avery blurted out "Baba!" And the woman said, "Oh, she does know 'baba'!"  Boy, did I feel like an idiot.

"Mama"

Tonight Josh and I were out looking at a house for sale, and at one point out of the blue, Avery said, "Mama," plain and clear. This is not the first time she has said "Mama," although usually it sounds more like "Mamamama" and we just consider it to be her usual baby babbles. Tonight when she said it, it was a very precise two syllables only. we said, "Good Avery! MAMA. MAMA." And then we carried on with our evening, not making much of it.  A couple hours later when we got home, I was playing with her in the living room, and again she said "Mama." So I said it back to her. And then she said it back to me. And so it went, and each time she limited the word to only two syllables. So I guess maybe this time it counts as a "first word"?

Fun in the Fridge

Miss Avery is not feeling well this week, she has a little runny nose so we've been trying to keep things low-key until she gets better.  This is only the second time in her life she has been sick.  I was not sick the whole time I was pregnant with her, and since she has been born, this is only the second cold she's gotten. The first cold only lasted 2 days, and she has never had a fever (knock on wood).  Pretty good track record!
Here are a few pictures from earlier in the week. Her new favorite place to T-Rex is the refrigerator.  In fact, she will stay so occupied just touching (and trying to pull out) all the bottles in the door that Josh and I will eat dinner standing in the kitchen while she keeps busy in the fridge. It is one of the few opportunities that we have to eat together!

Update: It appears that Avery takes after her Auntie Brandi on this activity!

60th Anniversary

Sunday was Avery's Great-Grandma and Grandpa's 60th Wedding Anniversary Celebration.

Great-Grandma & Grandpa with all their Great-Grand Children

(They call them "The Greats"):

Poor Daxton is teething and was not enjoying this photo shoot, so on the second round of pictures, his daddy (my cousin Jason) had to sit with him so he wouldn't have a meltdown:

Audrey giving Avery a little kiss:

Audrey and Autumn loving on Avery... Melissa (Autumn's mom/my cousin Patrick's wife) said, "Autumn, give Avery a kiss!" (She was trying to get a cute picture). But Autumn just stood there, and watched Avery crawling, and then said, "Horsey?"

Autumn thought since Avery was on all fours,

it would be a fun idea to ride her like a horsey.

Patrick and Melissa quickly jumped in to shut down that idea!

But we were dying laughing...

The ponytail that I am proud to say I did myself!

Chowing down on some baby puffs withthe help of Uncle Braedon:

And here are my grandparents reacting to the book I made for them as a gift, containing all the pictures from our family photo shoot a few weeks ago:

A Little Extra Fiber

Avery and I went on an outing this evening to Target.  As we were checking out, I was unloading the cart and digging in my purse for my wallet.  The checker said to Avery, "Hi there," as he waved at her. I absentmindedly said, "Wave Avery. Can you wave hi?" as I then began to put bagged items back into my cart.  The checker then said, "Does that paper taste good?" I was like, "What?" and then looked up to realize that the T-Rex was devouring my shopping list.  Here's what was left:

Goodnight Imagination

Goodnight Moon was a gift from Uncle Aaron for Avery's first Christmas. This book was first published in 1947, so it is somewhat of a classic.  My brothers and I can remember having this book read to us as kids, and I'm sure my parents had it read to them as kids too.

(Of course Aaron had to embellish the book a little bit):

So anyway, this morning Josh was reading the book to Avery.  Midway through, he starts ranting about what a stupid book it is. I countered that it is NOT a stupid book, and how dare he say such a thing. The dialogue went something like this:
Josh: Okay, I get that they're saying goodnight to everything in the room, but that's just stupid. I mean, these are bunnies. And they have a pet squirrel?

Kristen: Those are kittens.

Josh: Whatever. Okay so the bunnies have pet kittens. That's ridiculous.  And the mittens and socks that they have hanging up in the room are way too big for them. And the mittens have THUMBS. Do bunnies have thumbs? REALLY?

Kristen: You have no imagination.
Josh (to Avery): Miss, we are not reading this ridiculousness.

Kristen: Yes, we will be reading this.  It is a cute book. Do you want her to have no imagination?

Josh: And the bowl of mush has a spoon in it. Because bunnies use spoons. Because they have opposable thumbs. Right.

At that point I was laughing too hard to continue arguing with him.  It doesn't matter at this point anyway, because every book that we try to read to Avery

turns into a meal for the T-Rex about 2 pages in.

More T-Rexing of reading material from this morning:

Say Uncle

Uncle Aaron came over for an unexpected visit tonight! Avery hasn't seen him for a while, so at first she was a little apprehensive.  She was looking at him a lot and just watching him, but she wasn't smiling much, she just stayed in "careful observation" mode.  Then out of nowhere she got so comfortable with him, that she snuggled up next to him and just relaxed with him on the couch!

How often do we see the T-Rex relaxing calmly on the couch?!? NEVER

We then gave her a bottle, and she made herself at home

on his lap while she rubbed his face.

Aaron said, "This is the Avery I've been waiting for!"

Too cute....

Catching Up

Now that Avery is sleeping through the night again, we have had a pretty uneventful week. 

A trip to the grocery store:

A visit to Grandma's... (Josh was sick this week so Grandma didn't come over for her usual Wednesday night visit, we went to her instead). 

Avery found some new electronics to eat:

And of course, the usual mischief at home:

Avery is very tired this evening and will usually get antsy and make all kinds of noises when she is overly tired: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2L0XyPvOwpk

Irony

Halloween is fast approaching..... would it be too mean?

A Few More Pics

Same Trick, Different Day

The T-Rex has found something new she likes to do:

 Pull all the diapers out of the basket and litter the floor with them.

(Again on another day):

Then dump out the basket of bath supplies:

Then move across the room, and make sure the books are not in order.

In more peaceful news, the missing doll and her bunny friend have been found this week! 

Avery giving the doll a sweet kiss. 

(And by "sweet kiss" I mean she is chewing/biting the doll's face).

Meeting the Cousins

Just received these pictures of the Ness family visit in mid-August (thanks Brandi!) Josh's parents came out to visit, along with Josh's sister Brandi and her two boys, Bo and Zac. Avery was very excited to meet her cousins for the first time!