Princess Octopus

Here I am at exactly Avery's age. This was the Halloween just before I turned two, and apparently my mom had no problem convincing me that I should be a bumblebee.

 When I chose Avery's costume this year, I was well aware that this would be the last year I would get to pull the wool over her eyes (literally).  I wanted her to be something cute, unique and cozy, so I ordered this adorable pink octopus costume.  I was adamant about getting something other than the typical girly princess getup, as we will have many years ahead where she can insist on being a princess.

 

Boy did I underestimate her.  (That seems to be happening a lot these days).

When the octopus arrived, I excitedly took it out of the package to try it on her. Avery completely rejected that idea.  She protested and became tearful so I figured she was just tired and put it away for another day. 

Then last weekend my mom printed out a whole sheet of pictures of kids dressed up in octopus costumes.  I tried to get the costume on Avery again after she had spent time looking at the pictures, which again ended with her shouting "NO!" and "Put back!" while pointing to the closet from which it came.

On Wednesday, my mom ("Gammy") and Uncle Aaron came over for their weekly visit.  With their added encouragement, I was successful in getting Avery to put on the hat portion of the octopus. 

 Aaron then set up the laptop in front of her highchair, and tried to brainwash her with this octopus video on repeat while she ate her pizza.

However, our mission to get the rest of the costume on her in the days following turned out to be a failure.  We hung it on the edge of her changing table for several days in order to allow her to touch it and conquer her fear of it. We tried putting a tutu on the octopus and convincing her that it was a "Princess Octopus." Josh and I tried to distract her and put on her "pants" (i.e. the costume) in a true sneak-attack fashion. This resulting audio from that scene probably had our neighbors on the verge of calling CPS. ("No, no officer, we weren't trying to shred our daughter's skin off with potato peelers and pour salt into all the wounds. Really. We were just trying to put one of her legs into this darling pink octopus suit...")

So here we are now a week away from Halloween.  At the end of my rope, I finally surrendered to the fact that we need a backup plan. I grudgingly trekked to Target this afternoon for a princess costume, even though I still didn't feel ready to cave in and abandon my dream of a furry pink octopus baby.

No captions needed. The overabundance of glee oozing from these pictures is pretty obvious.

And I get it. I spent every year (after my bumblebee year) dead set on being something "pretty" for Halloween.  I was a unicorn ballerina, a bride, a cancan dancer, Scarlett O'Hara (all pictured below), a ladybug, Miss America, Ginger from Gilligan's Island, a Swiss miss, Strawberry Shortcake, My Little Pony, a butterfly, and Daisy Duke, among others.

    

I didn't like to be ugly or scary, even when my choices made me the proverbial black sheep of the family.

I just didn't think Avery had gotten there yet.

...Oh, but this octopus! So warm and soft. Such a sweet little round face. 

And look at the little suckers!

Turns out I'm the sucker.

Weekend Update

Yesterday Avery FINALLY listened and participated in dance class!  She even let us trade her flip flops for ballet shoes before class. Such progress!

She wore her bunny mask with pride...



She followed Miss Kristen's directions...

She even took her turn in the center of the parachute!

VIDEO: DANCE CLASS SUCCESS

And all this WITHOUT a nap! We were so impressed.

After class we stopped at Gammy's house for a visit.

By late afternoon, she was ready to crash!

I guess we really messed up her schedule... this morning she set a new record and slept until 10:15 am.  (But we're not complaining).

Josh took care of her today while I lunched and shopped with friends.  He didn't take any pictures except this one:

When I found it on the camera card tonight, I asked him why on earth he took a picture of the drawer. He started laughing and said, "Avery took all the stuff out of the drawer and scattered it around the kitchen, so I asked her to please put everything back in the drawer. And she did what I asked; she put all the things back in and walked away.

This is what it looked like."

Avery's Conversation with Boompa & Sheila

VIDEO: CONVERSATION PART 1

VIDEO: CONVERSATION PART 2

Long Day!

Avery and I started out our day very early this morning - we were out of the house at 6:45 am for the 2011 Making Strides Against Breast Cancer 5K at South Coast Plaza.

Avery even walked part of it by herself! (With her babydoll, of course)

We were back at home shortly after 10:00, and both of us took good naps!

At 2:30 we were off and running again for a birthday party at Irvine Park.  When we pulled into the parking lot and Avery saw the bouncer, she said, "Jumping! Alllllright!"

Then came the best surprise of all... A PONY RIDE!  Avery seemed excited about the prospect of riding on a pony, but I wasn't sure if it would last through the wait in line.  I had a vision of her totally panicking and backing out at the last second when her turn came.

But she proved me wrong! We made it to the front of the line,

and up into the saddle she went.

The whole time, she repeated, "Pony! Avery's turn!.....Pony! Avery's turn!"

When we arrived back home for dinner, I told Josh we should get wind her down and get her to sleep early since we had such a long day today.

After he gave her a bath, I found this going on in her room:

VIDEO: GIGGLEFEST

One Step at a Time

Although a battle (which I lost) ensued when I tried to get Avery to put on her ballet shoes before class, she did do slightly better this week. I tried to keep my distance from her at some points during the class to give her a chance to follow the teacher's instructions instead of mine, and I actually think she did well when I wasn't hovering over her.  (Even though she still thinks the main purpose of dance class is to check herself out in the mirror and run amok).

VIDEO: DANCE CLASS 1

VIDEO: DANCE CLASS 2

Pop Quiz

Pop Quiz:

Which of the following things occurred today during my aunt and uncle's vow renewal at Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden?

A. It was a warm and lovely afternoon with a peaceful outdoor ceremony to celebrate their 20 years of marriage

B. Avery shouted "POOP!" during the prayer

C. Avery was removed by mommy and taken for a walk to go look at a beautiful oak tree

D. Mommy showed Avery a squirrel in the oak tree in the quiet garden, and Avery was insistent that it was a "MONKEY!"

E. Avery was allowed to return to her seat and was given rainbow colored goldfish crackers to keep her quiet

F. Avery refused the crackers so she could sing the ABCs at full volume during the exchanging of the vows

G. Avery shouted "TRACTOR!" and was removed from the ceremony kicking and screaming to go for a walk with daddy

H. All of the above



Terrible Two in a Tutu

Yes, we have definitely arrived... Avery had an epic meltdown this morning, and we knew she was tired because she had woken up too early. So Josh tried to rock her and put her down for a little nap around 9:00 am.  Our plan was flawless; she could get some extra shut-eye and be happy and fresh for dance class.

Nope.

She hit him as he tried to settle her down. He scolded her and told her that it is not okay to hit. So she pinched him (hard). So he put her in her bed and walked out.  Of course she cried, but we figured she was tired enough that she would cry it out for a few minutes and then get over it and crash out.

Nope.

We made it almost 30 minutes before I went and rescued a sobbing and snot-faced Avery from the corner of her crib.  I like listening to her cry about as much as I like listening to rakes made of knives being dragged across sheet metal.

I decided to bring her to Target with me around 10:30, just to get her out of the house. She enjoys riding in the cart and looking at the displays.  And as usual, she was very good in the store, despite her earlier soap queen scene.  As we strolled through the produce section, I heard a dad behind me tell his two little ones, "Look at that cute little girl riding in the cart. Do you see how good she is? See? She doesn't cry."  I suppressed my immediate instinct to collapse on the floor in a fit of hysterical laughter, shouting "HA! You should have been at our house an hour ago!," and instead bit my tongue and beamed my best, "Why yes, thank you, of course I have a perfect child!" smile.

At 11:15 we buckled up for dance class. She took a short nap in the car and actually did surprisingly well for the first 20 minutes of class. She stayed in the center of the room with the girls and was even mimicking some of Miss Kristen's moves. 

Somewhere around the halfway mark, her two year old behavior reared its ugly head. She refused Miss Kristen's attempts to help her or hold her hand for circle time, spent a sizeable amount of time pouting in the corner, and tried to strip off her clothes. 

I tried to ignore her and just let her be when she was acting out. At one point I looked over at her from across the room and saw her throw her "prop" (a beanbag) on the floor. Another little girl picked it up and ran off with it, and I made no effort to stop her. I figured if Avery wants to act like that, then she will have to deal with the consequences.  But I did have to muffle my laughter/horror when I saw Avery react with clenched fists and a red face, growling, "AVERY'S TURN!" 

Nope.