Happy Halloween

Avery's First Halloween

Even though Avery is too young to understand what Halloween is all about that hasn’t stopped him from enjoying all the fun of the season. His Halloween fun started last weekend when we made ghostly foot prints for Halloween cards, and yes painting and making foot prints with an almost 10 month old is a two person process that is followed by a bath. 

Avery Ghostly Greetings Halloween cards

The Halloween fun continued Thursday night when Jon and I got Avery dressed in is costume and headed off to his first daycare Halloween Party. Because he really didn’t understand what was going on we didn’t stay too long but we stayed long enough to play a game of pick the pumpkin where he won a new ball!

Our little puppy dog

Picking a pumpkin with daddy

Avery Halloween loot from the party

Tonight we will put on his costume again and head out to the grandparents houses for a little trick or treating. We didn’t carve any pumpkins this year but it is on the list for next year when he will be able to enjoy things a little more. 

I love my Mummy!

bubble bubble toil and trouble

Our little monster discovered a lot of new things this weekend.
Lesson One: If I stand on this I will become tall enough to reach the things mom and dad hide from me on top of the tv stand.

one foot up... 

oh.. this is not how it was supposed to be used

now  I can reach!

Lesson Two:
If I start at the bottom and go one at time I will get to the top!

Here I go...

on my way up....

king of the stairs....

6 Years

October 29, 2005

It’s hard to believe that 6 years today, on a sunny fall day Jon and I were married. Somedays it doesn't feel like it has been 6 years already.  Ask us what the best thing to happen in the past six years together is and the answer is simple....Avery. Happy Anniversary! 

And now we are 3

3 of 20

Wanna see my new tooth...too bad

Of the 20 baby teeth Avery will have, he now has three. The most recent addition is his left front tooth. When Avery is getting a tooth our usually non fussy, happy baby, whimpers and whines a little bit more, and seems to have some trouble sleeping. To help ease his pain/discomfort we have been using Baby Orajel and Tylenol/ ibuprofen and some nights we end up sleeping in his chair to keep him from waking himself up so often. Over all I don’t think teething has been too difficult on any of us, sure some mornings we are all a little more tired but  I think that comes with the teritiory when you have a 9 (almost 10) month old. 3 down 17 to go!

Little Helper

Last week was a busy week for Avery. He played with GG & GT at an MSU volleyball game on Tuesday while I went to a class. Wednesday we went out to eat with my parents to celebrate my dad’s birthday and we went out again on Friday to celebrate my mom’s birthday. So when the weekend rolled around we were just ready to relax and play which is exactly what we did for a good part of the weekend. One thing we had to get done, and  that we were long over due for was a trip to the grocery store, sure we had picked up a few things here and there and gotten food for Avery but our cabinets were in desperate need of restocking so our Sunday night adventure was to the grocery store. Avery road in the the cart while Jon and I filled it. Once we got home Jon started the grill, and I started the process of putting away the groceries and luckily for me I had unexpected help with the groceries. 

Our Little Helper

Because the fridge was open and it was unexplored territory Avery thought he should check things out. Later our little helper thought he should help the dog with his food too. NIco went over to eat so Avery went with, while the dog ate, Avery checked out the dog's water, he was splashing away like he was in the tub. 

Splashing - Dog Bowl Style

I couldn’t help but laugh as Avery splashed the dog while he ate. It is a “no-no” to play with the dog’s food and water so after snapping a few pictures and  washing our hands and we found something new to play with. I think I will look online to see if there is some place that sells “eyes in the back of my head” for Moms, cause I think I am going to need some :)

Favorite Things (Part 3)

As Avery grows, learns and changes so does the list of his favorite things. Looking back at Avery's past favorite things provides another perspective from which to gage how much he really has grown. He has a variety of things to play with and we try to change them out so that he doesn’t get bored with any one toy too soon but there are just some things that we need to take in every room where we are playing and those are things make the Favorites list. Avery favorite things are not only at our house,  when he is at the grandparents he has favorites there too. 
One thing that Avery can be found enjoying at home or the grandparents is a book, in the beginning he looked, then the tasted, now he really sees the pictures and turns the pages and picks books out to play with, one of his favorites is Brown Bear Brown Bear.

A favorite picture book

Another favorite that he has is balls, he enjoys looking at them, chasing them, throwing them but even among those he has favorites. 

The Volleyball is my favorite

The blue spike ball is my other favorite

Like most babies Avery loves lights, and music which make it easy to see why he loves the music table (at GG & GT house) and roll/rattle music thingy (at G&G H’s house). 

So many different things to play with in one spot

It has lights & plays music, what's not to love?

But when it comes down to favorite favorite things I would say he has three right now. His puppy (currently nameless), he loves to cuddle and wrestle with him. 

Avery & Puppy

A plastic penguin, it seems to always be in his hand when he is at G&G H’s house. 

My best friend,  Mr. Penguin

And the toy that we move upstairs and downstairs, the clear favorite, a play door, it has lights and music and things to open and close, buttons to push, things to spin, it’s great, and he loves it! 

Avery's Favorite Favorite

So besides Avery’s friends and family those are his favorite things now. Check out his Favorite Things (Part 2) and you can see how much out baby has grown!  

Non Toy Toys

It seems every room in our house now has a collection of Avery’s toys. He doesn’t have every toy under the sun by any means but he does have a few. With all the choices he has I love when he chooses none of them and instead chooses a non-toy toy. Some of Avery’s non-toy toy favorites are leftover containers and lids, plastic hangers, and ski straps. 

Toy shopping at GG & GTs

Ski Strap Snack 

Got to Love the Lid

Is Hanger another word for new toy?

It’s just so funny to see him sitting in the room surrounded by toys that were created, tested, marketed and sold specially to entertain a child his age and there he is playing with glad ware. I can"t wait for the phase when the box something comes in is more fun then the toy it’s self. 

Dad's Birthday Weekend

We started out our weekend with a fall photo shoot at Drummers, pumpkins, hay bales, fall flowers, leaves the whole works. This past Easter I had taken Avery to have his picture taken with live bunnies and they had gotten some  nice photos of Avery, so I thought we should go have some fall shots done too. When we did the bunny pictures we waited an hour and half, so this time we went a little earlier but there was no crowd and we only waited 20 minutes, the bunnies seem to have drawn a bigger crowd then the fall pictures. While we waited we checked out all the fun things in the greenhouse, pumpkins, cornstalks, hay bales and scarecrows.

Scarecrow Avery

 Avery wasn’t as comfortable with these photographers as he is with his usual photographers (me, the grandmas and Lori Marie) so he was a little guarded looking in his photos but I am sure I’ll find one I like, he is never as cute in pictures as he is in real life :)

Our little pumpkin 

Pumpkins are fun!

 After that mission was complete and it was such a nice fall day we got the stroller out and took a walk down the trail, it was such a relaxing walk Avery even took a little time out to nap. 

It was a nice day to nap

After our walk we got Avery packed up and headed out the door to Grandma & Grandpa H’s house, for Avery’s first sleep over. Saturday night we had plans with some of Jon’s friends to go to the cities and ride the Peddle Pub (http://www.pedalpub.com/twincities/index.htm) for Jon’s 30th Birthday and knew we wouldn’t be back until real late so we decided that rather then pick him up in the middle of the night he would just stay over and we could pick him up in the morning. We had a great time on the Peddle Pub  and Avery had a great sleep over and he even slept (so did Grandma & Grandpa).

Our Peddle Pub crew

Our Sunday was a little more low key, Jon worked on the garage, while Avery and I napped and played, and then we headed over to Grandma & Grandpa B’s house to have dinner and celebrate Jon’s birthday with family. Dinner was great, Jon always does a great job with his birthday dinner request. With full tummies we headed home to put our tried little guy to bed and make sure things ready for the week ahead.

***Tooth Alert**** while we were waiting to have Avery's picture taken Jon noticed that right next to his first tooth was Avery’s second tooth! Avery now has his two lower front teeth!

Mashed Potatoes

Mashed Potatoes

We offered Avery a  table food this weekend and it didn’t go so well. Avery got to try mashed potatoes, he had a funny little face as he tried the new texture and flavor. I think he would have liked them but we didn’t thin them much so they were a bit too thick and caused him to gag, then cough and as a result he returned some of the bottle he had just drank (I actually got a photo of the return, but I am not going to share it's gross). We will try again sometime, thinning them a little more.

Happy 30th Birthday Daddy

Today is Jon's 30th Birthday....we have no real special plans for the night, our real birthday fun will be this weekend when we take a tour on a Pedal Pub and have dinner with the family. Happy 30th Birthday to a wonderful Husband, Friend and Father!

My Baby the Pin Cushion, Part 4

Avery at his 9 month Well Baby visit

Yesterday was Avery's 9 month well baby visit. Usually there are no shots at the 9 month visit but Avery got one, a flu shot. He took it like he normally does, only a few tears and was over it. At 9 months Avery weight is 21lbs 4 oz (61%) and he is 28" long (38%). His doctor is happy to see how well he is growing, and says he is a strong, healthy boy and we should keep doing what we are doing. Avery's next scheduled visit will be at the year mark.

Our tough guy on Daddy's motorcycle sporting his bandaid

Not so sure about this guy

This past weekend Avery got to see his Uncle Lee. Avery met Lee for the first time back in March when we went to Colorado. Avery was a much different baby back in March, he didn't roll over, sit up, pull up on things, crawl, eat solid foods, all he did then was sleep, eat, look around and play.  Avery has always been willing to be held by most people, I can think of only one he has turned away from. He is typically held by more women then men, so when men "strangers" hold him he tends to be a little more guarded and look a little more cautiously at them. 

Checking out his Uncle Lee

When his uncle Lee held him Avery just looked and looked,  he wasn’t so sure what to make of the guy holding him. Avery defiantly liked Lee but all weekend he just looked and looked at Lee, it was funny to watch. It will be fun to see how much he has grown and changed the next time he sees his Uncle Lee.

First time Lee held Avery

Watch Me Grow - Nine Months

Nine Months, where did those nine months go.....After nine months "in" he now has had nine months "out", what a crazy concept . He has grown and learned to do so many things, I am constantly amazed by him.  Avery is still a happy smiley baby who goes with the flow, and for the most part has been very healthy. I am sure month 9 will bring many new adventures, can't wait!

Nine Months

Food Future

Avery has been eating “solid” foods for just over three months now. He has had all sorts of fruits and veggies, rice and oatmeal cereals, a couple varieties of puffs, mum mums and gram crackers. Avery started eating gram crackers at daycare last week for any afternoon snack with his friends. 

Having Grams with Grandma 

More please

The gram cracker is the first non baby food he has really had, we just break it into small pieces for him and away he goes, munching away. I don’t know what it is that is keeping me from giving him more “table foods” I think he is ready try some but some part of me is not. But I am planing on introducing some bland mashed table foods to him and see how he does, but I want to wait until Jon and I can both be there. I like us both to be there when he is trying new things so we can all share the experience, that is the thing about firsts, they only happen once.  

Hands and Knees

I don’t think I will ever stop being amazed by all the things Avery can do. Everyday something new. I love to watch him grow and learn. Just under a month ago Avery started army crawling, and now he is very good at it and fast! Now he is working on crawling on his hands and knees, he only goes a little way like this but he can do it. 

Hands & Knees crawling

I always try to reward Avery’s new tricks by clapping and telling him how good he is, and he always rewards me in return with a big smile. Along with his new mode of transportation Avery also has a new favorite game, up and down, up and down. He loves to pull up/push up to stand on things and look around. 

Pulling to Stand 

Up I go!

So much to explore. I will never get tired of seeing his learn new things.

Ready for Fall

Fall is such a great time of year, especially early fall when the leaves are just starting to change and weather is still warm. The weather this weekend was just perfect, warm enough to be out side in long sleeves and no jacket. Because the weather was so nice Avery and I spent Saturday outside, swinging and ridding around in a wagon and his stroller at my parents. 

Going for a wagon ride

If you stop I will stand up :)

It was a great fall weekend. So many great things and events come along with fall, the season change, leaves falling,apples, Halloween and Thanksgiving. So many great Fall things to see and do  I cant wait to see what fun first fall experiences Avery will have.