Countdown to ONE: Recap of Month 1

So, we're down to the last day before Avery is officially one year old.  I know that it's a common theme her elately for me to say it, but I really can't believe how quickly it's gone by.  I have enjoyed every minte of the past year and can't wait for all of the new things to come.  Thank you to the sweetest girl ever for giving us such a fantastic year!!

Countdown to ONE: Recap of Month 2

I'm constantly amazed at how little time is required to make an entire human.  As tiny as she was in the beginning, she was still a little person that Jeremy and I created.  I'm not sure that I'll ever stop being in awe of that.  It's so amazing how someone so tiny can bring out the very best in you.  It's been the most fantastic journey to where we are today from the little baby that was born nearly a year ago.  I always knew that having children would change my life.  I just wasn't expecting it to be this great! 

Countdown to ONE: Recap of Month 3

Pure sweetness, that's all I have to say!

Countdown to ONE: Recap of Month 4

Four months old is about when Avery began to master her gross motor milestones.  It wasn't until she started rolling over that I realized just how quickly time was passing.  Up to that point, I think I was so wrapped up in the newness of our situation as well as sleep deprivation to truly comprehend just how fast she was changing.  It seems that after the first roll, she has just changed constantly, always mastering some new skill.  Slow down sweet baby!!

 

Countdown to ONE: Recap of Month 5

Looking back at the past year has made me really appreciate all of the little moments that we've had with Avery.  It's easy to wrapped up in life itself and not notice or pay attention to the day to day things.  Jeremy and I have really tried to savor every stage that Avery has gone through, not looking to the next one too quickly.  We have had an amazing time just having her around.  We're so grateful to have been able to have this experience and so grateful for such a great baby girl!

Countdown to ONE: Recap of Month 6

At around 6 months old, babies really start to become interactive.  Up to this point, they kind of just hang out and let you know if they need something.  However, at about 6 months it's like this little light goes off in their heads that says, "Hey, if I react to the big people when they talk to me, they get really happy!"  Before this age, you can get a smile or little giggle now and then, but the real interaction is worth the wait.  They grow and change so much and so quickly that you have to really pay attention to the subtle changes or you might miss something important.  I just love to watch Avery grow and change, and I look forward to continuing to watch her over the years.

Countdown to ONE: Recap of Month 7

At 7 months old, you can already tell the personality of a baby.  It constantly amazes me that even at that young age, they are truly little people.  At this point we were really starting to get an idea of who Avery was going to be.  She is a very easy-going baby, not fussing unless something is truly wrong.  She is so smart, knowing how to work all of her toys (as well as how to work her parents).  She knows what she likes and what she doesn't and how to let us know as well.  It's just so amazing how much they learn so early on!  We really enjoy just watching her learn more about the world.

Countdown to ONE: Recap of Month 8

Mobility was a new thing at this point.  A new milestone that Jeremy and I were very much looking forward to has now become a slight inconvenience at times.  We always really enjoy when Avery conquers a new milestone, but at times we just want to go back to our little girl who was just content sitting in one spot to play.   It goes so fast!

Crawling is serious business.

Countdown to ONE: Recap of Month 9

Avery was so spoiled at Christmas, and she loves every one of her gifts.  However, this little airplane is one of her favorites--thanks Nana and Papa!  She absolutely loves riding on it.  She will point to it and grunt, telling us she wants to ride.  She's content on that thing forever.  Once Jeremy and I are tired of pushing her in circles around the house, we have to quickly find something to distract her with or she'll throw such a fit.  It's crazy how smart she is and how much she's able to communicate with us even at this age.

Countdown to ONE: Recap of Month 10

At this point, Avery was becoming very independent, always wanting to do things by herself.  That independence is nice for Jeremy and I but a little scary too--it's hard to let go, even of the smallest things. 

Countdown to ONE: Recap of Month 11

With just over two weeks until Avery hits the big 1 year mark, I thought we would spend this time doing a recap of the last year.  It's so hard to believe that this little girl is almost a year old.  Let's spend some time looking at how much Avery has changed in the past year.  This is Avery at 11 months voicing her many opinions about absolutely everything!  I just love her little personality!

Busy, Busy

For those of you that follow this blog closely (ie Chelsea), I apologize for the lapse in posts.  For some reason, there were a few posts that got saved as drafts instead of being posted on the blog.  I fixed the problem, and those posts are below.  That still leaves a little bit of time since posting, but we have been busy.  This post should make up for that, but hang on because it's a long one.  Avery's first birthday is fast approaching, and we've been busy preparing.  We're so excited for it!  There has been other news since the last postings as well...Avery is going to have another cousin, making a total of 13 (all 6 and under).  Nic and Brooke (as well as Cody and Tasha) are expecting.  We are so excited for all the little ones!  Take the poll to give a vote on girls or boys for the two cousins to come.  Now, on to the star of the show...AVERY! 

It appears that Avery has quite a sweet tooth, just like her dad.  Jeremy has been giving her sweets lately, probably too many.  Here he is giving her a Valentine's sucker.  She loved it!

Jeremy and Avery have a new "trick."  Any time that Jeremy has a piece of gum, Avery is so fascinated with it.  If he sticks part of the gum out of his mouth, she tries to grab it, but not with her hands, with her mouth--so funny!

Avery really loves to help in the kitchen whenever I'm cooking or doing anything in there.  Her favorite thing is to help unload the dishwasher--even if the dishes are dirty.  So, in order to occupy her time while I'm trying to get things done, Avery has a drawer all of her own.  She will spend forever just taking the dishes in and out of the drawer.

During the lapse in posts, Avery has also gotten a couple of new teeth.  The top two teeth are coming in.  For a while, one of them was coming in a lot faster than the other, so it looked like she was going to be a snaggle-tooth.  It was hilarious!  However, now she's started to get the second one too.  So she's more balbanced.  I'm not sure how well you can see the teeth in this picture, but it was the best I could get.

Jeremy and I have worked really hard to give Avery a security object.  Supposedly it really helps babies to sleep, especially in new environments, like when visiting grandparents.  We obviously don't have any other children to compare it to, but it seems to work--she's pretty attached to her blankie.  She is so cute.  She lays down on it and cuddles up to it no matter where she is.  She gets into her "sleeping position" with her butt up in the air--so cute!

I think that's just about all of the cute pictures that I have for now.  I will try not to make any more large lapses in posts, Chelsea (thanks for bringing it to my attention).  I'm sure there will be lots to share, with her birthday coming up so soon--hard to believe it's almost been a year!!  Stay tuned!

Almost Walking

Avery received a couple of toys for Christmas to help her walk, and she is really getting the hang of them. She thinks that it's so much fun to walk behind them, just laughing the entire time. She has some trouble steering them, but she has the general idea. Here's a video of her walking around behind one of the toys. She is going to be walking before long!

First Valentine's Gift

Just a quick snapshot of Avery with her first Valentine's Day present.  Thanks to Great Grandpa and G.G.  They always seem to be on top of the holidays. 

Avery sleeping later that night.  Sometimes she just looks so relaxed...almost like she is floating on a raft at the lake.  It's so amazing how I can take a picture (with bright flash) in her black room at night and not wake her up.

A Little Bit OCD or Just Tidy??

Avery has recently started lining her toys up obsessively.  She does it in the bath tub and on the window sills as well.  If you move the toys from her line up, she gets really upset.  Here are all of her toys lined up on the edge of the bath tub.  At the same time, in the living room, she had toys all lined up on the window sill.  So funny!!  Hopefully this translates into a tidy little girl later in life...we'll see.

Only the Best for Our Little Girl...

It's so funny the things that Avery has fun playing with.  Today, her toy of choice was an empty 2 liter bottle of Diet Coke.  She just loves all the noises she can make with an empty bottle.

Powdered Sugar Donuts... Yum, Yum

This was Avery's first experience with powdered sugar donuts.  As you can tell, she LOVED them.  She usually gets oatmeal and sausage for breakfast, but today was special.  I gave her a few little pieces of donut after her oatmeal, and she devoured them.  It was so cute!

She then licked all of the sugar off her fingers...

Avery's Many Smiles

Avery has several different smiles it seems.  She has her crinkled-nose smile. her mouth-wide-open smile, her cute little grin, and her mischevious smile.  I decided to include a sampling because they're so cute.

Waiting for Spring!

Avery is recently very interested in the windows in our dining room.  They are at just the right level for her to stand in front of and see what's going on outside.  She's really interested in going out there.  The only problem is that it's way too cold for her to be out for any length of time.  So, in the meantime, we are anxiously awaiting spring!

Sleepy Girl

It seems that no matter how much you try to keep a baby from sleeping on their stomach, there comes a point where the battle is futile.  Avery has reached that point.  I really don't like it, but she will not sleep on her back at all.  It makes me kind of nervous, so I check on her regularly.  I think that she's so cute with her little butt up in the air though.   

What a Mess!

Avery is starting to eat real food.  With that, comes new messes.  This particular meal was sort of like spaghetti--noodles, sauce, vegetables, etc.  She then had puffs for "dessert." The mixture was hilarious--she thought so too!!

Daddy's Helper

Every year around the holidays we put all of our holiday cards on our pantry door.  This year, Jeremy decided to "wrap" the door in wrapping paper before adding the cards.  This was so tempting for Avery.  I can't count the number of times that she pulled up on the door and started tearing off the cards.  Eventually, she started tearing off the paper--unwrapping the door!  It was so cute!

First Snow

While spending our Christmas time in Clinton, there was a significant snow.  We had some snow a couple of days earlier, but there was so little that we didn't take Avery out to play in it.  We did take her out in this snow, however.  We bundled her up in her little snowsuit and took her outside.  She only lasted in the snow for about 5 seconds before she started to cry.  I think she got the snow into her mittens and on her hands.  Either way, she didn't love it as I had hoped.  This picture was right before she started to cry.

When I picked Avery up out of the snow, I got some of it on our camera.  The cold made it fog up for the next pictures.  I thought that the pictures were kind of cool looking though.  This one I especially liked.

Christmas at Nana and Papa's

We celebrated Christmas at Nana and Papa's house on the 26th.  There was quite a crew there.  Notice the matching pajamas.  All the girls were wearing the same ones, and the guys had ones that matched each other as well.  Aren't we so cute?  (We all also got matching robes as seen on Nana courtesy of Uncle Nic!!)

Avery gave Nana the cutest, most fun gift ever.  If you don't look very closely, it seems like just a pair of pajama pants.  However, upon closer examination, you may be able to tell...yes, those are pictures of Avery ALL OVER those pants!  They are SO CUTE!

When we were in Clinton, we visited my granparents as well.  It took a while, but Avery finally warmed up to my grandmother.  We had a great time with them as well.

Christmas

This was Avery's fist Christmas, as you can see by the bib.  The bib was a gift from Terry and Teresa (mostly Teresa).  It's so cute that we had to take her picture in it on Christmas morning before she messed it all up with breakfast.

Avery had a great time getting all of her gifts from Santa, and us too.  She couldn't rip the wrapping paper very well, so I wrapped her presents in green and red tissue paper--it worked really well.  She liked all of her presents, but of course, Santa brought the best ones.

First Christmas Celebration!

This was Avery's first Christmas celebration.  It was the weekend before Christmas, and we celebrated with Grandpa and Grandma Cover.  There were times when the chaos of the weekend became a little overwhelming for the kids, as evidenced below.  When Avery and Skyler were first put together, this is what happened.  We all joked that Avery was beating up on her cousin that is twice her age, but in reality, Skyler had just woken up from his nap. 

This is what happened later.  The two kids were playing well. 

Avery got a new doll from her grandparents, and it was one of her very favorite gifts.  She and Uncle Nic had a lot of fun playing with it.

After all of the presents were opened, Grandpa spent some time winning Avery over with the best thing possible--food!