an avery update.

i feel like i haven't dedicated an entire post to my daughter lately and that's just crazy.

i feel like this month is flying by.  between work, the move, and the fact that charlie's been traveling like crazy we've been bouncing from one thing to the next and i feel like most of my time is spent doing things other than playing with avery.  i was just telling charlie the other day that i feel bad because when i'm working she never gets my full attention.  i'm always moving her from the bumbo to the jumparoo to her playmat and trying to distract her with toys while i get things done.  even when i'm feeding her i'm usually answering emails on my blackberry.  and with the house stuff lately our weekends have been much of the same.  i'm really looking forward to at least having all of our stuff in the house and not feeling an immediate need to do things.  in fact after we're moved in (and out) i'd like to take an entire day and do nothing but hang out as a family.  i think we could all benefit from that.

anyway, avery is loving her jumparoo or as one of our friends called it the 'neglect-a-saucer'.  she loves to stand and she can entertain herself for a while in it.  i have it right next to our kitchen table where i work so she's right next to me which seems to let her last a bit longer in it, too.  

one of the other places she hangs out a lot is in the bumbo.  she sits in there when i make coffee in the morning, when i cook, and when i work.  if i'm doing something in the kitchen she's usually entertained enough by whatever i'm doing but when i work she likes to play with various toys.  usually we'll go through about 5.  she'll play with one for a bit, throw it on the floor and then i'll give her another one.  she can do this pretty happily for about 15 minutes at a time before she wants something completely different.  

about a week ago i noticed that she was getting really bored with the toys that she has.  before she would play with them for several minutes but she was getting to the point where she wouldn't even grab them when they were offered to her.  so i 'shopped' the house for other things we had around that she could play with just to mix it up a bit.  we've added a wooden spoon, a tupperware lid, a baby bottle cap, and a few pacifiers to our rotation.  her current favorite is the tupperware lid but i'm sure that will change shortly.  we also have a few frozen tethers that she likes.  i'm not sure that she's really teething right now but i think she likes that they're cold and therefore something different because once they warm up she seems to lose interest.

to keep her entertained during the day i've also been working outside on the balcony.  she loves being outside and that usually works as a good change when she starts to get really bored.  

she still loves ollie.  between how loud he is and how soft he is he's definitely the current winner as far as animals go.  the other day the three of us took a nap on the couch and when avery woke up she spent the next 10 minutes playing with his tail.  he's a pretty tolerant cat.  i just hope he stays that way when she gets a little older and rougher.

speaking of getting rough, she's getting strong!  and she likes to hit people in the face.  we've started working on 'gentle' and 'no' although she has no clue what either of those words mean and just gets mad when she can't smack you repeatedly in the face.

she's also started doing the crocodile roll when we change her diaper which has made diaper changes pretty fun.  this is definitely where the word 'no' would come in handy but again she has no idea what that means.  she just starts her high pitched whine when we won't let her roll herself off the changing table.  the other thing she's really into is grabbing her toes while we change her.  this has proven much more helpful then rolling around.  

she loves standing, especially in her crib.  i think it's because she can hold on to the bars but she can entertain herself for a while like that.  she likes to add some high pitched screams into the mix as well.

when she gets upset the one thing that's guaranteed to cheer her up, or at least distract her for a few minutes, is this 'happy happy baby' song that i made up.  i'm sure i sound like a fool but she doesn't seem to care.

she's grabbing onto anything and everything and most things end up in her mouth.  she's gotten a lot better with her hand/eye coordination and can now grab smaller things, like the string on my sweatshirt and moving objects, like ollie's twitching tail.  she's also getting a lot stronger and when she lays on her playmat she can now pull the entire thing down so that she can shove the toys in her mouth.

overall she's such a happy baby and i feel so fortunate that i get to spend as much time with her as i do.  i can't imagine life any other way right now.  bonding with this little person has to be one of the best things that i've ever gotten to experience.  i'm thankful that she's been so patient with us this month and looking forward to some simpler, slower days ahead.