9 months.

loves: 
ollie

walking while we hold your hands

napping on momma

walks in the stroller

hiking in the ergo

feeding yourself

cheese

reading books

firsts:

meat

clapping for yourself

going from laying down to sitting

grabbing my nose and ear and knowing the difference between the cats and the dogs

trying to say cat whenever you see them.  

hike to the top in your backpack

trip  to 12,000 feet and above treeline

happy hour in boulder

you can crawl/scoot yourself to things you want

figuring out how to activate siri on the iphone

9 months avery girl!  this was a big month for you as far as figuring things out in your world.  you seem so much more aware of what's going on and are really starting to recognize certain words and piece things together.  it has been so fun to teach you things this month.  you will grab my nose and ear if i ask you where they are, you know which animals are cats and which are dogs, and you know that 'yay' means clap your hands.  you love to clap for yourself when you do something you think is praise-worthy.  this month you learned how to go from laying down to sitting and each time you would do it i would say 'yay, good job' which inspired you to clap for yourself.  now any time you sit up you immediately start clapping for yourself and look at me like 'mom! hello!' if i don't join in.  you love, love, love ollie.  he is still a strong favorite and when i ask you where the cat is you'll look around for him.  once you spot him you start trying to say cat.  you've got the sounds down but haven't yet put them together.  i have a feeling it won't be long before you do and i'm guessing that cat will be your first word.  you know who the dogs are, too, but get less excited about them.  henry has been oh so patient with you and lets you climb all over him, grab his ears and tail, and even look inside his mouth.  he is one good dog.  dunkin is less excited about your antics and usually gets up pretty quickly if you try and play with him.  

you want to be on the move pretty badly and both walking and crawling.  

8 months.

(forgot to post a bunch of these.  be prepared for a few 'avery grows up' posts)

oh wow, i'm not sure if i'm ready for this one yet kid.  8 months seems awfully close to 1 year.  but you're so much fun to watch and play with that i'll try and forgive you for growing up so fast.

you haven't hit any huge milestones yet this month and yet somehow you seem much more older and aware of things.  you've been pretty frustrated this month and i think a lot of that comes from the fact that you can't get yourself from where you are to where you want to be.  walking and crawling are both on your mind but you can't seem to figure them out.  you have greatly increased your range of motion which means that we have to put things we don't want you to get much further away from you now.  you can spin 360 degrees around on your belly and if you're sitting you can lunge forward to grab things, your current favorites are the cat's tail and our phones.  you love to stand although you can't really get yourself there yet.  if we put you sitting up in your crib you can pull yourself to standing although this is the only place you've figured out how to do that.  mostly you use us to stand up and get you where you want to go, but i can tell you're over asking for help.  i have a feeling that once you figure things out everything will come at once for you.  this may be the last month i can say we have a non-mobile baby.  if not i have a feeling you'll be really frustrated by month 9.

as far as eating goes you've gotten much better about eating solids this month.  you typically will take a few bites of my yogurt in the morning, eat some fruit for lunch, and then some veggies for dinner.  you're pretty independent and like to feed yourself.  i keep seeing other babies who are so neat and clean when they're eating, but not you.  you have to grab the spoon yourself for every bite which involves food all over your hands and face.  you're still nursing as often as you were before, which means you're pretty much eating all day long.  it can be a challenge to squeeze in other things.   

you're a vocal little lady, always talking to yourself.  you're actually pretty hilarious and keep your dad and i entertained just by watching you.  you're still babbling dada a lot although you've added a lot of other sounds.  still no mama and you still love to scream.  you're pretty good at letting us know what you're not happy with something.  in fact despite the fact that you're pretty happy and easy there are quite a few things that you don't like.  you hate when we take things away from you, when i leave the room, when we change your diaper, take you out of the bathtub or try to dress you in clothes.  you also do not like to fall asleep on your own but i'm resisting the topic of sleep because i could write an entire novel on that alone.  i suppose it's good that you know what you like.  we definitely try hard not to give into your demands, like returning the iphone we just took away, and luckily you haven't yet figured out that things exist once you can't see them which means you get over things pretty quickly.

you still don't have any teeth yet.  people, including me, have been saying that you've been teething for 3 months.  usually that's in reference to how terrible your sleep is. although we've made progress towards the end of this month.  i just hope that we keep moving forward in that area.

you love being outside, hanging out with the dogs, seeing us for the first time in the morning, sharing food with me, going for walks in the stroller, and running errands with me.  we still use the ergo when we're out shopping but you run out of patience if we're not constantly moving.  one of the reasons that i say that you've grown up so much is that i think you just 'get' things more.  we read this book usually once a day called 'where is your nose' that has those peek-a-boo flaps in it.  you love opening the flaps and know exactly which way to pull each of them.  it's pretty cute to watch you figure everything out.  you also love turning the pages to board books, sometimes a little too quickly, but since we read these books so often i pretty much have them memorized so it hasn't been too much of a problem.  you love playing with your daddy and peek-a-boo is still a favorite.  saying 'avery, avery where are you?' can snap you out of a bad mood pretty quickly.  

you had your first serious tumble this month.  it was hard for your dad and i too, both seeing you hurt (i think i may have relieved that moment for days and i can still see it happening if i close my eyes), and trying to make the best decisions for you.  thankfully you weren't seriously hurt.  i'm glad i trusted my gut on that one and didn't subject you to any testing just for my own peace of mind.  you slept with us for a few nights after this, or rather you slept and i watched you all night long, which made getting you back in your crib a little difficult although it didn't matter at all at the time.  you were a trooper during the whole thing and it definitely was a reminder about how tough you are.  

you still love the animals and i think the dogs have gotten more popular this month.  your dad is still worried that you might be a cat person since you love petting ollie.  i think the fact that he's so patient and tolerant with you has helped with this, too.  we took a video of you playing with him this month and you're grabbing his tail and shaking it all around and he's laying on the bed purring.  he seems to like all the attention and still jumps up to sit in your lap even though you pull his ears.  you like to climb on the dogs a bit and henry is much more patient than dunkin.  dunkin still makes me nervous as i can see him getting annoyed with the attention but henry could care less.  you lean on his back and smack his belly (i really think he likes this) and are happily entertained by his tail for 10 minutes at a time.  i think he secretly loves the attention.

i think we may be at the beginning stages of separation anxiety as you're starting to show a preference for having me hold you and be in the room with you at all times.  i'm sure this is partly due to the fact that we're almost never apart.  luckily your dad is pretty good at distracting you from the fact that i'm gone and once you've forgotten about me you have so much fun playing with him.  although you tolerate it, you look at strangers pretty funny when they try and touch you.  i do too, though.

avery, i say this every month but you are just so much fun.  i feel so blessed to have you in our lives and i'm thankful each and every day that you're a happy healthy baby girl.  i can't wait to watch you continue to grow throughout the years.  thanks for being such a wonderful part of our family.

firsts

drinking from a straw

taking steps with mom and dad

cheese

turning the pages in your board books

mimicing us: clapping hands, making indian sounds, sticking your tongue out.
trip to the reservoir

loves

ollie.  this is pretty standard.

standing.

walks in the stroller.

falling asleep while being held.

feeding yourself.

playing silly games with your dad.

peek a boo.

being with mom all the time.

sharing yogurt in the morning.

reading books.

watching other kids.

the where is your nose book

we hiked!

wow have times changed.  before we had kids our weekends were spent hiking (a lot).  we would wake up leisurely on a saturday, make some coffee, and then spend some time drinking our coffee and deciding where we were going to hike that day.  the dogs always came.  of course.  and after our hike we would come home, relax, shower, order a pizza or maybe even go out to eat!, and spend the evening drinking beer and watching a movie.  anyway, i miss hiking.  when i'm pregnant i always find it hard to do anything terribly physical.  i just get out of breath really easily, which makes anything semi difficult very hard for me.  both summers that i was pregnant were not great as far as hiking goes.  anything easy was no problem unless it was too hot, but anything exciting was really just not going to happen.  when avery was a baby we bought a backpack for her and were so excited to get back to hiking.  and then we discovered that she hated the backpack.  after passing many people on the trail with our screaming baby we learned that most kids don't really like the backpack until they're a bit older. she loves it now, but that first summer with avery was a bit disappointing because we had to sort of readjust our expectations about what a successful hike was.  successful is now nobody screaming their way up or down a mountain.  

this weekend was finally going to be sort of nice weather-wise so we decided to get out and attempt a hike with two kids.  i kept ellie in the ergo (lesson learned) and avery road in the backpack.  we brought dunkin with us.  he's finally, finally stopped limping and we figured this would be a short and easy hike and we'd see how he would do on it.  he actually did fine for the first half and then you could see him start to slow down a lot.  by the end it was pretty clear that he was hurting and he limped around a lot the rest of that day but seemed fine the next day.  basically, he's just old.  i think he's like 70 or more in human years, which means slow, easy, and short adventures are all he can really handle right now.  still it was nice to have him.  he's an awesome dog and avery was actually the one who insisted that we bring him.  she kept telling him to watch out for bikes and was very concerned when he ventured too far ahead.   

the hike was pretty quick, but had nice views of the flatirons, which are my favorite mountains to look at.  we let avery get out a bit and run around and she loved it.  she kept saying 'i'm hiking' and then climbed all over the rocks.  when we put her back in the backpack on the way back she could barely stay awake.  and the next day she kept asking to go hiking.  unfortunately i think we'll have to wait for the weekends because i'm not quite sure how i could do it with two kids.  hopefully spring will be hurry up and we'll have lots of warm weather to hike in.  and next time i think we'll leave the dunk at home and bring crazy henry.    

lately ...

...  it feels like we're finally getting into a routine around here and i love it.  ellie's napping 2 -3 times a day (instead of 4-5) and taking one big nap when avery does.  i thought this day would never come. i usually lay down with her for an hour or so because she'll nurse on and off during that time and then try and sneak out of our room.  and she'll usually sleep a bit longer than avery which gives a and i some one on one time.  i would say that avery really likes this but more than half the time she just wants to play by herself anyway. evenings are also moving along much smoother these days.  ellie's usually pretty happy and if not she's really just fussy and not screaming like she was for the first few months.  i miss my newborn baby but i am so happy to have a happy baby.  very happy that "fourth trimester" has passed us by. 

...  there are so many things that i want to do to our house this spring/summer.  i want to plant some vegetables.  i'm hoping to do containers since i think the number of rabbits in our neighborhood would be a problem otherwise.  our cats and henry are very, very good at keeping our backyard clear of them so an in ground garden could be a possibility but i want to start small this year.  we also want to put in two posts at the edges of our patio and then string cafe lights from the house to them.  we want to turn the side of our house that currently has rocks into grass, and we need to paint the outside of our house.  we're currently in the process of getting quotes for the painting.  we have one but it was  really high and we also need to decide on a color scheme for the house and get it approved before the painting.  i want a light grey house with white trim and navy shutters (and possibly a light yellow door) and charlie wants a yellow house with white trim and black shutters/door.  so obviously we have to decide on that before we go to the hoa for approval. both of us really prefer darker siding but our house gets so beat up by the sun that i think something lighter will actually look better for a longer period of time.  the back of our house faces directly south and there's no house in back of us to help block the sun. 

...  avery has been saying the most hilarious things lately.  i feel like she's changing so quickly (still) but since i'm not keeping track of it month by month i can't remember everything!  she's really into playing pretend lately, which i love.  she loves to play doctor, which i think comes from a combination of going to doctors appointments with ellie, the berenstain bears book 'go to the doctor', and a daniel tiger episode where he goes to the doctor.  i got her a mini 'doctor kit' for easter and i'm really excited for her to open it.  she's also obsessed with the berenstain bear books lately.  we had a ton that were mine and my sisters growing up and avery reads them all the time (some she sort of has memorized from charlie and i reading to her so many times and will 'read' to herself), we have piles of them in every room of the house and she'll request specific ones all the time.  i love her book obsession and i hope it continues!  she's started to ask to snuggle at times and she'll randomly give me hugs and say 'i missed you' as if i've been gone for a long period of time.  i really love that kid. 

...  we're starting to plan the rest of our year, which i'm really excited about.  charlie has a bunch of work travel (of course) coming up again, which even includes a trip to japan.  i'm excited for him because he's excited but 6 more weeks of travel in the next two months?  it's a lot.  BUT my mom is coming out for one of those weeks.  yay!  and we'll celebrate easter.  i'm really excited to dye easter eggs and hide them for avery this year.  we're also planning a trip back east to see family, which i might make a long one depending on how the kids do sleeping in different beds.  we're also trying to plan a short vacation for just our family (telluride again, hopefully) later this summer and we're renting a condo with charlie's family in december this year.  i won't be surprised if the rest of the year flies by.  

...  i am obsessed with sleeping pictures of ellie.  i remember this from avery, too but there is something so peaceful about a sleeping baby.  

...  ellie is teething.  and she hates it.  the poor kid is drooling everywhere and chomping on anything/everything she can get her hands on.  avery never really drooled and didn't start teething until 6 or 7 months so this is totally new for me.   

...  we got a fish.  this was sort of something that charlie had wanted for a long time.  actually, he wanted 4 fish (one for each member of our family) and i wanted zero fish.  we ended up with a beta, which charlie was sort of annoyed about.  avery loves it.  right now he's on our kitchen counter and she'll pull the stool up to the counter to talk to him and watch him swim.  the other night she said goodnight to him:  "goodnight fish.  sleep tight.  i love you.  hug.  kiss".  very cute.  he's refusing to eat so i hope he survives.    

it's the little things.

...  a baby who found her thumb.

...  a family dinner where everyone was happy for 10 minutes.

...  charlie being around for a bit. 

...  a bubble bath.

...  watching a and e interact with each other.

...  baby belly laughs.

...  two clean kids. 

...  cloth diapers drying in the sun.

...  binge watching jon stewart with charlie.

...  twinkle lights. and how avery calls them "kiss-miss lights". 

...  a baby who naps!

...  some time alone with avery.

...  grocery shopping on a friday.

...  a cat who naps with the kids. (even when he wakes them up)

...  thoughts of spring.

...  watching mary poppins with avery.

...  snuggling with my favorite people in the middle of the night.

...  napping with ellie.

... coffee.

ellie: 4 months

happy four months elle belle!
you are growing up super fast and are entering maybe my most favorite baby months with you.  you're definitely no longer a newborn baby and as much as i'll miss those sweet, sleepy, squishy moments i am so excited for your next adventures.  i feel like the past month was a big turning point for you and you are now a very happy and content baby 99% of the time these days.  thank goodness!

things you are up to at 4 months:
...  at your well visit yesterday you were 12 pounds 7 ounces and 24.25 inches long.  25th and 50th percentiles respectively.  you're maybe a smidge bigger than your sister was at this age and i would guess you too will be around the same size when you're all grown up.
... you are a happy, smiley baby!  you smile at everyone and it's the best.
...  you laugh!  you did your first real belly laughs this month although you're pretty stingy about when you'll give them out.  and you almost always stop once i break out the camera.
...  you love your big sis.  she always gets smiles from you and i think she likes you, too.  it's actually pretty cute to see you guys start to interact.
...  i started to move you into the cosleeper for your first nighttime stretch but then you got sick and i ended up moving you back to the rock 'n play since it was easier for you to breathe there.  your daddy is pretty anxious for you to sleep in your own room so we'll see what happens in the next month.  right now you still spend a decent chunk of time in our bed, which seems to be where we all sleep the best.  my guess is that you're waking up about 2-3 times to eat at night although i admit that i sleep through most of your wake ups.
...  you're not rolling over yet although we've been pretty terrible about tummy time and since you were pretty fussy for the first 3 months of your life you spent most of that time being held by me.  you'll roll to your side but can't figure out how to get the rest of the way over
...  you grab things with pretty good accuracy and of course once you have something in your hand it goes straight to your mouth.
...  you drool like crazy and love to chomp on your hands.  the doctor mentioned that you looked like you were teething when i brought you in at 3 months for a sick visit.
...  you're big enough for the ergo now so i think we've retired the moby wrap in exchange for the ergo.  you loved the moby wrap for those first three months but it was beginning to hurt my shoulders when you were in it for long periods of time and i always preferred how easy the ergo was to put on.
...  you're napping more consistently now.  you still take about 3-4 naps a day.  usually 2 morning naps with the first one in the rock 'n play and the second in the ergo.  you'll take a long afternoon nap when avery does although you will usually nurse your way through half of it.  if this nap is long enough then you'll stay up until bedtime but if it's too short than you'll take a quick evening nap, too.
...  speaking of naps, unlike your sister you prefer to put yourself to sleep by either sucking your thumb and being sort of jiggled or by walking around in the ergo.  you usually don't like to nurse to sleep but you will do this for bedtime (sometimes) and during the middle of the night.
...  you're a thumb sucker!  you finally figured out how to get it in your mouth and it really helps to soothe you when you're tired or trying to fall asleep.  this has actually helped a lot in the past month!
...  you're still nursing really well.  usually about every 2-3 hours during the day.  you're definitely not a comfort nurser like your sister was so it'll be interesting to see how long you nurse for.


happy four months, little one!  we love you.

today was a good day.

the past few days have been really, really good.  yes there are tantrums and crying at various times but that's to be expected for life with a toddler and a baby. as a whole the days have been really fun.  they've been feeling balanced and i've felt like i've really been enjoying them instead of just holding my breath until the next screamfest.  charlie's been gone for a few days for work and it sort of feels like we're on vacation.  not because life without him is a vacation.  i miss him! we all do. but because there's no set times for anything.  we can sort of just do as we please and weekends and weekdays are all the same to us without his work schedule dictating things.  anyway, i was sort of dreading this trip because not only do i miss him but 7 days of solo parenting can be hard.  but so far it's been really, really good.  we've gotten out of the house every day.  ellie's been napping just a smidge more which makes her happier and allows for 15 minutes here and there where avery and i can spend some one on one time.  and this has made a huge difference with avery.  she really needs that quality time i think.  and, dare i say, ellie's been just a bit more content, which as also made all of the difference.  i've also gotten into a groove of when and how i do things alone and i've accepted the fact that there will not be homemade dinners on the table and the house will be a bit messier and that, too, has helped.  in short, i've shown myself a bit of grace when judging if a day was successful, which is something i should have done awhile ago.  the dishes will get done once the kids are in bed.  the clothes may take a day or two to get folded, and i'll vacuum when charlie's back in town.  this has made my days much happier.  i get to focus on spending time with avery and ellie:  reading books, playing silly games, hitting up the playground, and watching them grow way too fast. i look at them sometimes and cannot understand how they're so big and where the time has gone.  it's been nice to just enjoy that time lately instead of stressing about the dirty dishes.