Eastern Oregon

We're back from our trip to eastern Oregon to visit my mom's brother and his wife.  Since it's a 5.5 hour drive each way, we really only had one full day for visiting, but we made the most of it! We spent the day visiting relatives and seeing the beautiful scenery of that area.  Lake Wallowa was particularly beautiful.  I think we'll have to plan a vacation there next summer. 



During our visits, we got to meet my cousin's daughter Monique for the first time.  That's her with Avery below.  Isn't she adorable?  She was so good with Avery.  You know how sometimes you have to remind kids her age (going into second grade) to be gentle with babies or that something isn't appropriate?  We didn't have to do that once with Monique.  She was so gentle and interested in Avery, not mention patient. 

Here's my cousin Griff (Monique's dad) with Avery.

And here's my uncle Wayne (my mom's brother) holding Avery. She loved his beard, mainly because her new passion is pulling hair. She grabs onto my hair and then giggles and giggles when I say, "Ow!" Great Uncle Wayne's beard was great fun!

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Avery had a first yesterday: the first time she sat up from a laying down position.  Damian walked in to get her from a nap and there she was sitting up in her crib.  Later that day, we witnessed this new skill first hand.  You would have thought she climbed Mt. Everest based on our reaction to it!  And, as if to

prove she really does have that skill down pat, she was sitting up in her crib when D went in to get her this morning.



Not entirely new, but very intense at the moment, is her lunging for anything in front of her she wants.  This has made changing time difficult.  If she's sitting up and sees something in front of her she wants (e.g. a Kleenex box), she will lunge so quickly that it's startling to me.  I no longer dress her on the changing table.  We just do it on the floor where her sudden lunging doesn't give me a heart attack.



When we got back from our trip to eastern Oregon, Avery was just thrilled to be out of the car seat.  We spread out a sheet on the living room floor to give her some freedom.  She discoverd a brochure that she was just enthralled with, so I put the brochure on the opposite end to her on the queen sized sheet.  Avery managed to wiggle and roll herself almost all the way there.  Then she decided she was tired, so she just pulled the rest of the sheet towards her to get the brochure.  It was a most impressive display of problem-solving skills.



The eating of solids is still a no go.  She will now put a Cheerio-like cereal into her mouth, but she ends up spitting it out after a while.  If not, then she just gags (not from choking, but the same reaction she has to any food substance being in her mouth).  So it looks like this is going to be a slow process, but I'm sure we'll get there eventually.  I think the texture just freaks her out a bit.



I think Avery has understood the, "Do you want milk?" question and sign for quite some time, but now she has a very clear response that means, "Yes!"  I haven't tried not verbalizing the question and doing only the sign for milk to test if she knows the sign definitively, but it is nice that I can quickly find out if what she is wanting is milk.



So, all is going very well at Casa de Trio.  Not a single day goes by that we don't marvel at how cute she is and how in love with her we are.  When I see her, I'm often to the point where I feel like I'm going to burst from happiness.  Must remember, don't squeeze baby too tightly!  When I get to her crib in those wee hours of the morning, all my morning crankiness just disappears.