Fifteen Months

Avery had her 15-month-old checkup today. As expected, all is well. She is in the 75th percentile for height, 50th pecentile for weight, and 50th percentile for head size. As I knew before the visit, she's drinking way too much milk. Milk is just such an easy cure for a whiny toddler that I have allowed it to be a bit of a crutch. No more. I've decided from this point forward, I'll only offer milk to her during the day in a non-bottle. This will cut down consumption considerably - well, at least until she decides milk is acceptable when drunk via a non-bottle vessel. The doctor said it's fine to continue to let her have a bottle before bed, so I think we'll stick with that for a while - at least until I'm back from visiting my mom in Colorado. Since we brush her teeth after the bottle, it's not really a worry.

Things have been busy around here lately. A couple of weeks ago, we were happily able to meet with Avery's birthfamily. It was a wonderful visit. It was great to catch up with Nikki, Grandma J, and Grandpa Paul, as well as to see how much Garrett has grown. Nikki gave Avery several gifts, among them a huge stuffed dog. Avery LOVES this dog. She sits on top of it and bounces up and down likes she's going for a ride. I usually place it in front of the mirror in her bedroom so she can watch herself. It was really the perfect gift at the perfect age. When we were leaving, we asked Avery is she wanted to give Grandma J and Nikki a kiss. Avery gives kisses about 5% of the time we ask her to, so it was quite special when she happily gave both Grandma J and Nikki a kiss. Fortunately, they were willing to receive a special Avery kiss which is straight at you with her mouth wide open. That's my girl!

Where are the pictures from this visit you ask? Well, as I was exiting the car, the camera battery apparently slid out of the charger and into a storm drain. We searched and searched, but couldn't find it. I was quite upset with myself. "There's always our next visit," I kept telling myself. I still haven't found the battery, so I'm more confident that it did indeed slide down the drain versus just getting lost in my car.

What else? We had a pudding painting playgroup at our house the other day. None of the artwork was really savable since they basically kept slopping pudding upon pudding on the paper creating a soggy mess, but it's the fun that counts!

Avery helping Mommy make pumpkin bread before playgroup

Avery intently watches another pudding painter

Oh, and I cannot forget the walking update! She's walking quite a bit, though is still a bit wary to let go of my hand when we're outside. In the house she's slightly more bold, but I think we need another week before she's full on walking. However, that she can now walk holding just one hand - a feat she had previously refused to do despite being obviously capable of it - means that I can take her out of the backpack on our dog walks. I have video of it, but haven't had a chance to go through and edit it. I do, though, have a few pictures of her exploring during our walks recently.

"Look! A stone!"

The adorable coat in the above picture is courtesy of Nain.

"It's so cool!"

"I wonder what it tastes like?"

Playing with the sand and water table

The pillow case with head and arm holes is courtesy of Mommy who doesn't want to pick sand out of Avery's clothes.

... and now whilst wearing Mommy's hat

Heading out for a dog walk

The adorable coat in the above picture is courtesy of Aunt Caroline and Uncle Justin in England ... it's actually size 3 months - 6 months, but it still fits. Go figure.

Concentrating really hard on walking

Avery walks up this small hill to the tree you see on the far right, then I pick her up and carry her for a while, then she walks a little bit more