Avery turns 4!
Avery turned the big 4 in December. It felt like we celebrated her birthday all month long. First there was her dance themed BD party. We kicked off the festivities with a handmade birthday invitation.
Avery helped pick the background paper and the colors, as well as picked out which ballerina she wanted to have cut out for the picture. Each invitation was slightly different with different colored tutus, shoes, and leotards to pick from. Avery particularly likes cupcakes at the moment, so this background was one of her favorites.
About 18 kids attended her dance party held at a local community center. We hired Avery's dance teacher to do a dance class for the kids and that was a total hit with the kids and parents. I knew it would be since Miss Erika is one of Avery's favorite teachers.
Her next BD celebration was a little party at her school. I brought in cupcakes for all the kids. I think Avery was mostly excited that it being her birthday meant she got to pick her plate and her seat and do everything first before the other kids.
Finally, we did a celebration with just Damian, Avery and me. We woke up a bit early to open presents with Daddy since he had an early meeting to get to. Avery didn't mind getting up early one bit. For her dinner, Avery opted to go out to her favorite Mexican restaurant.
The day after her BD, Avery told me as we were driving along that because she was 4 now, she was no longer shy of people. This has actually turned out to be more accurate than I thought it would be. She's also fond of talking about things she does now because she's 4 and not 3.
Her shirt says "Honorary Big Sister" - she LOVES this shirt made for her by Elise's mom when their youngest child, Mimi, was born.
One of my gifts to Avery was going to see the Oregon Ballet's performance of The Nutcracker. Avery, once again, enjoyed it thoroughly. Perhaps we'll go to another ballet performance during the year.Avery & Friends
Avery and Elise still spend a lot of time together. They play extremely well together and we notice how much they miss each other when one family or the other goes on vacation. For Avery's BD, Elise's mom knitted Avery & Elise matching hats. The girls love them. Avery likes to wear hers all day long, instead of just while playing outdoors.Avery and Henry continue to love to play with each other, probably due in no small part to Henry's willingness to wear any princess dress Avery may bring to his condo-building-house (as he calls his home in a condo building).Avery also plays a lot with a friend from her old school, and a neighbor of ours, Lily. We took Lily to see the Pinkalicious muscial with us in early December. They were to dress in their pinkest outfit. For both girls, I think this was a challenge since almost all of their clothes are pink. Lily is Avery fellow princess lover.
Travel
Avery is a stellar little traveler and loves to do it. We bought her a matching penguin luggage set. To be honest, I thought I was just indulging myself in buying something adorable for her. However, it's turned out to be very functional. Avery can carry all of her clothes and toys through the airport on her own, without a struggle. And I cannot tell you the number of times she gets told how much people like her luggage.
Since September, we've been to Mexico for leisure in October and Colorado/Wyoming for Christmas. For Christmas Eve, we were at my brother's cabin in Wyoming. I should have a better picture of both of Avery's cousins together, but I'm just grateful I have one.
Olly (7yo) left; Dylan (3.5yo) middle; Avery (4yo) right.
While in Colorado, Avery tried skiing for the first time. She did a half day ski school.
When we asked if she enjoyed ski school, her answer was unequivocal yes. However, she didn't want to go again, so we didn't push her to do more. We'll try again later this year or next year.
She also really enjoyed tubing, which surprised me because the speed on the hill was really fast and got my heart racing.
A view of the hill to give perspective
On this same trip, Avery's cousin Olly joined us, along with Olly's parents Justin (Damian's brother) and Caroline. They live in London so, of course, they have accents. When Avery was telling me about skiing she said, "And I fell down on my bum!" She also kept asking if she could "have a sweet" and calling me "mummy." It was interesting because Avery almost immediately took on several British-isms and inflections and Olly almost immediately took on several American ones. She's stopped them since returning home, but it does go to show how quickly kids can acclimate to a different environment.
Activities
Avery continues to enjoy many activities. She would much rather be doing something that at home doing nothing. Dance is still her favorite, but gymnastics and soccer are also in the top.
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