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!

***********

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.

The Coast

This past weekend, we went to the coast to spend some time in the fresh air and hang out with our friend's, the G's.  Avery loved spending time with Elise.  Now that Avery's a bit older, they seem to play together a lot more.  Of course, Avery looks on with jealousy as Elise can just crawl away with any toy she wants while Avery is stuck playing with those surrounding her.  However, she's getting very good at really reeeeeeaaaaaaching for the toys out of reach and can usually get there eventually.  The crawling thing isn't happening just yet, but I am quite confident that once it does, my life will change dramatically.



We went to the aquarium in Newport which Avery seemed to enjoy.  That's where the picture above was taken. She gave us some little giggles when she saw the puffer fish and the jelly fish, as well as when some baby sharks were swimming in a pool where we could pet them.

Nain (my mom) has been here visiting for the past week.  Avery loves having her around.  She just smiles and smiles whenever she sees Mom.  It's really very heartwarming to see. Tomorrow, Mom, Avery, and I will head to eastern Oregon to visit Mom's brother and his wife. Fortunately, Avery has been an excellent traveler thus far, so I am hoping the trend continues!

Burp Giggles

I've had several incidents over the past few weeks that have pushed me well into the, "Yep, I'm a mom," category.

First, when Avery vomited up some food after an attempt to eat some solids, I knew it was coming and I held out my hand to catch it.

Second, we were in the car on the way back from Tahoe and she was fussing. She doesn't normally fuss in her car seat unless something is actually wrong, e.g. diaper issue. I didn't want to stop just to check, so to be sure, I did the old finger swipe. Something I swore I'd never do. And, yes, it was dirty. Thank goodness for hand sanitizers, water, and wipees.

Third, I found a guaranteed way to get Avery to giggle. Doing it makes me a bit sick to my stomach for the next 15 minutes or so, but the payoff is totally worth it. Please don't ask me how I discovered the magic of burping on Avery. Without further ado, I present Burp Giggles!

Lake Tahoe

I didn't realize it had been so long between posts!  It seems like Avery is changing daily.  On the one hand, the new skills are rather seamless in their appearance.  It's almost like she was always doing these things.  On the other hand, each time she does something for the first time, we squeal with the usual delight of first time parents. 



At the moment, we're in Lake Tahoe on vacation.  We drove out here with Turtle and Eddie to meet our friends and their dog for a few days of fun.  Avery has done exceedingly well the entire time.  She's so flexible with naps and her general schedule; for this, I am eternally grateful.  She also loves to watch the dogs, so having them in the back of the minivan was a perfect distraction.



Today we went to the beach with the dogs.  Ironically, despite the fact we were coming to LAKE Tahoe, it didn't occur to me to bring her swimsuit.  Then we had a little diapering accident before hitting the beach.  So we made the best of the situation and used the sun tent for protection; Avery didn't seem to mind one bit.  I was a bit relieved to see a number of naked/diaper-only babies and children running around!

As she has been for about a month and a half (give or take), she's sitting up on her own and doesn't need any supports behind her.  She rarely falls over.  When she reaches for something in front of her, she can get all the way back up without problem.  She still cannot, however, sit up from a laying position.  She tries, but to no avail.

She is trying ferociously to belly crawl.  What she hasn't put together is that she needs to push her legs underneath herself to get into an upright position.  That said, she did make it basically across the bed the other day.  She was chasing D's laptop.  She LOVES the laptop.  It's adorable when she finally gets to it because she kind of scratches at the keyboard in a manner that looks so much like she's trying to type. 



The other day, we were sitting with her at the table and talking with friends.  We had a bottle of water in front of her that we'd been giving her.  While we were involved in conversation, she reached out, grabbed the bottle and proceeded to drink on her own.  Just like that.  It was so sudden because, while she would grab the bottle occassionally when we feed her, she generally leaves the bottle holding to us and has never held it for extended periods.  That she was able to get it up and into her mouth was fascinating.  Of course, she doesn't know about gravity, but she could suck all the air out and eventually get water.  



We have tried solids, but she simply refuses to eat anything at the moment.  I have admittedly tried to sneak some into her mouth when she wasn't looking and that has not turned out well.  Avery can seemingly vomit on demand.  When we return from vacation, I'll refocus my efforts on trying more interesting flavors since the blandness of the oatmeal and rice cereals doesn't seem to appeal to her.



In other news, Daddy can officially use the Beco!  This morning was his morning to get up with her.  When I walked into the kitchen, there he was doing various chores with Avery on his back.  She was one happy baby! 



Avery is also making all sorts of sounds, including clicking her tongue.  When she does that one, she has such a look for pride on her face.  It's adorable.  We've also noticed that she's loudest with her squeals when we're driving on the curvy road leading to and from our house.  She makes a huge racket that makes us both smile from ear to ear. 



I have been taking video of her, but haven't had time to piece any of it together.  Hopefully, I'll find some time in the next month or so and post a quick video of her cuter moments.  It's just so hard to narrow it down!



Finally, I''ll share a sweet moment from earlier today.  D and I were in a bedroom sucking the mucus out of her nose.  She used to not mind this at all, but has recently decided she no longer likes it, so she cries.  Both Turtle and Eddie heard her and came racing into the room to check on her.  When we finished and picked her up, they both sniffed her to make sure she was all right.  Eddie then gave her a little lick before they left the room satisfied they had done their job.  While I encourage the dogs to ignore her most of the time, it did warm my heart they so wanted to comfort her. 

Groove

In the past month or two, I've noticed that Avery and I are really finding our groove. Over time, I've had moments where I've realized things were much easier than the month before. But today I realized we have really got our routine down pretty well, despite the fact we seem to do something different each day.

One of our routines is daily story time. I don't read to her before bed because when she is ready for bed, there is no holding her back from the bottle. She will let you know that you must give her the bottle and now! I also know if I do a story before bedtime at this point, I would end up reading only a short little book to her once a day - at least until she is old enough to ask for another book. In any case, what I have found works great is afternoon story time. We reach a point during most days when we're bored. Yep, I said it. We've done the bouncy chair, we've done the Jumperoo, we've gone out and about on an activity, we've walked around endlessly in the Beco whilst Mommy does chores, we've played kicky games on the floor, we've played with every single toy, we've stared at the dogs, and drooled excessively. At this point, we march upstairs to her room and lay on the floor. I pull out the books then lay next to her and we plow through the small library we've assembled. When she sees me pull out the books and lay down next to her, she starts kicking like mad. I love looking over at her while I'm reading and watching her little eyes wide with curiosity and excitement. I cannot wait until she is able to request a book to be read to her! I know I'll reach a point (probably sooner rather than later) when I won't look forward to reading the same book over and over and over, but right now, I am so looking forward to that. For your viewing pleasure, here is Avery during a reading of her favorite book Peek-A-Who? I did edit out me reading most of the book so you could see her reaction when the book disappears and then magically reappears.



While I can't wait for book requests, D is so very anxious for her to talk. He keeps double-checking with various people as to when kids start to talk - as if he might get an answer that will indicate every other person has been wrong and it turns out babies start to have full conversations at 1-year-old. He is visibly anxious and excited to have a conversation with her.

Another constant in the house has become gushing over how cute she is. When she goes to bed, one of us will say out of the blue, "She's just so darn cute!" The other will readily agree. 30 minutes later the other will be thinking about it and then will recount something cute she does. Prior to becoming parents, if you told me we'd be doing this - and not annoyed with the other for doing it - I would have said you were nuts. I'm not a gusher, particularly an emotional one. I typically give people a little congrats when I hear good news and then that's it. I don't harp on it. But damn! Parenthood sure does makes you gush over your own kid.

Oh, and the other thing parenthood makes you is a little more brave. At least in certain situations. I have found two tiny, harmless spiders in Avery's room on two occasions. Megan before motherhood would have screamed and then fearfully put the glass on the spider and then screamed while taking it outside. Megan after motherhood doesn't want to startle Avery, so I'm very calm about the whole process of capturing the spider and releasing it outside. Motherhood seems to be a cure for fear of spiders!

Speaking of ...

Avery and I did her first dog walk in the back-carry position of the Beco this morning. It went really well. I did learn that I need to buy her a sun hat that stays more securely on her head because, with her behind me, I was constantly worried it was falling down into her eyes. I was quite pleased with myself for remember to bring a mirror on the walk so I could look at her position if needed. Of course, because I brought it, I didn't need it.

Speaking of the back carry, I also managed to get Avery into it when I went to the grocery store yesterday. I'm not very confident at putting her in the back carry position over concrete. Anyway, I managed it, but one of her arms was sticking out of the top. I prefer they be tucked in, though the instructional video says it's fine for arms to be out. I kept trying to reach around to grab her arm and tuck it in, but each time she would yank her arm away from me and give me this look like, "No way! If you tuck it in, I can't reach for everything in site!" I had to walk in the exact middle of the aisles so she wouldn't reach out and grab everything off the shelves.

And speaking of reaching out, Avery is so cute when I pick her up out of her crib (ok, she's ALWAYS cute, but particularly so in this instance). She is so curious about everything now. Her eyes get wide and she has this look of wonderment on her face. I'll carry her on my hip, but she cannot leave her back arm resting behind me. She has to twist and have her whole body facing forward with both arms out so she can properly lean towards anything and everything. She will twist to grab for anything. As we walk down the stairs, she sees one thing after another to lean for. It's adorable.

And speaking of adorable, she has started to push her arms through the sleeves as I get her dressed. I put her little hand at the bottom of the sleeve and say, "push, push, push!" and she does! She's done this for a while now, but it's very obvious now.

And speaking of things she's done for a while, her rolling over is in full swing. She'll roll for pretty much anything. Sometimes she'll even stop on her tummy for a while to see what's on the floor and pick at it. She likes to look at the pictures on her play mat, the pattern on a rug, or anything else that catches her interest.

And speaking of things catching her interest, she is totally into Turtle and Eddie now. If we're on the floor playing with her and T or E walks in, she stops whatever she's doing and just watches them with wide eyes. She smiles at them and tries to pet them (neither will let her pet them - they both just get up and walk away when she leans for them - I think their tune will change when bits of heaven start dropping from the sky, aka food from highchair).

Movie Short

The other day, Avery and I headed over to Christie and Henry's to make a movie short. Avery was the consummate professional, as was Henry. The end result was this lovely short Christie put together. For your view pleasure, I present Babies Meet Jaws.

Huck Finn Meets His Doom (again) from Christie on Vimeo.