Sunday, September 30, 2018

So chill

Once again this little lady demonstrates how incredibly chill she is.  We went to Jumonville for a church retreat this weekend, which meant sleeping away from home and a bit of deviation from her normal schedule.  She was, as always, quite the trooper.  Everyone seemed pretty impressed with her sleeping so peacefully through both nights.  She slept for part of the drive there Friday night, so that nap helped ensure it wasn't an issue that she went to bed a little late.

Today, she was awake for the drive home and not the most thrilled about it, but still relatively content with a toy and a paci.  Of course, after we got home (post stopping at Big Lots for their 20% off day to gather more baby food - since someone is still at best only eating a couple of bites of the chunks from my meal) and she ate it was time for a nap and she's been down for the past two hours.  I suspect she's quite happy to be back in her own bed.

Thursday, September 20, 2018

6 from West Virginia

Well there are definitely six teeth through.  I caught a glimpse of the sixth one when she put her head back to play with the wind chime tonight.

We now have the top and bottom front two (central incisors), the bottom left lateral incisor, and what is either a top right canine or first molar.

Her hair also seems to be in a growth spurt.  It easily gets in her eyes, so I have been trying to get decent looking piggie-making skills honed.

I spent some time this evening going through her closet, pulling many 12 month items and putting the 18 month ones into play.  I t always makes me so sad, but at least she won't look like the person clinging to their two-sizes too small wardrobe while bulging out of it.

Straws and Spoons

Just a general update about feeding developments.  At present, Avery still is very selective about the chunks she'll accept (instead of spitting them out with a look of disdain).  Teether cookies are fine, as are corn flakes and an occasional bite of chicken or pork, but most anything else that is not pureed is spat back out.  This is a normal phase, but dang it's an annoying one.

I was able to trick her into a bite or two by putting the spoon in her hand and helping her to guide the food into her mouth.  Being able to do this pleased her greatly.

When it comes to our drinks, we'll take the sippy cup for water, but not milk.  Oh no.  That simply must be in her bottle.  At least there hasn't been an ounce of resistance (or reaction beyond her control) to the milk transition.  Of course, I have enough formula that, served at this slower pace, will last us for a while.

The other discovery was that Avery is able to use a straw, a skill she no doubt developed thanks to the sippy cup practice.  I handed her my water with a straw in a restaurant and to my surprise I quickly felt the cold of the water under my fingers where I held onto the top of the straw.

Thursday, September 13, 2018

Chompers

I may not have mentioned that a 5th tooth popped through.  It's on the bottom, which feels odd compared to the order they tend to tell you to expect them (tooth 5 and 6 should be up top - lateral incisors).  Yesterday daycare noted that they spotted several other teeth.  Of course, I can't get the girl to open her mouth on demand, so I can't see anything back further.  I shouldn't worry everyone is different, but I do.  She's just too pretty to end up with jacked up teeth.

Friday, September 7, 2018

Look what I can do...

I feel like I'm behind in recording some of the things Avery has started to do.  I don't want to forget these tidbits, so here they are!

In addition to the pointing Avery now puts up one finger like a point and waves her hand in a no motion.  It's a nice addition to her shaking her head no with a huge smile on her face.

You know how Donkey in Shrek pops his lips?  I do that at Avery and she make a lip smacking noise back.

She also has a crazy talent for finding the one chunk in her puree and spitting it out better than a dog can find a pill in a hot dog.

We also have a noted improvement in her ability to use the shape sorter toy and more than half the time I'd say when I point to the hole where a certain shape goes she'll try to place it there.  She has a decent success rate at getting them oriented properly too.

Have I mentioned she is an expert at pulling the velcro on her shoes to open them?

I've wanted to use more sign language than we have, but she has picked up on "finished" and does it periodically at the end of a bottle or meal!  A few times it looked like maybe she was also signing "more".

High fives are also a little more consistent now and she's willing to hit your hand in a variety of locations.  This too is often done with a smile or a laugh.

She also grabs her hair brush and puts it to her forehead.  She isn't getting it in the right direction to use it, but she knows what it is for.  With a little help she'll even brush your hair for you - ALSO smiling the whole time.

Vital Stats

I realized I didn't post the official one year appointment measurements.  Hence:
28 1/2" tall (up 2" since her 9 month appointment), 22lbs and 10 oz (up 2lbs and 4.5oz since her 9 month appointment), and 18 1/2" head (up another 1/2" since her 9 month appointment).  She remains in the higher percentile for her head and weight, but in a mid-range for her height.  Also, I am happy to note that her lead levels were lower/in a safe range - thank God.

Last night while we were out running we also stopped in to have her feet re-measured.  She's officially a 3 1/2w at this point, which is the size of the shoes she currently is in, but they're wearing out.  I'm on the hunt for cute 4 or 4 1/2 wides for the cooler weather.

Food wise there aren't a ton of things to introduce her to at this point, but we have found a blend we tried that added leeks to her repertoire.  I'm also slowing shifting her bottles to milk.  We're at about 1/3 milk and 2/3 formula right now, which had her pretty hungry yesterday.  I guess she was ready to keep eating at lunch time - so additional food has been sent to daycare for backup.  She also was jealous of a classmate eating their yogurt, so I guess we'll keep yogurt there.  It is probably a better mid-afternoon snack than puffs anyhow.  I'm glad she likes it!

Monday, September 3, 2018

Auntie B!

This weekend Avery and I took to the road with her Nonna and Nonno to go visit her Auntie B!  Do to her heavy work schedule this past year, this ended up being their first meeting.  Unfortunately, both Avery and Auntie B were recovering from some ick that came around (Avery's settled in around the same point of that post-inoculation fever), but they at least got to check each other out.  We also got to meet Auntie B's "friend" :)

The drive was long, but went well - meaning both that the weather was good and traffic didn't crush us, but also that Avery handled it well.  Our accommodations were comfortable and Avery and I got to share space for the first time in a few months.  It was nice to be right there with her and to get to play and be close all weekend.

Her schedule was in a bit of a state of upheaval, but Avery handled that very well too.  She got to see a pony, some horses - including all three of Auntie B's babies, rabbits, turkeys, and guinea hens up close.  It was a fun adventure.  But I'll admit, I'm glad to be home and climbing into my own bed tonight.