I know you.

Tonight Avery demonstrated something that they say happens around 18 months, so she's a bit ahead of schedule here.  Beyond a doubt, she recognizes herself in a mirror - or at least in the phone camera.  When I pulled up snapchat and had a filter that added ears to the top of her head she saw this and reached up as though to grab them off of her head.

A full dozen

The matching lateral incisor on the bottom is finally doing its thing.  We're now up to 12 teeth, unless there are others working their way up that I wasn't able to spot just yet.  She has been a bit drooly but not too much in the way of diaper rash (thank goodness) with this one.  She was pretty unhappy last night too - enough that I gave her a bit of Tylenol to dull the ache for her.

That's a wrap

Avery's second Christmas is in the books.  Along with that were a lot of miles on the road and a whole pile of presents.  She may not have liked Santa very much in person, but she was starting to figure out how to unwrap presents.  Some of her favorites so far include an Elmo doll from Aunt Jackie, a new travel shape sorter from Aunt Karla and Uncle Carl, some bath toys and a coloring tablet from Mummy and Daddy, and a beautiful rocking pony from Aunt Bethany.  She isn't enamored with the pony when it's making noises just yet, but she does like rocking on it.  Santa did a pretty good job with Little People toys too.

I'm very proud of her.  She's also doing a decent job signing "thank you"!  It sounds like she's also saying "Please" and a few other things like "uh-uh" (as in no).

There was so much running and activity that Avery slept in an extra hour 3 out of 5 days through this extra long weekend.  My extra time with her was my favorite gift this holiday.  I love her bunches.

Evil Avery Kinevil

This kid.  Last night she climbed onto the rolling ride on horse and proceeded to climb up on the seat.  She stood straight up and then got back down.  (Picture one of those videos of a guy standing up on the motorcycle seat while it speeds down the highway.)  She did it again tonight.  I guess that wasn't daring enough because then she headed to the coffee table and started swinging those legs up.

Yup, she can now climb up onto the coffee table.  At least she was smart enough to put her belly down and slide off backwards.

More more more

I'm pretty sure she tried to say "all done" and sign "thank you".  When I asked her to pick up the blue circle she grabbed it straight away from the pile of shapes.  For quite a while Avery has also been great about doing things I ask her to do "can you bring Mommy the red triangle *pointing*" and sure enough she goes over, picks it up, and brings it back.

Bed time is quite routine now.  Avery is great about heading to bed on her own after a quick cuddle post prayers.  All I have to say is "sheepie" and she points to her crib where her beloved bedfellow awaits to cuddle and zonk out.

The hugs are also getting bigger and better.  There is nothing better than a hug from this little girl.

Change

We had a note come home on Friday saying that the owner of our daycare is retiring. It breaks my heart a bit and scares even more.  Someone else is taking over.  I don't know them, but I guess I didn't know the current owner a year and a couple of months ago either.  Then my mind starts to turn:  will the rates go up?  will the flexibility go down?  will we lose our favorite teacher?

I just don't do well with change.  Hearing it is coming right with the stress of the holidays has me quite tense.

As Avery is now saying quite consistently "uh oh".

My world is spinning

Avery now will spin in circles on her own, giggling and having a grand old time.  She also is making the first attempts to jump on her own.  It's pretty cute to see her put her all into it and barely bouncing.  Half the time she then topples down onto her bum.

We continue to work on ASL.  She'll tell you "more" when she's ready to eat and correct it to "eat/food" when you ask her if she wants to eat.  If you ask if she wants a "drink" or "water" she is trying to make one of those signs, it kind of comes out a bit muddled.  She also will babble while holding up her thumb and pointer finger (pinky isn't out yet) to respond when you say "I love you".

Word wise puppy is starting to sound more like what she's saying at times, but Saffy still gets a "Gigi"  She'll also stand there babbling while looking at a book.  I'm sure she is trying to tell me something, but it isn't coming across just yet.

We're still fighting on many foods, but we did have some success with pieces of spaghetti and meatballs last night.  She also seems to enjoy gnawing on a pretzel stick on her own.  The pieces of fruit continue to go in, get chomped on a little and get spit out.  I tried to get her to take bites off of a banana this weekend but they too kept coming back out, until I started putting a hunk of banana on a spoon w/ a bit of pb.

It begins

I know at some point I'll tire of hearing "Mama", but for now I'm excited that calling to me has returned to Avery.  She's also saying "up" periodically.  A few days ago I had her shaking her hand (not getting the sign anywhere near right) and babbling consistent sounds in an attempt to respond in kind to me when I signed and said "I love you" to her.

The youngest puppy is learning from the older ones

This morning Avery woke up a bit too early, so I brought her to my room to cuddle for a few minutes.  She didn't want to go back to sleep.  Instead she started mimicking Danika, who was panting.

I suspect she was a little sore as she had a shot in each leg again last night.  First her second dose of the flu vaccine and then her last DTAP.  At least we're getting to the point where we'll be done for a few years.  But we did go to the chiro prior, so that could help.

The pieces are coming together

This weekend Avery demonstrated the ability to both get the puzzle pieces (animals) into the right slots and to put the shapes into the right places on the sorter.  It's like everything locked in with her, not only is she making the connection between the opening or matching image but she's getting the dexterity to spin them around the right way to place the piece properly.

I'm also hearing her making more and more sounds that are clearly attempts at forming words.  Out of context I wouldn't have a clue what she was saying.  But when you say quack quack and she makes two mimicking sounds, you know she's on to something.  She'll also make a barking sound after dogs barking (as we learned on our walk today) and howl after Danika howls.  She's also making sounds like she's trying to tell me things, but obviously her message isn't coming across which sometimes has her sqwaking at me and appearing frustrated.