Safety First

I have had to purchase a few more things to help keep Avery safe.  The first are slide 'locks' for the bi-fold doors to avoid her pinching her fingers between them.  It's a bit of annoyance to me, but I am sure I'll get use to using them.  The next is a flip lock, which I've had for a while, but I finally installed it, on the basement door.  It's up nice and high so she can't reach it.  Once she fully masters a door knob, which isn't far off, this will prevent spills down the basement stairs.  The last items are ones I am sure will displease her greatly.  I now have two variants of leashes for her.  At last there are times when she wants to walk instead of being carried.  This is great for my back, but it brings new challenges.  I now have a backpack style harness with butterfly wings and a leash and a wrist-to-wrist attachment for the two of us.  She tried both on and seemed to really dislike the first one but found the second entertaining.

We have also been successful in getting Avery to eat a little bit of carrot and broccoli.  She even said "Mmmm" while eating the broccoli!  She's still a bit of a carb and sugar fiend, but who can blame her.  It's hard to tell her no when she sweetly asks for a pretzel after school every day.  Ok, I don't always say no.

Here we are one month before her second birthday.  I can't help but think that 1/9th of it is "over", slipped through my fingers.  Continuing to pray for time to slow down and to enjoy every moment.

So much energy

The twos are here already. Avery is so full of energy and pushing every boundary and button she can find.  She'll hit just to get your reaction sometimes when she's acting all crazy.  This is definitely a test. She's running well, which is good, because she's doing it a lot burning off energy.  Today her nap was just over an hour.  I'm not looking forward to when the nap time permanently shortens.  I just started working out to try and get healthy again and I need that time to work out, shower, and then relax for a few.  Give me the strength and stamina to keep up Lord.

Rain rain go away

Not much pool time in the past few days - too many thunderstorms have been getting in the way.  The storm cloud is also rolling in and demonstrating what the "terrible twos" are all about.  Avery has been yelling, throwing fits, and exponentially getting into more stuff.  I really wish we had nicer weather so I could get her outside and wear her out.

Don't get me wrong.  She is still a lovey and charming little girl.  But the two-year old devil pops out a lot more frequently.

Chilling by the pool

We hit the plastic swimming pool in the back yard pretty hard this past weekend.  It was surprisingly pleasant down under my deck despite the 80 degree plus temps - a nice breeze in the shade.  Avery had a good time with her pool.  I think having her out of a diaper in her swimming suit also helped her understand a little more about how the feeling of going potty correlates and she experienced what happens.  The first time she cried pretty hard, confused about what was happening. After that she was stepping out of the pool more often than not to pee and telling me as she was going.  I guess that's a good first step before getting her to tell me before she starts going, right?