Play Date

This past weekend Avery's best bud, Luke, came over with his parents for a play date and dinner.  They had a blast. She was so excited before he arrived she was vibrating.  Of course she was instantly all frowny after he left too.

I never expected to have one much less two near-three year olds running crazy in my house.  I certainly didn't expect to have that happen and enjoy every minute of it.

A comforting vision

I pray a lot for this kid.  On Friday I finished up my work a little bit early, although, not as early as I had wanted.  I took a few minutes out back pulling some weeds before I went to pick up Avery.  During my drudgery work I was praying.  My thoughts were about God always being with Avery and watching over her, that He would be with her and she would know Him.  I believe that children have an easier time hearing His voice, so I also prayed that she might be gifted in that regard.  I noted even in my prayers that I know we aren't to test God for 'signs' or 'answers'.

I then headed to get her from school.  We were headed for ice cream at Sarris because she had a banner day potty wise at school and because it was Friday -- we both deserved a treat.  I quickly realized we'd be crazy early for a curbside order, so I turned around to go to Dollar General.  Stopped at the light in front of the White Eagle club she says from the back seat "is that Jesus?"

I looked all around and no one was on the sidewalk there or near the parking lot on the side.  I asked her where and she pointed out the window in the direction I was looking.  Imagine my surprise as it settled in.  I asked her what he was doing and she said he was sitting there.  Thank you Lord.

Laying in bed I was curious so I pulled up the stereotypical photos of Jesus on google images and asked her who it was -- she said Jesus.  I don't have tons of pictures of him around the house nor do I recall pointing him out in the small cards I do have.  I am sure she's seen photos elsewhere, but stilll!

The feeling is mutual.

Last night during prayers Avery included Luke in her family list. She quickly followed it up with "I love him". I guess given my last post it only took her a little while to realize the feeling was mutual.

We also had Avery's dentist appointment yesterday. Fortunately her buddy Luke told her about his recent trip and she was psyched to go. We had a very good report and they indicated her teeth were very clean. Yay!

Final note -- the threes are hitting pretty hard. Avery's desire to do what she wants is pretty darn frustrating. Mostly I am sure because she's been so easy to this point.

Our own events

Our whole upcoming weekend was cancelled. I wanted to take her to a touch-a-truck even on Saturday and Sunday we had a graduation party to attend. I guess it's all for the best, but it's summer, we're supposed to be able to do things together. Speaking of, this past weekend we went flower picking at Simmons again. I didn't get as good of photos of Avery as I did last year, but I did get some. We also managed to lose her first pair of sunglasses. She must have chucked them because I couldn't find them anywhere in the aisle we were in. I've made it thus far without losing much of anything, I guess it was bound to start happening. Avery has been making good use of her toddler tower. Tonight she helped me make a veggie lasagna while she nibbled on the raw zucchini and sampled other ingredients. She also routinely helps me water the garden out back. After doing so we check the tomatoes. When there is only one sweet 100 ready to go it is all hers. I've at least gotten to eat a couple.

Best Buddies and Holidays

Avery's best buddy's Mom invited us to their neighborhood this weekend.  They had an ice cream truck coming to their community.  It was nice to see them play.  Boy were they happy to hear they were going to get to visit and even more so to see them spot each other.  We had a great visit and it made what would have been a lonely 4th of July a great time.  She was also able to do so much more at the little park all by herself.  They were up and down for the slide a bunch of times.

The neighborhood was going crazy last night with fireworks, including the folks across the street.  Avery wasn't too fond of the loud ones this year, but she was content to watch from the windows inside.

Pop goes the weasel

Sunday morning Avery was up at 6:20am.  Normally I wouldn't be aware of this.  But on this particular Sunday she was able to stroll right into my bedroom.  I felt a bump on the side of the bed and in my sleepy stupor I assumed it was Saffy, whom I told to "go lay back down".  Then Saffy started to climb up on the bed, but not in a leap.  When I opened my eyes - there she was.

Last night she was back up twice after being put down for the night, tonight just once. It's hard to be consistent when I want to hold her hand as much as she wants me to.

On the go, gotta go.

Avery had a really good week at daycare.  One day she pooped on the potty twice, one of those times she told them she needed to go!  There were successful potty trips the rest of the week as well.

Today we went out to do a little shopping and Avery said "I have to potty".  Oh no.  I didn't want to not listen, so we went to the public restroom.  Wow that's a nightmare, especially in the smaller stall.  But she did it - she peed in a public bathroom.  Thank goodness she changed her mind about needing to poo, because I don't know how I would have balanced her and managed to get paper to wipe her successfully.

Big Girl Bed

Last night Avery got to sleep in her very own big girl bed!  Well, kind of.  We put the toddler rail on the one side of her crib.  She was pretty excited.  This morning I heard her say "Mommy", I immediately got up to use the bathroom and she was walking in my door before I got the whole way to the toilet.

Berry sweet

Saturday Avery and I went strawberry picking at Simmon's Farm.  We had a good time and came home with some delicious berries that I spent a good chunk of the rest of the weekend applying to a strawberry ice box pie, chocolate strawberry muffins, strawberry lemondade, and strawberry margaritas.  There are a few left - which will go quickly as tasty as they are.

She's getting so big.  She did a great job picking and listened well.  She can even get in and out of the wagon for the hay ride to and from the fields with minimal assistance.  My baby is getting so big.

It's wake up time

Avery has been getting decent at reading her alarm clock, even if she doesn't fully grasp what it means.  She reads off the time:  "eight, dot, dot, one, six, that means it's bed time" or "seven, dot, dot, two, three, it's wake up time".  Presently she tends to get fives and twos mixed up, and doesn't say zero, but that's ok - it tells me what we need to work on.  The challenge is when she's upstairs for a nap and starts saying "Mommy, Mommy, there's a three! It's wake up time." except the clock says 1:43, not 3:xx.

Speaking of working on things, during her time here at home Avery has gotten pretty good at spelling her first name and we're getting better with prompting at spelling her middle name.  She can tell you what city and street she lives in/on and is starting to get the right numbers but not in the right sequence for our house number.

Keeping Track

This week, while Avery spends a little bit of time entertaining herself (unfortunately, so I can get some more work done) she started coming to me with different items rolled up in pieces of construction paper telling me she had a present for me.  Is that not the sweetest thing ever?  This kid is wrapping up her toys and gifting them to me!

I also wanted to note a few more little things that I'm terming "LifeWithAvery":
- Another shirt, this one my Jason from Friday the 13th tee.  He is standing there with a big ol' knife in his hand.  She joyfully points to it and says "that is for cutting cake".  That's my girl.

- During prayers I commented about her successful efforts during potty-training that day.  She turned to me with her eyes wide and said "did you say potty train?"  from the look on her face I can only image what she was picturing.

- More commentary on my derriere at bed time.  This time it was with little rhyme or reason:  This time she said "your butt's not big, it's little".  Flattery will get you almost everywhere dear child, but you are going to bed.

Kissing Concrete

Yesterday and today were quite nice, so we went outside armed with big girl panties and one of our potties.  We made it quite a while yesterday before the panties ended up wet, and Avery immediately came over and told me.  I had her on the potty several times and she just wouldn't go, so I wasn't surprised it happened.  It needed to though, so she got a sense for how unpleasant it felt.

This morning when we tried the same not too long into the process she told me "I need to poop Mommy".  YAY!  We came upstairs and she immediately went potty.  That's a huge win.  After we went back outside and it wasn't but a short period later that she took a tumble while pushing her little bus along the concrete.  She went booty over teacup and face planted.  I saw the tumble starting from the corner of my eye, but there was no way to get to her in time.  From the look of the resulting boo-boos on the left side of her face, I would say she thumped the forehead high, bounced a bit, and then hit again with part of her lower forehead above her eyebrow, her cheek, the side of her nose, and even her eyelid.

She was quite unhappy for a minute, so I just cuddled her.  Once she was calm and I got a look I was glad it wasn't worse than it is.  She did let me clean it off and put some ointment on it.  Man that's going to be uncomfortable when it scabs.  Lord help me keep her from picking.

She makes me laugh

Avery is funny, charming, and smart no doubt.  Tonight she proved this three times within a couple of hours.

To start with... if I haven't mentioned it before, she adores ghosties (she's my kid and loves Halloween, go figure). I'm wearing my Pacman blue ghost shirt, so I tell her "this is what ghosts looked like when I was a kid, they were 8-bit". Her reply, unprompted, without missing a beat was "that's a byte". I might be taking some liberties on the spelling of said word to reflect what my mind heard. But she's right ya know.

Then... tonight she jumped into the rocker/recliner in her room and wanted me to sit beside her.  When I said I wouldn't fit not only did she tell me that my butt was too big, she also started to sing "Mommy's got a big ol' butt -- oh yea"

But she wasn't finished.  She and her Daddy have their little gang signs they throw up that involve two hands signing "I love you" every night.  As he left the room it was like she was trying to teach me.  She said "it's ten", stuck up her thumb, "one", stuck up her pointer finger, "and pinky", sticking up her pinky.  Why yes, the sign for I love you is a combo of ten, one, and your pinky.  Good job kid.

I want panties

This request was made this morning.  Unfortunately it's rainy and colder outside - cold enough that we might get snow overnight into Saturday.  That eliminates the way I'd like to approach things:  slap on some panties and go outside w/ a potty at the ready.  Then when she has a few accidents and gets a feel for it - bam, progress.

At least if we're not allowed to go out and live our lives there won't be the obstacle of public restrooms anytime soon.

Just so you know -- I can do this.

Avery has always been the little girl who would hold out until she was very confident she could do something before she gave it a go.  I think she could have walked (and fallen) weeks earlier than when she took her first steps, but instead she waited and just took off.  Her decision to climb over the side of the crib is no different.

She's 32 months, it's a bit ridiculous that she hasn't done it before.  Just under a week ago she told me she wanted to get into bed on her own one night.  Ok, so I said how are you doing to do that?  She promptly climbed up and over into her bed and looked at me with a smirk on her face.  Since then she demonstrated for her dad that she could climb out too.  Today I made her show me as well.  The good news is, she has always been a great sleeper once she's out, so I still don't see her getting up in the middle of the night.  She also patiently stays in her crib during nap time, even when she doesn't want to sleep.  I guess I really need to get that toddler rail that matches the crib.

Earlier today we were watching a show that switched to a scene with a woman in skates on ice with a stick and Avery immediately said "hockey" she gets it - and I haven't even been watching hockey with her, sadly.

Shortly we'll  be heading out to do a cookie parade past Avery's school.  I hope she'll be able to see her teachers as we go by.

Won't you be my neighbor

Avery has officially made friends with the neighbor girls. It started through the fence on Saturday morning.  There is nothing cuter than this kid standing there calling for them by name.  Her sweet little voice!  The neighbor girls are sweet and seem to have a bit more structure from their parents than some of the other kids in the neighborhood, so I am hoping they can be buds for years go to come, despite the age difference (they are 6 and 9).

We had a couple of poops on the potty today and a few pees.  I know I need to get crazy about the frequency to bring things home.  If we could keep some warm temps for more than a day at a time maybe we could go outside in big girl panties and see how she reacts when things happen.

Both days this weekend we skipped naptime.  I didn't even try to put her down, and she made it through with minimal hissy-fit.  I am so not ready for her to give up naps, especially right now as I need nap time to get work hours in, but she is also getting better about entertaining herself and playing solo for little spurts of time.

All dressed up and nowhere to go

We did put Avery's Easter dress on today, even though we had no where to go.  She found her eggs that led her to her Easter basket and had fun playing with her new toys.  She got her big Easter gift last weekend, a climbing dome out back.  Good thing to have to help keep her busy and worn out.  Then we had our dinner here at home, some bake and serve cookies that Avery helped me put on the cookie tray to bake, some time outside with a walk.

I guess we'll never know how she would have done with the Easter bunny this year.  There's something sad about that.  We video chatted with Aunt Jackie and our buddy Mr. B today but that's still not the same as being out and about.  I don't know when life will get to go back to normal.  When the time comes I wonder how Avery will adjust back to school and other activities.

Who loves you?

It's fun to ask a 2 1/2 year old questions to see what type of answer you get.  Last night I asked her who loved her.  After the standard response of Mommy and Daddy she remembered that Jesus loves her and followed that with Mary!  We don't know a Mary, at least I don't think we do, so I like to think she's talking about The Mary.

Avery is doing well feeding herself things like yogurt without making a tremendous mess.  She's gotten so much better at pushing the pedals on her bike on her own.  She's having some good days and some less than great days with using the potty.  All in all, she may not be learning all of the things she'd learn at school, but she is picking up other things here at home.  I do need to keep pressing on getting her to spell and write her name, but we have time - lots and lots of time from the sound of it.

Two full time jobs and potty training

So far we're ok.  Things will get harder as the hours I am with her solo get amplified.  I am grateful her Dad had some vacation days that were use or lose.  Sure he'll have more and I have time too, but I don't want to burn through any of it too quickly, because I think things are going to go on like this for an extended period of time.

We've decided to work harder on potty training and today Avery told me she had to go before it happened twice - once for each 'activity'!  I'm quite proud and she enjoyed her M&Ms.

Nap time however is not going as well.  She's been wailing since 1 and it's almost 3.  I've been trying to wear her out by running around and going outside when the weather has been allowing, but this is hard.

Quarantine

As of Wednesday, Avery will be home with me... the whole COVID-19 thing has closed us down.  I know posting this comes as no surprise to anyone, but I'm recording it for my own notes, because hopefully one day we'll look back and it will have been a blip.

Most places seemed to have locked the doors over the weekend, so we're lucky to get two "extra" days at daycare before the closure goes into effect.  It is going to be a challenge, but I'm hoping that I can work when she sleeps and supplement with my saved up vacation time to get through.  Of course, none of us really know how long it is that we'll need to "get through", just a minimum of two weeks.

So far I've been able to get the things I think we'll need.  I'm hopeful that our supply chain will remain stable, so we can continue to get replenishment of milk and fresh fruits.  But if we can't I have enough here to last us for a while, I just can't imagine how displeased Avery would be with some of the foods that would remain.