Don't Forget

There are so many cute things about Avery.  I want to remember them all.  It seems so small, but I've come today to make a few notes.

She loves boots.  Last winter she loved her purple boots with the white fluffy lining and wanted to keep wearing them even when I pulled out the shorts.  I shouldn't have been surprised by her instant obsession with this winter's silvery boots with a white lining, but I admit I am surprised that she took also to her red cowboy boots!  The first day I had her put them on she stood up, sat right back down, and wanted them off.  Within a couple of days now she wants to wear them every day.  She can tell you "cowboy boots" pretty clearly too!

Three of her other pairs of shoes (yes she has a ton of shoes, don't judge me) have unicorns on them.  She'll tell you she wants the unicorn shoes, but she actually says "hay-corn" which is too adorbs.

She is also obsessed with her clip in hair accessory with the little yellow doggie on it.  She's still letting me pick out her clothes, but she decides how she wants her hair:  one pony or two, if she wants a bow, clip, or gummy, etc; she also picks the shoes.  Even if they don't match, it's okay.

I have to be doing something right.

It's my job to make sure this little girl knows all about Jesus.  That's how I see it.  So we read the Christmas manger book whenever she wants, we say our prayers, we thank him, we go to church, and we even practice signing his name.

For a while I've been asking Avery what her dolly's name is and she simply says "Baby", so Baby it has been.  Yesterday I asked again and she told me her doll's name was Jesus.  Not only did she tell me, but she made her version of the sign for it too.  Good pick kiddo!

Teef

Yesterday Avery had her first dentist appointment.  All looks well, but they did suggest that I start flossing her and using fluoride toothpaste.  I just don't feel comfortable with the fluoride until she is able to spit it out.  But I am going to try and take the floss suggestion.  It's good advice for me too, so I ordered some of those pieces of floss on plastic sticks.

She did pretty well there.  She did cry, but that helped to open her mouth up for us to all get a view.  The view was good enough that I caught a glimpse of the last 4 baby teeth which have broken the gums!  She is such a big girl.

Another notable leap

Periodically Avery says or does something that feels so significant, it tends to be something said or done so clearly and unprompted that really makes me aware of how much she is growing and progressing.  Last night she looked up from her dinner (unprompted in any way) and said "please may I get milk".  Sure it should be "may I have milk" but this is a huge leap from "milk".  I'm impressed.

We are definitely at the stage where I know she's learning a ton that may not be apparent.  A few examples:
- She tests boundaries.  When I tell her no and indicate that if she continues to do or not do something (usually eating) what the repercussion will be she tends to snap to... or continue in the same manner with a grin staring at me.
- I downloaded an app focused on learning letters.  In one edu-game it shows 4 balloons, each with a different letter and the characters asks them to click one of those letters.  How often she got it right on the first or second try wasn't luck and many of her 'mistakes' appeared to be obvious because she'd giggle when the character would say "uh huh" and wag his finger before she'd click that same incorrect answer again.

Several leaps are apparent as we get ready in the morning.  She loves routine as much as I do.  A day I was running late and it was clear she had already pottied in her diaper I tried to skip having her sit on the potty.  She cried the whole way to school saying "no potty".

On another day she didn't want this skirt she wanted the purple one.  Then she wanted the green shirt to go with the purple skirt and the halloween socks.  Another time I tried to get away with not putting the second hair gummy in her hair that she had pulled (it looked good pulled with a single pony).  She reached up and touched her pony and immediately whined that she wanted two.

I am in so much trouble.

Oktoberfest

Another week, and weekend, has passed.  I'm always so sad when I put her to bed on Sunday night.  I don't want my full days with her to be over for 5 days, but I don't want to wish any time away either.

This weekend we had two visits to our local Oktoberfest.  Friday after I picked her up we had dinner at our church's spaghetti dinner and then we walked over to get dessert and checkout a button box band.  Saturday her Nonna and Nonno came in to join us at the event - so more food, strolling, checking out music, and even a ride on the kiddie cars they had there.

I've started to pepper in a few Italian words to Avery's vocabulary.  I've been working hard on duolingo to make my own progress, it helps to share with her.  She's getting better with finger control, which helps greatly on a few signs.  More than that, her verbal communication is making leaps and bounds.  This isn't a one or two word girl - she can tell you, if pushed sometimes to do so, exactly what she means/wants.

On the other hand, we've also started using the naughty step - thank you super nanny.

Riding our way through the weekend

This was a crazy active/busy weekend. On Saturday Avery and I hosted her cousins K, I, and L.  There was pizza, Halloween arts and crafts, a trip for ice cream, and stops at two playgrounds at the local park.  Avery didn't nap and even tried wiping out as we drove to the first playground.  She made it through like a trooper.

Sunday was our usual church and after a portion of her normal nap, her first trip to Kennywood Park with thanks to another cousin, T who gifted us two adult tickets so that we could give her this experience.  Avery found the Thomas train quite pleasing, but also enjoyed the other rides, including the Junior Phantom roller coaster.

Getting through the night

If I get into her room before she's awake Avery typically needs a few minutes to fully rouse.  I have noticed however that if I scoop her up more often than not the diaper doesn't have much in it.  That's great progress to know she's not peeing too much overnight.  It also means she will need to go soon.  Yesterday and today I took her in all of her groggy glory to the potty and was rewarded with quick success.  While she isn't happy being moved before she's awake the fog fades quickly and she seems very pleased when we get to celebrate using the potty successfully so quickly.