Closet Prep

I took time yesterday to start prepping Avery's cold-weather clothes.  I went through the drawers that held those she wore last year, pulling even more that now appears too small.  I went through the closet and pulled out the items I thought would fit this year.  We had a try-on session too, which involved her dancing around on her bed in front of the mirror with each item on.

Since I shop ahead this is my version of 'back to school' shopping.  At least now I have a survey of the clothing and can start to plan for what she might wear on school photo day.

Saturday we went for her superhero photo shoot for her birthday.  I am eager to see the pictures, but nothing just yet.

Purging Baby Toys

In order to prepare the living room for the recliner that was in Avery's room I had to get all of the toys off of the papasan chair which was serving as a toy box.  I took this opportunity to go through everything and a load of baby/toddler things that she is completely grown past are ready to go out the door.  Some things will go to consignment, but I suspect many will get donated.

Since she now has a big girl bed we can cuddle and read there instead.

What a web we weave

I dropped off things at the consignment store and commented about monitoring their posts for a spiderman costume.  Low and behold, one appeared the next day in the right size!  Halloween costume is checked off of the list.

Still trying to figure out bedding.  She keeps telling me she could do spiderman, but I am not feeling it.  Maybe sheets or an extra blanket, but not a comforter.  She is doing well in her big girl bed, with the support of pool noodles on the side.

She had a dentist appointment this morning.  The kid is so brave!

Year of the Spider

2020 was the year of the dinosaur - as in Avery's birthday cake theme and Halloween costume.  This year is  the year of the Spider(man).  I kept joking that since the cat is kind of an early birthday present we should go with that theme and have a litter box cake and cat poop cookies for her friends at school.  I mostly kept saying it because of her exuberant reaction against it with "noooo, that's gross!"

We went yesterday to order the themed cake for at home and cupcakes for school.  Now to find the right costume.

I also need to order her bedding.  Her Nonna and Nonno are moving and gifted her the bed from their spare room - her first big girl bed!  They delivered it to us yesterday, so I spent some time taking apart her crib, removing it from her room, and vacuuming up in there.  We also snagged pool noodles as runners down the sides in the morning before swimming lessons.  Also on our procurement list was goggles and a swim cap, which helped her tremendously putting her face in.

The Final Countdown

Our two week foster to adopt is almost over.  The cat sure does put a smile on Avery's face.  I guess he can stay, right?  But gosh, give me patience to get through some of this.  Having a cat is a 180 from a dog.

Since my last post I signed Avery up for the combination dance class (an hour of tap, ballet, and jazz) and tumbling for the fall.  The good news is she is enjoying the summer session we signed up for and if she changes her tune or hates the other class we can drop it without commitment for the season.

We had our first week of private swim lessons last weekend.  That went well - Avery was even going under and grabbing rings with a little bit of a push under from the instructor.

We had another convo about her kissing boys at school tonight and how that's a big no from Mommy.  She thinks that is pretty darn funny.  Help me.

Our Fuzzy Match

Avery and I brought home a kittie today!  He is staying with us as foster to adopt for two week and we hope he will want to stay with us forever.  She is pretty excited about him and eager to get his attention, but she is happy to back off and give him some space.

His name is presently Carter.  We'll see if that sticks.

Summer Fun

Today was Avery's first "dance" class.  It was actually a tumbling class, just a 5 week thing here in the summer.  I thought it was a nice way to check out one of the dance schools.  It went pretty well.  Many of the other kids kept leaving the room to check in with their parents - not Avery, she hung in there.  The only disappointment was that we all had a small view through the door, unless we wanted to stand outside in the heat and look in the windows.

We have one week of swimming lessons left.  They have been going well and I am going to set up a round of private lessons to help her leap forward.  We didn't get to go to the 4th of July parade after all, since they had it on the 3rd... and we were at swim lessons.  We have had a lot of rain in the past few weeks, so we haven't gotten as much time outside on the playset as I would have liked thus far, but we have gotten a day a week at the public pool to reinforce those lessons.

Last week during our forced vacation together we did lots of fun stuff like going to Idlewild, where she still loves the train, shopping, hitting the pool etc.  I have also been looking for a cat -- because Avery would like to have one.  It has been a frustrating process to try and find one that appeals and get approved somewhere for adoption.  We'll see what happens.