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.

My playset!

Avery's swing set is on the scene!  It was beautiful warm weather for the install and most of the afternoon.  Around 4pm the thunder, lightning, and rain started.  I was pretty disappointed, but still allowed her to spot it when we got home.  She came upstairs and I said "let's go look on the deck" she looked out the sliding glass door and immediately said "my playset!" and scooted to the door and out to the edge of the deck.  She was excited.  The rain paused, so we went outside for all of 5 minutes to check out the tire swing (which was still dry).  When she heard thunder we were back inside.

A while later we were able to go back out for a good hour and she had so much fun testing out her slides, climbing entries to the tower, and rings that she neglected to point out a potty need midway through.  So we lost a few minutes to changing our undies and pants.

Parade Practice

While it only lasted all of 10-15 minutes, we enjoyed the Memorial Day parade here in town.  It was a nice test run for the 4th of July (which is the second largest in the state).  It's good to know Avery is down to sit and watch a parade.

Counting Down

The swing set delivery is set for June 7 -- at last!  She has been mentioning it on the regular.  I can't wait to see her face when it is finally here.

Sprinkler Playdate

Avery got to go to her best buddy's place yesterday.  The pictures of them holding hands and running back and forth in the spray from the sprinkler are beyond cute.

I love too that I got to hear her defending herself in the way I have tried to tell her when we talk about things.  She proclaimed "that's not nice" among other things.  She's also a little bossy, but that surprises no one.