Doctor and Stats...

After a suggestion from a nurse in our pediatrician's office, I scheduled the girls' latest well check visits at the same time (Kensley 2 years and Avery 6 months).  I have to admit I was a little nervous about how it would all shake out as I had visions of having to console two upset girls at the same time.  I'm happy to say, the appointment actually went very well (despite feeling pretty guilty, but more on that later).

Kensley did so good.  I was shocked at how brave and social she was to the nurses and doctor.  At one point in time, I even commented that I wasn't sure it was my child I was watching as she sat on the exam table, playing with the doctor's instruments, talking to her and even giggling.  She even went down the hall with the nurse by herself to get weighed and measured.  She didn't even look back as she left me in the room. 

Here are Kensley's 2 year stats:

Weight: 27 lbs (49%)

Height: 33.5 in (30%)

Avery also did quite well, despite the somewhat rough appointment/findings.  We quickly discovered that Avery has an ear infection in her right ear.  I was shocked and felt terrible that she's had this and has most likely been in pain.  The doctor assured me that all babies have different signs and symptoms and she is not the first baby where an ear infection has gone unnoticed.  She asked if she's had interrupted sleep, been fussy or less interested in eating.  Unfortunately those symptoms are pretty much Avery's "normal".  So little Aves, is now taking her first antibiotic.

We also found out that Avery is still our little peanut.  Actually she weighed in less than what the doctor would have liked to see at 6 months.  So she suggested we try upping the ounces in her bottle feedings when I am working.  They also said to add a pat of butter or oil to her solid foods.  Everything about that seems wrong to me, but they assured me it would be fine and would give her a few extra calories.

Aves finished up her exam with 2 shots and an oral vaccination.  After a short stint of tears and screams, she calmed down.  What a little trooper she was.  She even toughed it out and lasted without a nap as we made a brief stop at Target to fill her prescription. 

Here are Avery's stats:

Weight: 14 lbs 8 oz (17%)

Height: 25.25 in (27%)

Head: 16.5 in (29%)

Family Pictures...

Thanksgiving weekend we had more family pictures taken.  These were initially intended to be Avery's 6 month photos and Kensley's 2 year.  Unfortuantely this photo shoot, did not go as planned.  Kensley was a stinker...she was on the run doing her own thing and she refused to hold her sister (outside of the one pose).  Avery was not herself at all, she did not smile for one single photo.  Our smiley, little baby was serious throughout the entire shoot.  Despite not having cooperative subjects, the pictures turned out suprisingly well.  Here are some of our favorites.

 

She sits!

Sweet Avery has been practicing sitting up and is on her way to mastering the skill!  Tonight she sat independently for quite a while watching her sis play!  She still topples over from time to time, but she is getting stronger each day and is able to balance much better.  We have a feeling this new vantage point will make her much happier as she'll be able to see all the action.

Love this picture of her looking adoringly at big sis.

Our sweet girls, and Baby Alive of course who just had to be in the picture (and Kens was sure to tell her to smile).

Sweet Avery is growing up so fast!

So she says...

Kensley is saying so many funny things right now that we want to document for the blog book.  Here are a few things we don't want to forget.

How she lovingly refers to her little sis as "Aves".  "Hi, Aves."  "Night, Night, Aves."  She quickly picked up on our nickname for Avery and uses it often.  So sweet to hear her say it.

How she'll often refer to us as "mom" or "dad" now.  She seems so much older when she says it.  I'm not quite ready for the mommy/mama stage to end yet!  She's only 2!

Her 'scoulding' Grammy about the Christmas tree.  "Dat da tree.  No touch only ook (look)."

"Yay, Aves.  She did it!"  Cheering on little sis when she eats, sits up, holds a toy, rolls over, etc.

We have started setting time frames for Kens when it's time to quit playing, watching TV, etc.  We think it helps with her resistance as we aren't abruptly interrupting her.  We typically say, "2 more minutes, then it's time for nap, bed, etc".  The other day Kens was in desperate need of a diaper change, so I told her we needed to go upstairs so I could change her.  She responded with, "I need 2 minutes."

How she almost always tells us when we go in to get her up from her nap or in the morning "I not poopy" (while grabbing her diaper) indicating that she doesn't need changed.

When she is eating and we ask her how her food is, she typically always responds with "yummy".  Unless of course she's not eating it, her response is "I don yike (like) it."

We have entered the "what" stage.  Kensley seems to ask "What dat?" to just about everything.  She especially likes to ask us "What you doin, Mom/Dad?" 

Kensley is such a funny girl and she constantly keeps us entertained.

Avery: 6 Months Old...

Our little peanut is half a year old!  It just doesn't seem possible that time has gone by so quickly. 

Avery continues to be our happy girl.  Always giving us huge smiles and giggles.  She still loves her sister and will just stare at her for long periods of time.  She is also quite the talker...making lots of noises, grunts, happy screams, etc.

As much as we wish we could say differently, Avery is still not sleeping through the night.  She has made vast improvements lately and we are currently trying to ween her from her early morning feeding (around 3-4 am).  She usually only wakes twice a night, once wanting her paci and another time to eat.  She is napping pretty well and normally takes a 1.5 hour nap in the morning and afternoon and occasionally will take a short catnap in the early evening.  She is still typically in bed between 6:30 and 7 pm and up anytime between 6:30 - 7:30 am...this sometimes varies depending on the kind of night we've had.

Avery has mastered rolling from her tummy to back.  And by mastered, I mean she does it repeatedly in her crib.  She hasn't learned to roll back to her tummy yet so she gets mad when she is stuck on her back.

Aves is our little hands on girl.  When I feed her, she is constantly touching my hair, face, shirt, etc.  It's sweet as her little arm is straight out reaching around as she eats.  She also likes to give "kisses".  She will grab my face and pull herself in as she plants her wide open mouth on my face.

Avery typically eats about 4 times a day (not counting her early morning feeding).  She is a much better nurser than Kensley was and really only takes bottles when I am working or gone.  She usually eats about 4.5 - 5 ounces each feeding.  Avery is loving her cereal and is getting it once a day in the evenings.  She has had bananas, prunes and squash all mixed with her cereal.  She loved the bananas and squash!  We are guessing this little girl has a sensitive tummy as it seems to take her some time to adjust to new foods.  We started her on rice cereal and have now moved over to oatmeal which she seems to digest a little better.  She is also pretty gassy...you wouldn't believe the smells this girl can produce! 

Onto to size, Avery is wearing size 2 diapers now.  She is still in 3-6 month clothes and 6 month sleepers.  We've tried a few of her 6-12 month outfits on her, but those are quite huge on her.

Here are a few more pictures of our sweet girl over the past week or so.

Sisters!  Kens loves to hold Avery.

Avery loves her Exersaucer

Happy girl!

Hanging out with mom

Practicing sitting up

 Happy Half Birthday, Sweet Avery girl!

Here comes Santa Claus...

This year's visit with Santa went as expected.  We tried to talk it up with Kensley, coaching her what to ask for and how exciting it was going to be to sit on Santa's lap.  We had to wait in line for a bit and as we gradually got closer, she began to freak out a little.  She clung to me, Papa, Daddy, etc. and kept saying "I no wanna sit on Santa's yap."  We opted out of purchasing photos mainly due to the fact that the cheapest package was $25 (seriously?!) and of course we knew they might not turn out the best.  So Daddy stood back and captured some photos from afar.

It was a crowded chair.

Aves did great...Kens not so much.

Look at that pathetic face...hoping Daddy will rescue her.

Santa asking her what she wants for Christmas.

Thanksgiving 2011...

As expected, Thanksgiving was much busier and chaotic this year.  We spent the day up at my parents with both sets of my grandparents, my aunt and my sister's family.  I think it only took me an hour to eat my meal between feedings, getting the girls down for naps, diaper changes, etc.  Definitely not the relaxing holiday it used to be.

Kens actually went to Nana and Papa's house the Monday before Thanksgiving to spend a few days with them and cousin Elli who was also there.  We missed her those few days she was gone, but she seemed to have a great time between baking and icing cookies, playing hide and go seek, playing outside, tractor rides,etc.  She even teared up and said she didn't want to leave when we tried to head home on Thursday evening. 

Friday, mom, Ash and I headed out for our annual Black Friday shopping trip.  As usual, the day did not disappoint.  We managed to make it out earlier this year and we were shopping at 4:30 a.m.  We had a successful morning and we were home before lunch!

Here are some pictures of our Thanksgiving.

Loving her Sophie

Testing out the swivel chair...she loved it (even though she isn't smiling here). This was a favorite of Kensley's as well when she was about 5 months old.

Lunchtime!

Sweet girl hanging with Great Grandma B

A trip to Nana and Papa's is never complete without a tractor ride.

Happy girl with her Great Grandpa B

Me and the Con-Man...something tells me that nickname won't stick.

The grandkids with their Great Grandparents

The grandkids with the Zurchers