Avery: 22 Months Old

So we're a little behind with Avery's 22 month post.  I'm having a hard time keeping up as this little one seems to be growing fast!

 

She continues to be our little firecracker and let's us know her opinion daily.  She has definitely reached the stage where she wants to do everything by herself.  She watches big sis do something and she immediately wants to do the same on her own (with no help).  She usually screams "ME!" whenever we try to help her and often gets frustrated when she can't do it on her own.

 

She loves her big sis and wants to be near her and doing whatever she's doing.  Kens is usually the first person Avery asks for in the mornings or after naps.  She always says "Sissy" when we come in to get her.

 

Avery is starting to catch onto the idea of a new baby.  She points to my stomach and says "baby" and it's usually followed by "see" (meaning she wants to lift up my shirt so she can "see" her). 

 

We've started to introduce the idea of the "big girl potty" to Avery, however she doesn't seem anywhere near ready to potty train.  We let her sit on the potty whenever she asks and Jeremy usually puts her on the potty before bathtime so she can "go" just like big sister.  We've yet to have a successful attempt and it's usually guaranteed that Avery will pee in the tub as soon as she gets in.  I'm sure we'll hold off on full fledged potty training until after the baby gets here and we all adjust.

 

Avery is talking more and more these days and attempts lots of new words.  She usually knows exactly what she is trying to say and repeats it over and over until we finally catch on.  She now counts "four, five, six" instead of one, two, three.  It's funny as we'll tell her to count and that's always where she starts.

 



This girl LOVES donuts!

Shoving donuts into her mouth during a morning donut picnic.

Trying on her new swimsuit

Playing hide and go seek...she was counting with daddy while Kensley hid.

Playing with sissy.  I think it was "nap time" here.  She is usually really good about playing whatever big sis wants.

  Happy 22 months, Avery Leigh!

Easter 2013...

We spent Easter up at Nana and Papa Brauchler's this year.  The girls did lots of playing outside, playing with the cousins, swimming in the hot tub and had an Easter egg hunt.

We went to Nana and Papa's church on Sunday and then had lunch at their house after with Grandma and Grandpa Zurcher and Aunt Carla.  The girls had a blast playing all weekend and were definitely exhausted by the time we made it home.

Ready for the Easter egg hunt

Checking out her goodies with Uncle Scott

Hula hoops were "hidden" among the eggs this year

These girls are best friends.  Kens even cried when Elli left to go home.

This is as good as it gets as far as pictures of the two girls this year.  And yes, they both have candy in their mouths (before 9 am).  We go to great lengths to get pictures.

The cousins

 

She's a Wild One, with an Angel's Face

Our sweet little Avery, is a wild one. 

 

Here are two brief videos that depict her personality pretty well right now.  These also show her scrunched nose, mischievous smile that I have a hard time catching on camera.

 

We were at Jason's Deli after church last Sunday and fortunately we were there early enough that there weren't too many other people there yet. 

 

 

 



Avery: 21 Months Old...

Our feisty, little girl is now 21 months old.  Avery is strong-willed and seems to get more opinionated by the day.  This girl knows exactly what she wants and lets you know it.

 

Avery is saying lots more these days and getting much better at communicating.  She seems to understand pretty much everything we tell her or ask her to do.  It's really just a matter of whether she wants to follow instruction.  Meal times (specifically dinner time) has proven to be a battle of wills here lately and is wearing us out.  Kensley is eating much better these days, but Avery is boycotting eating most days.

Despite not being a great eater, Avery still loves soda and begs for a drink of ours whenever we have one. She also usually wants to try whatever we are eating and prefers to eat from our plate rather than her own. She isn't much of a veggie eater so we usually struggle to get her to eat much.  She does know what "treat" means and requests one often.

She threw a fit until we let her hold her own ice cream cone.

 Lately Avery has been obsessed with Tinkerbell or "Bell" as she calls her.  She asks multiple times a day to watch "Bell" on TV.  She has grown accustom to our nightly routine of baths, pj's and watching Tinkerbell before bed.  She comes down the stairs every night saying "Bell, Bell, Bell".

 

We ended up turning Avery's carseat around this past month.  We know we're a few months away from the recommended time frame to turn her around, but car rides with her were getting rough.  She loves facing forward and being able to watch movies in the car with big sis.  She's our little backseat driver and can often be heard telling us to "go, go, go" whenever we're stopped at a stoplight, etc.

First ride facing forward

Aves still loves playing with big sis and wants to do everything like her.  We can almost guarantee whenever Kens does something, Avery will follow suit.  We plan accordingly for gifts, food, etc. and usually buy in two's. 

Playing doctor

Avery loves playing with her babies and tells us multiple times a day that they "poop".  She also enjoys playing kitchen, dress up and with her little people.  She still loves to dance and sing.  Avery loves to FaceTime and doesn't understand why we can't "see" everyone we talk to on the phone.  She requests often (usually daily) to call Papa or Ashy by bringing me the phone and saying their name.  Avery also enjoys going to her class at church and says over and over on Sunday mornings "church, church, church".  Aves is still also very attached to her paci's...dare I say more so than Kens was at this age??  She can often be found sneaking her paci's out of her crib and big sis is usually assisting her.  Whenever she snags one, she is quick to come show us...saying "ook, ook" with a paci in her mouth.

Hiding in the bathroom...doing her business.

Avery is still our snuggly little girl.  She often requests "ole me" whenever she wants held.  She gives the best hugs and is pretty attached to us most mornings.  She is especially snuggly whenever she gets in trouble...thinking she can charm her way out of it, she gives us a sweet look and a big hug (this is typically what happens right after she gets scolded for hitting us).

Me with the princesses...these dresses are usually worn at least once a day.

Happy 21 month birthday, sweet Avery!

Baby #3: Gender Reveal

 

We found out on Wednesday afternoon, February 20th that baby #3 is another girl!  Baby girl looks healthy and is measuring right on track.  The doctor wants to repeat another ultrasound in four weeks as my placenta is a little low right now.  We're hoping of course that it moves up by then.

 

We celebrated that evening with pink balloons, pizza and cookie cake.  We're looking forward to welcoming baby girl #3 to our family in July!

 





Florida {2013}...

The girls and I had a little vacation to Florida at the beginning of the month.  I had to be in Tampa for a few days for work and since Nana and Papa are a short drive south of Tampa, we decided the girls would go with me.  We had a great week, but wished daddy could have come with us. 

 

We flew down on Wednesday, February 6th and I have to admit I was pretty nervous about flying by myself with both (very active) girls.  They did surprisingly well for flying during naptime (in which no one took naps).  Unfortunately we had a full flight so it was tough to keep Aves occupied and sitting down as we had someone sitting next to us. Kens watched a movie for the majority of the flight and did so well.  She was so excited about the flight.  Nana and Papa picked us up and after dropping me off at my hotel, they took the girls back down to Siesta Key for a few days.

 

I was done working early Sat morning so Papa came to get me and I was able to spend several days relaxing with my favorite girls.  We had a great time swimming in the pool, playing in the sand, going out to dinners, getting ice cream, taking walks and Kens even got to go to the circus with Papa.

 

We flew back on Wednesday, February 13th and the flight home was a doosy.  This was much more difficult than the way down.  Again, we were flying during naptime and both girls were exhausted from the week.  Fortunately, we had a row to ourselves so they could move around and play.  We went through LOTS of snacks and I tried about every trick in the book to keep them occupied for the 2 hour flight.  Avery was the tough one as she refused to sit hardly at all which made take off and landing rough as I practically had to wrestle her to hold her down in my arms.  Wouldn't you know it, she fell asleep on me as we were taxing to the gate...what a stinker!  I also got to experience my first airplane bathroom visit with both girls in tow (to change a dirty diaper I might add).  Let's just say it was an experience and those bathrooms are tiny!

Here are a bunch of pictures from our week (as documented by my IPhone and a few from my parent's camera).

On the plane headed to Florida!

Divas ready for the beach

This girl loves to go out to dinner!

Just chatting on our morning walk

Dancing on the beach

Her new fav...Superman ice cream

Miss independent has to have her own bowl

She won't let you help her on the stairs

Finally cashed out as we were minutes from getting off the place.

More ice cream

Ice cream with Nana and Papa while Mommy was working

She loved her new floaties.

Circus tricks with Papa

 Thanks for a great week, Nana and Papa!

Avery: 20 Months Old...

Avery is 20 months old and is getting funnier and busier by the day.  She is constantly on the go and never seems to slow down.

 

Aves still loves being around big sis and will usually follow her about anywhere.  The girls play so well together (for limited periods of time) and it's so sweet to hear them giggling together.  Avery usually ends up frustrated or comes crying to me at some point during play as big sis has done or taken something she wants.  I have a feeling once she's able to communicate better, she will be fighting back more.

They love to walk around holding hands.

Avery is so funny and constantly has us laughing.  She loves to show off in front of people and is known to run circles around the kitchen table laughing and saying "ook, ook".  She loves to be silly and even has us laughing when we shouldn't be (like when she is be naughty).  This girl is also full of drama.  She knows exactly what she wants and doesn't want.  She is not afraid to let you know and is quick to throw a fuss.  I definitely think we're going to have our hands full with this one.

Drama!  She was mad because she didn't want her picture taken.

 Her vocabulary has really grown this past month and she is attempting lots of new words. I am sure I will leave many out, but some of her most recent words are: bye (baa), hi, ball, car, socks, baby, church, cup. She also can name several members of her family and points them out in pictures often (Ashley, Scott, Connor/Bubba, Elli, Papa, Grammy, Grampy). She has also said a few phrases, however pretty hard to understand: I played, I fall down, etc. She really seems to be growing up lately!

And lastly here is a video of the girls dancing.  Check out Avery's solo at the end...we were laughing so hard.  Also note how Kens is trying to tell her what to do, a typical occurrence around here.

Happy 20 month birthday to our sweet girl!  So hard to believe we are only months away from celebrating your 2nd birthday!