Your 1st Christmas!

We were all surprised how into Christmas you were this year! You checked out each new toy and even assisted in unwrapping some of them! We had to quickly remove all wrapping paper because it went straight into your mouth! I had so much fun dressing you up in whimsical Christmas outfits!

You did this to yourself on Christmas Eve when we opened presents at nana's house

The fastest army crawler I know!

Your night before Christmas jammies

Grammie and grandaddy came to visit on Christmas day

Using the presents as bongos

You were captivated by the shiny wrapping paper grandma used

Eating through the paper is clearly the best option to open it

Eating the bows off the presents

Eating Ariel's foot (are you seeing a theme here? EVERYTHING goes in your mouth!)

Another picture of the bag on your head because we all thought it was hilarious!

You got lots of good presents! Mommy and daddy gave you (really ourselves) a new Britax Advocate car seat. We were hoping this would solve your hate of riding in the car. It seems to have helped a bit but not as much as we were hoping! We also gave you a mermaid doll. You like to chew her hair. You also got a butterfly slumber buddy that puts stars on your ceiling and doubles as a night light.

Nana and poppi gave you a backpack that I monogrammed for church nursery and a few age appropriate toys.

Grandma and Fabio gave you a little tikes cozy coupe shopping cart. It is too cute! They also gave you a baby doll stroller and a baby play kitchen.

Overall, you had a wonderful 1st Christmas!

7 Month Update!

Avery Madison, you are 7 months old! 

You are the FASTEST army crawler I've ever seen! You make a bee line for Parker's Mack Truck, Thomas Trains, shoes, diapers and wipes boxes. Those are your favorites. Why we bother buying you toys is beyond me because you never play with them! You like your brother's things and random objects you shouldn't play with! :)

You have 1 tooth and according to your fevers, crankiness and lack of sleep, I'm assuming #2 is on the way! Your 1st tooth was your right (my left) bottom middle tooth and the one beside it is on its way. You've bit me a few times and one time shocked me so much I yelped and you cried forever about it! You also bit your lip the other day with your one tooth :( You['re not a fan of teething. Frozen eggo waffles and Tylenol seem to be your only source of relief.

You still LOVE to nurse. In fact, you even nurse air in your sleep. You've given up a paci but I sure wish you'd take it back to help you sleep at night! Speaking of sleeping.. you don't. You still wake up 3-5 times a night. It's getting TOUGH. Because you aren't sleeping well at night, you are napping a bit better during the day but I sure wish we could work this out. For example. it's 10pm and I've been unsuccessfully trying to get you to sleep since 7:30. GO TO SLEEP, baby girl!

You've started eating baby food. Your favorite is YoBaby Yogurt but I'm not sure your body likes it very much. We're going to try Soy YoBaby. You also love frozen waffles, puffs and arrowroot cookies.

You've really enjoyed the Christmas lights on the tree and batting the bottom branches this month. When you aren't over tired, you're the happiest, smilest baby! The church nursery workers are smitten with you (and your big bows)! You have quite the Christmas wardrobe and I've really enjoyed dressing you up this month!

We adore you! You are our sunshine!

Your 1st Christmas Card

Holiday Letter Christmas Card

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Your 1st Thanksgiving!

Happy 1st Thanksgiving!

We went for a walk to the park and you LOVED riding in brother's car!

This was your first time really swinging and you had a blast!

Mommy pushing both of you.

You got plenty of kisses and hugs!

and you gave some too!

 

 

You didn't have any turkey or the fixin's but I will attest that they were VERY tasty! Maybe next year, baby girl! This year, we are most thankful for you and your sweet brother!

6 Months Old!

Avie bug, you're 6 months old! And while this post is 11 days late, I wanted to wait until we went to your 6 month check up for your stats. :)

I was shocked to hear that you're in the 90% for height! Where in the world did that come from? Certainly not me, your 5'3 mother! I examined you myself while I changed your diaper today and couldn't believe how long your torso is! It totally makes sense that why I have to buy you 6-12 months shirts, roll the sleeves but it still shows the bottom on your belly! You were also in the 50% for weight and 35% for head width. You are 15 lbs 10 oz and 27 inches tall.

Also at the doctor today, we discussed this "thing" you do with your arms and head. You stretch your arms back and tilt your head to the right. I've noticed you doing it about once a day for a month or so. I thought it was odd and kinda cute but I mentioned it to the doctor anyways. He wants to make sure that it isn't "ticks" which can be precursors to seizures so we're taking you to have an EEG or EKG or some kind of "E" test once we get a referral. Of course it's hard not to think about it but I really think you're fine and just a silly stretcher!

You wear size 6 months clothes, size 3 diapers and I can't keep shoes on you so you wear socks. You still love to wear and play with your tutus and I LOVE seeing you in them! 

This month you sat in a highchair for the first time, sat in the grocery cart (and then immediately proceeded to get croup!), rocked on all fours, crawled backwards and found a new love for graham crackers! You still don't like baby food but I'm going to start pushing it a bit more for your own good!

You enjoy playing with toys now and EVERYTHING goes in your mouth! You love your exersaucer, doorway jumper and Sophie the giraffe most. Parker's Thomas the trains are your favorite things to roll/crawl to and put straight in your mouth. He's fine with you playing with Percy or Wiff but if you have Thomas, he usually gets upset and yells "NO AVIE!"  You're very close with your brother and 95% of the time he's wonderful to you! 

You STILL don't sleep through the night which is mostly my fault. I love snuggling with you and you got REALLY used to that so we co-slept for a few months and I let you nurse when you wanted to. I don't regret it a second because it was such a special bonding time but it's time to get you sleep trained! Sorry love, bug! Tonight I let you "whine it out" in your crib and you've been asleep in it for 2 hours which is the longest you've ever slept in your crib.

You are a HUGE blessing to us and we love each moment with you!

You're sitting up!

In the last 2 weeks, you've gotten really good at sitting up! You enjoy sitting on your play mat and pulling the hanging toys until you're able to pull them off. After about 15 minutes, you get bored and fall over so you can relocate to different toys.Your daddy and I can't believe how grown up you are! You'll be 6 months old this weekend!

You were the talk of the OB office on Halloween! The nurses took you when we walked in the door and I had to request you back to leave! You had quite a birth, little missy, and all the nurses are so smitten with you!

Playing with your hanging toys!

Our Halloween Butterfly

Trying desperately to get your shoe off so you can eat it!

You and I leave Friday morning to go to Girl's Mountain Weekend! Since you're nursing, you get to come this year! Get excited! We're going to have a blast!

5 months old!

Avery Madison, you're 5 months old! I really had good intentions of taking monthly pictures of you but every time I put the month sticker on your onesie, you loose it. SO we're going to can that idea and just post pictures from the month! 

You're currently laying next to me in bed. You are a snuggler! I got up to get an apple and you woke up. We're currently in a pretty bad habit of letting you sleep with us. You sleep WAY better and when we tried to let you cry it out in your crib, you woke Parker up and that's just not an option! We'll get you sleeping in your crib soon enough. For now, I'm spoiling you rotten by letting you snuggle with me and you're spoiling me by not making me get up multiple times a night. It's a win/win... until we have to break you of it!!!!

Speaking of sleep.... during the day, you don't. You sleep some in the car and fall asleep nursing but you're not a great sleeper. You nap around 10, 2:30 and 5. Sometimes only for 15 minutes. Not for lack of effort on my part, though! Today I bought an ergo baby because I get VERY little accomplished around the house since you nap so little and Parker is trying really hard to give his naps up. So now, you can tag along while I do dishes and fold laundry without my back hurting like it does with the baby bjorn. It's pretty...

You still nurse like a champ and take a bottle maybe every other day. I think we're going to have to find you a support group when it's time to stop nursing. You may be a bit addicted. I've woken up a few times in the middle of the night when you've found it and latched yourself on. It's gotten a lot easier for me over the last 2 months and I enjoy it now (except on packed full hayrides... but when you're hungry, you're hungry!). You started gagging when you ate baby food so we stopped for a few weeks and will try again soon.

You love toys! You can roll both ways. You can also spin yourself all around. You don't crawl yet but you get around by rolling and spinning around. You're close to sitting up. You're strong enough, you just need to work on your balance. When you put both hands down, you do great! You practice in the Bumbo daily which usually ends in explosive poops. I have an odd habit of taking pictures of your explosions. I will spare you...

Despite not sleeping much, you are usually a very happy baby! You're ticklish, smiley and LOVE to jump! You and the doorway jumper have become fast friends! You also enjoy stroller rides and the baby bjorn, even though it hurts my back. I am your very favorite person on Earth but you sure are smitten with your brother! You like music. "You are my Sunshine" and "Come thou Fount" seem to be your favorites. You look at the TV every time Curious George comes on and you enjoy Baby Worship. When I get ready in the morning, Curious George usually babysits you and Parker. Halfway through the show I usually switch you to the doorway jumper.

You are a blessing. You're growing too quickly and I wish time would slow down. You are a daughter of THE MOST HIGH GOD and HIGHLY FAVORED! We adore you, Avery Madison Wise!

4 month stats

Avery Madison, we skipped your 4 month pictures and update since we didn't take you to get all of your shots until Friday. You're ALMOST 5 months old. When I started this post you were playing under your exercise mat in the middle of the den. I just had to stop typing and snuggle you because you rolled all of the way to the fireplace and conked your head on a Thomas train set. Poor baby girl.

You weigh 14 pound 6 ounces (50th %). You're 25 3/4 inches (75th%) and your head is 16 inches (20th%) I can't believe your head grew 2 inches in 2 months! Clearly you're so smart that your head had to grow rapidly to keep all that knowledge in. 

I'll do your full 5 month report in 2 days. You are a joy!

Best Buddy!

Of all of the babies in play date, you and Shiloh are the ONLY girls! Parker and Lily play so well together which means we hang out with the Alls family as frequently as possible! Naturally, that means you and Miss Shiloh get to hang out too! Currently, I'd say she's your best buddy even though she'd less than 3 weeks old! The other day, we were at their house having dinner and taking pictures of Shiloh in her room. The 2 year olds needed a little attention so we laid you and Shiloh in Lily's bed. Immediately, you two started interacting! Please excuse your lack of hairbow... we used yours for the photoshoot!

You were determined that Shiloh looked like a tasty snack. We're going to have to watch you when you get teeth or you'll quickly get uninvited to play dates! I look forward to watching you and Shiloh grow up together!