Avery spends the majority of the work week being watched by her wonderful grandmothers (and me on Fridays). The other day or so she spends time with Miss Shannon at her home daycare by my work. Avery loves Shannon and always has such a great time playing with her and the other kids. Just the other day I went to pick Avery up and everyone was in the backyard drawing with chalk and splashing in puddles. It was so cool to see Avery interacting with the other children and playing in a new environment (to me). Shannon always tells me that she gets along really well with the other kids and the only thing Avery doesn't like is when her almost 3-year old friend hugs her too hard. Ha! Avery has been taking naps in a pack n' play in the back bedroom like all the younger kids do, but this week Shannon tried something new (this was prompted by Avery starting to take shorter naps and really, just shouting from the back room that she wanted to play!). Anyways, Shannon told Avery that she could grab her blanket and lovey and sleep with the big kids on the mats in the playroom. I never would have thought that Avery, my 15 month old, would have the discipline and understanding that communal nap time actually meant "napping." Well, I will never doubt her again! Shannon sent me the pictures below to document day #1 of big girl napping and I nearly cried with excitement. I am so proud!
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| She's the one on the right. The bear hugger is on the left. |
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| Blanket, lovey - yes. Pillow - no. Staying on the mat - impossible. |
Another update I wanted to share was that Avery received her first piece of big girl furniture. Our neighbors have children a little older than Avery and they asked us if we wanted their Pottery Barn kid-size chair that their children grew out of. I jumped at the opportunity, because I knew Avery would love it (and I knew how cute it would be to see Avery sitting in it).
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| Just as cute as I pictured it would be... |
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| We're still getting the whole "sitting" thing down. |
In other Avery news, we discovered that she loves Chinese egg rolls and olives. This girl won't eat a carrot unless it forced its way into her clenched mouth, but a juicy black olive? You betcha! In the world of words, Avery can now say help, apple, water, cheese and baby. Help, up (an oldie, but a goodie) and apple all sound very similar, so you have to listen closely to the context in which she says them. Last week I made the silly mistake of picking her up when she clearly stated that she would, in fact, just like a piece of apple. Oh, and when she says "baby" you will melt inside, as my mom says. It's literally the cutest sound in the world.
So, the someone special you ask? Well, suffice is to say that
Mr. Nicholas and Miss Avery had another wonderful date today. Things are getting pretty serious, so thank goodness Vivian and I were there to chaperon. Getting a good picture of the two is next to impossible since they're both very active (and easily distracted), but here is a good picture of the love birds after an intense round of "who can whack the garage door harder?!" (I would like to say that this was my garage they were hitting, but sadly, it wasn't. Neighbor fail #17.)
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| You're invited to the Simpson-Wilkie wedding: June 2036 |
The next time I post I will have some very,
very, VERY exciting news to share. Hold your breath - it's gonna be a good one! (Hint - I'M GOING TO BE AN AUNT! AVERY IS GOING TO BE A COUSIN! JEFF IS GOING TO BE AN UNCLE! Shoot man, did I give it away?!)
FPT
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| Gooooooo Pats! Kick some Giant a$$! |
