Halloween is not a favorite day amongst anyone in our family. Jeff doesn't care for dressing up, Avery is scared of her own shadow, Claire goes to bed before the festivities even begin and me, well, I have to deal with all of that, so I guess it isn't a favorite day for me either. That being said, despite ALL of that, we did have a good time hanging out with our neighbors for a little party before hitting up two houses in our culdesac for candy and promptly heading home at 5:30 p.m.
And, if it's not easy to tell, we did a family costume this year...lions, tigers and bears! Oh My! (Check out Jeff's shirt below...)
Avery trying on her costume the day it arrived. Despite it not being an Elsa costume, she really did love it.
Halloween Day. Our biggest struggle...getting Claire to keep her bear hat on.
Our neighbor, JP, and I were two of three tigers at the party.
Our happy place. At home eating candy!
FPT
Parenting Tip #57: Before trying to figure out exactly what is going on, always be sure to snap a picture.
Back in October (...yes, October...), we went to Rhode Island for my cousin's wedding. While it was a great trip, it was also not a great trip. Miss Claire was quite the sick baby during our travels and when a baby is sick, life is hard...let alone traveling on planes for hours at a time and not being in the comforts of your own home. We left on our trip day 7 into her illness, so in between visiting family and friends back east, we were visiting urgent care centers trying to help our sweet girl. When it was said and done, Claire was sick for 30 days with diarrhea, which caused an horrific bum rash. Talk about uncomfortable! Gah!
Despite Claire's issue, it was so nice to see family that we don't see nearly enough, including my 84 year old grandmother!
I took what pictures I could during our escapade, and after reviewing them, I am stoked with the number of pictures of Claire looking happy!
Plane flight out with my little momma's helper and our sick baby.
Almost there!
She managed a smile once we were bumped up to the bigger, nicer seats on the last leg of our journey out!
We made it to Rhode Island!
My (bad) attempt at a picture during lunch with my aunt and grandma.
We loved seeing friends who just moved to Marblehead.
There's nothing like a New England pumpkin patch and apple picking!
Airport shenanigans in Chicago O'Hare.
Just. The. Cutest.
I wished I had more pictures of our trip. These didn't capture a fraction of the people we saw or things we did, and I am bummed about that. I miss my family and love New England...good thing there are two more weddings back there this year!
FPT
Air drying that tush when we could, where we could. This is in the backyard of my great aunt's house!
Now that Claire is becoming more and more verbal, it's fun to chat with her and explore new words and check in on what she knows. Below are some videos of Miss Talkative...
When discussing the weather and other things "outside," Claire can pick from a variety of words to say. Here she chose, "bubble," which is her favorite outside activity.
Her most used word to date is "hi." She says this warm, heartfelt greeting to everyone. EVERYONE. Nice lady going up the escalator as we are going down the other side. Older man at the Botanic Gardens watching his grandson playing. Sweet little boy sitting next to us at our Christmas Eve service. It usually accompanies a wave. And, this greeting is typically repeated a few times, many times done so as she moves closer (and closer) to her new friend. To say that Claire is friendly and interested in people would be quite accurate! I don't have a video of her saying hi to a new friend, so this video of me encouraging her to say hi to herself via my phone will have to suffice.
Teaching Claire new words is always fun. She was walking around the other day saying something that sounded like "popcorn," so I decided to practice this word with her over lunch. (We love popcorn in this house and have made it a lot lately, so I'm not surprised if this is where she got it from. However, I also wouldn't be surprised if she was just throwing a bunch of sounds together and I wanted them to be "popcorn." It's one of my favorite snacks and if it made it onto the list of Claire's first 30 words, that would be incredible. Here goes nothin'.)
As I said before, Claire is quite verbal. She can say over 20 words...many of these are clear enough to understand even if you're not her adoring and prideful parents. Avery was actually very verbal, but Claire may have her beat in this category. We'll have to see if this Chatty Cathy stays a Chatty Cathy. Speaking of our Chatty Cathy, the below video showcases Claire throwing her real words out the window as she retells an apparently fascinating tale to me.
In other news, Claire loves slides. Claire loves slides like Avery (still) loves swings.
FVT
I sent Jeff this video and he thought it was great. Then, he teased me that I was singing the words wrong. If I had a nickel for every time I sang lyrics incorrect, I would have enough money to buy an island.
If this letter to Santa doesn't have Avery written all over it, I don't know what does. What was intended to be a letter to Santa asking for what she wants for Christmas ended up pretty much being a letter of interrogation. And, you can bet she already has a long Elsa dress and more high heels than me (but clearly, more of each is only necessary).
Boy, Avery, you make me laugh!
(Avery's 3rd grade "buddy," Paige, wrote this letter for Avery verbatim. I can only imagine Paige's face as Avery was rattling off all the questions in her mind!)
My little love! Can't believe it's been one year since I met your sweet, kissable face! You have become such a fun little girl -- full of personality, full of love. You enjoy giving kisses to anyone, animals and people alike. You play so well independently. Often times, if it's quiet during your independent play time, I will find you on the floor looking at books and many times, talking and pointing to the characters. You also love to play with your sister, and in the past few months, you two have become quite the playmates...playing together in the playroom by yourselves is something you both now enjoy. You are a funny little one who likes to make us laugh by doing silly (and many times, messy) things! You are easy to laugh and smile, and you love being around people!
Walking: She nailed this right at 12.5 months. One Monday she was taking 2 to 3 steps and by Wednesday, she was walking all over the place like she had been doing it for months. She is gaining confidence every day and starting to get more adventurous with steps, inclines and climbing.
Talking: She still has a lot to say, but now we're able to make out real words here and there. Mama, Dada, AaaAAA (Avery), up, hi, uh oh, cheese (cheeeesssssse), balloon (ba-on), touch it (tutchit), all done (a DUN) and Emma (a sweet girl who lives in our neighborhood and who Claire adores) come out of her mouth often. She learned the word balloon during the birthday month when we seemed to have endless balloons in the house.
Some of her likes: Playing outside, picking flowers, playing with (and trying to eat) bark mulch, chase, reading, songs and dancing, feeding herself, giving high fives and kisses, and walking.
Some dislikes: Driving in the car (unless we blast nursery rhymes), being confined or cramped in any way (can someone have claustrophobia this young?!), when we take her away from anything she is loving at the time (rummaging through unlocked cabinets wanting to throw our dinner plates on the ground, for example), when Avery can't or doesn't want to play with her (and Claire reacts by hitting Avery and/or pulling her hair -- we are working on this :) ). Ha! Definitely full of personality.
Our Claire!
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Chubby baby legs. Yum! Avery is on the left, Claire is on the right.
I don't know if it's all this birthday/childhood nostalgia that has me thinking this way or what, but I truly feel like Avery has grown up a lot since turning five (yes, that was only 44 days ago, I know -- a lot can change in a short period of time, right?!). She is 100% kid...acting and thinking like a little person through and through.
Here are some photos of Avery's birthday celebrations!
Birthday dinner with our family...
She even LOOKS 5!
Legoland the day after her birthday with just Avery, Jeff and me...
Disney on Ice with Danda and Papa...
Birthday party with all four grandparents....(and pretty much no pictures of them...whoops.)
A new water table for the girls!
I love this picture of Avery and Papa!
And, of course, her friend party with Elsa!
Birthday video! Well, the entire video was over 6 minutes; below are just little snipits I thought were funny and cute. Avery liked making this video and wanted to answer more questions. I'll have to come up with some more questions and ask her those on her half birthday. ;-)
Happy 5th birthday, my love!
Avery, you have such a sensitive heart and mind. It's a beautiful thing, but can also throw some challenges our way. You feel and think so much....at times, I feel like it's more than a young child should experience. But, as you get older, I see this part of you making you that much stronger, compassionate and confident. You are such a blessing in my life and I love you more than words could ever express.
FPT
Acting, thinking and looking like a five year old means... you're a five year old in every sense!
Jeff and I met on a blind date in December 2004 and were married in October 2007. He is the apple of my eye, the hop in my step and the love of my life. In September 2010 we proudly welcomed our first child, daughter Avery Elizabeth and this site was created to share with our friends and family, near and far, Avery's journey through this magical thing called life.
