1st Birthday

I know Ive been slacking with my updates. With the holiday season and her birthday, we have been so busy! Its hard to believe that she is already a year old. She started walking at 11 months and now practically runs all over the house. She loves to point at things and then watch our mouths when we say what the object is. She loves to laugh and make squeeling noises. We think she is saying "duck", "turtle", and "ball". She still says "mama" and "dada". It has been really fun to see her imitate us more and be able to follow simple directions from us. It is clear that she has a good understanding of some of the things we say to her. This age is so much fun!

Here are some pics from her 1st bday party:

Let it Snow!

Avery was able to experience her first snow when we went to the mountains to choose and cut our own Christmas tree. When we arrived on Friday night it was cold, but no snow. When we woke up Saturday morning, everything was covered! It continued to snow pretty hard until after lunch. It was beautiful. Avery enjoyed the snow. We didnt quite have the proper outdoorwear for her but we made due with what we had. It was a great weekend. We found the perfect tree the next day. Avery was so interested in all of the trees. 3rd annual trip for our tree was a success!

A short update..

Our computer is up and running and I am able to load pics now! I will try to post some of what we have been up to, but for now I will just post some pics from our recent trip to St. Louis. We took Avery on her first flight to MO for my cousin's wedding. She did great on the plane and during the whole trip. We spent Sunday at the St. Louis zoo (which is amazing) and she really enjoyed looking at all the animals.

I know, I know!!!

Our computer has been on the brink lately and I cannot get onto our blog site to update!! So, I will update on my work laptop and for now, there will be no pictures.
So a quick update on our little Avery...
She crawls like a champ now. She is starting to "chase" us and "run" when we chase her.
She pulls up on everything and is starting to cruise along the furniture. She borrowed a push toy from our neighbor and loves it. She pushes it a litttle bit on the carpet and is able to take a few steps with it.
She is now starting to let go of whatever she is holding onto and just standing there for as long as 4 seconds!!--Im having a hard time with this one...I cant imagine my little baby walking!!! She is growing up too fast!!!
She is eating like a champ and has started taking bites of things like bananas and cooked apples.
She continues to babble with various consonants, her newests is b and z. She says "zuzuzuzuzaaaaaa" and I love it!!! But nothing beats the continual "dadadadadadadadadadadadad" that she talks all day long.
Her receptive language is expanding. She responds to words like cat, dogs, dada. She will now follow a point if I say "look at the birds".
She has a couple tickle spots, one under her arm and another on her inside thigh. She giggles every time!!
Still only 2 teeth, on the bottom.
The major accomplishment of a set sleep schedule of 12 hrs!!!
She likes banging two objects together
She now pats the cat versus grabbing his hair
Well....that is a lot!! I will get some new pics up as soon as I can.
Thanks to everyone who still checks up on us!! And sorry for not updating sooner!!!

Family

Making faces at Uncle Luke

Cheking out the plants with Grandma

With Great Grandma Stone

With Great Grandma Stone

Cousin Erin with Avery

4 Generations of Stones

Avery is 8 months!!! (a little late, I know!!)

Each month just gets better and better! She is so much fun and every day she can do more and more. In some ways, it is sad because she is growing up so fast!

Finally she got her bottom tooth! Her sleep got all messed up, she got a runny nose, and she was super fussy. When it finally came through, everything went back to normal. She likes to chew on plastic objects and feel it against her tooth. She makes funny faces while she rubs her tongue against her tooth, too! She is eating a variety of pureed foods (made by Mommy). She enjoys sweet potatoes, prunes, and carrots the best. She likes yellow squash the least (but will still eat it). She likes sweet peas, zucchini, bananas, and peaches. So far, we have gotten everything fresh and made our own food for her. I enjoy doing it and it is so easy! Next I want to try avacados!!

She is still comando crawling on her tummy. She can usually get to where she wants to go with this method and often moves across the room to hang on the plant stand or grab the lamp cords. Time to baby-proof the house! She gets up on all fours but just goes back down onto her tummy.

Sleeping is good. She goes to bed at a consistent time every night and sleeps about 12 hours, waking up 1-2 times. I can totally handle that!

She is playing with a lot of different toys. She enjoys toys that make noises and light up. She likes to look at books. She likes to chew on her rubber ducky in the bath. Um...she still likes our cell phones and remote control.

We took a long vacation in Aug first heading to the mountains of NC to spend a week with the Baldwin Grandparents and then to NY/PA to visit the Stones/Westons. In NC we went hiking at Grayson-Highland State park in VA. Avery got to ride in her fancy new backpack Daddy bought. She liked it a lot and even slept 40 minutes in it. The hike was great, but afterward she got stomach sick and scared me to death! She was Ok, though! We went bike riding down the Virginia Creeper Trail, a 17 mile bike ride with Avery in tow in the little trailer. The trailer was made for kids 12 mo and older so we had to rig her up so she would sit upright. She enjoyed it at first, then hated it, the fell asleep, then hated it again, and then liked it. It took us over 3 hours to complete it. It was alittle much for a 7 month old! But, the trail was beautiful and we will do it again sometime when Avery is older!! Then we were off to NY. We spent time with Grandma/Grandpa Stone, Uncle Luke and Aunt Emillie. Avery enjoyed the new swing hanging in the backyard. We went walking in Otsinengo (?) park. We spent time with Mike, Kathy, Tyler, McKenna. We attempted trout fishing in rural PA. No fish, broken ankle instead! We got to spend time with the Stone family and the Weston family. I was excited to have 4 generations of Stones there!! I really enjoyed getting to meet the rest of the Stone family and for Avery to meet everyone, too. Thanks everyone for making that a great and memorable trip for us!

Highlights from this month:

Avery meeting the Stone and Weston families, esp Great Grandpa and Grandma Stone

Bottom tooth coming in

Getting up on hands/knees

Eating purred veggies and fruits

The VA Creeper Trail!

Too long road trip

Hiking in the mountains, Avery's hiking backpack

Big "blow-outs" at the Creeper trail and at nice restaraunt in Jefferson

Broken ankle

Spending time with the Buck family

Dinner at No. 5 in Binghamton

Starting Avery back to daycare and us back to work

Visit up North to Gma and Gpa Stones

Spending time with Gma on the porch

Swinging at Otsiningo Park in Binghampton, NY

First real time to get her feet in the grass. She was very apprehensive.

Cuddling with Gma.

Mountain Trip

Jeff trout fishing at Big Helton Creek in Ashe County, NC.

Avery was such a trooper on our 17 mile bike ride on the Virginia Creeper Trail. She was too small for the trailer and kept bouncing around! When we finally got her comfortable, she fell asleep. It was a beautiful ride.

Hiking at Grayson-Highland State Park in Virginia. Avery's first time in her backpack. She loved it and eventually fell asleep!

Where have we been??

I cant believe I havent posted anything since she turned 7 months?? And here she is, almost 8 months! Lets see....what all has happened?? Well, Avery FINALLY cut her first tooth! We've been waiting for these little rascals since she was 3 months old! We'll know better next time! It was a rough week or so before the little tooth popped through. She was fussy and wasnt sleeping well. Things got better once it sprouted. Now, I think she is working on the other bottom front tooth. I guess Id better get used to all this, it takes forever for all their teeth to come in.
She has been doing the army crawl for a while now. Now she gets up on all 4s and scoots forward. She cant quite get the coordination to alternate hands and knees, but she's close!
We just returned from a long trip first to the NC mountains with GPa and Gma Baldwin and then to NY/PA to visit Gma and Gpa Stone and Jeff's extended family. We learned many things on this trip. First, 10 days is too long to be away from home. 2) 10 hours is too long with a 7 month old. 3) 17 miles is too long for a bike ride with a 7 month old, but apparently not too long for a 80 yr old man (go dad!!) 4) Trout fishing can be a very dangerous sport!
We had a wonderful time on our trip. Thanks to everyone who entertained us. It was great to meet all of Jeff's Aunts, Uncles, and Cousins. It was extra special for Avery to meet her Great Grandparents, too! I will post pics from our trip soon!

7 Months

It is getting increasingly hard to get her to sit still for these pictures. She ended up wrestling with the stuffed animals during this particular photo shoot! Which leads me into what Avery was up to this month. She is not crawling yet, but she is definitely mobile! She does the army crawl and scoots towards things. She is able to turn herself around 360 degrees when she is on her tummy. We have more that once left her somewhere, ran into another room to get something, and come back with her a couple feet away from where we left her, clutching to the legs of a plant stand or wires to our phone chargers! Time to baby proof the house and stop leaving her unattended! FUN!! Imagine when she is actually crawling! In addition to her increased mobility, she continues to enjoy babbling (consonants d, g mostly) and has taken a liking to growling and high pitched sqeeks. She is still working on her bottom teeth, they are giving her much more trouble these days. I am ready for them to break through and maybe give her some relief! Soon, I hope! She is eating oatmeal cereal like a champ and has tried prunes, sweet peas, and yellow squash. She loves the prunes but the peas and squash took a little time. Next veggie is sweet potatoes. I have enjoyed making my own baby food and consider my first attempts a success!

Another big experience we've had this month is Avery attending daycare. She has gone a few days for a few hours and seems to love it. She is happy when I leave her and I even showed up to find her sleeping in her little crib a few times (so sweet). They say she is good and likes to "talk" to the other babies. We are easing her into a full day, she will start that in Aug when I go back to work :(

Avery got to spend some time with my BFF, Amy, and her husband Bayron. They got to practice for their own little bundle they are expecting in Feb. But they really dont need the practice, they are naturals!

Thats about it for now. The months keep flying by....

Highlights

Mobility!!! Army crawling/scooting/rolling

Eating veggies

Teething!!

Visit with Amy and Bayron

Visit with The Steagals

4th of July (Mommy and Daddy got to go out!)

Beach trips (unsuccessful!)

Another ear infection

Happy 4th of July

We cooked out and played with our friends on the 4th. Avery hated the kiddie pool as much as she hated the ocean. She was terrified. Im not sure why she is so afraid, she loves a bath. We hope she overcomes this. I never thought my child would be a scaredy cat!

We celebrated with Erin and her family on Sunday. Avery was quite amused with the watermelon.

Avery preferred to lay out on the towel rather than get in the pool.

Our family photo before Daddy and I went out to celebrate...

We had a great holiday weekend with all our friends. It was great weather and good times.

Happy 4th of July~

Life's a Beach-Part 2

Avery getting her toes in the sand with Erin

Avery is very apprehensive of the water. She gets very nervous and clings to me tightly.

But she sure looks cute in her bathing suit and cover up!

Life's A Beach

We took Avery to the beach for the 2nd time(the 1st time she was too little to know what was going on). She enjoyed the wind blowing in her hair and watching Daddy fish.

I tried to put her feet in the water and she didnt like that much! We will keep trying, though.

I see you....

Its like she knows......

Now, where'd that baby go?

Avery always finds the good spots during Hide and Go Seek

MD appt

Avery's 6 month check up went well. She handles the shots so much better now. I dont even think she gets any kind of mild fever anymore, either. We never check, but she doesnt act like it. I think Mommy takes it worse than Avery!
She weighed in at 16 lb 2 1/2 oz and she was 27 1/2 inches long. She is in 50th % now for weight, 75th for head, and 97th for length! I swore that after this most recent growth spurt she was going to weigh at least 50 lbs, but I guess I was wrong.
We are happy and thankful for our healthy baby girl!

Our Baby is 6 months!!!

I cannot believe that Avery is 6 months old! It has flown by. She has changed so much in this last month. She is so strong and active. She enjoys playing with her toys, she enjoys tummy time. She laughs and smiles everytime she sees Norman. She reaches for EVERYTHING! Her biggest desire is our cell phone or remote control. She is babbling up a storm and despite all my efforts, her latest sounds are dadadadadadadada. She is rolling over like a champ but still cannot always remember how to get herself back over from her tummy to her back. She is drooling still, but no teeth have come through. We can still see them below the surface and I believe I can feel them (?). She can sit unsupported now. If she has a toy in front of her to mess with, she can sit by herself for a minute or so. Hmmm, I cant think of anything else! Im sure Im missing something!

Highlights from Month 6

Babbling dada

Consistently rolling over from back to front

Playing in the jumper

Eating cereal

Visiting with Uncle Luke and Aunt Emillie

Sitting unsupported

First ear infection

Good Eatin'

We introduced rice cereal this week. She seems to like it. She mostly spits it back out, but it eventually all goes in. She likes to stick her hands in her mouth immediately after you put the cereal in and she also likes to start babbling when you spoon it in, too! She's funny :) I cant wait to make her some real food soon!

Hooked on Phonics

Avery enjoys looking at her books. She particularly likes this soft one that I think is for the bath. She really looks at the pictures and turns the pages (accidentally). Its one of her favorite things to play with these days!