p.s.

i forgot to add, she started kissing with her mouth closed!!
and she said ass....my bad :)

stanley park

we went to stanley park again today, with christina and chloe. the girls are so funny, because they're starting to play together, instead of just side by side. they played with a ball, and they ran all over the place. chloe got upset at me when i started warning/counting for avery. it was so funny. they're so little, and so full of personality! it was a really long day, and avery had a bit of a meltdown towards the end...you know, the little kind that the whole freaking park can hear! you should have seen some of the looks i got from people. oh well, i know it was my fault for pushing her past her naptime. we dont' do it all the time, so i am fine with it. she's such a good girl. she and chloe chased a squirrel, talked to the geese, fed the ducks, climbed the stairs, ran around in the grass, and we didn't even go near the swings! they really seemed to have a good time. listening to them talk together (yes, they conversed in the language of babies) was the most adorable thing ever. their gibberish, mixed with their laughter, was precious. they also tried to help each other, chloe tried to get avery into the wagon with her, and avery grabbed chloes hand when she wanted chloe to follow her somewhere.

and what was funny was, when christina told chloe "we're going to see avery" and when i told avery "we're going to see chloe", they both reacted..like looked around, and avery even clapped and cheered! i wonder if they remember each other's names to the point that they remember when we say them.

her words...

avery is talking like crazy. she tries to copy everything we say (dangerous!) and has even started putting two or three words together. of course, not all of her words come out right....she calls kitties "titties"! She also points to people and says "poop", but daddy taught her that one. she called me "honey" yesterday - it was so funny! she had shut the bathroom door on herself, and wanted me to come open it, so she called honey, honey :) she calls her aunties "ti-ti", which can get some strange looks...and when she says sit...sometimes it sounds like shit. it's really funny to watch people's faces when they hear her talking, because they're not quite sure what she is saying.

so much to know...

maybe we should have started researching all this stuff about two years before we had a baby...but the more i learn, the more i feel like there's so much more to learn! so this week, it's parabens. so we are going to switch back to the 7th generation diapers and wipes because even though i don't think they are as good as cloth, they at least don't contain dioxin and chlorine. i think my goal is just to try to potty train her as soon as possible, but right now, it definitely looks hopeless. she has no interest whatsoever in the big potty. i have to bring her little one in the bathroom and see what kind of a reaction it gets. most likely, that's where i will find her cups and books, as she has taken to stashing things in the most unlikely places. i open a cupboard to find her raisins, her sippy cups are in the bib drawer, her toothbrush is inside one of her boxed toys...its a fun phase :)

i wish cloth diapers would have worked out for her, and maybe we'll try them for the next baby, but they just gave her such a rash! i think it was something in the detergent the service used, because we tried even changing her every hour and it wouldn't clear up. and then we were using a lot of diaper ointment, which i didn't really like either. and i couldn't get another service, because i had to beg this guy to even take us - the one in deerfield said no way, and the only other one close was in bloomfield, ct, but since he had deliveries in suffield, he said okay. we'll call him if we do it again, he was so nice. but i have also, since then, heard about these other diapers that have flushable inserts...hmmmm.

it just seems like there is so much to know, and so little time to know it in!

memorial day weekend

so far, we've had a very productive weekend. on friday, avery went to her first hip hop show. she was apprehensive at first, (after all, it was really loud, and dark!) but we held back and by the middle she was laughing, and clapping. by the end, she was so tired, she almost fell asleep in spite of all the noise! that's how she's always been though; as long as i'm holding her, no matter the noise level, she can fall asleep eventually. it amazes everyone who sees her.

saturday morning, we went to the farmer's market in springfield. not alot of stuff yet, i guess because it's still so early in the season. avery had fun pointing out all the puppies and saying woof woof. she seemed to like looking at all the different kinds of plants, too. then we went to the grocery store, and got a whole bunch of stuff. it takes me so long to grocery shop now, because i read the ingredient lists on everything!! when we were done, it was time for avery's nap, so peter and i did alot of yard work. when she woke up, he finished mowing and making my garden boxes, and melanie came over and we played in the yard with avery. then we went to Meredith's drama show - where peter had to take her outside because she kept hitting me and saying "mom, mom. mom." pretty loudly during the performance. so they went home at intermission, and i came home after the show was over. we have a few plans for today and tommorrow, so hopefully we can feel relaxed and refreshed by tuesday. this is sure going to be a busy summer!

avery, i think you are such an amazing little person. i love watching you get so excited to go outside, almost breathless. you're completely fearless - running, jumping, rolling on the ground, going down the slide, chasing birds and bunnies...it scares me sometimes, but at the same time i'm so proud of you. you are such a pleasure to be around. i can't believe all the things you are learning..every day you say or do something new. being your mom has got to be the best thing ever. i love you so much!

new teeth

avery is getting more teeth! she already has a little mouthful, including some molars, but you can see it's all red and swollen, with little white tips, where her eye teeth are coming in. peter calls them her fang teeth :)

we called grandma the other day, and at first avery was shy to talk to her on the phone, but after watching daddy a little bit, she wanted in on the fun! she told grandma all kinds of stories that we didn't understand, except a little about bailee, and pretty.

peter asked her this morning if she wanted a little sister...she said no. then he asked if she wanted a little brother...she said no. he asked "do you want to be the only baby" and she gave him a big smile and said "baby!" guess that's our answer for now :)

avery's goldfish already died...before we even named them! mommy obviously has some serious issues when it comes to takking care of fish!

avery is going to her first hip-hop concert this weekend...we're going to see her friend elise's daddy perform! we can't wait to what she does, because she really loves to sing and dance to music, and we've been practicing our hip-hop moves :)

on a side note: i didn't have to go all the way up to whole foods to find sunscreen and bug repellant...i went into babies'r'us the other day, and they had the 'jason' brand of both! so i got a sunscreen bottle, and some of their bug repellant, and just ordered a sunscreen stick from california baby online. babies'r'us actually had alot of new stuff-organic snacks and drinks, household cleaners, laundry detergent, diapers and wipes from seventh generation, all natural bath and body products from methodbaby...yay!

avery had her 15 month checkup today..she is a happy, healthy girl. she is now 32 inches, and 21.7 lbs. she absolutely hates getting measured and weighed - she had big crocodile tears for both. the doctor was very happy with her appetite and diet...but warned me that her willingness to eat everything would probably start changing soon :) she showed off for the doctor, climbing up and down her chair and saying her words. i had an enjoyable visit with the doctor, and was able to ask questions about when we take her to the dentist (not until she's at least 2 and able to cooperate in the chair), what kind of sunscreen and bug repellant to use (a visit to Whole Foods is in order), what i'm learning about vaccines, ( Dr. Sears' book "the vaccine book" is my latest), about the importance of the first year of life ( she told me about a recent study that was really interesting)... it's amazing to me what a difference the doctor you visit with can make. when we first started going here, we had a different doctor who made me feel as though i wasn't caring for avery if i didn't agree with everything she said. i would get so nervous before the visit, and always left feeling as though i had done something wrong, or fallen short of their expectations. then i met rachel, and have scheduled every appointment with her since then. i love her!! i respect her opinions, and feel like she really respects my decisions with avery...i didn't realize how important that was! avery and i both left the visit with big smiles on our faces.