The Amazing Adventures of Tiny T: 2011

Friday, December 30, 2011

Christmas #2 - Indianapolis

We celebrated Christmas with Grams, Grandpa Chuck, Uncle Cullen, Aunt Amy, Uncle Kurt and Great Grammy on December 27th. We had an amazing turkey dinner with all the fixings made my Grams and rather than all exchanging gifts, everyone brought something to Avery for her first Christmas. She was very spoiled with lots of new toys, stuffed animals, clothes and an iHome player which we are excited to use to play lullaby's in her room at night. But the best gift of all came from Great Grammy - she gave Avery two books that were Aunt Jeanette's (Avery's namesake). There were inscriptions to Jeanette and Great Grammy added new inscriptions for Avery. We will cherish them forever! It was a great way to end the Christmas season :)

Hanging with Dad after a meal

4 Generations!!

Table is set and ready for dinner

Playing with Grams

Pacer gear from Uncle Cullen

Toys from Gramps

Big Girl toys from Aunt Amy and Uncle Kurt

The amazing books from Great Grammy

Tuckered out and ready for bed!

Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Preview of Professional Family Photos

We had our first professional photo shoot before Christmas. Here is a preview - we are still waiting for the final ones to come through. We were really happy with the ones the photographer sent over and can't wait to see the rest!!

4 Month Update

Avery is 4 months old today!

Here are the Stats from her 4 month appointment:

Weight: 16 lbs 2 oz (90th percentile - we think she would have weighed closer to 17 lbs if she hadn't started day care and resisted the bottle so bad the last 2 weeks)
Height: 26 inches (90th percentile)
Head: 42 cm (70th percentile)

Some highlights from month 4:

Avery started rolling over from back to tummy. She has gone from tummy to back a couple times but can only do this when she keeps her right arm tucked under and can get some leverage from it. She still only rolls to her right - we have been practicing rolling to the left. She sometimes rolls over in her crib and seems to like sleeping on her belly - it still makes us a little nervous since she can't roll herself back over.
We did some serious sleep training and Avery now has a bed time routine that is working pretty well. After her bath she gets a few stories and songs and then nurses before being put in her crib between 8:00 and 8:30. She is now going down with fairly minimal crying (maybe 15 minutes). She still wakes at least once in the night to eat and typically gets up for the day around 8:00 am. We are looking forward to the day where she fully sleeps through the night and no longer has to cry. But she is doing so much better and mom and dad are actually getting some sleep.
She smiles a lot and squeals. Dad heard one pretty good laugh but we are still waiting for true belly laughing to happen regularly. She thinks her dad is REALLY funny - he gets the most smiles of any of us!
Avery is LOVING the Baby Bjorn - It is the best way to calm her besides nursing!
This girl loves loves loves to nurse and pretty much wants nothing to do with a bottle. Hung says she is addicted to the boob! We have found that she will take Playtex Nurser nipples from mom but no one else. Daycare starts soon so she's going to have to learn at some point. We are hoping she gets hungry enough to figure it out.
She has become very clingy with mom and dad. When we leave her with anyone (even Grams) for an extended period of time she flips out and screams. Avery literally gets panicked when she realizes we aren't there. My mom was watching her yesterday and the only way she could calm her was by showing her a picture of me and Hung which she carried around and stared at. We are happy that she loves us much but are hoping that daycare will help with some of this separation anxiety that she is having.
She doesn't seem to like pacifiers - every once in a while she'll take one in the car before a nap
Her naps are getting more regular - she typically has a late morning and mid-afternoon nap and may take a couple cat naps here and there.
Avery's starting to get more hair - still pretty thin but we are noticing a difference and her eyes are still grey/blue.
She is discovering her feet and starting to hold on to them when she's sitting up. Avery seems pretty fascinated that they belong to her!
Avery still loves rides in the car. She gets a little fussy when you first put her in but within a few minutes of driving she typically conks out and takes a good car nap!
She appears to be teething and drooling a lot but no sign of actual teeth yet
Avery reaches for toys and grabs at things in front of her. She loves colorful toys and ones that light up or play music
She is enjoying books more and reaches for the pages now
She still loves her playmat, bouncy seat, bumbo and jumperoo. What's cool is that now she really seems to be looking at and playing with all the toys attached to them!
Avery is very alert and it always looks like she's listening to the conversations around her

Tuesday, December 27, 2011

Manipulating Daddy

Avery has learned how to manipulate mom and dad with her new rolling-over trick. She is still not able to consistently roll from tummy to back so when she gets on her stomach and gets upset that she is stuck, we help and roll her back over. She did this in her crib last week at 4:00 am so Dad went in to roll her on her back so she could fall asleep again. The second he left the room she did it again and had her head up high and was expectantly waiting for him to come back in. She did it a 3rd time, again, with her head held high looking for Dad to come into the room. Hung realized that he could put her close to the side of the crib on her right side (she can only roll to the right at the moment) and then she couldn't roll over again. She tried for about 5 minutes, realized it wasn't going to work and went back to sleep. We were cracking up!! Those little eyes just staring at the door waiting for us to come "save" her. What are we going to do when we can no longer out-smart her?

Christmas Time in Grand Rapids

Avery had a wonderful first Christmas in Grand Rapids with Grandma T, Grandpa G, Aunt Maddie and Uncle Nate. Grandma T (thanks to cousin Stefanie) had a full nursery set up for Avery complete with a crib, swing, bumbo, playmat, glider and walker (everything that Avery loves). She did really well sleeping in a new place and was in a smiley mood for most of the time (with the exception of our last night when she came down with a cold and only slept a couple hours). She loved playing with all the new toys and also had fun with the dogs (Sadie, Sophie and Daisy). Daisy was particularly sweet with her and very protective - she didn't like when the other dogs got too close.

Avery loved sitting in her bubmo with us for all our meals and particularly liked the Baby Bjorn - we all took turns walking her around. One of the sweetest moments was Uncle Nate holding Avery in the Bjorn, playing the piano and singing her to sleep on Christmas night. Avery also really took to Aunt Maddie this trip - All Maddie had to do was say "hi" and Avery gave her a huge, gummy grin. I have a feeling she'll be idolizing her Aunt Maddie as she gets older.

Grandma Lou and Walt came for a visit on the 23rd along with Cousin Billy - we REALLY appreciated them making the trek to GR and loved seeing them. We also visited Hung's family (Aunts and Cousins) and they had a blast meeting Avery for the first time. It was close to her bedtime but she held it together for the visit!

We had a great Christmas Eve shopping with Aunt Maddie and watching "The Room" after Avery fell asleep. On Christmas morning Avery gave Mom and Dad a gift by sleeping in until 9:00 am. She also took a 3 hour nap that morning - such a good girl! We loved Avery's personalized stocking and all the amazing and thoughtful gifts that she got from her family (the 4 foot giraffe looks SO great in her jungle nursery and we know she'll love it as she gets older). It was such a special Christmas and we loved every minute of it.

We spent some time thinking back to last Christmas when we had just learned that we were pregnant and the IVF had taken. It's such a gift to have her with us and we are so grateful for our little girl.

Merry First Christmas Avery - can't wait for all the future ones to come.