Cheeks!!

The First Snow

We had the first snowfall last night so we thought it was appropriate to break out the snowsuit today while we ran errands and visited Great Grammy and Uncle Cullen. Avery seemed to love her snowsuit as she was very snuggly while we were out and about - she fell asleep and took a 3 hour nap. Probably her longest nap yet! While we don't love the cold weather, the snow was pretty while it lasted and it was fun to bundle Avery up.

 

Hating Hello Kitty

Grams has a Hello Kitty bathroom at her house that every child has loved when they come to visit. It's bright pink and filled with Hello Kitty memorabilia. The other night Chuck took Avery into the bathroom and we heard a blood curdling scream - we figured she was just having a fussy moment. Then tonight, Uncle Cullen took her in there. She was in a good mood and being very smiley. But the minute he took her in we heard the same blood curdling scream from the other night! She was totally traumatized and it took us a while to calm her down. We have no idea why this room is so traumatic but we will not be visiting the Hello Kitty bathroom for quite some time.

Avery in her new Jumperoo

3 Month Update

Avery is 3 months old and doing great! Here are some highlights:

• In addition to her playmat (which she has loved from day 1) she is now enjoying her Bumbo, Jumparoo and Mallory the Monkey. She also seems to enjoy watching TV like her mom
• She weighs about 14 lbs and is wearing 6 month clothing
• Sleeping was going well around month 2 and she was getting up only once a night. She regressed in the sleep area over the last couple weeks and has been waking up 3 to 4 times a night. With advice from our pediatrician, we are working on sleep training and getting her to sleep through the night with one feeding (or none). Night one went well - it did take her a while to calm down but she didn't get up until 5 for a quick feeding and then slept until 8:30 am.
• With daycare around the corner, we are working on napping better in the crib. She is putting up a good fight but we are trying to stay strong! Am hoping we will have it down by month 4. Fingers crossed.....
• She has really discovered her hands recently - she is reaching for things, holding her pacifier in her mouth, putting her fingers in her mouth and holding her toys. It's really fun to watch!
• She continues to be very smiley and she loves to look at herself in the mirror
• She has great head and neck control and sits up in the bumbo - she holds her head and shoulders up very well during tummy time
• She likes to sit up and look out when being held and is very active - she's alert and seems to really be taking in her surroundings
• She has started to like her pacifier again and is using it a lot for comfort at nap and bed time
• She loves car rides and her car seat is a guaranteed way to get her to nap
• She talks and coos ALL the time - especially in the morning after she has eaten.
• She still loves bath time with Dad
• She is drooling a ton - we are not sure if it is the first signs of teething or just something new that she is doing

Avery's 1st Thanksgiving

Last Christmas we found out that we were lucky enough to get pregnant after many months of trying, tests and procedures. This year we have so much more to be thankful for - our healthy baby girl has arrived and is doing amazingly well, we have flexible employers who allowed us to move to Indy and work remotely, we have great friends both old and new and we have the best families that anyone could hope for. We feel incredibly blessed.

We got to spend Avery's first Thanksgiving at our house in Indy. We loved having Grandma Trinh and Grandpa Quang, Uncle Du, Grandma T and Grandpa Greag, Aunt Maddie, Grandma Nancy and Grandpa Chuck, Uncle Cullen and Great Grammy with us for the holiday. We started the day with a yummy Vietnamese lunch made by Trinh followed by a traditional Thanksgiving dinner made by Grams, Grandma T and me. It was a true group effort and we, of course, had way too much food!! But it was such a fun day and so wonderful for Avery to be able to spend it with all of her Grandparents. She is one lucky girl!!

The weather was great and we were able to go for some nice walks and enjoy the last few days of Fall. We also watched lots of football and spent most of our time playing with Avery (she showed off her new Bumbo skills and gave everyone lots of gummy smiles) and eating. Everyone has headed home for the weekend and we miss all of them already!! But we are so grateful that everyone made the trip and spent Avery's First Thanksgiving with us. We are also thankful that Michigan finally beat Ohio!!

Avery in her Thanksgiving outfit

 Avery's ruffle butt

 Avery and Grandpa - Getting sleepy after a busy day!

 Out for a walk

 In her stroller

 Just love her face so much!

 Showing off her Bumbo skills

 The Thanksgiving sides

 Quang in the kitchen

 Trinh the Super Chef - She made an AMAZING Vietnamese meal for us!

 Turkey Time!

 Avery's "play room" serving as the 2nd dining room

 Dining room all ready for dinner

 Gram's beautiful flower arrangements!

All the Grandma's - we are so lucky to have all of them!!

Avery's 1st Road Trip

We had such a fun weekend visiting friends and family in Detroit! Avery did incredibly well on her first road trip - she slept the whole way in the car both to and from Detroit and we only had to stop one time to feed her. 

We had a great day on Friday visiting with Rebecca, Jordan, Hannah and Ella. It was our first time meeting sweet Ella (who could not be a calmer or cuter baby) and it's always wonderful to see all the new things that Hannah is saying and doing.  We got to see Hannah at her swim lesson, walk around Somerset with Rebecca and Ella and play at Rebecca's house where she took some AMAZING photos of Avery and Ella. At one point the girls were on the playmat together holding hands - it was so cute. The mom's were able to go out for dinner on their own to Blue Nile with Linde while the boys watched all the kids and ordered pizza. 

On Saturday, Avery played with Grams, GG, Uncle Mike, Aunt Diana and Cousin Robin while mom went to Ann Arbor to go to the Michigan/Nebraska game. It was my first time away from Avery for more than a few hours but she had a great day with Grams and took her bottles like a champ! I had so much fun at the game with my Dad, Jenny and Jody and it was a dominating Michigan win. I'll admit that when I got back to Royal Oak I could not wait to hold my girl again but it was fun to have a day out. Dad got to get out and golf with Jordan - not sure how many more "golf" weekends are left until it's truly winter so we were happy that he got a few more rounds in this weekend.

We ended the weekend with a brunch at Rebecca's with Grams and Carolyn. It was such a wonderful weekend and so nice of Rebecca and Jordan to host us!! It was nice to see that Avery could really do well on the road (although not so great at sleeping  away from home - she is doing much better tonight in her own bed!) and that we can take trips as a family. We are all a bit tired from the traveling but SO happy that we made the trek to Michigan. We look forward to going back!