Avery invades East Lansing

We had an amazing weekend surprising GG at her rehabilitation center and visiting family in East Lansing this weekend. Avery, Grams and I arrived Friday night and surprised GG who was just expecting my mom to walk through the door. I had not seen Grammy since Christmas so I was very excited to get there and see her. She teared up when she realized it was actually Avery and me walking towards her. Avery did great in the car - slept part of the way and I sat with her in the back for the remainder of the trip and she was happy playing with toys and books. After a quick visit with GG, we checked into our hotel (Avery's first time in one!). She absolutely loved crawling around and exploring. She slept great in her pack-n-play both nights (just a little fussing here and there but we got her back to sleep and she even slept in until 8:30 on Sunday morning!). 

On Saturday we spent the whole morning with GG at the re-hab center. We were able to grab an empty game room and had lots of space to ourselves. We even were able to make a little nest/bed for Avery and she took a 2 hour nap on the floor. Avery and I went to visit Aunt Maddie after her morning nap and finally got to see her apartment and meet her roommates Lauren and Paige. They were so welcoming and sweet to Avery and she loved having so many new places to explore. Avery and I had lunch with Aunt Maddie (Olga's!! My Michigan favorite!) and then headed back to spend more time with GG and also Great Aunt Amy who had a fun new zoo animal toy for Avery to play with. We had dinner with Aunt Maddie, Grandma T and Grandpa G and Avery was so well behaved in the restaurant, especially considering she missed her afternoon nap. She had fun showing Grandma and Grandpa how good she is at eating Puffs. We spent a little more time with GG after dinner and then went back to the hotel. After such a long day, seeing so many people, eating in 3 different restaurants and being in so many new places, Avery was exhausted and was fast asleep in her pack-n-play by 8. Great Aunt Amy came to the hotel for a bit and my mom and I got to visit with her and have some Coldstone for dessert :)

On Sunday we spent the morning with GG, Great Uncle Mike and Cousin Robin. It was so fun to spend time with them and catch up! The drive back was uneventful and Avery took a couple naps and played happily except for the last 20 minutes or so where she lost it and just needed to get home! We stopped at the outlets on the drive back and got Avery lots of fun summer clothes at the Gymboree store.

It was so wonderful to see so much of our Michigan family in one weekend. And especially great to see Grammy/GG. She is working really hard in re-hab and getting stronger everyday. We are all excited for her to get the OK to start walking with a walker soon!

I was so proud of Avery - It was a very busy weekend, lots of new faces, restaurants and new environments - and she was so happy and smiley the whole time. To top it off she slept great - took good naps and did well in the pack-n-play. Such a good girl. I am a very lucky mom! 

 Playing with GG

 Meeting Lauren

 Playing Peek-a-Boo in Aunt Maddie's Apartment

Hanging with Aunt Maddie

 

  Disney Videos with Lauren!

A little fussy but Maddie can handle it!

  Meeting Paige - "STOP IT"

 Exploring the hotel room - and loving it!

 Playing with Cousin Robin

 Cozy taking her nursing home nap :)

 Some family photos

8 Month Update

Avery turned 8 months on April 28th - She is getting to be such a big girl! Here is what is happening as we start month 8:

• Wearing 9-12 month clothing. I think she is around 20 lbs or so and we'll get real measurements at her 9 month check-up
• Still just popped her fifth tooth - Top right. We brush her teeth every night and she loves it. I think she just likes eating the toothpaste!
• Getting more and more hair - and we discovered she has a double cowlick like her Dad!
• Avery loves to eat - She has tried lots of fruits and veggies. And she LOVES her Puffs - literally starts kicking her legs and grunting with excitement when the can comes out. The first time she had them she got so excited but didn't know how to use her hands so she had a puff stuck in both hands and then just put her head down on the high chair and tried to pick them up with her mouth and they got stuck on her lips - she just stared at us bewildered.
• We are also trying to get her to eat more true solids like avocado and banana in small bites - she is getting better and seems to favor her left hand when picking up foods (a southpaw like mom?). She is taking 6 oz. bottles at daycare and typically has 5 feedings a day and 3 solid meals (oatmeal and fruit at breakfast and then fruits/veggies for lunch and dinner)
• She became an expert crawler over the past week - has good form and can get anywhere she needs to get. Avery is also great at getting into a sitting position from crawling form and can also pull herself up to a standing position. I was out of town on business last week and Hung walked in to pick her up in the morning from her crib and she was standing there smiling at him, very proud of herself. His first task that day was lowering the crib....Quite a surprise and we are happy she didn't fall out!
• Avery still babbles a ton and says "dadada" the most but throws in other consonants like "baba", "nana" and "mama" - Only heard mama a few times....But whenever I say it to her she gives me a huge smile. I like to think it's cause she knows it's me but more likely it just sounds funny to her for some reason ;)
• Avery is still VERY busy - Always moving, crawling towards everything and putting anything she can in her mouth. Last month changing her diaper was a task because she always wanted to roll over - now it's even harder because she tries to crawl away from you on her changing table.
• She seems to favor laundry baskets, remotes, empty water bottles, computers, phones, etc. over actual toys. And she mostly just likes to crawl around and explore every inch of her surroundings. She still has fun with some toys like her musical play table - and she likes ones that make noise or ones that are good teethers.
• We switched Avery to a larger car seat - she was getting fussy in her "pumpkin seat" and seems to like being a bit more upright in a larger seat. And the portable one was just getting SO heavy - much easier now!
• The best news this month is that Avery finally learned how to sleep through the night and take naps. She no longer nurses in the night, goes down around 8 and gets up around 7. Sometimes she fusses a little in the night but not for long and we typically don't even need to go into the room to check on her. We also took some tricks from daycare and she is napping great at home on the weekends - usually almost a 2 hour nap late morning and a shorter one in the afternoon. Having actual sleep is AMAZING!! We are all much happier getting some real sleep every night.
• She is doing GREAT in daycare and really seems to have fun and enjoy the other babies and the activities with her teachers like taking buggy rides outside (although one day one of the Grandpas said "hi babies" during a buggy ride and Avery got spooked and needed to go back inside to be calmed down). Her daily sheet on April 26th read "Avery is such a good girl. She is a joy to have at Kindercare. She eats well, plays well and naps well". I was a proud mama that day!
• Avery is such a curious, busy and sweet 8 month old girl!! I can't say enough how lucky I am to have her.

It's getting hard to get her to sit still for a picture - But we did our best...Some are a little blurry.

 

A Quiet Family Weekend

We had a nice and quiet weekend at home. On Saturday I went to a Consignment Sale with a friend from my Moms Group and got Avery lots of great summer clothes and shoes for only $18! The rest of the weekend was spent running errands, getting things done around the house and playing with Avery. She is truly mobile and can Army Crawl anywhere she wants (mostly towards cords and electronics - we are in trouble!). Avery also learned how to sit up on her own when she is on her tummy or her back. And if she's in her favorite spot, the laundry basket, she can pull herself up to a standing position. She is getting more and more vocal and the girl just loves to eat. This week she added mangoes and tomatoes to her diet and enjoyed both. Sometimes it's nice to just relax and have some time with Mom and Dad.

Army Crawling (Cords are not the best thing to use but very effective!)

 

 Enjoying Tomatoes with Grams

Random 7 Month Update

I have been a little behind in posting lately but below are some things that have been going on in Month 7. All in all - Avery is doing great and getting bigger, more curious and busier every day!

Avery is getting SO close to crawling - She can get on all fours and start the crawling motion but then falls on to her tummy. We think it's any day now....

 We took a trip to Grand Rapids for Easter Weekend - Although we didn't actually celebrate Easter but had lots of good family time with Grandpa, Grandma T and Aunt Maddie. And we also got to see Uncle Du, Grandma Trinh and Grandpa Quang who were in town visiting family. Maddie's Best Friend Katie also stopped by and got to meet Avery - Avery LOVED playing with Katie's hair!

 Sally Booth stopped by Indianapolis and we got to spend some time with her. She really hit it off with Avery!! They had a blast together and we are looking forward to more fun times with her in Leland this summer.

 Avery has a new favorite hang out - the Laundry Basket! She loves sitting in there and working on pulling herself up. She also had her friends Ava and Savera over yesterday and they were all fighting over a crunched up water bottle to play with. Who needs toys??

 Avery is starting to get too big for her bath - we may have to switch over to the real tub soon. She is just too wiggly and in charge!!

 We are not surprised to be finding out that Avery LOVES solid foods - She has enjoyed everything we have given her (Peas, Green Beans, Sweet Potatoes, Carrots, Squash, Avocado, Pears, Apples, Bananas, Peaches, Raspberries, Prunes, Apricots, Rice, Oatmeal and Puffs). We try something new every 3 days and she always loves it! We also started working with a sippy cup (she's not great yet and mostly enjoys banging it around but she seems to really like the water when she does get some out). We are also giving her puffs and she LOVES LOVES LOVES them - it's only been 2 days but she is getting the hang of picking them up and she tends to eat them in small bites and chew with her 4 front teeth. She also really seems to favor the left hand (maybe she'll be a south paw like her mom!).

I have finally cut out the night time feedings and Avery is doing pretty well. She sleeps great from 8:30-4 every night but does seem to wake and fuss a bit between 4 and 6. It's a transition and sleep has been our constant struggle but we feel like we are heading in the right direction and she is getting the hang of being in her crib all night with no feedings. Am sure we'll have another update on this in month 8, and month 9 and so on....It never seems to end :)