Happy 2nd Birthday to Avery!

Avery had a pretty low key 2nd birthday but we tried to make it special. She got a snack of cup of chocolate chips after breakfast. And after school we went to visit Grammy - they were celebrating August Birthdays at her retirement home so Avery got some cake, ice cream, sucker, balloon and some lemonade. Lemonade was oddly her favorite part.

When we got home Avery opened present from Hung and me. She enjoyed opening all the gifts - the baby doll with the "working" baby doll potty seems to be the early favorite. But she also started playing with her baby doll high chair and stroller right away, too. We thought she'd love the Doc McStuffing dress up clothes the best, but so far she is pretty uninterested. Am hoping she'll start to play with everything and she'll have lots of new toys coming after her party this weekend.

Hung made grilled flank stank and green beans for dinner and then Avery had her cupcake and candle. She has talked a lot about getting a candle on her birthday and she dove right in and blew it out. She then took several spoonfuls of frosting and was ready to play with her toys again.

It was a great 2nd Birthday and we are excited for her real birthday party coming up on Sunday!!

Happy Birthday sweet girl. Love you more than anything in the world.

24 Month Update

Wow - Avery is 2! She amazes us everyday and we are just so lucky to have this sweet, smart, cute girl. Here are few highlights from month 24:

• Avery has to go lots of meetings and will grab a bunch of bags and say "I have to go. See you later." She's got important meetings to get to!
•  Avery has such a great imagination (and memory). She is always seeing the Gabba Gang or other characters out and about - especially Swiper - we see him A LOT (sometimes he's nice and sometimes he's mean). And she remembers everything from the shows she watches and the stories we read. One example - In a Doc McStuffins book there is a characture names Sir Kirby who is Knight that needs a bath because he is covered in sticky jelly and pizza cheese. At the pool one day she used a pretend magnifying glass on me and said "I see sticky grape jelly and pizza cheese - you need a bath with soap and water". And then gave me a pretend bath at the pool. She kept telling me I was dirty which was really nice at the community pool. In another story, Lambie from Doc McStuffins gets stuck in castle and needs to be rescued. For several days after we read the book she kept saying "Help - I'm stuck in a castle!" whenever she was in her car seat or high chair. Just an awesome memory and imagination - I love it!
• She'll say a lot "I don't want to get hurt. I don't want to get sick. I don't want to get burned".  I guess I need to watch what I say to her so she is not as big of a worrier as me!
• She also loves to say "So Much!". Like she'll say "I love you SO MUCH" or "I miss Uncle Du SO MUCH".
• Avery likes to say "Hurray!" when something good happens. HURRAY!!
• She likes to pretend she is super hero, put blankets around her neck and we all run around the house "flying".
• When she wants to be snuggled she'll say "I want to hold you" with her arms up or "I need you mama". Can't resist!
• Avery is really loving Clifford - her stuffed ones and the PBS cartoon. And she just loves her TV shows (there are like 10 of them now). She'd watch all day if we let her.....
• We are still very into giving "check ups". And if anyone says "ow" she runs and gets her doctor kit.
• Avery thinks Daddy can fix ANYTHING - If anything isn't working, she'll say "We need daddy. Daddy can fix it."
• When we are out and about she'll point at people and say "What that guy name?". My response: "Um, just a guy walking...".  She also says "What that noise?" a lot. Or "Where you come from" if she didn't see you walk in the room. And the questions are always followed by about 5 "whys?".
• She calls Smoothie's "Foonies". So now we call them Foonies because it's so cute and we don't want her to say it the right way.
• Avery is attached to mommy - If I go upstairs she asks where I am and follows me. Always needs to know where I am. I love that she loves me so much but it can get a little exhausting for all of us! She also has her daddy moments - especially when she wants to play. She loves to play around with Daddy.
• Whenever she likes something or thinks it's funny she say "More gain" (More Again)
• She has no interest in potty training - we read books and talk about and have tried bribes. When we told her she could have candy she said "No, I don't want candy". And she told us "I only wear diapers". So thinking potty training is a ways down the road but eventually she'll decide she's interested and we'll be ready!
• Her language skills knock us over - the sentences she puts together are just amazing. I wish I could capture it all! It's very common for Hung and I to look at each other and think "did she really just say all of that?".
•  As we enter her 3rd year we are just more and more thankful for the girl we have been given. She is doing great at her new school - runs in when we drop her off and the teachers tell us how well she is adjusting and just talking to them all day long. We have enjoyed watching her grow into this amazing toddler and can't wait to see what's to come next!

Pictures were rough this month - she was eating her Chocolate Chip snack after breakfast and had zero interest in the camera...I'm taking a Photo Class in October so maybe they'll get better in a few months :)

Centennial Days 2013

We had a wonderful summer Saturday. We started off by heading to Avery's new school for the Toddler Open House. She loved exploring her new room and her new teachers seem wonderful - we are excited for her to start at the Montessori School of Westfield on Monday!

After nap we headed over to Centennial Days. There was a bounce area for toddlers - she is always a bit timid on those but seemed to enjoy it a little. She also got to try her first Cotton Candy and get an airbrush tattoo. Both of those were big hits and she liked showing her kitty tattoo to everyone. We got to explore a fire engine and ambulance which was really fun and then ended with a trackless train ride. 

We spent the rest of the night playing in the back yard - the weather was just too perfect to  be inside! Avery and Hung spent time looking up at the clouds and finding shapes and singing songs. And then, per a Doc McStuffins book, Avery was "stuck in a castle" and needed "Sir Kirby" to rescue her. Hung, being the great dad that he is, played the part of Sir Kirby and rescued Avery over and over again - she was laughing and squealing and could not get enough.

It was the perfect summer day!

Centennial Days

Looking at the Clouds

The "Stuck in a Castle" rescue sequence

 

Indiana State Fair 2013

We headed to the State Fair today with Uncle Cullen, Kristen, G and Papa. Avery was so excited to go - All morning as we were getting ready she was running around talking about the animals she was going to see. Avery kept saying "I'm going to hug a Cow!".

We started off the day feeding carrots to goats. We then made it over to the Pioneer Village and Avery did the "Little Hands on the Farm" exhibit. She was a little cranky and spent most of her time picking up apples and putting them in her bucket and hanging out with the fake pigs. At one point she slipped and fell and told us that Swiper (from Dora) pushed her down.

We then had a little melt down and got some food to re-charge (Walking Tacos, Quesedilla's and and Fries - yum!). After lunch we made it over to the kiddie rides section and Avery LOVED it. Her favorite was the slide the Uncle Cullen and I both took her down several times. She also rode the Carousel, Train, Flying Bees and Dragon Coaster. We went and saw some more animals and shortly after that Avery crashed. It was such a fun day and we can't wait to go back next year!

Feeding the Goats

Starting to get cranky - not into the Cow picture!

Little Hands on the Farm - loving the apples and pigs

The Kiddie Rides!!

All Done :)