Avery's 5th Birthday Party

Avery's birthday fell on a weekend so we were able to have the party on her actual Birthday! It was a busy weekend - Lai Ma and Aunt Amy both came to town for the festivities. We had her party at Conner Prairie. While we were glad the rain held off it was HOT and HUMID. But we made the best of it and enjoyed homemade egg rolls, sandwiches, snacks and candy along with a giant Peppa Pig cake and a Pinata. Luckily, there is a nice indoor play area so lots of the kids played inside in the air conditioning. Avery was SO excited for her party and she had a great time!! We were so grateful to everyone for coming out for the afternoon to celebrate Avery. It was a busy day and  I didn't get a ton of picks. We hope 5 is the best year yet!!

It was great catching up with "old" friends who I had not seen in WAY too long!

Avery is 5!

Miss J-Bird is now 5!! A whole hand! She is a kind, funny, cautious, and a sweet little girl.

Here are answers to some questions I asked her:

What is your favorite color? I like Pink and Purple and Yellow and Blue (like a really cool like turquoise)

Who is your best friend? Lila, Jade and Caitlin

What is your favorite TV show? Martha Speaks and My Little Pony

What is your favorite song? Shut Up and Dance with Me

What is your favorite food? Grilled Cheese, Mac N Cheese, Chicken Nuggets and French Fries

What is your favorite thing to play/do? I kinda like - I don't know. That one is a little hard. Playing Pet Shelter.

What do you want to be when you grow up? A Vet and a Star

What is your favorite thing about school? Everything!

What is the best thing about being 5? That you get to go on the Black Swings.

Couldn't love this girl anymore!! Thankful for her everyday!

Funny recent story - Avery was with a babysitter who mentioned that Avery's old babysitter is in college in Texas. Avery Goes "Ugh - We hate Texas. Everyone there is a Republican and they are all voting for Donald Trump!"

Happy 1st Birthday Taylor. CAKE AND PRESENTS!!

We all had such a fun birthday night for Tay-Man. Grammy, Papa and G joined us for the festivities. Avery insisted we start with presents (we let Avery open her gifts from us today, as well). Tay got new clothes (ooohhh exciting :)) and a new CamelBak (since he is always stealing ours) and some new books and toys from G, Grammy and Ashley. Avery also got lots of new books, puzzles and a harmonica (which she really wanted) and a disco ball. And then we surprised her with a new bike from G and Papa after dinner - She LOVED it and took a ride right away. She can't wait to get back on it tomorrow!! I think most of our evenings will be spent bike riding in the coming weeks!

The best part of the evening was watching Tay eat his birthday cake. He sat on my lap to start and was a little tentative and then once he dug he would NOT stop. I quickly moved him to his high chair to not get covered in frosting. He literally was shoveling fistfulls of cake and could not get enough. And then the sugar high kicked in and Avery and him were taking turns squealing at each other. We all could not stop laughing. After his bath he was still hyper and was running up and down the hall totally naked just squealing. After he worked off his energy I finally got him to sleep around 9. Such a sweet, lovey boy. I still can't believe he is 1 and I can't believe I am lucky enough to have him as my baby boy. It was a long road for us and I am grateful for little Tay every single day.

Presents!

Cake!!

Taylor is ONE!

How is Taylor (aka Tayman, Tay-Tay, Tay) ONE already? The first year really flew by!!

Here are some highlights as Tay turns 12 months:

• Tay is becoming a good walker - Still goes between crawling and walking but he's taking more and more steps everyday! And he's really confident - Just goes and doesn't seem to mind when he crashes.
• He loves climbing stairs - will spend a ton of time just going up and down
• Taylor is also really into doors. He loves to open and close them repeatedly. He has yet to pinch his fingers but we are waiting for it to happen.
• Still loves pez dispensers and also anything of Avery's that he can get his hands on. He also LOVES straws - Hung uses these stirrers for his coffee and Tay is obsessed with chewing on them.
• He imitates us which is really funny. Like if we are all laughing, he'll throw his head back and just laugh super loudly. And he finds things funny and just lets out great giggles - He especially finds Avery funny!!
• Loves to dance - If he hears music or sees us dancing he just starts bopping his head and moving up and down.
• Still no interest in books. When you try to read him one he grabs it and closes it.
• He signs for "more" and "all done" and has also started responding to "blow me a kiss" - but usually needs to be prompted
• Waves Bye-Bye whenever we say it
• Still super busy - always on the move and just wanting to be a part of all the action. S curious and loves to check everything.
• Still has 8 teeth and is a great eater. He now likes to try and feed you his food and share - cute and gross at the same time! And he just stuffs his face - literally takes handfuls of food at a time. I am always worried he is gonna choke but he seems OK! He does not like noodles or rice that much. But loves chicken, meat in general, fruit, veggies, snacks (cheerios, crackers, goldfish, etc.), Quesadillas, grilled cheese and PB&J!
• Tons of babbling and chatting. Ashley has gotten him to say "uck" (yuck) around things like garbage cans and toilets.
• Wearing mostly 12-18 month clothes and size 5 shoes
• Nursing pretty much 2 times a day - morning and night.
• He is just a goofy, sweet, good-natured little guy. We love him SO much and can't imagine life without him. There were some years there where we weren't sure baby #2 was going to happen for and we couldn't have been luckier to end up with our adorable Tayman. Can't wait to see what year 2 brings!