eighteen {ish}

averie's eighteen months and beyond.  that means she's almost two ... in five months, so almost.  i clearly remember liam at this age.  wasn't that like just the other day?   i remember things like how it was so much easier than when he was a baby and that he and i slept through the night.  averie's pretty much the same with a more independent streak than him.  she's game to try everything.  and fearless.  like trying to walk down the stairs facing forward without holding on to anything with little legs that don't reach the next step fearless.  and she's utterly, completely, beyond adorable.  even when she's having a fit she's adorable.  she's very warm hearted and empathetic.  whenever liam's in a timeout or he's upset and crying, she'll get him scruffy and jammies and says "mmmm-kay?" to make him feel better.  it's so cute.  and she's amazing and amazes me every moment.  everything is brand new and exciting.  both her and her brother remind me that.  the sense of wonder, fun, emotion and crazy.  all at the same time.

eighteen month averie stats

~  makes animal noises for: cow, horse, sheep, dog, monkey, lion, cat, dinosaur and duck

~  says: juice, na-na (banana), apo (apple), straw-bee (strawberry), me-me (liam), mama, da-dee, hair, hand, shoe, sock, shirt, pretty, sticky (sticker), up, out, down, no, pees (please), ugg (hug), bo-bear, baby, mmm-kay? (asking if you're okay), ba ba (bedtime bottle), car, cheese, orange, ree-ree (averie), jor-ja (her friend at daycare), dye (bye) while waving, night night and jammies.  

~  plays independently.  she's totally good with playing by herself and keeping her self entertained.  

~  love love loves to read.  she frequently goes missing when we're at home and we'll find her in her room in the rocking chair with four or five books on top of her and she's reading.  

~  still loves bo-bear, but baby has recently moved into the picture.  averie carries her around everywhere.  she tries to feed her and change her diaper.

~  loves to pretend.  she's always on a play phone or a calculator talking to "da-dee", "grammie", or "mama".  she also will put on her purse and say "dye", wave and nod yes when you ask her if she's going "shop shop".  

~  wearing twelve to eighteen month, eighteen month, and some eighteen to twenty-four month clothing.  i've kept some of her tank top dresses from last summer and they're fitting her as tops.  those are six to twelve month.  she's a teeny tiny girl.  

~  averie's become a pretty good eater and has started feeding herself with a spoon and fork.  a lot of it ends up on her or the floor but she's still game to do it herself.  love it.  

~  follows liam around like a shadow sometimes.  she wants to do what he does and she gets frustrated when she can't.  

~  one of the best things is that she's started telling us that she's poopy or poop poop.  as far as we can tell she usually does it right after she's peed or when she's about to poop.  this is freaking wicked.  i'm hoping that within the next nine months she'll be potty trained and we'll be a diaper free house!

~  she's completely fascinated obsessed with the moose that have been visiting our backyard.  every time we go to the window or go on the deck she follows asking "moo moo moo?"  it's super adorable and love that she can watch nature at it's best in her own backyard.  

we love you sweet girl

xoxo

the moo

it's been awhile since averie's last update.  she's sixteen months now, almost seventeen.  i'd forgotten how much fun this stage is.  she's just go go go, non-stop.  all. the. time.  everything is new.  it's exciting and we're just loving that we get to see the world through her eyes.  she's so exploratory, a big change from the way liam was when he was the same age.  he was a lot more laid back, curious, but nonchalant about it.  speaking of liam, he's also loving averie right now too.  kind of something new around here, just last night he was eating something and started sharing and feeding it to averie.  a couple months ago i'm sure that if we asked him he would've been okay if we just left averie behind in a the grocery store.  now not so much.  not to jinx it or anything, but he's even been known to share his toys with her... sometimes.  what the what?  this is fantastic news.

what's up with our averie girl?

~ current word list: sit, uh-oh, ow, dada, cat, hat, mum mum mum, bo bear, hi, bye bye, up and a ton of babble

~ she makes cow, cat and duck noises

~ she knows where her head, tummy, eyes, nose, mouth and hands are

~ sleeps with bo bear, bunny and lambie and her blankie.  bo bear is quickly becoming the favourite.

~ wearing size 12-18 month clothing, some 18 month stuff and a few 18-24 month things

~ loves to walk around in her squeaker shoes and put on any type of hat

~ refuses to wear barrettes or any of her cute headbands
~ has massive stranger danger, clings to us whenever there's someone around that she doesn't know
~ will flirt with anyone, even though she's clinging to me or rob
~ super giggly, fun, and happy
~ loves to play with her princess castle, play kitchen and any type of car
~ has a lot of teeth, haven't counted, but there's a lot
~ she's grown, but we haven't weighed her or anything
~ got her second round of flu vaccination this month, wasn't happy about it
~ she rarely walks would much rather run
~ she's a total snow baby.  screams while we're putting her into her snow suit and screams when it's time to come in.  but when we're playing in the snow ... absolutely happy
~ i'm starting to double words with her, so funny.  i find myself saying things to her like "averie go shop shop?" or "crack crack"

can't wait to see how she changes over the next few months.  it's going to be exponential.  she's not a baby anymore.  she's our toddler girl.  i'm both happy and sad about that.

today you are one ~ a birthday letter

my beautiful baby girl.  today you are one.  today is the day our lives and family became complete.  today is a day i'll hold special in my heart forever.  before you were born i couldn't imagine that i had so much love to give.  before you were born i didn't know what i was missing.  before you were born ... i slept.  just saying.  you are more special to us than we could ever begin to tell you.  to show you.  you are loved with all our hearts and then some more.

you are amazing everyday.  your happiness brings us so much joy, as does your smile and laughter.  you are in awe of your brother, despite him pushing you around.  he's just teaching you how to be tough.  you are a quick learner and our little copy-cat.  i love how you try to mimic what your dad, liam and i do.  i love that you say uh-oh at everything. that you blow kisses and say mu-wah.  i love that you place "chase me" at bath time and that you love to climb the stairs.  i love that you play with cars and trucks and make noises as you drive them around.  i love that you fight me every time i change your diaper especially because you think its so funny.  i love that you throw your food on the ground when you don't want to eat anymore.  i just wish we had a dog to clean it up.  i love that you give your lambie hugs all the time, it appears she'll be your favourite of your stuffed animals.  i love that you snuggle and that sometimes that's all you need to settle down at night.  i love that we had a whole year to be together all day, every day.   and i love that we are starting a new adventure.  because today you are one.

last night you went to bed my tiny wee babe.  and this morning you woke up my one year old daughter.  i cried a little, because i know these years will go by too quickly and one day you won't be my baby girl anymore and i'll wish all of these years back.  but for now you are still my baby girl.  and you still love to snuggle with you momma.  and today you are one.

i love you averie girl.  more than ever.  happy first birthday.  happy first year.

love mommy
xxx

almost a year ~ eleven months old

averie girl you're almost a year old.  in a few shorts weeks you will have one year under your belt and will start making your way into toddler hood.  i know that i say this every month, but i honestly don't know where time is going.  it seems like a couple months ago i was complaining about getting you outta my belly.  and now you're almost a year old.  crazy!  just crazy!

our time of being together all day, every day, is quickly coming to a close.  in fact, as i write this post you are currently at your second day of daycare.  daycare!  what the what?  you are so not old enough to go to daycare.  and further more if you're in daycare that means that i must be going back to work.  in like a week.  again, it's crazy!  seriously blow your mind no effing way crazy.

your eleventh month was pretty exciting.  a road trip, the stampede and your first steps while holding mommy and daddy's hands and so much more.

eleven month highlights

~  you're our little copycat and such a chatter box.  your current favourite is saying uh-oh.  all the time.

~  you pull yourself up onto everything and you started furniture cruising.  you'll be walking soon i'm sure.

~  went to the stampede for the first time

~  i started weaning you this month and you took 6-8 oz bottle of transition formula three times a day like a champ.  almost ready for milk.

~  you're sleeping a little better, only waking once during the night (around midnight) for a bottle and then again in the early morning (between 5 and 6)

~  you weigh 18.2 pounds

~  you're wearing size 6-12 month clothing and in size three diapers 

~  favourite toys are the fisher price little people farm and noah's ark, as well as the non-adopted ugly dolls from liam's birthday party.  you love your handsome panther.

~  you've learned to blow kisses and say "mmmmuuuuaaaahhhhh" when you do it. i die.
~  went on your first road trip with stops in penticton, seattle and ocean shores.
~  moved into your "big girl" cow-moo-flage car seat, still rear facing though.
~  first time playing in skaha lake and loved splashing around in the water.
~  you ate sand for the first time, surprisingly you didn't do this when we were in hawaii.
~  still climbing the stairs, this is something we do over and over and over and over.  all.  day.  long.
~  you've become a bit of a picky eater.  some days she'll love something and the next she spits it out.  but you love your fruit.  all varieties.  not so keen on the veggies.
~  you also love to throw your food on the ground when you're all done.  this drives mommy batty.
~  you are starting to show your frustration when liam takes things away from you.  it's good to see you already asserting yourself with your big brother.  but you still love love love him and follow him everywhere.

i'm looking forward to your first birthday.

i'm looking forward to our next year with you.

i'm looking forward to all the new adventures, milestones, and fun we're going to have.

happy eleven baby girl.

you're almost a year!

ten months new

well miss averie has been in this world longer than she was in my belly.  can't believe that.  i vividly remember all the complaining i was doing around this time last year.  pregnancy and summer heat waves don't mix. 

averie girl is getting to such a fun age.  i remember watching liam at ten, eleven and twelve months and being in complete amazement at how much and how quickly he learned to do things.  and how fun it was to watch and see the world through his eyes.  i'm starting to feel like averie is growing at an exponentially fast rate.  wasn't she just an itty bitty babe?  now she's crawling, standing on her own, and taking on the stairs.  hang on baby girl ... i'm not ready for this.

on the flip side i am totally loving seeing this girls personality.  she is such a happy happy girl.  her favourite thing to do is laugh and giggle.  at everything.  throwing a stuffy at the floor.  hilarious.  chasing her on the carpet.  has her in stitches.  she makes me smile all day.  everyday.  except when she's tired or hungry.  then she's a bear.  just like her momma.

ten month highlights

~  crawling around like nobody's business

~  climbing stairs all by herself, with mommy or daddy right behind of course
~  learned to stand up on her own
~  loves peaches, strawberries, blueberries, cantaloupe, cucumber, banana, yogurt, cheerios, avocado
~  does not like eating meat.
~  wearing 6-12 and 9-12 month clothing and size 3 diapers
~  loves her bath time.  we're now doing a bath every night.  has helped with her sleeping.
~  sleeping is up and down, some nights good, some nights bad.
~ still waking once or twice a night to feed, starting transition formula to hopefully end these.
~  officially has five teeth, three upper and two lower
~  weighing in around seventeen pounds, had to weigh her at the pharmacy
~  went to the pharmacy for her first antibiotics because she had her first ear infection.  boo.  poor girl has been sick way too much.
~  wants to play with everything and anything that liam has.  he hates this.
~  hates, and i mean screaming kicking flailing hates, being put into her car seat.
~  loves snuggles with mommy and daddy.
~  has some "words" mum mum mum, and directed at me.  and da-dee, directed at rob.
~  she loves music and dances bum scoots when its on.

in less than two months baby girl will be a year.

looking forward to the fun things ahead.

walking, running, learning to talking, no more late night feeds.

and sleep.  looking forward to sleeping through the night.

what does that feel like again?

nine months and three to go

well averie's eighth month has come and gone and i have zero intention of recording it.  it's not that i don't want to have every months milestones recorded somewhere, i just honestly don't remember what happened, what she did, you know the important things.  life has just gotten in the way of all that.  it's hard to find time to sit down and think about those things let alone actually have a quiet moment to sit at the computer reminiscing.  ha.  quiet moment.  anyone with multiple children ever have these mythical quiet moments?  that would be in some fantasy world right?  right.  i did however manage to get a sort of "quiet moment" and took some photos of averie girl while liam was napping.  um yeah, my almost three year old still naps.  perhaps this fantasy world does exist, in some form anyway.

nine month milestones

~ waves hi and good-bye, love love loves to clap

~ she loves to play peekaboo and it's super cute, managed to get her on video a few times

~ she's crawling all over the place, still mostly army style but full on crawl when she's on the carpet

~ learning to stand and pulling herself up ... on everything

~ loves to babble and "talk" to us.  current vocabulary consists of dada, da-dee, and mmmmmmmm

~ we still only have the two bottom teeth, with her top right starting to cut through now

~ wearing 6-9 and 6-12 month clothing, as well as size three diapers

~ unfortunately for me averie is still up twice a night to nurse and lately it's been more.  there have definitely been some struggles in the sleep department with this little one.  

~ eating has gotten a lot better.  her current favourites are cheese, cantaloupe, banana and cheerios.  she's starting to give meat a chance, but it's usually hit and miss and she's not a veggie girl unlike her brother.

~ averie loves to make faces, especially scrunching up her nose and shaking her head "no"

~ her favourite toy is her lamb-ie and when she won't settle at night she'll grab not him and snuggle

~ she absolutely refuses to wear socks or shoes.  this one kinda sucks because she has some super cute shoes.

~ she wants to play with whatever liam has and do whatever liam is doing.  she's totally gonna be his shadow.  and for the most part like a quarter of the time, liam doesn't mind.  the other three quarters he freaks out and tells her "no averie"

~ and last, but not least, averie had the chicken pox this month.  yup three month shy of her twelve month vaccinations containing the chicken pox vaccine.  she had a relatively mind case, but it still sucked.  poor girl.

i can't believe that in three short months our baby girl will be a year old.

not only that, but my maternity leave will be over.

i am looking forward to going back to work.

let's face it, being a teacher has it's perks, especially when you are a parent.  

i have every major holiday and summer vacation to look forward to with both our littles.

but ...

there is still a part of me that longs to be with both my kids.

all day.

every day.

love you my little nine month-er.

always.

seven months

my dear beautiful averie.  at seven months old you have changed so much i can hardly remember you as a tiny babe in my arms let alone being inside my belly a year ago.  you have become a curious, inquisitive explorer of all things.  you laugh and smile all day long as you brighten the day for all of us.  you are in awe of your big brother and do everything you can to get his attention and "play" with him.  even if it means taking one of his toys or his jammies.  you adore your daddy and constantly flirt and play coy with him.  daddy will always be your first love.  it melts my heart to see you two together.  i cherish most of these moments we spend together as i know they will never happen again.  as you get older i know that our quiet late night feeds will be coming to a close in a few months.  that our very early morning snuggles before everyone is up will be over.  i know that i will inevitably look back on these and wish them back ... most of them anyway.  my sweet girl you are precious and i love seeing the world through your eyes.  you amaze me everyday and i thank you for that.  i love you always.

seven month milestones & firsts:

~  your second bottom tooth made its appearance
~  sleeping has gotten better, up at night for a nurse with an early morning feed around 6:00 am
~  you prefer to sleep on your side or on your tummy with your bum in the air
~  you are wearing some 3-6 month pants but mostly 6-9 or 6-12 month clothing now
~  there has definitely been some growing, had to extend the straps in your car seat
~  you're such a big girl sitting up all on your own ... with only a few spills and head bonks
~  you've had some fun firsts: first airplane ride, first time in the ocean, first family vacation, first "swimming" experiences
~  started swim lessons with your brother ... and you love the water!
~  eating is still a struggle for you.  you prefer your purees mixed with baby cereal and you're kind of picky.  refuses absolutely all meat and most of what i've made for you.
~  typical day of food for you: mixed grain and fruit cereal for breakfast
                                               veggie and fruit purees for lunch (store bought, won't eat what i make)
                                               mommy puree and rice cereal mixed for dinner
                                               still nursing as her snacks, before bed and once or twice during the night
~  no real signs of crawling yet, but you move yourself around by rolling to what and where you want
~  you are starting to "play" with your brother and your toys.  of course liam has to play with your toys first and decide if you are allowed to play with them.

five and six months

averie has grown so much since i last posted about her.  she turned seven months old a few weeks ago.  seven months.  wow.  she's not my wee little newborn anymore.  she's a baby that is nearing her first birthday quickly.  and by quickly i mean in five months.  that kind of quickly.  i wanted to make sure i recorded some of her milestones from her fifth and sixth months, even though they were a few months ago.  kind of makes sense to do it before her seven month post.

averie had a particularly eventful fifth month.  she got her first round of croup which resulted in two trips to the children's hospital and her first (and hopefully ever) ride in an ambulance.  because she got so sick she actually lost weight during february.  just before her sixth month check up, averie only weighed thirteen pounds.  she was listed in the fifth percentile for weight.  and only in the tenth percentile for height.  she really wasn't nursing all that well when she was sick.  makes sense that she didn't gain anything.  in all honesty these are about the only things that i remember.  it was a pretty rough go during january and february.  we're very happy they are over.  

averie at six months seemed so different from five.  first she was finally healthy again.  a healthy baby equals a happy baby.  also did some growing, meaning she was eating more regularly again.  at her six month vaccination appointment she had already put on a pound and a half, in only two weeks.  she was still teeny tiny at fourteen and a half pounds, but she moved into the twelfth percentile.  much better than the fifth.  

six months also brought her first introduction to solid food.  feeding her was and still is a little tricky.  liam loved almost everything i made for him, except fruit.  averie on the other hand refused everything except heinz organic rice cereal.  talked to some of my mom friends and one suggested i try jarred food and then move to my homemade stuff.  picked up a few jars and low and behold it worked.  whateves, she'll eventually eat the stuff i've made, it's all packaged up in the freezer just waiting for her.  i've made a bunch of recipes from a great book called "the baby's table."  blogged about it way back when i was making food for liam.  check it out here.

averie also had another very big first ... her first tooth cut at the end of march, with her second following a week later.  this made for some very sleepless nights for us both.  poor girl, it was not hard to tell that she was in pain.  i got her some amber teething beads, not sure if they really work but it couldn't hurt.  i also use camilia and tylenol for pain as well as plenty of cold clothes and teething rings.  really hope that the rest of the teeth aren't as bad, for both our sakes.

so that's where we were at.  i've been much better about jotting things down for her seventh month than these two.  hopefully have her seven month post up soon.  who knows.  that's what happens when life is happening.  

four months old

first i'd like to start this post with a thank you to everyone who reads and comments on this little blog.  just want to let you know that you all rock and your words brighten my day.  i rarely, if ever respond to comments posted, but i just wanna let you know they are not going unnoticed.  basically this is my way of responding to all past and future comments.  ha.

moving on.  the little miss turned four months old ... so what if it happened a week and a half a go.  she's four months!  how did that happen, and since when did she start looking like this baby and not a new born?  think i said the same thing last month too.  seriously i feel like she just came out of me and that she's been with us always ... all at the same time.  i can't imagine life before her and life with her sometimes feels like a blur.  one diaper filled, pukey, breastfeeding, tummy time, laundry filled blur.  and i wouldn't have it any other way.  unless someone was offering me a full uninterrupted night of sleep.  that would be awesome.  awesome.

to say there's been some tiredness around here this month would be a slight understatement.  between christmas, new year's, ski adventures and tons of family time, sleep was not a high priority.  i was sort of happy to see december end.  and averie started teething.  so much earlier than when liam started.  he was eight months old before he really started teething.  thank god for camilia and tylenol ... the combination seems to work for her.  she also enjoys a good chew on a chilled teething ring.  wish i could make the hurt not hurt so much.  poor baby girl.  damn you teeth.  damn you.

in other monthly updates, averie is finally starting to go longer between feeds on a more regular basis.  we've now graduated to feedings every four hours consistently during the day and she's been going five and even sometimes six hours at night.  this would be a great amount of time for me to get some sleep if i went to be when she did, at 7 pm.  but i'd much rather be tired and do other things, like watch downton abby or blog or read a book or spend time with that guy i married.

little miss is wearing a combination of 0-3 months and 3-6 months clothing.  and man did she get spoiled in the clothing department at christmas.  there are some very cute outfits coming in her future.  she just needs to grow so she can wear them.  this girl has a wardrobe that i even envy.

she's rolling again.  we had a couple rolls from front to back earlier but then never again.  this month she's started up again and is now trying her skills going from back to front.  i can see the days of her being stationary dwindling.  we've also brought up 'the circle of neglect' otherwise know as an exersaucer to most people.  so far she's enjoying it.  averie will grab at the animals and make attempts to spin around.  liam likes to help her out when she's doing this and gets a kick of it.   really i think averie just wants is to grab everything or anything so she can shove it into her mouth and chew on it.

baby girl is a laugher.  she loves to laugh and the littlest things will get her going.  when she's not teething or spitting up on me she giggles and giggles and giggles.  it's adorable and makes my heart melt every time.  every. single. time.  i've even caught myself tearing up listen to her.  perhaps it's the hormones.  perhaps it's a mom thing.  perhaps it's both.

other four month highlights:
~ current weight: 12.5 lbs.
~ current height: 21 inches
~ celebrated her first christmas and new years
~ met her uncle pete
~ went on her first family ski day to lake louise.  no snowboarding for her yet, just a day in the lodge.
~ is "playing" more with liam
~ exploring everything with her hands and then her mouth
~ is finding her voice, this involves screeching at 4:30 in the morning or 3:30 in the afternoon for no apparent reason.  she also like to yell at her toys.  its pretty cute, except the 4:30 in the morning part.
~ averie has her dad's smirk and uses it all the time.  she going to be trouble this one.

i love you my sweet girl.

for like ever.

baby's three months!

on thursday last week averie turned three months old.  there are days when i can't believe that she's already three months, and there are days when i can't believe that she's only three months!  regardless of the day, she is showing more and more of her personality each day.  and she's gonna be a riot this one.

averie at three months:

~ she loves to giggle and the littlest things make her giggle.  sometimes its as simple as seeing her reflection in the mirror or mommy just sticking out her tongue.

~ she absolutely adores her big brother.  i have make sure that this is documented somewhere because i know that at some point during her teenage years she may truly dislike him and i'll always be able to remind her that she really does love him.  liam also adores her.  it's amazing to watch these two together.  i really feel (and hope) that they will be close siblings.  just call it mothers intuition.

~  averie has begun to grab onto her toys ... and then proceed to put them in her mouth.  basically everything that is within grabbing reach is now ending up in her mouth.  this is new territory for me, liam didn't put anything in his mouth.

~  she loves her play mat and could spend every waking moment on it.  giggles away when the music is on and kicks her legs like she's running a race.

~  on the flip side, she is definitely not too keen on being in her bumbo.  we'll keep putting her in it and hopefully she'll get used to it.  i'm looking forward to bringing out the exersaucer, or as we like to call it 'the circle of neglect'.

~ loves loves loves her bath time.  averie splashes the entire time she's in the tub and has an ear to ear grin.  she could be completely melting down and once she here's the bath running she's super happy baby.

~  still cooing and babbling all the time.  i find she's really talkative in the morning, i think she's going to be a morning person.  she gets a little crabby in the evening.

~  will take a bottle, only if it's breast milk though.  we tried a bottle of formula and she gagged.  we'll keep trying because it don't have enough supply to nurse and pump.

~ she's wearing all her 0-3 month clothing and some 3-6 month stuff.  she's just so long that somethings are too small.  so looking forward to seeing her in her two christmas outfits!!

~  at her vaccination appointment she weighed 10 lbs.  and that was almost a month ago.  not a fun time.  she screamed for about ten minutes after.  poor girl.  i think she's got to be around 11 lbs. at least.

~  averie rolled over from her front to her back for the first time on her three month birthday.  all on her own.  i think this is way early.  i don't remember liam rolling until he was around five months.  now i'm all worried that she'll be walking in six months.  i'm so not ready for that!!

happy three months miss moo

looking forward to your first christmas 

and all the fun things during your fourth month