A few of her favorite things

Avery is changing every day and it is so much fun to be a part of. Her vocabulary is literally multiplying daily and she can do just about any animal noise you can think of. She has become extremely affectionate and will hand out hugs and kisses to anyone within reach... whether they want them or not (this may become a problem in the future). She tends to get a little shy in a new environment or around people she doesn't know, but as soon as she warms up her personality explodes and we're often told by the child care providers at the church and in the kidzone at the ymca (where she spends quite a bit of time) that she is "very determined", "quite the leader", and "full of energy". Hopefully those are all good things and not the polite way of saying she is stubborn and bossy! Here are a few of Avery's favorite things as of late...

Look at that smile! Last year Avery was too small to be aware of her surroundings, but this spring she fell in love with the great outdoors the instant her feet touched the grass for the first time. She likes being pulled in her wagon, throwing and kicking her big ball, picking dandelions, and running straight into the street with wild abandon (we're working on that one).

If Avery is not outside, this is generally where she can be found. She stands at the window and pitifully begs "Gide! Gide! Go gide!". "Gide" is Avery speak for "outside". We're working on that too. (Please ignore the little handprints on the glass. Washing windows is on the to do list). Notice that she is wearing one shoe. That leads us to her next obsession...

Shoes! A month ago if I tried to put a shoe on that girl's foot there was screaming and crying and running away. Then Avery learned how to stomp her feet. She figured out that if she had a shoe on her foot and stood on the hard wood floor her stomp was much more dramatic! Ever since then she has become obsessed with her shoes. She will bring them to us and ask us to put them on her feet. What a drastic change! She has more shoes than I do, thanks to hand me downs from generous friends. It's so fun to finally get use out of them! As you can see in the picture, Mommy and Daddy's shoes are also fun to take on and off.

These are Avery's fish lips. She makes this cute scrunched up face and will not stop until she gets a kiss. She will happily do it on command, but more often than not the fish lip kisses are completely unsolicited which makes them that much more meaningful. She'll be in the middle of playing, reading, running around naked, eating, you name it... and she'll suddenly stop what she's doing and give kisses. She warms my heart! I'll be sad when this stage passes by.

Reading books is another popular activity around this place. She has many books, but there are a handful that she is particularly enthralled with right now. She will pick them out, bring them to you, and sit directly on top of you while you read to her. I have no idea what started this, but most of the time when you finish a book and say "the end" she will insist on kissing the last page of the book. It's almost like she's saying goodbye to it. I hope this is a sign that she inherited my love of reading! (However, I promise I do not kiss my books)

Avery FINALLY reached the weight requirement to move out of the rear facing bucket car seat and into her big girl seat! She was starting to get awfully cramped and bored in her infant seat and she loves loves loves getting to face forward, look out the windows, and have a good view of Mom and Dad. This picture is from her maiden voyage in the new seat. She would not stop smiling and the entire car ride she was waving at everything saying "Hi! Hi! Hi!". Too cute!

Did I mention she likes to give kisses?

She does.

Did I mention that I love her?

I do.