Voicing his demands

Our dog has been on high alert lately. Really, really, extremely wound up, high alert. I think it's a combination of  re-listing the house, which results in 3 showings in one day, and a brazen little rodent invading out backyard (although I doubt he'll be sticking around after two close encounters with Stella this weekend). She's barking more than normal, and apparently even the littlest ears in our home are less than pleased. The other night we let her outside right after Carter had gone down for bedtime. Over the monitor, we heard a mini drill Sargent:

"Stella! No barking!"

Which was followed by another bark, and then another annoyed command:

"Stella! Do! you! understand! me?? I said... NO! BARKING!"

11 Months of Avery

Dear Avery,

Today you are 11 months old.

I cannot believe there’s only one month left until your first birthday. Time flies when you’re sleep deprived. It’s a good thing you are so cute because we really haven’t slept nearly enough in 11 months. (especially since you’re still sleeping in our room since you wake up your brother). One night last week you woke up at 3am, and there you were, standing up in your pack and play, smacking both hands on the bed and yelling “dada! dada! dada!” with the most adorable smile.  You’ve even spent a few nights this month playing at the wee hours of the night when the rest of us would really like to be sleeping. If you could just start sleeping better, that would be so kind of you.

Your nickname this month is Avery Monster. You are all over the place and into everything. You love all of your brother’s toys. You are obsessed with his trains, his trucks, his books, pretty much anything he’s playing with. We often have to warn him, “Carter, look out, Avery Monster is coming.” Once you reach your destination, you take over and destroy, a little bit like Godzilla. I’m sure you’re just making up for 11 months of your brother stealing your toys from you. I’m actually glad you can hold your own now, even though your brother may feel differently. He doesn’t mind too much though, your brother loves you a whole lot.

A few days before Easter you were really, really sick. You came down with a sinus infection and pink eye and you were teething all at once. You were so miserable and grumpy, but you were better just in time for our festivities. Those were not fun days for anyone, lots of whining and clinging and crying. It was just so sad to watch you so miserable, we were all relieved when you started to perk back up to your normal, cheerful self.

We had a fun Easter this month with a handful of different celebrations. In true Avery Monster fashion, you were absolutely obsessed with everyone else’s Easter eggs. Since they’re not a great toy for a baby, I didn’t give you any of your own. That did not deter you from trying to get to your brother’s stash, or your cousins’, or whatever else you could give your little hands on.

You took your first step last Friday. One, tentative, wobbly, unsupported step! You are so close to walking, but you’re a very proficient crawler so you tend to prefer that instead of even trying to walk. You are talking a lot these days, although we’re not really sure what you’re saying. A few words are more clear, specifically mama, dada, and bye-bye a few times. The past few weeks you’ve been yelling “Gob! Gob! Gob!” really loud, from the back of your throat. It’s so funny to hear such a deep growling from such a tiny, sweet girl. You love to play peek-a-boo, which you have now started initiating on your own. You use a hat or a blanket to cover your face, then laugh when you pull it away and look at us expectantly for our laughter. You are already a little comedian.

You also now know what “no” means and sometimes you listen. It is so funny to watch you pause and spin back around away from the forbidden object. Last weekend you were crawling around the corner to the dog water (of course!) and when I told you no you immediately changed directions and fled back to the playroom like you were surprised you got caught. I’m sure this obedience won’t last long, but it’s more than we ever got from your brother and it’s awfully cute. I’m sure someday very soon we’ll reminiscence about the days you used to listen to us when we told you “no” and you didn’t say it back to us, but for now we’re just embracing every sweet, innocent moment.

Much love,

Mama

Bad Ideas

As Carter continues to learn about the world around him in his own unique way, he often asks us, "Is that a good idea or a bad idea?" 90% of the time he already knows, and 95% of those he knows are bad ideas. So when we hear....

"Is thiiiiis a good idea?!?!" dissolve into high pitched squealing laughter, we don't even have to know what he's talking about to know that it is definitely not a good idea.

Another recent addition is "that's a silly thing!" Sometimes that refers to a truly silly thing, like Stella running crazed laps around the house or Avery chewing on her feet. Most of the time he uses it to describe known bad behavior. Such as:

"I was just sitting in my room and then I just jumped on my bed. That's a silly thing!"

"All my toys dumped on the ground! That's a silly thing!"

"Look! All the water jumped out of the bottle and on to my shirt! That's a silly thing!"

In the Spanish language, fault is typically assigned to the object (i.e. "the keys lost themselves"). Apparently that philosophy also applies to toddler logic.

Ten months of Avery

Dear Avery,

Today you’re 10 months old.

You are a wild girl. Your dad tried to get you dressed this morning, something you were not at all interested in. The best way to describe your movements is like a bucking bronco, squirming and kicking and repeatedly lunging forward just as he was about to put your shirt over your head. Even when you’re asleep you move quite a bit. I actually like that; I can always hear you wiggling around. Especially if it’s been a particularly stressful day or there’s a lot on my mind, it gives me a lot of peace to just listening to you sleeping, the rhythm of your breathing and the sweet little noises you make. Despite all that moving around, you also have the ability to be quite covert when you are getting into trouble. You can make it from the playroom to the dog’s water bowl in about 3 seconds with hardly a sound at all. That stealth is new to me since your brother has a telltale maniacal laugh when he’s doing something he knows is bad. I guess we just need to make an agreement that you’ll never do anything bad.

In addition to always being on the move, those movements are awfully fast. You crawl with intention and speed. One night when your dad was gone, you were playing nicely in the playroom while I was making dinner with your brother. All of the sudden you took off for the kitchen, crawling over stuffed animals and toys and right under the dining room table, dodging chairs and table legs like you had been training your whole life. You never want to miss out on the action. This speed makes it even more challenging that you’re obsessed with the dog’s water bowl. Your brother was as well, but we were able to flip the food bowl over the water to deter him. You figured that out in about 2 seconds. I looked over and you were grinning so sweetly and the food bowl was in your lap, giving you free access to the water bowl. Fortunately we’re still able to catch you before your hands make it in the water. In addition to speed crawling, you’re also cruising along furniture. In the past few days, you’ve started to stand unsupported. After a few contemplative seconds, you usually just plop down and crawl where you want to go, but I know you’re thinking about taking steps.

You still love food, especially puffs. Every night we give you a handful of rice krispies at dinner, usually after you’ve finished your food and we’re trying to finish ours, and the very second they land on your tray you lunge forward with both arms. We have to spread them out to keep you from shoving entire fistfuls into your mouth at one time. You start yelling predictably as soon as they’re gone. On weekday mornings, there’s a lot of hustle and bustle around our house to get out the door. If all goes well, you and your brother get to watch a few minutes of a show while your dad and I pull things together before we head out the door. While you’re contained in your exersaucer, we give you a few puffs or other snacks to munch on. We always know the second they’re gone when we hear you start yelling. You make the funniest noises! There’s been a lot of really loud growling from you lately. I honestly don’t know where you learned it, but it’s hilarious. We are so grateful for all the noise and joy you bring to our lives.

Love,

Mama

Choosing Joy

I'm losing my patience today, or I should say losing what little was left of it. There are a whole string of complaints I could rattle off and list for pages. But I choose joy.

Yesterday was an unexpectedly beautiful day here, clear blue skies and warm sunshine. We spent the afternoon out in the backyard. We set up a ball pit tent, which Avery loved. Carter ran circles around all of us, and over us a few times. The dog oversaw the activities. It's so easy for me to overlook those blessings on days like today when life is generally filled with annoyances, but I'm holding on to that moment. And taking lot of deep breaths!

From the mouths of baby mamas

My dear, sweet, energetic, strong-willed boy has been emphasizing the energetic and strong-willed lately. I keep finding myself saying things that I never imagined coming out of my mouth. Here are some from this weekend:

"Do not lick your sister!"

"Don't throw your bread in the dog's water."
Followed a few minutes later by "No, you cannot eat your bread once it's been in Stella's water bowl."

"Take your slinky out of your cheerios."

Nine Months of Avery

Dear Avery,

Today you are nine months old.

You’ve officially been out in the world as long as long as you were inside getting ready for the world. I am not a woman who adored pregnancy, but there were some amazing and wonderful things I cherished. When I was pregnant, I loved that you went everywhere with me. Even when you were lodged on my sciatic nerve and I could barely walk, I loved when I could feel you wiggling around in there. Your kicks were always reassuring, even in the middle of the night when they kept me from sleeping. Even though it’s a scary time, I felt like I could better protect you. But let me tell you, I adore having you on this side. You add so much joy and light and love to our lives.

This has been a busy month for you. At dinner a few nights ago, your dad even made a comment that you seem like a different baby in the last month. Your personality continues to grow every day and we love getting to see more of who you are. You are also learning so much every day. You’re now pulling yourself up on everything! You’re also starting to shuffle your feet while you’re holding on to the table or the couch and take a few tentative steps while we hold on to your hands. I’m pretty sure you’re going to be walking earlier than your brother was crawling.

You are so full of joy. Your smile lights up the whole room. You’re still such a charmer, snuggling close but smiling at strangers. You’re happy 90% of the time. That other 10%... well, let's say you've got enough spunk to hold your own around here. You laugh often, but you smile all the time. We love you so much baby girl, I just can’t even imagine our life without you. 

We’ve all been sick a lot this month. Between two kids and two parents, we seem to just pass everything around. You’re such a trooper, even when you’re totally miserable. You are NOT thrilled when you can’t have your pacifier, though. A few times you’ve been so stuffed up you couldn’t use it, and even though you don’t seem to care about your pacifier much, the fact that you couldn’t have it was just not okay with you! You spent a lot of nights sleeping on me and your dad this month. It’s not the best long term strategy, but it’s also a sweet time. We know it won't be long before the days of you curled up on our chests is only a memory, so we are cherishing it while we can.  

Much love,

Mama

Bedtime Lullabies

Carter currently has a routine (with his father, not me, might I add) to listen to a few songs before bed. For the first few, he burns off some energy with his awesome dance moves, and then he settles down and chills for the last one. His current bedtime playlist is:

Party Rock Anthem by LMFAO
Numa Numa by whoever the heck that is
Magic by  BOB featuring Rivers from Weezer
In Your Arms, aka The Jelly Bean song, which has this awesome video

This is the same child who, as an infant, loved Getting Jiggy With It. I think we may have a problem, or a future b boy, on our hands.

From the mouth of Carter

Today at Souplantation ,Carter scored a little soft serve. Seth explain that he needed to take little bites, and if he ate ice cream too fast he would get brain freeze.

A few minutes later, Carter asked "Daddy, you ate too much rice and got a brain head?"

Eight Months of Avery

Dear Avery,

Today you are eight months old. Well, technically today you are eight months and one day.  That’s fitting though, because your whole life I have felt like I was prepared for what I anticipated next and then all the sudden I was caught off guard when it actually happened. As you reach more milestones, that continues to be true. I’ll probably still feel this way when you graduate from college.

This has been a very busy month. We had a lot of fun and a lot of celebrations… and a few less pleasant things. In the first seven months of your life, you never got sick. Not once. In the last month, you’ve been sick twice, two colds you probably got from your brother. I got both of them, too. We’ve spent a lot less time sleeping this month. Hopefully next month will hold more sleep and less sickness.

Now on to the fun things! We celebrated your first Christmas. You loved it, and of course got way too many presents. You took it all in and wanted to be a part of every moment. You spent Christmas Eve and Christmas Day charming all of your family, especially those who don’t get to see you as much as we do. You seemed to do well with everyone as long as you couldn’t see me. The moment I walked into a room when someone else was holding you, you started fussing. It was a busy Christmas, full of family and festivities, and you kept up with all of us. In fact, you may have had more energy than we did after all of the celebrations. Christmas Night you were so amped up you didn’t fall asleep until hours after your bedtime.

You’re crawling quite efficiently now, earlier and faster than your brother. You are determined to crawl to every bookshelf and attempt to eat every book. Don’t tell Carter, but there’s now a Diego book missing a corner. If we had caught you 30 seconds later it would probably be missing the entire cover. You’ve also continued to find your voice with great exuberance! You make a few odd noises that can really only be described as growling. A few days ago you started clapping. When you first started trying it a few days ago, you looked at your hands like you couldn’t figure out who was moving them for you, almost bewildered. Then, you slowly started moving your right hand with intention, smacking it against your stationary left hand. Now, only a few days later, you’ve got all the timing and coordination almost down. It is so amazing to watch you figure out the world and your place in it.

I usually feed you first thing in the morning, and those still quiet moments with you snuggled in bed are one of the best parts of my day. I spent 10 days at home with you and your brother and I loved being home with you all day. I was sad to go back to work, but thankful for our time together. We celebrated New Year’s Eve with dinner out, where you were determined to grab everything you possibly could (and a lot we thought you couldn’t reach) and chuck it all on the floor. You didn’t make it to midnight, but you were up shortly after. As we took a moment to reflect on the year, we had so much to be thankful for. You are without a doubt the best thing that happened in 2011. I’m excited for 2012, to watch you grow and see where this year takes us. I’m just so continually thankful to be able to experience each new day with you.

Love,

Mama