From the Mouths of (Our) Babes

Avery found it fun this eve to run around with his shirt halfway off his head, like a sort of wrap. He then wanted to be swung, while yelling, "Upside down!" This wasn't great for his pre-bed winding down.

Avery was plopped into our bed this am at 5 (by Walker). He turned and said, with rising intonation, "mommy?" He then put his hands behind his head and fell asleep betwen us. When he woke at a reasonable hour (7ish), I explained that I was gone, as I had I would be, for one night in New York. He then said, "Mommy miss you." And also, "Mommy miss daddy." Then, he said, "Mommy go taxi. New York." Too amazing. And just one cute little comment---I gave him vanilla yogurt for breakfast and he replied, "Not too yummy." He didn't want anymore. Not too yummy just sounds sort of like glass half full.

So I wanted to take a picture/video/recording of some kind of the dinner conversation I had with Avery seeing as how Jane is in NYC tonight - our longest time apart since meeting, incidentally. But, there seems to be no camera, my voice recorder is out of battery and we have no less than two dead cameras in the drawer. One out of battery or tape and one that does not play well with Mac. Ah well. So, Avery at the dinner seat indicates to me by nodding in response to a question that he'd like some of the sloppy joe meat we have and then elaborates by saying: "Want some more meat!" And repeats it. A few times. It was like living with Tarzan for a moment. Without Jane. And then he moved on to wanting animal crackers and such. A picture from the camera phone in the past:

Avery found my ExpresYo'Self Liplix lip balm. He enjoyed applying it. Then, he tried to also put some on daddy.

Avery helped us paint, and then hide the eggs this morning. He was the only kid out with us, because, of course, all the other older kids had to wait until everything was hidden before storming Addison. When all the kids finally did begin their screaming and running, collecting all the eggs, Avery watched and carefully went to the wall, taking three large eggs made of chalk. He gathered them in his arms and walked around a little, watching everyone, before giving them to me, quizically. To be fair, he was the youngest one on the hunt. Then, his pal Charlie hit the scene. They ate donuts together and drew on the street with Avery's newly acquired chalk eggs. We also got Avery an Easter basket and gave it to him when he woke up this AM. He was so excited, until he realized most of the little plastic eggs were filled with raisins.

Avery checked out some car stereo ads with Walker today before settling in to his nap. Honestly, you CAN read kids anything as long as you make it seem interesting.

This morning I told Avery that on Sunday, we might go to an Easter Egg Hunt. Tonight, when I was putting him to sleep, he told me, "On Sunday, eat eggs for lunch!" I asked him to repeat himself a couple of times before I got it. He kept saying, "Yes, Yes..Sunday! Eat eggs for lunch!"

Avery LOVES the Miss Mary Mac, Mac, Mac song. I don't know why. It's the one with the clapping game, with silver buttons, buttons, buttons, all down her back, back, back. He's begun adding hand gestures to the part when the elephants jump so high, high, high (hands on the head) they touch the sky, sky, sky (hands above the head) and never come back, back, back til the fourth of July, lie, lie (shake your head, wave your hands in the air, and and yell!!!!) lieieleieilielieeialielieielielie!!!!

Avery pointed out to me that there is now a picture of "Sashee and Avery" in a frame on our bookcase. It's actually Sashee and Walker, but Avery was convinced that it was Avery. He did get the Sashee part right!

Avery frequently mimics Walker when Walker is talking on the phone. He likes to do this in the car on Wednesdays, when we work from nan and popi's. Occasionally you'll hear his little voice say something like,"non-union guys,", or, "Call Jim Lolly." This evening, he was doing this with radio. He was repeating every other word, sometimes whole sentences. He signed off from the radio with the following phrase, "I'm John Dillon, and this is Marketplace." We laughed, so he said it about five times. I think he though that "John Dillon" was the funny part, because he even said it for a laugh during story time.

Avery has really begun to tell stories and describe the world. He told me this evening, for example, that he met "tiny Lucy", the baby guinea pig, at the "mooseum" today. He used hand gestures to show how tiny she was. She's a baby, just born, and he wasn't allowed to touch her, but did say he knew she was soft. Along with the story telling, Avery narrates the world. So this has become a *bit* embarassing. For example, tonight at grocery store, Avery told Walker, "Guy following you! GUYYYY FOLLOWING YOUUUUUU!" He said it so many times, and because the guy was close behind it did seem like he was following them. Walker had to apologize to the guy, who was very understanding. Avery's narration is generally amusing (sometimes even poetic), and only embarassing when what he is saying is not necessarily flattering (and he's saying it loudly). A few days ago, for example, while eating at a "cafe" (Avery's request) a man, ...

When Avery was a baby, we used to play the Everything is FUN game. We used to bounce him up and down and just say that phrase, and he'd laugh. Today I experienced the the toddler equivalent. We had errands to run, which mostly included food shopping at various stores. Avery gleefully put his coat on so that we could go to Max's and get a banana. "Yay! BAHNAHNAH!" he shreiked, as he plopped down the stairs and out the door. He walked the whole way there, saying, "Yay!" practically the whole time. Even grumpy looking people were smiling. When we arrived, he slammed the door open, with a big smile, and said, "Banana!" And he really did eat the whole thing by the time we got across the park. The second trip was for chicken at Rittenhouse Market. Avery was saying something that, to me, sounded like, "Eye dedye denew." To this, a little old woman said, "Oh, I love you, too!" After that, Avery was wheeled around and, to e...

Avery named all of his trains this morning. He asked Walker to write the names on the bottom of the trains. Unfortunately, we didn't have the right kind of pens, so we have to wait for the official train naming ceremony, which might happen tonight. Some names chosen were: Tiny Fred Cesar This was inspired by some of the Thomas trains Sashee got him, which have their names printed on the bottom. Avery is starting to realize that letters mean something. Oh, and he can read his new car pajamas! He can tell the difference between: Beep Beep Toot Toot Vrmmmmmmm And can read those three things, on his pjs, if you ask him. They might have just been lucky guesses so far, but he's gotten them all right!

Avery crawled in his stroller this morning and wanted to go out to get breakfast cake (a muffin). He was disappointed that we were not able to leave immediately. We let him stay in his pajamas, but insisted on shoes, socks and a coat. While waiting to go, I went to hug Walker in the kitchen. Avery said, "Mommy's lovin' daddy SOOOO much."

So Avery was in his crib this morning when I went up to get him after a not so good night of sleep and, as usual, there was his pillow and several blankets and small animals (stuffed of course - what are we, barbarians?) on the floor. He's grabbing the rail of the crib and grinning ear to ear (or almost) and pumping up and down and saying "dancing!" He was dancing in the morning and I GOT TO SEE IT!! Cheers to Avery for setting the record straight this morning and others. Perhaps soon, we will get a visit with baby Samuel "Hatch" Gordon, our new favorite heavyweight.

Avery is quick to remark on the physical. He'll tell you if he likes what you're wearing, or some piece of jewelry. He remarks on things like blankets ("nice blanket, mommy!") or otherwise appealing, or non-appealing ("take off funny socks!") items. Today, he looked up at Walker when they came in from an evening walk and said, "Daddy, fuzzy hair." He thought this was HIGHLARIOUS. Walker just got a hair cut on Wednesday! Looks like nan needs to cut a bit more off.

Baby Sam was born on March 8th, weighing 7 lbs. 2 oz. Happy, healthy, doin well. We are going to visit him soon, and got him a little hat. Avery has "borrowed" it, even though it doesn't quite fit him. Here is how he looks in the little hat: And here is how he'd look in the little hat in 1912: courtesy of Uncle Eric's Photo Shop.

Today we can hear the neighbor next door. She's speaking in a really high voice and it just sounds like dodooddeeedodeedeooeeddeeeee. A lot of dodeeedododododeeeodododoeeooo. On and on with the doddeeeddo. After a while of listening, Avery decided he wanted to talk to her. He got down from the chair where we were reading, and he said, standing and looking right at the wall, "Hi neighbor! Hi neighbor next door! Hiiiii!!!" After a few seconds, he turned to me and said, "Doesn't talk. Neighbor doesn't talk." Back to the wall,"Come out, neighbor. Come out wall!" No response. We waited. He then turned to me and said, "No fun, neighbors. No like neighbors. AHhhhhh..Ahhh." Then he starting singing Old MacDonald and stuck a peanut up his nose. Don't worry. His nose is so small, it didn't fit. And then we had a talk about no peanuts up the nose.

Avery's adjusting well to the time change, and was all full of cheer this morning before we went out for a walk to get a danish at 7:30 (his request). We didn't actually get the danish, as I didn't have any cash (eek!), but instead returned home for a bagel with cream cheese. This was his second enthusiastic request. "No danish, mommy? Home! Go home! Bagel! Cream Cheese!" He's so flexible...

Avery discovered that the metal sofa legs are a great place for his magnetized trains. He's enjoyed getting down in there and just playin with trains for long periods of time. It's also a fun hiding place.

Avery's a pretty creative eater. He loves dipping, as we've posted (anything goes with mustard and/or peanut butter), likes mixing unusual pairs, and pretty much enjoys the whole dining experience. Yesterday, he asked for a little car while he was eating turkey. What I didn't realize was that he wanted to use it IN his meal. He would only eat things that were sitting on the little train. We spent the day at the Camden Aquarium today. It was pouring rain, and it seemed like Avery loved the penguins the most, which were, of course, out in the POURING rain. He came home and took an almost three hour nap, which we are hoping will help with daylight savings adjustments today. ...and Baby # Gordon might be born tonight!!!! We are thinking of Alyssa!!! He might be called Sam Gordon...but not sure until he arrives.

Avery received present from a neighbor this morning. It was a new, tiny patio chair. He has a few tiny chairs at Sashee's that he just adores. He immediately wanted to sit in it to admire his shoes. However, he did NOT want me to take any pictures. When he came home from the rain this afternoon, I took off his coat and hat and shoes and he ran over to the chair, plopped down, and said, "AHHHHHHHHHHHhhhhhh." Too funny. I wonder if we can find a cool, affordable lounge chair for kids. I would totally love to have one with our newest living room set up of a few days ago.

Avery woke up screaming in the middle of his night, which was about when we were going to sleep. His yell was so loud I thought something was eating him, or he'd fallen out of the crib, or he was suddenly incredibly ill. Soooooo, he said he wasn't feeling well, needed ibuprofen, and needed to sleep in our bed. His scream made us think that this must be true. However, when he arrived in our bed...this is how he looked. Pleased as punch. Like he knew he'd won, and he was where he wanted to be, and he felt FINE. Totally fine. NO illness whatsoever. Turkey.

Little Buds on the tree Springtime Birdies come Hear two birdies What's their names? What's their names, birdies?

Avery narrates everything. When walking home, he'll talk about every car that "zooms by" and every truck, every motorcycle. He'll ask every doggie's name, and will say, "Hi Doggie!" to each and every one. He will tell you if someone is running by, and if they are a "guy runnin' by," or a "lady runnin' by." He'll tell you if it's dark, and if it's sunny. He'll tell you when it's windy or cold. If he's on my shoulders, he'll tell everyone else he's on mommy's shoulders. It's an endless narration. Today, he picked up the magnifying glass and walked around the room. I realized his narration style is quite a good practice if he goes into science. His narration went something like this: "Pick up maginiofeeinying glass! Pick up! Avery pick up! Look through. Avery's lookin' through. See it! See the plant! Green! Big! See it! See it close. See it. Green. Wet. ...

Avery's choice for dinner tonight was peanut butter dipped in watermelon. He thought it was total coup when I let him just dip the watermelon in the peanut butter jar. Like, he was eating it, but he KNEW it was 'unusual'. Oh, and he also learned the word 'unusual' today. He saw in our cabinet a small container full of pine nuts. He asked to have some, and just loved them. I told him that they are sort of 'unusual' as a snack, but seemed perfectly fine. I am not sure why they are even unusual, as almonds, or peanuts, and cashews are not. Maybe because they're bland? So he started asking about other things were unusual, like, is watermelon and peanut butter unusual? (Peanut Butter? Watermelon? Unusual?) I just liked hearing him say unusual.

I am not sure who won, but Avery held his own staring down the scary squirrel.