From the Mouths of (Our) Babes

We have a routine for bedtime. We stick to it as we can. Avery really seems to like it (and, admittedly, so do we), and he's predictably tired at about the same time every night, 7pm. In fact, the other night, we visited Avery's Popi (my dad). Avery had a grand time. But at promptly 7:05pm, Avery got up from what he was doing (rolling around on the floor and laughing) and walked right over to the door and started knocking and pointing. It was TIME FOR BED, he indicated. He said, "Ba'bye" and pointed and pointed at the door, frustrated that we were not leaving RIGHT THAT MINUTE. He fell asleep about three minutes later in the car. Last night, however, Walker was out at a work event and we couldn't really follow the regular routine. I asked Avery to sit on the couch and read while I cleaned up after his dinner. He did so, very well. He entertained himself, and clomped around the living room, chatting. Tonight, he decided this must be part of a n...

This weekend we went to a wedding. One of the discussions over dinner was the fact that both young children and dogs seems to love, and/or are fascinated by, squirrels. Avery is no exception. Lately, because we have a little garden, Avery has spent long periods of time just sitting in his stroller with a drink, watching the squirrels putter in and out of the bamboo. So Hopie went to the library with Avery and took out three books on Squirrels. They also, as discussed previously, collected nuts. The nuts are a bit annoying because they basically are spattered randomly around the house and get caught underfoot. I have been throwing them out into the garden when I find them. But the books, those are pretty fun. Avery started choosing his own bedtime books a bit ago. Choices were pretty much based on size, he loved tiny books, like "Busy Trucks" by Richard Scarry (a hand me down from Cousin Finn). I think he loved it mostly because it was SMALL. He also loved the ...

So Grandma Sally and Daddy took over today. Thank you! xoxo

Grandma Sally brought over a little collection of tiny board books with pictures of trucks on topics like "The Seasons", "Colors", and "Words". We're not sure what it is about certain books that Avery just loves. Is it being read to? Or is it just that these books are small, can fit in his little chubby hands. Or is it the trucks? We're not sure. But we know he loves them!

Gary celebrated his bday yesterday, and there were lots of little guys there to join in the partying. Avery enjoyed romping in the romper room and reading books, "cockadoodledoing" (really) with his new pals and hanging out with his buddy, Gabriel.

We visited the library on the last full day in P'town. Avery was the only little guy for story time, so enjoyed a selection chosen especially for him. Librarian Sarah, and volunteer Katie, read some books, while Avery played with the toy trucks, trains and blocks. There was also a little spot to have a puppet show, and colorful pillows to sit on. It was a nice break from the very HOT and muggy day.

Avery had a long walk with his papa this AM to Connie's Bakery. He enjoyed challah rolls and apple fritters, and met Jack and Keyla (two weeks younger than Avery), who he later ran into at the playground. When he returned, he spent some time in the beach, running right up into the water. He then squealed a bit and pointed, clearly not wanting the water to go any higher than mid-chubby thigh. At night, before dinner, Avery read some books with Grandpa Tom and Grandma Sally, and with his dad. He loves the book "Little/Big", but we think it's mostly because it's a perfect size for his little hand.

Avery spent some time reading with Auntie Hopie today. He really loves books that have photos of real objects with their words printed underneath. We have a few of these "My First Word" books and he loves pointing out photos and hearing the names of the objects. Avery's also been asserting his independence recently. For example, he loves choosing his bedtime books now. He refuses to read something that was chosen FOR him, and instead will wiggle his way down off the rocking chair, and choose a few books from his bookshelf HIMSELF for us to read. I LOVE that he's doing this, and that he's starting to feel some freedom in his own baby-way. Lately, his favorites have been: "Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What Do You Hear?" by Eric Carle, "My Many Colored Days" by Dr. Seuss, "Pond" and "Forest" by Lizi Boyd (given to him by cousin Finn), "Busy Trucks" by Richard Scarry, the whole Nutshell Library ("Chicken Soup ...