From the Mouths of (Our) Babes

Avery is officially walking! He was taking a few wobbly, straight-legged steps and then lunging into us, or the furniture, after his first steps on May 14th. Yesterday, however, he walked the length of the pool, and across the park. He walked across the living room, and up the small street next to our house on the way home. He even walked right over to the table hockey and looked like he wanted to play. Generally, when he reached a resting spot, he looked up at us with a huge smile on his face (though clearly not in this picture Walker took yesterday). He's still tentative with his steps, and he's still very careful. He makes sure he is balanced before he takes off, and he doesn't run. He seems very cautious and thoughtful in everything he does. He eased us all in to this walking thing, and I think we are all ready!

When you ask Avery, "How old are you?" this is what he'll do. We don't think he understands the concept that he is one yet, but he's gotten praised for putting up one finger, so he'll put up a finger like this. We also visited the doctor's this week because we were all exhausted, and under the weather. She told us that yes, maybe Avery and I have a cold, but really it all was about sleep. She said that Avery should not fall asleep drinking a bottle. We put him to sleep the last two nights without a bottle, just a book and bed. And he's slept right through! 7pm until 5am Thursday, and 7pm until 6am today! Sleep! Yay! We're going for 7pm to 7am tonight. It IS the weekend, after all. We should have had this talk with her a LONG time ago.

The day of Avery's first birthday party was quite busy and quite hot. We spent the morning picking up cupcakes and balloons. With all of the activity, Avery only had one short nap the whole day. That did not stop him, however, from whooping it up during his party. He seemed content the whole time, even as people packed into our tiny house to celebrate. There was sangria for adults, and a kiddie version. Family, neighbors and friends attended, including Kate and her new sister Caroline (only 8 weeks old), Sophia, and Baby Bosco. "Uncle" Gary brought his guitar, and we sang songs, including Old McDonald's Farm, and drew on the sidewalk with chalk. Avery tried both chocolate and vanilla cupcakes. He seemed to like them both equally. After the party, he and his friend Gabriel helped with the dishes.

We dressed Avery up in a dog suit today to head out in the icy weather. It's a warm little outfit, with ears and a tail, and really is quite cute. It was given to us in by our generous hand-me-down friends, so we were not sure if it was a snowsuit, or a Halloween costume. We are not apt to dress Avery in the make your baby look cutesy-cute with duckies and bears on top outfits. The thing about this outfit is that it allows us to just move this little flap of fabric over his hands to keep his hands warm, as he tends not to like mittens. Most baby mittens are large mits anyway, so this suit, with it's flaps, is clever. It has a built in hat as well, that covers everything. And then there are the ears. It was possibly an outfit he'll be mad we dressed him in when he's older, but it worked for today. I do sometimes wonder if our idea of what looks completely adorable (grown up clothes in tiny versions, mostly) will BE the clothing he will be embarassed by when he ...

Daddy wanted to document the last of my original hair(s). He says I have a baby comb over. That's not nice. And I'm not just crawling, I am climbing. I climbed up a step today! I did it all by myself, and was so pleased when I got to the top. Then I tried to eat a plant. Yay, me!