one year later

a year ago, avery was born.  oh, how that girl has changed over this last year.  it took us a couple months to figure out that her need to sleep was greater than her need to eat.  she was slow to smile and even slower to laugh but by five or six months, she was one content little girlie.  i remember saying to people, "if i could keep her this age forever, i would - she's so perfect!" avery was so content that she just sat for months, watching ben or playing with whatever we set in front of her.  she didn't begin crawling until she was into her 9th month.  we joke that she has a turbo boost - she puts her head down and crawls double speed.  she's so fast, i don't know why she'd bother learning to walk but she does love when anyone holds her hands and helps her walk.

if we had her in bed at naps and bedtime, she was a happy girl and even the rare days that we let her stay up late, she managed like a trooper.  despite needing a lot of sleep, avery's never been one to sleep much in her carseat and she's hit or miss on the playpen sleep, however, the couple trips that we've taken (to the island and to whistler), she's slept great in her playpen.  in her crib at home, she sleeps with her soother, hugging her bunny or blanket.

avery took forever to begin feeding herself finger foods but now she's eating almost whole meals of finger food.  she has started refusing anything green and when she does try a new food, if she doesn't like it, she just opens her mouth and lets it fall out.  her favourite foods are bread, cheese, potatoes, applesauce, yogurt, and any kind of dessert that you're willing to share.  if she sees you eating ice cream, she stands next to you screaming and shouting until you give her a taste.

i switched avery from formula to milk right on the day she turned one.  she never blinked - no big deal.  she's always been difficult to feed a bottle to, squirmy and wiggly.  i remember one night thinking that i should film myself feeding her because she was steadily drinking but both legs were kicking and arms were waving around.  i figured it would be fairly easy to ween her off her 4 bottle feeds and already we're down to about 2 bottles a day.

when avery was content and still all the time, i worried just a little that she wasn't going to have much personality but oh, was i wrong to be worried.  this little girl has a mind of her own.  she loves her brother and her grandparents.  when we laugh at something she does, she tries to do more things that will make us laugh.  she loves bracelets and can put them on herself - she's often seen crawling around with those stacking rings around her wrists.  when you put shoes or a hat on her at the store then take them off her, she screams because she wants to keep them on.  she loves it when i pretend to drop her but she doesn't like being thrown up in the air.  she loves to go down the slide and does it on her own.  she tries to get any adult to pick her up - even strangers - but she doesn't love it when big kids get too close to her face.  she doesn't mind being dirty and is desperate to follow ben outside even though she's not a big fan of crawling on the grass.

Sleeping in her new big girl car seat on the way to Whistler

we haven't quite figured out the hair yet - with a barrette, it stays in place better!  :)

Not afraid to get dirty!

we cannot imagine our family without this hilarious little girl.  her smile is contagious and she's an easy laugh when you tickle her.  ben says to her at least once a day, "i really love you, avery."  and so do we - we really love you, avery and we can't wait to see what the next year has in store for you.