one of these days...

it's hard not wishing for the next stage to hurry up and get here.  i know we're supposed to be enjoying each stage for what they are.  but...we've been wishing and waiting for avery to get walking for what seems like forever.  when you say this to people, "oh, you'll wish that you she wasn't walking when she finally does!"  but really, she's into everything as a crawler.  she's ridiculously fast.  and she's angry to be tied down to a stroller/shopping cart/carseat.  i think walking will be an improvement.

i used to go and wander the mall (or winners) daily with ben during the winter or on rainy days.  we had no where to be so i would just hold his hand and we'd walk slowly around the mall.  with avery, there's very few mall days and no winners shopping because she just wants to get out.  you can let a one year old child get out of their stroller and walk around with nothing but smiles and coos from strangers.  it's a different story when you let your one year old get out of the stroller and crawl.  on the rare occasion that i've gone to the mall as a reprieve from our house, i go to the far end of the mall near sears where it's the least busy to let avery have a crawl around.  people look at me like "i can't believe you're letting her do this."  grandmas say "she's going to be filthy!"  yes.  she will be.  but i can wash the clothes and the hands - i can't keep this girlie in her stroller!  it doesn't help that my 3 year old feels the need to crawl everywhere with her.  they're a bit of a sight.  needless to say, we RARELY go to the mall these days.  i'm sure tim appreciates this...  ;)  but the retailers miss me - i know it!

teething fever

avery has only had two teeth since she was about 8 months.  her first birthday came and went with no new teeth.

a few weeks ago, i was in zeller's (they had big sales because they're closing down) and the cashier took one look at avery's smile and said, "it looks like she'll be getting her top teeth in 15 - 20 days."  i kind of laughed and asked, "is that your prediction?"  she replied, "it's not a prediction - it's the truth.  i am a dental hygenist."  i was a little stunned so i didn't ask anymore questions though now, i'm wondering why was she working at zellers!?

well, sure enough, about 3 weeks later, avery is teething like crazy.  she's been up in the night 3 - 4 times (for over a week now), moaning with her finger in her mouth.  the last two days, she's had a fever - her whole body has been a little furnace.  last night, at midnight, i was feeling like, "is this bad that i'm letting this fever go and not taking her to the doctor?" but at 5am, i went in and she was soaked with sweat but no longer feverish.  so hopefully, that's all we see of the fever.  her top two teeth seem to have poked through but i think the teeth on either side are on their way in.

it's tough being a baby.  ;)

movies

kids seem to love buzz&woody and lightening mcqueen.  these two movies are EVERYWHERE.  i don't know how kids can watch those long movies at 2 years old but ben was never the kind of kid to watch anything longer than a curious george.  (which is great, really.)  but let's be honest, i've been looking forward to having a reason to watch kids movies.  

on the last weekend of august, we had our first movie night with ben and avery.  ben had never watched a full length movie before.  we laid out a blanket on the living room floor for an indoor picnic while we watched our movie.  i didn't plan it in too much advance so when i turned on netflix and realized (duh) there was no disney, the next logical choice was Rio.  

i was disappointed that our first movie wasn't Cars or Toy Story (although the mean kid is a little too scary) but as the movie started, there was lots of music (which avery loved) and the "bad guys" weren't scary - bonus.  ben asked questions during most of the movie - i did a lot of narrating.  i remember my dad describing what was happening in movies for me and i always liked it...hopefully, my kids feel the same way.  anyways, it wasn't too long and ben seemed to like it - at least, he was interested until the end.  

i didn't take any photos but found this little video clip with the kids watching the opening scene: 

so this past weekend, tim saw that Cars was playing on tv so he recorded it.  i was excited to for ben to see the movie that his friends love and sport on their clothes/underwear/pull-ups/toothbrushes/beach towels etc.  we got it started at dinner and tim and i were pretty into it but ben lost interest after the first race.  he was off playing and i kept pausing the movie, saying, "are you still watching this or should i turn it off?"  usually, by the time i ask this question about curious george in the morning, the answer is "turn it off" but he continued to say, "i'm still watching" so i guess he liked it well enough.  but really, are any 3 year olds watching full length movies?  or do they just like the characters?  the experience definitely encouraged me not to bother with a movie theatre for at least a few more years.  :)