On the eve of turning two

Just like most days lately, you woke up happy and ready to identify everything around you.  I put you on the potty and you went--this makes two days in a row!  That's as far as we've gone with it, though, as it seems you don't really know exactly what is going on there yet.  Then it was have a quick breakfast and pop over to the gym.  You have so much fun at the Kids' Zone that half the time, like today, when we come to pick you up at the end of our workouts, you aren't ready to go (you even cried one time last week lol!)

In the afternoon, while I was doing some laundry, you were watching Bubble Guppies and the recorded episode ended.  You kept saying, "Uh-oh, TV!" to let me know the episode had ended lol.  You are able to say sooooo many things now, it would be hard to recount them all.  You now know not just red, but also green, pink, purple and white--though you still like to say red the most.  Your first French word is 'main'; this is in fact the only word you know for hand.  You like pointing at each of us and declaring 'mom' or 'dad', and when I come home from lessons in the evening, you know it is me before I come to the living room and announce such.  You've started putting together ideas, like 'red car', 'machine all done', and 'I want in' (you say this for the ball pit).

While I went out for lessons, dad told me that you got to play a bit with the neighbor kids, then decided you needed to go for a very long walk and point out lots of dogs along the way.  Some of them were barking and when they stopped, you said, "Dogs all done!"  Lol!  Wish I could have been there for that one.

We did more laundry (you love helping with it) and played a bunch before it was your bedtime.  I think it was a great last day of you being 1.  Tomorrow we welcome you to being TWO!!!

Good Days and Bad Days

Avery, buddy, it's Dad. You know, I'm thankful that the overwhelming majority of our days together are happy and wonderful. But every once in a while, you can be a real headache. Here's a quick summary of our day so far.

First thing this morning, I sat you on your potty chair.  You sat there for a long time, but never released anything.  After a while, you wanted to stand up, so I helped you up.  You took two steps forward... and then peed on the bath mat.

I cleaned the floor, laid down a clean bath mat, took off the rest of your clothes, and stepped into the shower with you.  You shook your head, cried, squirmed and kicked, so I put you down in the tub with your toys, expecting that you’d happily play in the water as I showered like you usually do.  But no, not this time.  You cried and tried frantically to climb over the edge of the tub to escape.  So I put a fresh diaper and T-shirt on you and took you to the living room where you could be distracted by TV, toys, and breakfast while I showered.

I'd have been happier if this was
the worst thing you did today.

I showered, got dressed, and came downstairs to discover you completely rearranging your mom’s CD rack.  (By “rearranging”, I mean scattering them all over the floor.)  I immediately stacked them up and got them out of the way so you’d stop stepping all over them.  As soon as I had the last one stacked and put aside, you knocked a stack over and violently spread them out by waving your hand.  So I had to stack them again, and, of course, you tried again to knock them over.  I scolded you, you cried for about five seconds only, and then stopped.

You grabbed my hand, led me to the kitchen, and pointed at your mug on the island.  You love drinking from this mug, so I took the hint and gave you some Kool-Aid in it.  You took the mug and went back to the living room to watch cartoons while I took a minute to make myself a quick breakfast.

I heard your typical cry/growl of frustration, so I went to see what was wrong.  You had angrily thrown the mug onto the couch where about 20% of its contents had leaked onto your blankets and the sheet covering the couch.  I quickly picked it up, dried the spot the best I could, and took the mug back into the kitchen.  

I finished my breakfast and then you led me by the hand back to the fridge and pointed at the milk.  So I poured some into your blue teddy bear cup and handed it to you.  You whined loudly, pushed it away, and ran into the living room crying.

I calmed you by handing you a Rice Krispies treat, which you happily sat down and ate.  Then I smelled a horrific poop smell coming from you.  I gave you time to finish your snack (and hopefully finish pooping), and then we went to your room for a diaper change.  First, I tried to lay you down gently on one of your old receiving blankets.  Of course, this infuriated you as always.  I handed you a couple of toys to distract you while I did the dirty work, but this only worked long enough for me to get your diaper off and begin to wipe you down.  You angrily threw the toys then flipped over, smearing your stinky poop on my hand.  Your foot landed right in the dirty diaper, leaving a poop streak on the carpet as you sat up.  Since I had made the mistake of letting go of you to wipe the poop off my hand, you were able to sit up on your knees, squishing poop all over your calf muscles.  

So I again laid you down, keeping hold of your ankle this time so you wouldn't repeat that mess.  You were furious and struggled hard to turn over, but I was able to work quickly enough to clean your entire body from the waist down, which was necessary by this point.

I thought all that fussing might have worn you out.  You looked exhausted and were rubbing your eyes, so I thought maybe nap time was in order.  I tried to read you a story, but you just kept getting mad and slapping the book out of my hands.  So I tried to put you in bed, but every time I took a step toward your bed with you, you’d shriek, kick, and hit me.  So I decided to let you play for just a little longer until you were more calm and tired.

We went downstairs to the ball pit I made for you.  You were very happy to be back in there, but only as long as I was sitting there with you to pick up the balls as you threw them out.  If I dared to go four feet away to my desk, you stood up and fussed until I came back.

Finally, after picking up the balls for you (probably hundreds of times), you were ready to get out.  I lured you into your bedroom by doing the silly “Somebody Needs a Nap” dance that you love so much.  You laughed, followed me, and did the dance with me.  You were yawning and rubbing your eyes, so I knew it was nap time for sure.  I picked you up, rocked you in my arms a bit to make you laugh, then put you in bed.  You laughter instantly turned to screaming and crying as soon as I leaned over the crib rail.  But I wasn't going to let you fool me this time; I knew you were tired and needed sleep.  So I turned on your lullaby music and slipped out.  You screamed and sobbed for over 20 minutes before finally settling down to sleep, but now all is quiet.

I’m maintaining my optimism that the second half of our day will go much better after you wake from your nap.

Man, some days are rough with you, kiddo, but I love you anyway.

Dad's Guide to Translating Avery-Speak

For those who don't spend as much time with Avery as I do (which is pretty much everyone), here's a guide to translating the various sounds that are constantly coming out of his mouth these days.

Now, some of his words are easy for anyone to understand. He easily pronounces hello, corn, eat, car, tree, moon, Dad, and Mom. Other things, however, may require some clarification.

When Avery Says...	He Means...
"dack door"	"Back door"
"ah-bwaa"	"I want"
"tank too"	"Thank you"
"wass-aat"	"What's that?"
"ah-shee"	"Aw, geez!"
"gigoo"	"Tickle"
"tee-yee"	"TV"
"wed"	"Red." According to Avery, all colors are red.
"at"	"Cat"
"daw-don"	"All done" or "all gone"
"tsip"	"Chip"
"shoowoowoo"	"Shoe," but it also seems to mean socks as well.
"dara-izz"	"There it is!"
"danky"	"Blanket"
"awwann"	"Aw, man!"
"burr-foy"	"Butterfly"
"aish"	"Lights"
"bubboo"	"Bubbles"
"toar"	"Star"
"teeyah"	We have no idea. He points to seemingly random things and says this.

trying to do better at this :)

Here's a recap of your day:
You got up around 9:50, which is slightly later than usual.  Daddy typically gets you out of bed, though we do take turns at this.  As usual, you woke up happy, ready to play.
We had some breakfast, got dressed, then headed to the fitness center.  Mommy got to swim for the first time in a long time, and daddy walked almost 3 1/3 miles!  Pretty sure you had a good time as well, but unlike last time, you were ready to go with us today when we came to pick you up :)
Came back home, had some lunch, then daddy went to work.  You sat on the couch and watched some TV, drank some milk, then put some coins in your bank while mommy cleaned the living room.  You don't like it when I run the carpet cleaning machine, but you'll put up with it if you are distracted.  As you watched Team Umizoomi, you seemed tired, so after you ran around a bit, I attempted to put you down for a nap around your usual 2pm time (after changing your poopy diaper).  This did not work, much to mommy's dismay, so I had to retrieve you and let you play some more and I cleaned a bit more.  You misbehaved only once, tossing some magazines and papers off of the end table, to which I had to say a stern "NO", pat your butt, then plant you seated on the couch for a moment.  You cried for a minute, then got distracted by the TV.
Around 4:15, I tried again to put you down for a nap.  Usually, if the first time fails, the second succeeds, but not this time.  Daddy came home about 15 minutes later and you still hand't gone to sleep, so we retrieved you once again.  After playing with you a bit and sharing some barbecue chips with you (that you love so much that you were trying to drink the crumbs from the dish!), daddy went to Aldi's to get a few groceries and we played a bit.  You love to circle around the Laz-y-boy chair that daddy got me just before you were born that I used as a rocker when you were newborn and nursing (used to be in your room, now in the living room).  You hide behind it and I say, "Where's Avery?", while you cleverly peek around one side or the other from the back.  I pretend I can't see you at first and sometimes you giggle, thinking you have bested me :)  Then I turn so I can meet your eyes with mine and we make funny faces at one another.  You giggle a lot and repeat this process at least a few times.  This time, you were running around after doing so, would point to the blankie that you put in my lap and exclaim 'lankieee' (yes, you are still obsessed with these), then run off behind the chair again.  I got a call from my mom (your Nana Linda) and as we chatted, you played with your pretend cash register.  You like to hum the notes it makes when you hit the 'off' key, and also talk to it when it says phrases to you when you hit certain other keys.  Meanwhile, I said, "oh geez!" a couple of times to the story my mom was telling, and wouldn't you know, you started trying to repeat that, which came out as 'oh cheeeeessse' lol!  Dad came home, then soon it was time for me to go out to teach a lesson.
When I returned from the first one, dad told me you'd been very playful and fun, and only napped for maybe a couple of minutes.  I cleaned up the kitchen a bit, then went out to teach another lesson.  When I returned from this one, dad reported that you had been on quite the eating binge since I left.  2 Gogurts, some watermelon, some chips, a bit of a smores bar, and some water.  I began making dinner, which was to be homemade mac n cheese.  And of course you had some of this--you loooove it about as much as we do, maybe more so lol.  After dinner, we played with you a lot to get you worn out, which we thought would be sooner than your usual 11pm bedtime, but oddly was not.  We put you in the crib for sleeping around 11 and you didn't fight, think you were out right away.  Pretty sure this is the first day you've ever missed a nap almost entirely...please don't start skipping naps, mommy is not ready for that yet!!  I love you :)

Cresting 2!

Hello, it's your always busy mom, checking in once again, while I have the chance.  In just 3 weeks, you will turn 2!  Here are some highlights of what you like to do now:
* You love baths to the point that you get mad when we take you out.  You love to play with your toys in there and be silly.  You still dislike having your hair washed/rinsed, so we have to be careful about doing that.
* You are talking a lot--just words and repeated sounds, but you have a vocabulary.  For the time being, you are focused on English, since that is what you hear most (and having a summer full of exchange students, I didn't speak it much to you, but I'm correcting that now!!).  Words you say include: corn (which sounds like a New Yorker saying it), shoes (sho-woo-woos), lights (aight!), cat (instead of 'ow, you now say just 'at), TV, hello, bye bye (eye eye), teeth (eeet), uh oh, no, chip, and tree.  You still imitate the alarm system saying 'back door', too, which cracks us up.  We think you are saying 'I want' and pointing at stuff when it comes out 'ah baaaah'.  The other day, when dad was changing your diaper, he said, "Oh, man!" and ever since, you have been imitating this, complete with intonation (it's adorable and hilarious).  When Spongebob comes on, you always go "oooooooooooo" just before that part of the intro song does it (which I giggle about every time you do it).  You also like to come press the 'caps lock' key on my keyboard (since it has a nice little light blue light), so I started saying it every time, which now you repeat or say yourself (comes out 'ap ock').  And this morning, you chose at random to repeat dad saying 'backpack' when he was getting stuff out of his.  You understand a lot more than you can say, so we know it will be no time before you start chattering in full sentences and telling us all kinds of things :)

Speaking of which, we took you to the new rec center today, where you had a great time playing in the Kids Zone while we worked out.  They got you to crawl through a tunnel toy, which is something you are always a little unsure about.  You were having so much fun that you didn't seem to care about leaving lol!

You eat quite a bit, with corn on the cob, watermelon, and Wheat Thins seeming to top your list of favorites (seriously, we had to wrap up the box in paper so you couldn't see it, or you'd probably insist on mowing your way through the whole thing!)  We are currently working on switching you from bottles to cups and sippies, though you are darn picky about the latter (we have several that you refuse to even touch).

You are very, very playful, which we enjoy so much.  Most days you are pretty happy, though you do get quite mad when you don't get your way (yep, you are a budding two year old, pretty normal!)  If dad sits at the edge of the couch, on the floor, you will get up on the couch and then try to come down the front of him almost like he is a slide.  When you play with the pinwheel, you still take a big breath and blow, even though you use your hand to spin it.

Those are just a sampling of all the things I could tell you about you right now--they are the ones that stick out in my mind and wanted to be sure I noted them all before another couple of months slip away from me.