Two Years Old ~ Big Stuff!

I'm a little late in updating, but 2 yr. olds sure do keep you on your toes. June 4th was Avery's birthday and we had a big party the day before. She was pretty shy, I know, can you imagine our little social jabber-jaws shy, but all that attention was totally new for her.
She has totally changed overnight. No more baby. We've got full sentances, demands, and opinions out the wazoo. Oh, and she is now a Dora the Explorer fan. In fact at our local amusement park all the attractions in "kiddie land" are Nick Jr. themes, when she saw the big statue of Dora, let me just say I though she was going to climb it! DOOORWAAH!!!!!!!! Silly thing!
Avery is doing great on the potty, but we really aren't pushing it. It's very nice to not change a diaper every time I turn around those (especially the poopies).
She is so maternal lately. Very into her babies. We got her a stroller for her birthday and she pushes the babies around, feeds, them, tells me "Shhhh! night, night baby!", and "Here ya go baby!" "That's right!" It is just the cutest thing to watch.
In just a few weeks we are headed up east to visit our dear friends that kept us sane during our long stay in Russia! Very excited about that! Since Avery didn't do so well on our last little trip, we are talking it up as much as we can. She says, "I go Maaahk (Mark), see Kasseee (Kathy), pay Marta (play with Tamara)". I think she'll do fine. If only we can get her to say Tamara's name correctly. So Kathy, Mark - if your reading this, when Ave asks for Marta, she isn't nuts.
She loves the pool, but being the independant spirit she is, safety is not a factor. On the first day of setting up her little pool, she dove in head first and swam up to the top. As you can see from the picture above, no swimmies for this kid!
I had great aspirations for weight gain by the 2 yr. mark. We were shooting for 22 lbs. It was a week late, but she made it! Bottom line is, she's just a bean pole. Her teen years will be glorious! Oh yeah, and Little Miss Vain, says "I'm GORGEOUS!" And if I do say so myself, she's right!

Spring Fever!

We are loving the outdoors! It is all I can do to get Avery to come in for meals, nap, or even to stay out of the rain. My normally neat and clean girly girl is a filthy mess digging in the dirt and picking plums from the tree in our front yard. Last Monday she spent the afternoon rolling down the hill. The next morning she had a horrible rash all over her cheek. It is getting better, but still there.
She is talking much clearer now and saying lots of cute things. I always say "Hi baby girl!". Apparently she is catching on because Saturday on our way to soccer she looked up at me and said "Hi Mommy girl!". She is so silly.
Birthday party plans are coming right along. I am so excited and a little sad that my baby is going to be 2 years old. I am trying to not go overboard, but I think that may be impossible.
Soccer is going well. She was the soccer playre of the month for her age group last month, because she was a good listener. What? Avery? She is getting much better at listening and following direction.
She learned to walk backwards and loves practicing up and down the sidewalk. She is starting to identify colors and is curently fixated on yellow.

Avery's First Easter

The day started out pretty hectic. Avery was hyped up on chocolate - I let her eat 1/2 of a little bunny. She emptied the entire contents of her diaper bag on the living room floor, Cheerios, wipes, and hand sanitizer everywhere.
I finally got her dressed and made myself somewhat presentable and we all headed out to church. She got to play in te nursery, which she loves and she had her little friend Charlie and cousing Hannah to make the time fly by.
After church she caught a few winks in the car on the way to Grandma's. Let me tell you what. I had said she was afraid of swings, well, not anymore! She was in hog heaven. She loved running around outside barefoot. Egg hunting went pretty well, she caught on after maybe 5 minutes of just running free.
We got home and she had a few more pieces of candy and dinner... yes, in that order. The rules went out the window on Sunday. She was out by 7:15. It was a long day, but so much fun.