Family Time

This week Avery's already wide vocabulary has grown even more. She is repeating everything I say and learned at least 10 new words. Avery can point out her body parts when prompted and can also say them - this week her favorite body part is her eyes. She has been randomly poking me in the eye and exclaiming "EYE!!!", its hilarious (and painful). Avery also knows her animals and the sounds they make. Oddly enough she has two of every stuffed animal: monkeys, frogs, bears, pandas, lambs, penguins, dinosaurs, bunnies, and lions. Lately Avery has gotten picky about what she wears, she wants to choose :( The days of dressing her up in cute outfits may be coming to an end. Her sixth tooth emerged without any fuss at all - now she has 4 on the bottom and two on the top :) Bath time is still her favorite time. When I turn on the faucet she will literally run into the bathroom and take off her clothes in record time.

What other Avery related news is there? I always feel like I'm forgetting something. She still isn't keen on using a bowl or utensils, she'll gladly toss the food I give her in a bowl on the ground and eat it by hand. Avery has launched a war against diapers lately and it sucks. Trying to diaper that child is like wrestling a bear that has a loud pitch scream. She's been pooping on the toilet and tells me when she's pooping but refuses to pee. I was hoping to start potty training soon. Every time I use the restroom she runs into the bathroom and yells "bye-bye pee pee!" so she knows that people pee in the toilet but won't do it. That's all the Avery updates I've got for now. I'm sure you'll hear about anything I forgot in next week's blog.

I can hardly believe its May already. It does not seem like we've been back in the United States that long - I guess time flies when you're having fun. Steven recently took Avery and I to Camelsback Park. The park has a HUGE steep hill in the center that people hike up. We walked around the hill on a small trail in an attempt to tire Avery out. On the other side of the hill is a large area of sandstone. Steven stayed with Avery while I climbed up the hill to carve our family name into the side. After the park we went to Goody's, its an amazing little ice cream parlor. Unfortunately for me the place is also filled with adorable stuffed animals, Avery was going crazy hugging them all and telling me to look at every single one of them. We gave Avery her own ice cream cone and, as much as it killed Steven, I let her eat it all by herself. She was soaked in melted ice cream. Luckily I had an extra change of clothes for Avery. When we got home I realized I had gotten sunburned. A healing tattoo is supposed to feel like a sunburn but I don't think that's accurate. I've had no pain or itching while my tattoo heals but my sunburn its ridiculously itchy!

My mom's birthday was Friday the 3rd - it was also the first day of half priced frappuchinos. My mom came over after work and we got coffee. Avery LOVES visits from her Mimi. Avery also loves playing on our cell phones. I have a lock on my phone because she was deleting apps but Steven doesn't have a lock. Avery got into Steven's phone, accessed Groupon, and ordered $40 worth of flowers. It was a good Friday.

On Saturday we saw our first giant swarm of bees. Steven and I were hanging out with Avery in her bedroom. I heard a loud buzzing and assumed it was one of our phones but soon realized that it was bees. I quickly shut the window and Steven ran to close the back door. The swarmed was just passing through but it was freaky! A few hours later (after I was sure the bees were gone) I took Avery to the park, she had a blast. She picked dandelions, tried to pick up heavy rocks, and played on the balance beam. Yvette had flown back to Boise early stopped by that evening to visit Avery.

Blowing dandelions

Hugging rocks

I've decided that I don't like living next to the community basketball court anymore. At first it was nice because its gated and gave Avery a chance to run wild but now it just sucks. I can barely keep my windows open for a few hours a day before the kids get out of school and flock to the court. The kids just scream, cry, whine, and cuss each other out; its unbelievably annoying. I keep telling myself: only 10 more months until we can move back to Meridian. I hope the countdown will keep me sane when this school year ends and I have to listen to those brats all day (and night) long.

It was a beautiful day on Sunday, I can't wait until Steven has weekends off so we can enjoy the nice weather together. As usual I went through the newspaper and clipped coupons, all the ads were for Mother's Day. Speaking of mothers, I finally remembered to give my mother her birthday present (Starbucks gift card of course) but managed to forget the card I got her lol. We had a great Sunday dinner but then again they are always great :) My dad has a freezer full of Otter Pops for the neighborhood kids (yeah, he's awesome like that) and Avery really enjoyed being able to eat her ice cream with the big kids. My dad turned on the sprinklers for her and the two of them played in the water, it was the best thing I've seen in a while. That evening we went on a double date with Quinn and Ashley to see Iron Man 3.

She spilled her ice cream

It was Steven's day to sleep in on Monday morning - he slept in until 1030 am! An hour after Steven woke up Avery went down for a nap, she ended up sleeping for two and a half hours. Steven watched Avery for an hour while I went shopping for diapers (which I saved $3 on by using coupons!). After shopping I swung by the house to pick up Avery, the two of us went to Kristen's house for dinner :D Kristen was stuck in traffic when I got to her house and her boyfriend (who was asleep) didn't hear me knocking. Avery and I took a walk around the neighborhood while we were waiting for Kristen - Avery tried several times to play in some one's sprinklers.

Kristen made a delicious dinner: breaded chicken, rice, and some kind of candied bacon squash! Something about Kristen's house gives Avery an appetite - she ate a TON of food and even tried the squash. A great night was made even greater when Kristen gave me a pair of shorts that she had bought that day, she bought a pair for herself as well in a different color. I love my best friend! Avery and I took off after dinner so that she could be in bed on time. When I got home Steven announced that he was hungry and left to get food - I bathed Avery and put her to bed. Steven got off pretty easy today considering he was only around Avery for two hours that day.

Tuesday was glorious - Steven let me sleep in until 11 am!!

Avery Quinn - 16 months