Avery at 8 Months

I am WAY behind on posting, so I am trying to get Avery's at least caught up. I really thought I already did this, but I guess I just did the journaling and never added pictures. here is what Avery was doing at 8 months (between April 26 and May 25 - 2 months ago....)

Here is Avery tasting her first sample of pears. (April 27) I don't think she has found any food that she won't eat.

I love her crazy hair! I should probably get those long pieces trimmed, but I just can't bring myself to do it. Those are some awesome wings.

These pictures just make me laugh! I love the foot in the mouth look! She loves to chew her cute little piggys! (April 30)
Can you sit like this???

I love her gorgeous eyes

All squeaky clean after a tub! She loves the bath and I love how she smells when we are done and how cute she looks wrapped up in her towel. (April 30) Another new food - This time it was sweet potatoes and yes...she loved those, too! (May 1)

Cute Avery at 31 weeks (May 2)

Yummm...Peaches! Another new food that Avery really likes. I think she just looks cute in all the different colors! (May 6)

She looks good in everything she eats!

This was the day that Avery discovered splashing in the tub at 32 weeks. (May 7) It was one of the funniest things I have ever seen! She usually just lays in the tub, but when I sat her up to wash her, she discovered a whole new bath experience and she loved it! She would splash her hands, then see the bubbles and try and catch them. She was very focused and so excited about it all! Sister had to stick her hand in and help out, too.

Who knew the bath was so fun? Up to this point, she had only splashed a little with her feet, but now she LOVES splashing with her hands and all the bubbles it makes!
Cute bath baby!

Avery at one of Logan's soccer games in the rain. (May 11) She is such a good baby and does so well with everything we drag her to. Especially lots of soccer games and many were SO cold! We are so lucky she is so great to do whatever and a very easy baby! These pictures make me laugh! (May 13) We were outside working on our playground (which took up most of the month of May) and Avery was chilling in the swing. The wind got crazy and she was pulling the funniest faces because it was kind of taking her breath away and she wasn't sure if she liked the wind or not and her hair looked so funny standing straight up. It was kind of silly!

Avery at Logan's LAST soccer game! (May 15) She was a great little cheerleader all season long. I think she preferred the games that were sunny to the rainy ones, just like the rest of us.

Avery at 33 weeks (May 15)
I love the way she is always grabbing her toes and that her toes are always going! That is the way I tell when she is happy or excited - her cute little toes are always circling and moving around. It is so cute!

Avery trying out her first pair of shades. She wouldn't keep them on, but she looks pretty styling in them. (May 15)

Cute little diva!

Avery also celebrated her first Mother's Day! She is such a great little Mother's Day present for me! I love this sweet baby! (May 16 - We didn't get ANY pics on Mother's Day because it was so crazy, so we staged this picture the next Sunday...) Avery covered in her first taste of chicken - YUMMY!!! (May 17) She liked it OK, but it was the first time she looked a little questionable about food. I can't blame her. Have you smelled that stuff???

Avery looking so sweet - 34 weeks! (May 19)

Yep...grabbing the toes again. She loves those things!

Avery's first attempts at crawling (May 19) - This picture does not do justice to the funny position she was in! She was not very happy that at left her this way to grab the camera.

This is what happens when she tries to get moving - She starts in a sitting position and she leans over further and further to try and reach something until she ends up in the splits like this and gets stuck. Then, she is NOT happy because she can't go anywhere, but it looks a little funny to the rest of us!

Avery has discovered a new favorite game - Peek-A-Boo! It is the cutest thing ever! She pulls the little blanket up over her head, then pulls it down really fast and does it over and over again and laughs at herself. She thinks it is quite entertaining! (May 19)

Here she is trying to hide....

Peek-A-Boo! She looks so proud of herself!!!

Avery trying oatmeal for the first time. It was a messy new food! (May 20)

Love those cute chubs!!! (May 22)

Avery doing her "Sooo Big!" I love it!

Chewing on a toy - She is really starting to like toys a lot - Especially to chew on

After Avery loved the bubbles and sitting up in the tub so much, I decided to just see how she did in the tub with the big kids. (May 22) It made it a lot easier than doing 2 baths, and Avery loved it! I think she felt VERY big sitting up in the water by herself and she did great. I thought I was going to have to hold her in there, but she was great sitting by herself. She is getting so big! The other kids loved having her in there.

Doesn't she look so big in the tub? She LOVED Rylee's Ariel doll, but I don't think Rylee was so happy about that!

We finally got the high chair out of the garage and all cleaned up for Avery to use. (May 24) She has started using her feet to scoot the Bumbo around and I was starting to worry she might tip it and she was always trying to climb out. She LOVED the high chair. I think she felt like such a big girl! The first time I put her in it, she stayed in there for a long time playing and was SO happy. The effect has worn off, but she really loved it for the first few days!

All smiles!

Still loving the high chair

A little photo shoot at 8 months at the park (May 26). Avery wasn't so sure about sitting on the grass...

I don't remember if that is a smile or not....

Such a sweet face

This one is my favorite

She is getting so good at picking things up - even little things. They all go straight to her mouth!

I don't know why she was so serious this day. Her hair is looking really red in these. It is getting a lot lighter every day and has kind of a red tint to it now that it is changing.

Our sweet Avery is growing and changing so much! It seems like she is a totally different baby these days. She used to be so calm and so content to just sit somewhere, but lately, she wants to go! If she is sitting, she will start to rock and has gotten into the crawling position a few times, or ends up in the splits, which makes us all laugh. The last few days, she will get on her belly and try and go. Her legs will kick and kick, but she won't make any progress and she will get so mad and frustrated that she isn't moving. She even grabs the carpet and tries to pull, but she doesn't really go.... yet! She pulls the carpet up, but can't quite figure out how to pull with her arms. She occasionally goes backwards, but for the most part is just not moving yet. She has gotten SO squirmy and wants to get down all the time instead of having us hold her. She loves to stand up to things and is pretty steady if I set her next to the couch and she can hold it. She has started to try and pull herself up to things, but hasn't been successful yet.

Avery is loving her new foods. She has gone through all the basic stuff and is starting some dinners now. She is also doing really well at feeding herself little treats and LOVES to pick up everything and put it straight into her mouth. I hate this stage! I am constantly worried about choking hazards - Especially with all of Logan's and Rylee's little toys. Avery choked on a Barbie shoe the other day and I almost had to do the Heimlich. Scary! She especially loves to shred and eat paper. (Why do babies love that so much???) She always has some kind of wrapper or paper in her mouth. She also loves eating her little Puffs and can get them in really quickly now. She is SO grabby and can get into anything so fast, I have to really be on my toes! I can't just do things with her on my lap anymore - She is starting to be a bit of a troublemaker! She has also discovered the tags on things and loves to chew them. They are always her favorite part of any toy that has them.

Avery loves all things shiny! I was nursing her the other day in the Mother's room at church and she discovered the little metal door stop on the wall behind the door, and you would have thought it was the best thing in the world! She also has discovered the little lights on the digital display on our fridge on LOVES them! I was filling up my drink the other day and she saw them and grabbed the handle on the fridge to pull herself closer. Then she was squawking and talking to the fridge and her little legs were going crazy! It was hilarious! Every time I walk by the fridge now, she gets really excited.

Avery is becoming so much fun! She is so much more social and playful and loves to talk and play with us. I love this stage! She is so cute and will peek her little head around things and cock her head to the side so cute to look at us. She is getting so much personality and finds herself so funny and is always squealing and laughing. She is a very happy baby and we love watching her grow. She does have a little bit of a ornery side, too. Sometimes we call her the little gremlin because she talks in this funny growly voice, and when she gets really mad, she grunts and clenches her fists. She is also starting to be more of a mommy's girl and gets really upset if I leave the room. She wants us to be constantly entertaining her now, too, and if we aren't paying attention, she will sometimes get mad.

Avery LOVES music! She is always rocking to the music and kind of dancing along in her own way and she loves to clap. Sometimes it is to music and sometimes it is for herself. It is cute! She loved the music at the Real game when we went and was totally rocking out and anytime the crowd would clap, she would clap like crazy. She is starting to wave more and is better at doing it, but still waves kind of backwards. She opens and closes her little hand towards herself. She also LOVES dogs and can do the sign and I am pretty sure she even says the word. It sounds a lot like "dada" but I can tell she is saying it for dog and she hits her hand against herself over and over again to do the sign. So cute! She also started saying "babababa" to babbble and says "dada" constantly and is talking a lot.

Avery is starting to do better with sleeping. She is starting to transition to only 2 naps a day, but sometimes wills still take three and is sleeping a lot better at night. Sometimes she even sleeps 8 or more hours. Yeah! She is adjusting to her crib, which makes for a much happier mom!