My 1 Year Old!

It is hard to believe that it has been a year since this:

http://ourbabymercer.blogspot.com/2012/11/39-weeks-and-averys-birth-story.html

Going back and reading some of my old posts made me so emotional. I just love being Avery's mommy. I just wish I got even more time with her. Today was her 1 year check-up and I took off work to make a day out of it. It was fantastic to have some quality time together! We slept in, had breakfast with daddy, played and watched tv, then we went to her appointment. I had estimated on her birthday board for her pictures that she was 19 lbs and 29 inches. I was close! She weighed in at 18.8 lbs (back to the 33rd percentile, yeahhh) and was 30 inches tall (77th percentile). She is still tall and skinny, but is more proportioned than she was a few months ago. In fact, her percentiles are almost identical to where she was at birth, so that's pretty neat. She cut 2 more teeth this month, which brings her up to 8 now! And her doctor said her back gums are swollen where her molars are about to come through too. 

Her appointment went pretty well. She had to get a little blood prick, since she was borderline anemic at her 9 month appointment. Well her iron count was even lower today, so they had to get a full vial of blood to send to the lab, to see if she needs a prescription. Well…that was traumatic for her and me. They made ME hold and restrain her while they put a tourniquet around her arm and drew her blood. Well I don't even like getting my own blood work done, much less seeing my baby get stabbed with needles. I have never seen her cry so hard. And when that was over, it was time for the shots. Oh my goodness,  she screamed "Ma-ma!" while looking at me in despair. I almost started crying too. It was awful! Luckily she calmed down pretty quickly afterwards and I gave her lots of cuddles and kisses. We then met my sister and Jocelyn to go to the zoo for the afternoon. We had so much fun, but she was exhausted towards the end, since she didn't sleep on the way like I had hoped she would. She even fell asleep in the stroller for one of the only times, ever! She is a kid that pretty much only sleeps at home in her room or in the car when its quiet. So I had to document it. :)

This month, Avery has been cracking us up with saying new words almost every day. My favorite new word is Mama!! She finally calls me Mama, after many months of only saying Dada and Ab-dog! She has also said Desi, Jojo, Uh-Oh, bye-bye, yum yum, vroom vroom, all done, and stop it. The doctor was very impressed with her vocabulary! She said that average 12 month olds know about 3 words, so she is very advanced in this aspect, knowing 10-15 words. This makes the teacher and mommy in me so proud! Especially since my grandma kindly notified me that she is the only baby, ever, in our entire family to not be walking by 10 months. LOL She is getting very close to walking though!! She has taken a step here and there between the couch and table, or between Jon and me. She can FINALLY stand unsupported too! This has been the most exciting milestone since crawling to me. I was beginning to worry, because I have seen babies much younger than her standing alone and have tried to get her to practice nearly every night. We have learned though, that she does things on her own time, and it won't be any less exciting if she makes us wait a little longer before seeing those baby steps!

For Avery's birthday, we had a fun circus themed party. Most of our families came out as well as some friends and other babies, and the weather was beautiful!! Avery got so spoiled by tons of clothes and toys. She was so cute opening her gifts and hugging each one. When it was time to eat cake, she wasn't quite sure what to think. She was not making any mess until I squished her hands in it for her. She then went to town on her cake and fed some to me too.  :) She had such a blast, and was so sweet the whole time! It couldn't have been better. 

I am not sure if I will keep posting on here monthly, or just as new milestones and exciting things happen, but this is the last of the monthly belly stickers. I will keep posting though, that's for sure. Since I am not creative with scrap booking or anything like that, this is my virtual version of one. I want to be able to keep looking back on Avery's childhood, and I hope that she will enjoy reading it all one day too. 

Blowing kisses!

At the fair!

11 Months!

I can't believe it. My baby's first birthday is only 1 month away!! What the what?? Yep. There is only 1 more Sticky Bellies sticker for our  monthly photo shoots. Only 1 more month to buy formula. Only 1 more month to call my baby a baby(yeah right, I'll always call her baby)….at 12 months she enters the world of toddler. This brings a complexity of emotions. The excitement of planning her birthday party is, at the moment, outweighing my sadness and tendency to be overly sentimental.

Thinking back to one year ago,  we were just finishing up buying all the baby gear, and completing the nursery. Now we are chasing around our hilarious, almost toddler! In this sense, the year has flown by in the blink of an eye. But thinking back to being big-as-a-whale pregnant... it is all a distant memory. It is true what they say, mother nature has a way of making you forget the aches and pains of pregnancy and labor, so that you can do it all again. I am missing the sensation of baby kicks and twirls inside my belly, but then I remember sleep and how much I love getting a full night's worth. LOL Seriously though, we do want to give Avery a sibling sooner rather than later, but we are enjoying letting her be the baby for a little while longer.

This month, not much has changed with Ave. She is still refusing to stand unassisted, but we have seen that she CAN, when we kind of trick her into it. She wants to walk everywhere and drags us around from our fingertips with a death grip on them, refusing to even try to let go. But that's ok. I don't know when it'll be the last time…the last time that she needs me to help her walk across the floor. I joke about her reaching this milestone so slowly, but really she is right in the normal range. It is just surprising when she reached the other physical milestones so early. Soon enough though, I know she will let go and not look back. She will be running around and climbing everything in sight.


Verbally, Avery is making new noises and sounds every day. She says "Dada" "Ab-dog" "Key-Cat" (kitty cat) "Oh!" "BAH" (Bottle, bye and bite), "Omma"('Momma' but only when she is really upset)  and she will randomly repeat things we say like "Hello" "Stop it" , "Uh-Oh" and "Okay" to name a few. I feel like she is just going to start spitting out full sentences one day!

Some of Avery's favorite things at 11 months are blueberries, bananas, mandarin oranges, crackers, singing, dancing,  taking walks, petting Abby, crawling all over mom and dad's bed, Curious George, playing "tag" around the house, looking in the mirror, snuggling her blankets, making funny noises, peek-a-boo, playing maracas, reading, puzzles, all other babies, pillows, shoes, giving kisses, climbing everything she can, watching tv, and being a drama queen.

Some stuff Avery dislikes at 11 months are being told "no", when fun things are over, and bedtime, recently.

 This month Avery has been getting over being sick. She is also still in a very high separation anxiety phase and an adjustment period of me going back to work and has been teething again on top of it all, so needless to say, we have had a few sleepless nights. Although it leaves me tired, I do love rocking that sweet baby, even if it's in the middle of a school night. It's those moments that I just want to freeze and remember forever. Again, I never know when it'll be the last time, so I just try to cherish those times she is crying, because she just needs her Mama. Except when it happens every hour and a half for the night and I can't physically open my eyes again, then it is Dada's turn!

This weekend she cut 2 new teeth though, so maybe this week will be better! She has 6 teeth now. Four on the bottom and two on the top, and her top gums look swollen too! This baby is growing so fast!!

10 Months/Summer Recap/Back to School!!

I

Photobomb!

George and her car--2 of her favorite things!!

Well I'm about 10 days late on my 10 month post, but so much has been going on. First of all, Momma is back to work and it has been a tough transition on us both. Avery is having a bit of separation anxiety from me and has been struggling with going down for naps and bedtime. And I am having major working-mom guilt. It didn't help that Avery was sick for 2 solid weeks with a sore throat virus, topped off with an 11 day tummy bug that coincided with my staff development week. The long hours it takes to prep for a new school year, at a new school is totally insane too.  I know it will get easier as my routine gets more established and I won't have to stay so late.  This 3 day weekend was exactly what we all needed to recharge after a hectic first week too!! It is also nice to have the support of a large team though, especially with most of them being mommies too. I love my new school, class and teammates so much already!

So at 10 months, Avery is looking more and more like a big girl and less like my wittle baby. She is figuring out so much every single day. She is FINALLY holding her bottle at most feedings instead of being a lazy bum..just in time for me to start weening her off of it. LOL! She mimics everything we do and it is making this age my favorite so far!! She blows raspberries, tries to make a fishy face, is pointing at things she wants me to see, shares her food by giving us bites, clicking her tongue, whistling with her flute, putting hats on her head, shoes on her feet and combs in her hair. She is starting to help us dress and undress her by trying to put her head, arms and legs through the holes. She does the "little piggies" to our toes, and finally got the clapping thing down and thoroughly enjoys participating in a good game of pat-a-cake or "happy and you know it". She knows how to go get the toy baskets and pull them out to get what she wants and is actually really good at entertaining herself with her toys and books. I love just watching her explore, going from toy to toy, playing and singing to herself then crawling over to show me something, or sit in my lap and give me a kiss. Playing with her is so much fun too. She loves playing "tag" all around the house and giggles like crazy when I'm about to get her. She still loves peek-a-boo, especially under and around stuff, and riding on her Minnie car all around the house. She is  finally starting to push her little car around, but she does it sideways instead of standing behind and pushing it like you are supposed to! She tries to climb on the car all by herself, because it is clearly her favorite toy, and it is so cute!!

Fishy face!

Some of Avery's favorite things at 10 months are: of course, the Minnie Car, any and all stuffed animals--most recently Curious George, her activity table, the BeeBop Band set, her new shoes, going on walks to the park, her blankies, shopping, looking in the mirror, cruising the furniture, and taking walks around the house by holding on to our fingers.

Bringing puppy to lunch and later dipped him in ketchup! Lol yuck!!!

Picnic'n

Some things Avery dislikes at 10 months are: being told no or not being allowed to have something she wants (we have officially started temper tantrums, but luckily they are quick as she is easily distracted), she suddenly hates baths again, she does not like to miss out on anything so she doesn't like napping anywhere but in her cozy bed with her sound machine and blankie, mommy or daddy leaving, and sitting in her high chair/jumparoo/exersaucer for too long, because she wants to have her freedom!

Mommy told her "no" to having my coffee!!

Our proudest moment this month-- While wearing Ave in the carrier at Kroger, she projectile pukes all over a magazine/gift card rack while we were waiting to check out. All I can say is, I am glad I wear her facing outward!! That poor baby. We were mortified, but most of all I felt so bad for her. This was the 11th day of her tummy bug and the night before school started, so I was just praying for her to be better so I wouldn't feel so terrible about leaving her for work while she was still sick, and luckily that was the end.

It is hard to believe that our beloved summer is over, but it was the best summer of my life. This was the first time that I wasn't working or babysitting over the summer and I just got to enjoy every minute with my favorite little girl. Jon and I had a great, quick river trip with friends, we had a wonderful family vacation in Galveston, trips to the splash park, library, park, Aunt Jamie's pool, a last mintute trip to spend a few days with Jenn and lots of cuddles and playtime together.

Bows+sweat=crazy hair!!

Our sweet baby snuggles!!

 One of my favorite moments was this weekend. I took Avery to the mall Saturday to get a pair of good walking shoes for her narrow little foot. ( I really wanted some Toms, but they run way too big, so we settled for some cute Stride Rites) She was just a doll about trying on all the shoes and once we picked these out, she just had to carry them in the stroller. On Sunday morning when we woke up, she crawled right over to her new shoes and tried to put them on. Well she's basically had them on for every waking moment since! She is in love with them. They are magic too! They give her the confidence and stability she was lacking. While wearing her magic shoes, she can stand on her own, and she WANTS to walk everywhere! She grabs my hands and we have gone everywhere! She was not very interested in standing or walking before, because she is such a speedy crawler and super cautious about falling, but this weekend a switch has suddenly flipped. It is only a matter of time before we are chasing after her little feet instead of being their guide. Our little girl is growing up and witnessing it all is so extraordinary! We just gush daily about how much we love being her parents, and although I know one day she will disappoint us, I hope this adoration never fades.

In her magic shoes :-)