Video: Banana Taste Test

Grancy Love

Dear Grancy,
Thanks for babysitting me so my mommy and daddy could work yesterday.
I had lots of fun with you.
Love, Avery

Video: Babbling & Butter Nut Squash

My 7 Month B-Day w/ Mom & Dad

Anna is a Star!

Ch-ch-ch-ch-changin'

Goodbye dream feed, hello xbox?!?
I suppose things are changing when I have to run over and peel the fingers of my almost 7 month old off of the xbox controller cord. (I know you are all thinking, poor Jon, no PS3, well such is the life of new parents). If only we had taken heed of the pediatrician's warning 4 weeks ago to start babyproofing the house... and I just don't understand why she can't just stay on the playmat. What is with this roaming about, here and there and everywhere? I would say, "oh remember the simpler times" but this is so much fun, we'll just continue on this journey awaiting the next time we can say "wow, i never thought she'd be able to do that!"
Last night was our first night without the 10pm dream feed, we've been weaning her off it the past week after giving it to her the past 2 months. She didn't make a peep for nearly 11.5 hrs. Ahhhh!

Puree! Schmuree!

So I consider myself to be well-versed in the fine art of cooking. Really how hard can it be to steam a sweet potato, puree it, throw it in with some cereal and milk and call it a baby meal? And what baby doesn't like sweet potatoes? So I embark on this adventure with full confidence in myself, which I suppose was my first mistake.

Well, truly my worst mistake was presuming that a blender would puree steamed sweet potatoes with the same efficacy as a cuisinart. So I blended and blended, added a little of the cooking liquid (for the vitamins of course) and it looked halfway decent and so i made up a big bowl of mush containing my newly cooked sweet potatoes and Avery would have none of it. Like, anti-swallow response, crying, screaming, tears streaming down the face, oops choking can't breathe for a second or two, more crying. Then I wanted to cry, looking at 1/4 of my potatoes, 2 ounces of breastmilk and some cereal, all destined for disposal.

Well, we'll try again tomorrow. 2nd time goes about as 1st. Then I start to think, maybe I need to puree it a bit more. So I throw the "pureed/blended" potatoes into the cuisinart, let it run for a few seconds, remove the lid and the exact thought in my head is "oh yeah, that's what baby food is supposed to look like", smooth and decadent. How I was unable the day before to recognize "that is not what baby food is supposed to look like" is beyond me.

Anyway, 3rd time's a charm, I vote for Cuisinart all the way. She loves sweet potatoes. Thank goodness.

Family Foto

It's not common these days to be able to get a photo of all 3 of us, so here it is. Thanks Grandpa for taking the photo and thanks to you and NanaLin for hanging out again. Miss Avery is happy as ever. She is so looking forward to trying some veggies soon, like maybe tomorrow if I can make it to Whole Foods to buy some orange/yellow veggie of some sort. Fun!!

Video: Root'n Toot'n Scoot'n Avery

Grandpa comes to visit

Thanks to GG for paying the price of stranger anxiety, Grandpa and NanaLin got to overall enjoy smiles from Avery. They even got to babysit while Jon and I went to see a movie. They are now traveling up the coast and we look forward to spending a few days with them again next week when they return.

oh and go Bruins!

Me & My Dad

Since turning six months, many things have changed... I have 2 teeth coming in, I am eating cereal (better and better each day), I sit like a champ, I play peekaboo, my hair seems to be turning red and I can scoot a few inches if something really interests me. But some things have not changed. Like the way my daddy can make me smile and giggle.

mmmm... tasty!

Video- Avery vs. The Spoon

Video - Belly Laughing On Her 6 Month B-Day

Video: Peekaboo (taught with love by GG)

Avery, Mom, Dad & GG Beaching it up Venice Style...

We enjoyed the beautiful ocean views on an amazing day in Venice. It started off with a nice walk to the farmers market followed by a leisurely stroll to the beach.

GG Is Guilty Until Proven Innocent

Right in time for GG to arrive, Avery entered her "stranger anxiety" phase. Basically, if she sees a new face she screams like she has seen the scariest person in the world. She then puts them on trial under the assumption that they are guilty until proven innocent. We are happy to say that after two long days on trial GG has beaten the rap and now Avery has nothing but smiles for her GG.

Early Morning Beach/Tundra-Ready

Thanks to my new winter jacket (thanks Auntie Daynie), I am ready for early morning treks to the beach with Daddy and Quincy. If my Mommy doesn't have to work, she likes to sleep while we go enjoy the morning outing.

Video- Ok so she wouldn't pass a field sobriety test, but it's a start! She can sit!

My First Chistmas

While Mommy worked on Christmas morning, Daddy and Avery had fun posing her with gifts under the tree. Jon called me at work to tell me to look at the blog and I cried (not an unusual occurrence since Avery arrived) when I saw her all dressed up under the tree and me not there with them. It made me work even faster to be out by 230 pm to get home to the family for an afternoon of gift unwrapping and enjoying and napping and frozen soup unthawing. All in all it was a beautiful first Christmas for Avery Mae and next year there will be no working for Mommy whilst Avery enjoys her 2nd Christmas.

Charlotte - A New Friend

Avery has a new friend, adorable, sweet Charlotte, born 12/21. She is 1 day old in this picture. Deirdre looks amazing for having just given birth the morning before! We are so excited that mom and baby are healthy and happy. Avery also has 2 other new friends, Maddie, born 11/24, whom she got to meet a couple of weeks ago and Riana, also born 12/21 in Bangalore. She hopes to meet Riana sometime soon! So many babies to be loved.

Sleepy Jogger

It's a miracle! After 9 long (but ever improving) nights of sleep training, Avery slept through the whole night 12/21!!! We are so thrilled. To celebrate, we went for a nice jog (mommy's first since bedrest a long, long time ago) along venice and santa monica beach in our fabulous baby jogger. Avery wore her sweet little hat from Miss Mary, which keeps her nice and warm (and cute). She slept the whole way. Here's hoping for another full night's sleep for all :)

Holiday Happiness

After being a great sport for holiday pictures, Avery still has the patience for one last smile with Daddy.

Discovering Quincy

It only took 5 months for Avery to start really seeing Quincy. She has recently started to reach out and grab handfuls of fur. Despite his issues with jealousy, Quincy is very tolerant of her "affection" and always sweet to her. Sometimes when I come home with Avery, I can almost hear him say "oh I was hoping she might stay away so I can go back to being the center of this universe". Poor Quincy! Once Avery starts eating and dropping half of it on the floor, we are sure they will become best of friends! Until then, he will keep stealing her socks, pacifiers and washcloths, out of love, of course.

Holiday Card

If I had found the time to make a family holiday card to send out, it would have looked a lot like this. And it would have said something like "May your family experience all the joys of the holiday season". Maybe it would have been a little clearer somehow that she is holding a stocking and a dreidel. But this pretty much captures my vision. Maybe I shouldn't publish this, because next year I could actually make it happen.

Who do we look like?

Picture this: Avery snuggled under Daddy's jacket, walking the streets of Venice with Quincy our yellow lab pulling them along. As many of you know there are many "interesting" characters in Venice and now Jon who looks like Barney in his purple parka and Avery who looks like a fraggle in her adorable new hand-knit red hat (thanks Nerissa) add nicely to the local flavor. And they say Venice has freaks, surely they aren't talking about our family!!

5 months and sleeping

Cozy PJ's help in our recent pursuit of sleep. For Avery and for us. We started "sleep training" a few nights ago and Avery is being a good sport, following the books. She is so very close to sleeping through the night! She goes to sleep around 7 and wakes up around 6 or 7. She only cries a little in the middle of the night and it is less and less each night. And thank goodness, she is just as smiley as ever, apparently unscathed by this process.

Exersaucer Heaven

Thanks GG and Poppy for the coolest new toy in town. Avery can spend lots of time exploring each of the 50 toys attached to the exersaucer. She especially likes the cell phone, which scares us a lot. She also loves to bite the chair edge, we think she is very advanced :) It is so fun to watch her explore and learn and grow. It is hard to believe she is almost 5 months old.

Baby's First Hanukah

Avery enjoyed her first night of Hanukah.
GG called just as we were about to light the menorah and so she said the prayer and was able to share in Avery's first Hanukah celebration. Avery got a really cool new stroller. Mommy is working on learning the prayers and Daddy is working on refreshing his memory as Hebrew school was quite a while ago.

Cozy morning

Granted Los Angeles mornings are not as cold as elsewhere across the country but it still gets a little chilly in Avery's room. So to warm up those little hands (extra cold after being sucked on all night long) we welcomed her into bed to get all cozy under the (non-SIDS proof) down comforter. She remains smiley every morning and most of the day. Her eyes have gone from grey to brown and her smiles and giggles still warm our hearts.