Avery's Latest Tricks

Here is the little rock star that I was hoping to catch on video:

You'll hear her ask "why?" in this video too! She has some new little tricks up her sleeve, not counting feeding the dog a LARGE amount of sunflower seeds followed by homemade playdough which he puked up all over the carpet... Let's just say that homemade playdoh colored with a red Koolaid packet and puked up on carpet is not a good combo.

Avery is very into fashion. She is obsessed with new clothes and shoes and socks and now a belt. Isn't this starting a little young? She fell in love with this glittery metallic belt covered in hearts at a clothing store. I bought it for her thinking that she could use a belt for some of her pants. Now she brings it to us all day long saying, "Buckle me, Mommy." But she only wants to wear it for a few minutes and then take it off again. Her latest stylish look includes fleece PJs with her sparkly belt around her waist and her shiny black patent leather dress shoes. She has been wearing this the last two evenings! I don't know if I would call this "stylish," but to each their own...

Every little thing that she accomplishes lately is followed by, "I did it, Mommy!" This is pretty cute.

She continues to boss the dog around. "Casey, no barking."

She snuggled up to me tonight as I rocked her before bed and she repeatedly said, "tri or trea," (trick or treat) with a big grin. We went trick-or-treating tonight at Boo at the Zoo. The kids had a blast and devoured lots of candy! Tuesday night we'll trick or treat the neighborhood assisted living facility and then make our way around the block on Halloween night. What a fun week!

Garrett's New Bike

I don't have pics from Garrett's birthday downloaded yet, but I do have a cute video to share.

Grandpa Reimer gave Garrett a Strider bike for his 4th birthday. Notice it doesn't have any pedals. It teaches balance and makes the transition to a regular bike without training wheels very simple. Garrett can really cruise on it. He's way ahead of us on our walks now. He has actually had this bike for about 6 weeks now and he LOVES it!!

Here is today's cute quote from Garrett as we took our cats to the vet for their annual check-up/shots:

Garrett: I wish I was a cat.

Mommy: Why do you want to be a cat?

Garrett: Because I love cats.

Isn't he sweet?

Happy Birthday Garrett!

Happy 4th Birthday Garrett! We are so proud of the sweet and loving boy that you have become. We love you so much! Love, Mommy, Daddy, & Avery

New Shoes

Avery is a little fashionista. If she gets a new pair of shoes, socks, or a jacket, she wears it proudly. I bought her a pair of shiny black patent leather shoes to go with her Christmas dress the other day. As soon as she spotted them she said, "New shoes, new shoes," and she put them on. We are impressed that she can put her own shoes on already. Wednesday night she even put her new shoes on over the top of her footed jammies. This morning she just had to wear them to Lynette's house. She was wearing a cute but casual little outfit with shiny black shoes! I'm not sure if I would call that a style statement. She definitely knows what she likes and what she doesn't.

Temper Tantrum

Greg and I witnessed Avery's first big temper tantrum. We ate supper the other night and Avery barely ate. I have to give her credit, she did take a bite and apparently didn't like what I made. Right after supper she started saying, "I want gum," (Gum is her word for candy. Everytime Garrett gets a piece of gum, she gets a jelly bean.) and then, "I want nack" (snack). I said, "No Avery, we just ate supper, you can't have a snack" (Don't worry we wouldn't let her starve. She did get a snack later). She proceeded to head to the pantry to help herself to a snack and then realized she couldn't open it (child-proof lock). Then it happened. Screaming and stomping her feet. She even picked up a paper grocery sack on the floor and threw it as hard as she could. Greg and I couldn't help but giggle. Just the beginning of the wonderful tantrums to come...

Big News

Big news at our house. Or Lynette's house, I guess I should say. Avery went #2 on the potty!! Yippee!! Woohoo!! She went on Tuesday and again on Wednesday. Well, actually Lynette caught her in the act and then moved her to the potty. But that still counts, right?

Double Trouble

The other day we were playing outside in the backyard. Garrett was playing on his slide. Avery would follow him up the stairs but just stand there and not climb the to the top. This was irritating Garrett. After a few squabbles, I intervened. I said, "Garrett, if you ask her nicely, I bet she'd move." And she did. I said, "See Avery will do anything you ask, if you ask her nicely." You could see the wheels start to turn and his face broke into a huge grin. He smiled at Avery and said, "Avery say poopy." And of course, with a big smile Avery said "Poopy." What are we up against?

Welcome Isabella Faye!

Greg and I are a proud new aunt and uncle to Isabella Faye Peddicord. Greg's sister, Kimberly, and Tucker and the proud parents! Isabella was born Sunday, October 4th, weighing in at 7 lbs. Congratulations Kim & Tucker! We can't wait to meet our newest family member!

5K Studs

A few weeks ago I ran my first 5K. Yeah! This is my awesome team. My sis, Annie, is standing next to me. We ran it in under 30 minutes and didn't walk at all which was our goal. Next time I think I will definitely have an IPod and will attempt to train a little first! The last stretch was a lap around the track and as we rounded the last turn, I had to ask Annie if she felt as crappy as I did! She said yes! We had a blast. Thanks for encouraging me, Sis!

Little Mother Hen

Avery is a little mother hen. You can definitely see that females have an innate ability to care for others and it is evident at an early age. If I so much as cough, she strokes my face and asks, "You otay?" with genuine concern. She also will touch me really nicely and stroke my hand or face and say, "ni" for "nice."
She loves loves loves to help her brother. She is constantly bringing him his stuffed animals, blankets, and pillows, even when he doesn't need them. I think he gets a little tired of this! Anytime we need to leave the house, she gets his shoes and his jacket for him.
And here is the true evidence of her helping skills: one evening after eating supper out on our deck, I carried the leftovers inside. Avery then proceeded to clear the entire table and bring me all of the dishes and condiments as I loaded the dishwasher. I just assumed that Greg had told her to do this, but come to find out, she did it all by herself with no instruction from Greg!

E-I-E-I-O

Avery loves to sing! She walks around singing "E-I-E-I-O" all the time! It is darling. We can ask her to sing us a song, and that is what she sings! It has not been captured on videotape yet but if it is, I'll post it.

Grandma's Surprise Visit

Greg's mom came up to visit yesterday and to surprise the kids! We planned for her to pick the kids up from daycare with me and surprise them. On the way to Lynette's house yesterday morning, I dropped a hint to Garrett. I told him I will have a big surprise for him when I pick him up. He guessed that I was bringing him bubble gum! I said, "No, it's much better than that." He didn't take to this very well. He yelled, "Just tell me what it is!" Apparently he has a hard time with surprises, just like I do!
Anyway, the surprise was a hit! Garrett and Avery had a ball with Grandma yesterday evening and this morning. Avery was quite talkative for Grandma, showing her everything, "Look Grandma, see..." and showing her pictures she has colored.
She even said, "I wu woo" (I love you). She just started saying this by herself without us telling her to say it. The first "I love you's" must make every parent melt.

Grandma got called away a little early when we got the news that Greg's sister, Kimberly, is in labor! She is having a little girl. I will post an update on my new little niece very soon!

Sweet Baby Talk

Avery is chatting up a storm lately. Here are her latest little sayings:
She imitates every move her brother makes. That includes asking, "Why?" but it is with a long drawn-out "eee" sound such as "whyeeee?" She's a little young to be asking "why?!" I have a feeling we will be answering this question for several years!
She also asks simple questions such as, "What that?," "Where Casey at?" and "Where Daddy at?" Every day when I pick her up from daycare, the conversation goes something like this: "Where Casey at?" and I say, "He's at home." Avery says, "Whyeee?" I'm pretty impressed at her questions and at how articulate her speech is for an 18 month old.
We can actually have a 2-3 turn conversation. Here is an example of one:
Mommy: We need to wash your blankie.
Avery: Wash blankie. Whyeee?
Mommy: Because it's dirty.
Avery: It clean.
Mommy: No, it's dirty.

She really surprised us last week. Greg jumped up and touched the neighbor's basketball goal while holding her. She said, "Cool Daddy."

Facing Forward

We bought a new set of carseats for our car a few weeks ago. This particular type of carseat has great ratings, a good price, and is only a forward-facing seat. Avery is still rear-facing in our van since she just hit 22 lbs. The new recommendation is to keep children rear-facing until there is no leg room left, since it is safer in a high speed collision. We decided with the small amount of time that she spends in the car, it would be fine for her to face forward and it's about time to do that in the van anyway. She is 18 months old. She LOVES it! She sits there with a huge grin on her face the entire way home from daycare when Greg picks her up. Now Greg is trying to convince me to turn her around in the van too. I'm being the over-protective mother. Maybe by Christmas?

Playing School

I arrived at daycare 2 days ago to a very cute site. Garrett was busy playing with two of Lynette's neighbor's girls. They are both school age and were sitting in the garage with Garrett next to Lynette's blackboard which is mounted on the inside of the garage. The oldest girl was the teacher and her younger sister and Garrett were the "students." He was sitting in his chair holding a little chalkboard and chalk listening attentively to his "teacher!" It was precious. Lynette says that he likes to "run with the big kids." He is very drawn to older, school-age children and admires every move that they make, so playing school was right down his alley.