E.L.E.V.E.N months

The very last time I can refer to you in months only. You are going to be a big one year old next month, and I don't think I'm ready for it. The amount of changing you did during your tenth month is amazing.

Stats: We haven't had a dr. visit in a couple of months so I'm not sure exactly how much you weigh. You are still in size 3 diapers, and you fit in 12 month clothing pretty perfectly. In some of the tight leggings, 12-18 months fit you better. We also got you a big girl car seat! Although we haven't installed it yet.

New: You took your first steps right when you turned 10 months old. I kinda thought you'd be walking by the end of the month but you will still only take a few steps at a time before you get nervous and either dive for us, or quickly sit down. I'm in NO RUSH. I already feel like you are all over the place, I'm not looking forward to chasing you around restaurants and parking lots.

Your favorite place to hang out is the stairs. We put up a baby gate, but you'll stand on the bottom step and just hang onto the gate and laugh and talk. It's your favorite place to be. 

You got two more teeth on top! So you have 4 on top and 2 on bottom. I can't believe it. 

For awhile now when I've tried to feed you, you will grab the spoon and help me put it in your mouth. The other day you really didn't want to let go of the spoon so I let you have it. You started scooping up oatmeal and shoveling it in your mouth. It definitely go in your hair, eyelashes, and smeared all over your face but it was the cutest thing in the world. STOP GROWING!
Words: My favorite thing this month is that we can ask you, "What does the doggy say?" and you reply, "ruff ruff ruff" and it's the cutest thing in the world. We've added, "what does the kitty say?" and you say in the cutest voice I've ever heard "mew mew mew" and "what does the lion say?" and you will growl like the exorcist haha. You have also started to say "miw miwl" (milk milk) when you want to nurse and have even started pulling down my shirt to make sure your food is still there waiting for you. I can also ask you, "Where is mama's nose?" and you'll grab my nose and laugh.
Sleep: You are still going to bed consistently at 6:30 and you will sleep between 10-12 hours. While your teeth were coming in you were waking up at 4:45 so I'd bring you into bed with me and nurse you for an hour and try and get more sleep. Your naps still suck. They are no more than 30 minutes long. You still take a morning nap, and an afternoon nap. Aaaaaand you must have just heard me type that because you woke up from your nap right at 34 minutes. 

Thanksgiving 2013

 I am grateful every day for the life that I have, and the people who I share it with. 

Today, I was especially grateful to Avery who took an hour long nap right before the turkey came out of the oven. Brandon and I got to enjoy a blissful, hour-long ADULT dinner. She woke up just in time for a hysterical game of Cards of Humanity and pumpkin pie.

Although Avery didn't try any turkey, she did enjoy mashed potatoes and stuffing :-)

Hope everyone had as wonderful of a day as we did!

10 Months

Only two more of these monthly updates before you are a year old. That gives me such a sinking feeling in my stomach. I feel like I'm holding on to the ankles of time...who just keeps marching on.

A look back on your ninth month of living:

Stats: 12 month clothing fits you perfectly in length, but are still a little baggy. You are still wearing size 3 diapers.

Sleep: Another challenging month. Now that you pull yourself up on everything, you stand up in your crib and scream and cry because you can't get back down. One night your Dad and I went in and laid you down 15 times and you popped right back up. Our poor neighbors. You are still a really bad napper. Most of the time I'm lucky if I get 30 minutes, and sometimes it takes longer than that to get you to fall asleep.
New: It was a clingy month. You don't want to leave mama's side for even a minute. Even your signing DVD (which always ensured a solid 30 minutes of peace to make dinner) cannot capture your full attention. You will follow me in your walker and whine at my ankles. If we play in your room, you want to climb all over me instead of playing with your toys. In order to take a shower, I have to put you in the pack n' play outside of the bathroom and sing The Wheels on the Bus, and play "peek a boo," and practically put on a puppet show to keep you entertained. I've skipped more showers than I care to admit. And although there are days where I just want FIVE minutes to myself, I also realize that this stage is so fleeting. In the grand scheme of things, you are only small for a tiny part of your life. And if what you want right now is your mama, and only your mama, then I want to soak that up.

You are into everything now. I can't really take my eyes off of you for a second. You beeline straight for the stairs, or the toilet, or anything else that I don't want you near.

You are dying to walk. Your favorite thing is to take our fingers and go walking all around the house. Sometimes you forget that you have to hold on, and you take off on your own...only to eat it. You will also hold on to the couch and walk the whole thing. You will stand on your own if you're distracted. The minute you realize that you aren't holding on you get nervous and fall over or sit down. You also got your first bruise :-( One on your eyebrow, and then a week later, a bruise under the same eye! You keep bonking your face on things.

Food: What you lack in nap points, you make up for in food points. You LOVE to eat. You are eating about 4 small meals a day, and nursing about 4 times a day. Some new things you've tried are pinto beans, cheese, bits of tortilla. Honestly, you will eat ANYTHING we put on your tray. It's easier to feed you off our our plates now. I'm not sure how much longer you'll eat the purees that I make for you. Blueberries are your favorite! You cannot eat enough to be satisfied. You have also started to eat an entire banana for breakfast.

One of my favorite faces you make is a huge open mouth when you get excited. I had no idea where you really got it until I got a good look at the same expression I always make when I'm trying to get you excited and smiley.

 I love you munchkin!

Charlie Coco's Headbands.

One of my favorite parts about blogging is finding great shops and adorable accessories to deck Avery out in. 

I LOVE reviewing products.

I love sharing when I find a worthwhile shop.

I stumbled upon Charlie Coco's Etsy shop and DIED when I saw the cuteness. Not only does she offer the trendiest patterns and styles (glitter and polka dots anyone?) but they are SO well made. They weren't flimsy or poorly put together (which is always a risk when you buy online). Avery LOVED them, obviously, and she gets compliments on them wherever we go. It's kind of hard to tell in the pictures of her outside, but the band is SO sparkly.

Peep some of the amazing-ness going on Avery's Christmas List...

Charlie Coco is currently offering 15% off your purchase now through November 15th! 
Just use the promo code:
AMIRAGRAY15. 

Aaaaand for one lucky little lady, we'd like to offer a free headband or bow of your choosing. 
1. This is mainly an Instagram giveaway (find me on Instagram: amira143) and follow CharlieCoCos.
 2. As an extra entry, you can repost my Instagram giveaway picture from today and leave a comment on Instagram letting me know you've done so.

Happy shopping :-)

Happy Halloween!

Our Halloween was a cozy one this year. 

I baked potato cheese soup and mini pecan pies.

We dressed Avery up, took some pictures and then she began melting down and begging for bed by 6:30 (usual).

It was a wild night, folks.

Someone loves Halloween!

NINE Months Old

{blogged a week late}

Oh Avery-
It seems like before my very eyes you are changing. Sometimes you look older to me at the end of the day than you did that morning. Because I spend all-day-every-day with you sometimes I don't realize how much of your "infant-ness" is dissipating. You aren't quite a toddler, but you certainly aren't a newborn. Every night when I'm rocking you to sleep, I look down at you and my heart hurts with love. Does every parent love their child this much? Sometimes it takes my breath away. I worry about you constantly. I think about your heart being broken, or kids being mean to you at school and my heart aches. I want to protect you from the world. It's a scary, helpless feeling being a mama. I want to keep you little and in my arms where I'm able to keep you safe. And on the other hand I can't wait to watch you grow into a joyful, kind human being. I hope your dad and I will always be able to watch you live out your long, happy life. I love you baby girl.
Stats: At your 9 month doctor appointment you were:
 -29 inches long (93% - how did you get to be so tall?) 
-19.4 pounds (69%) 
-and your big ol' head was 46.5 cm (97%). 
New: You love to stand on your own - holding on to the ottoman, or your crib. The look of pride and satisfaction on your face is amazing. Your expression just beams, "do you see what I'm doing mom? No big deal." 
You are understanding more and more words. My absolute favorite is that I can say, "Kisses? Give mama kisses?" And your face will freeze and you'll slowly lean towards my face until our faces touch. Then you scrunch your nose and give me the best smile, satisfied that you were able to understand what I said and carry out the action. You also say, "dadda" "doggy" and "Wassat?" (Translation: What's that?)
Sleep: Sigh. This has probably been the worst month we've had. You've been sleeping through the night more or less since you were a few months old. The past 3 weeks you have been waking up several times a night crying reallllly hard. The only thing that will calm you down is the boob. Then you fall quickly back to sleep. I'm still not sure if it's a growth spurt and you're actually hungry, or if you're just becoming more aware that I'm not in the room and it makes you mad? I really, really don't want to just leave you to cry by yourself, but I'm terrified I'm going to create bad habits. After a couple of weeks (one night you woke up every two hours like a newborn baby!) I let you cry for awhile before I went in there. After about ten minutes or so, you fell back asleep. I think maybe you just need the practice learning to soothe yourself. Talk about ripping mommy's heart out though. 
Food: You are the BEST eater Avery. You will eat anything, and everything. I've been experimenting with different combos. Your favorites seems to be sweet potato-apple-green beans and banana-blueberry-peaches. You really like broccoli (pureed as well as just steamed and in chunks) and love your morning steel-cut oatmeal. Sometimes I mix in banana-blueberry puree to sweeten the oatmeal, or sometimes I just add halved blueberries. You are still nursing every 3-4 hours, but not for nearly as long. You spend maybe 10 minutes nursing and then you want to be moving, standing, playing, singing. I NEVER thought I'd say this but I kind of miss the hour-long nursing sessions when I could just stare at you {and watch my reality tv shows}. 

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