Muir Woods and Funny Avery

The Mommy's group I hang out with went to Muir Woods on Friday. We had a great time but it was quite an endeavor with all the kids and we probably looked a bit crazy at times! We had a 4 week old, 13 mo, 14 mo, 20 mo, 3.5 yo, 4.5 yo between 4 mothers. We used 1 double stroller, 2 regular strollers and 2 carriers. Combine that with the fact we had to park almost 1 mi away and we got our exercise in for the day! The kids seemed to enjoy it and a minor miracle occurred when we got the 5 older kids looking at the camera at the same time!

The last ones were taken last night. Avery was trying to get toys out of the bin and nearly fell in. Not sure if you can tell but her feet are off the ground. Ryan and I were laughing pretty hard!

In the crib and daddy reading

Here are some pictures from a couple weeks ago. Avery likes to climb into Bitty Baby's crib. It is really cute and I have a hard time taking her out of it. I'm laughing the whole time so no wonder she doesn't believe me. I just keep remembering that I won't be laughing when she breaks it or falls out of it.
I also caught Ryan reading to her. They seemed to be enjoying some quality time.

4th of July!!!

Happy Birthday America!!!
This 4th was so very hot so we started the day in the sprinkler. She liked it in small doses and would stand there and let it splash on her face for a while. Then she would run back to the sand table.
That evening we went to the Marin County Fair with Tom, Jamey, Kevin and Ronnie. It was fun but crowded. Unfortunately she wasn't big enough to ride anything besides the train but that was fun.
We kept her up really late but she is such a good girl she was fine and played with everyone while we waited for the fireworks to start. She was rolling around when the first boom started and it sure got her attention. From then on she was mesmerized and watched the whole show. She would go from lap to lap and sit and stare. It was neat to see the wonder of fireworks through the eyes of a child. Ryan did a good job of picture taking and you can see how pretty they were. It was hard to get a good one of Avery but you can see she liked to watch them.

San Jose Children's Museum

Last Friday my Mommy's group went to the museum and Avery seemed to have a lot of fun. I was bad at pictures and didn't get any of her with other kids but they all seemed to scatter when we got there. I like the last one, my little cowgirl.

Rachel for a visit

My friend Yiping's daughter Rachel came over for a visit last week. Rachel has been in China with her grandparents for the past 3 months so it has been a while since they've seen each other. They had a fun time playing and I don't think Rachel wanted to leave. We tried to get a picture of them hugging and we almost made it but got the tail end of it. They moved into the city this past weekend so we won't see them as much but hopefully we will plan something at some point.

Birthday party and hanging on the porch

Avery recently went to a birthday party of one of her church friends. They are really nice people and invite us every year. They go all out on the parties and Avery seemed to have fun with some of the kids. These 2 boys are the sons of the woman she stayed with right after I went back to work before Val was ready. She runs a daycare and her boys really like kids. They also go to our church so she seems them often.
The other 2 are just her snacking on the porch. I thought she was cute. We do the pigtails on my days off and she always gets at least 1 comment!

Levi's visit and Avery's signs

Levi Abbate came over today while his mom was with Emma. They had a lot of fun. Avery is now able to interact and play with other children and Levi was perfect. He'll be 2 in October so just old enough to run around but young enough that he's in to similar things. Avery enjoyed following him around the house. I now have visions of what life will be like when Avery can RUN around the house.
They spent a lot of time out playing at the sand/water table so they got a bath when they came in. Too cute!
Levi is such a good kid and Christi is one of my closest friends here. I will be so sad if they have to move soon.

Avery also started signing for different animals. She got a new video while we were home and it actually works. It doesn't hurt that she likes animals so much that she is mesmerized by the DVD. It is the only thing she will truly sit through without moving!
Her monkey sign should be under her armpit but she just hasn't perfected that yet. I was just impressed that she understands the sound for monkey. We see their picture a lot in books but the only sound she hears is my interpretation...

Playing In Bubbles

I can't believe how quickly children "mature" once they start walking. I sometimes have a hard time thinking of her as a toddler until she does something so different from what she has done before. It is so much fun playing with her now. She plays games and loves to dance. Anytime music is on she is bopping her head and bouncing up and down. She loves to "feed" me during lunch. She has also discovered how to bounce on the bed. When I get her up from her naps she is jumping up and down.
Now that her hair is getting longer I have tried pig tails and I think they are so cute on her. I'm sure you'll agree.

More pics from Indy

Trip in Indy

We just spent a 12 days in Indy! It was a lot of running around but we had a great time. Avery grew up so much while we were there. Before we left she had just started walking but still used crawling if she fell. Now she has mastered walking, can get herself up from the floor without holding on to something and even tries to run! Our home life isn't going to be the same but it is so exciting. She loves all the animals around here and we have visited many dogs and love watching the birds at the feeders. All the grandparents are going to have a hard time when she leaves but we miss daddy. She walks around carrying a picture of him and is getting slightly better at saying Dada.