"Finger" Foods

For the most part, Avery now eats “solids” three times a day. She eats her cereal well and loves any fruit we give her. She also likes squash, carrots and sweet potatoes depending on the day, but can take or leave any green vegetable. Forget any kind of pureed chicken or meat entrée. You can’t fool her.

A few weeks ago, her teacher asked if she was eating finger foods yet. This was my first clue that most 8-month olds eat some sort of finger food, so we started experimenting.

First on the menu, Gerber Graduates Apple Wagon Wheels. She wasn’t sure what to do with these. I handed one to her and she just held it for the longest time, then passed it back and forth from hand to hand. I put it in her mouth for her, and she sucked it until it fell out on her bib. The photos explain best what happened next. If you can’t guess, this was an initial failure because she preferred to eat them off her bib!

Second up, we tried giving her some pancake. I tore up one in little bits, then left a bigger piece for her to hold. Her reaction? She squeezed the pancake until it disintegrated into little bits, and refused for even one bite of it to cross her lips. Another failure.

I sent a can of the wagon wheels to school with her, and the report is that she gobbles them up there. Maybe she's just trying to impress the other kids!

"What Can I Get Into?"

Avery is getting better and better at crawling. Friday, I sent her to school to debut a pair of dark pink Osh Kosh overalls. Apparently, they were still a little big as when she tried to crawl, her leg got hung up in the crotch and she got stuck! She voiced her displeasure and her teacher had to change her into an alternate ensemble. Oops! Sorry little buddy!

This weekend, Avery "helped" me fold laundry. She took great pleasure in unfolding anything that I had just folded. Here she is caught red-handed.

I decided it was time to try a bow. A pink one. Cute, huh? Is it cuter when she sticks her tongue out?

Here is an action shot of Avery crawling. Of course she makes a beeline for all the things she should not touch, like the lens of my Nikon D40!!!

Super Fan

Avery had a busy weekend watching football. She enjoyed watching the Heels pull out a late victory over the Huskies!

Unfortunatley, the Packer game came on past Avery's bedtime. She will have to rely on her Daddy to tell her all the highlights tomorrow. Hopefully they will be able to celebrate a victory over Da Bears. Speaking of Da Bears, Allyson and John, we'll take you seriously as Bears fans when we see a picture of Miss Elizabeth in her Bears cheerleader outfit!

Go Pack, go!

Brianna's Story

Yesterday, I visited a friend's Facebook page and came across a video link to the news story of Baby Brianna Lopez. I clicked on it, and ever since I did, I've wished I hadn't. Brianna 's story detailed the brutal abuse and sexual assault she suffered from since her birth at the hands of her parents and uncle. She died of the abuse at age 6 months, and her abusers were ultimatley sentanced to 18 years in prison. Though the story happened 6 years ago, I simply can't get the hauting images of what this baby girl went through out of my mind. The details of the abuse are so horrifying that I strongly suggest you simply take my word for it and not google the story. The video made my stomach heart and my heart ache, and I can't yet put it out of my mind.

Though I can't do anything to help this little girl, I can kiss and hug mine today in her memory while I wonder if anyone ever hugged or kissed Brianna or rocked her to sleep. I will appreciate just a little bit more those smiles of Avery's that never fail to melt my heart and those giggles that brightens my day while I realize that some kids never experience anything worth smiling or giggling about. Before I put her to bed tonight, I made sure to tell her that I would always do everything I could possibly do to protect her from any harm, while I wish every parent in the world would promise the same.

If you have a little one, be sure to give them an extra kiss and a hug in Brianna's memory. She would have been 6 years old on July 19.

Mobile Munchkin

Avery played VERY hard this Labor Day weekend, but she did make time to pull for her favorite team on the kick-off of college football weekend. Like her pink Carolina onesie? After a full day of activity, it's pretty easy to fall asleep sitting up, then just fall right over. It's happened to you, right?

Sunday afternoon, Baby Daddy and I went to La Parilla to enjoy some margaritas on the patio. Our nice waitress gave Avery this orange balloon. She loved it!

A co-worked recently asked me how it felt to give birth to Greg's clone. I feel used!

Our neighbor Jennifer came over for a visit with her new daschund puppy, Asher. Avery thought he was a toy and was a little rough on him when she wasn't squealing and clapping her hands (a new skill) in delight.

And last but not least, Avery has started crawling. At this point, she can only make it a stride or two before she flops down on her belly. But that's enough to discover all the new mischief she can get herself into! Our adventures in mobility are about to begin!

Today's Check-Up

Well, the good news is that Avery's respiratory virus is clearing up. The better news is that we can begin tapering the breathing treatments to 2x daily. The not-so-good news is that all the congestion led to an ear infection! Poor little thing! So she's on an antibiotic now 2x daily for 10 days. It wouldn't be such a big deal if I were better at giving her medicine. Since my Tylenol mishap over a week ago, I've been resorting to putting her medicine with a few ounces of formula in her bottle. Since the antibiotic is pink, she got pink milk tonight. It didn't seem to phase her at all! Here is my poor baby girl getting a breathing treatment. Hopefully we will be done with these soon!

Crib Mischief!

Avery has been on the verge of propelling herself into a sit-up position for weeks, but as of tonight, she's officially mastered the technique. I put her down for the night only to turn away for a second and find her sitting up. Obviously, she was quite tickled with herself!

She also decided to explore her new view. Here she is up on her knees. It's definitley time for Baby Daddy to get out his toolbox and lower the crib mattress!

Apparently, the crib rails are also quite good for chewing. Could Avery finally be getting some toofers?

In her misadventures, a rogue limb escaped the confines of the crimb. Avery needed rescued by Mommy after this smooth move!

Last by not least, as you can see buy her smiles and mischief-making, Avery is feeling much, much better! She has even started tolerating us giving her the breathing treatments. We hope we are well on our way to getting a clean bill of health at the Doctor check-up tomorrow. Thanks for everyone's get well wishes!