Another year, another Super Bowl party! We’re getting ready to celebrate and watch the game with friends, and it occurred to me this morning that this is Zoe’s FOURTH time doing so! (Check out her first experience here.) Zoe’s all excited for the party (and for the first time, she helped me with the deviled eggs), and I hope Avery is too. Hopefully we’ll have some fun pics to share from the day.
-M
As mentioned below, Avery and I are back on track when it comes to our Fridays together. Yesterday morning we had a playdate at a friend’s house, where Avery got to crawl around with Greta (who is one month her senior) and play a bit of piano. She was a big fan of the keyboard; perhaps a career in music is in her future??
-M
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A few months ago, around the time that I returned to my normal (4 day/week) work schedule, I started feeling a bit down about life – and the main reason, I think, was that I was missing Avery. Sure, I spent a good amount of time with her – but it just never felt like enough, and it was rarely one-on-one time. (The latter is hard to get when you’ve also got a bubbly three-year-old bouncing around and demanding your attention.) And yes, we had our Fridays together, but there always seemed to be something other than “hang out” on our to-do list: errands, chores, doctor’s appointments, volunteering at Zoe’s school, etc. After one too many sob sessions with Q, he finally suggested that I forget all that other stuff, put off chores for another day, and focus on just being with Avery on my day off – which is exactly what I’ve been doing lately. And the result? I’m much happier than I was before, and I feel less stressed and overwhelmed by the day-to-day stuff (and believe me, with two little kids there’s a lot of day-to-day stuff). I guess you could say that Avery is good therapy for me!
-M
When Avery came down with the sniffles and a fever the other day, I was filled with a sense of dread. “Oh, no – not again,” I thought, thinking the worst, until a quick trip to the doctor identified teething as the culprit. Ah, teething. I had a faint recollection of what Zoe went through when her teeth first arrived, but it wasn’t until I did a quick search of past entries (two are here and here) that I really remembered how unpleasant teething can be. (It’s amazing how much you forget!) The good news is that Avery’s fever is gone, and she was much happier yesterday and today – so I’m hoping the worst is over. (At least until the next two teeth decide to arrive…)
-M
As we were coming home from school yesterday afternoon, Zoe commented to me, “I love Avery and Daddy. They’re the best.” And this morning, she also mentioned how much she loved “Baby Sister” and how sad she was that she’s sick. (Avery’s not really sick – just teething – but that’s a different post.) Zoe has always been pretty loving with her sister, and she’s a big fan of hugging and cuddling with her. Here are some pics from one of their recent cuddle sessions.
-M
Now that we are halfway from 35K to 40K I thought it would be a good time to post the previous winner’s prize. Check out the look on the winner’s face when he received a one-of-a-kind work of art from Zoe!
Good luck to everyone on trying to be the first to 40K…
Jon Q
Last month I mentioned that Zoe was about to begin Animal Adventures classes at the zoo. Her first was yesterday (the theme was porcupine and the letter P), and this time around I went with her. Check her out as she crawls like a pig, moves around like a pufferfish, and shows off the baby porcupine she made.
-M
Today is Tu B’Shvat, and Zoe’s school celebrated yesterday with a “birthday for the trees.” They talked about what trees give us (air, wood, shade, etc.), munched on snacks that come from trees (oranges, dates, olives, etc.) and sang “Happy Birthday” and other holiday songs. I helped set up for the festivities and was able to join the kids – so of course I had to take a few pictures. (In the first photo, Zoe’s sitting right next to Director Jan, the woman in black.)
-M
Late last month, in between illnesses, we scheduled a little photo shoot with Zoe and Avery. Decked out in coordinating dresses and (later) matching sweaters, the girls tried their best to look at the camera and strike a pose. They weren’t always successful (we were reminded yet again of how challenging it can be to get a good picture of more than one child), but we got a few nice shots – and it occurred to me that I should post them here!
-M
As promised, here’s another video from Avery’s first night of crawling. Interestingly, this milestone occured when she was 7 months, 1 week; Zoe crawled for the first time at 8 months, 1 week.
-M
…Avery is crawling! When we got home from Elena’s yesterday afternoon, I plunked her down on the floor in her room and watched in awe as she made her way to one of her toys. We were expecting this, of course, but she wasn’t crawling as recently as that morning. It’s amazing to me how babies just suddenly do something – and then there’s no turning back! (And I should mention that it’s a bit of a milestone week for Avery, because she has two new teeth now, also!)
I have another video to post later; for now, here’s 21 seconds of Avery moving about.
-M
Avery’s a big fan of “tummy time” (if you put her on her back, she’ll likely flip over within seconds), and we have tons of pictures of her in her signature pose. The pictures below are among my favorites – and, as an added bonus, they also show that her hair is growing! The first picture was taken in early Jan., and the other three, where she has a few more locks, are from the last week or so.
-M
It was five weeks ago this weekend that things started going downhill, health-wise, for us: Avery got sick first, followed by Zoe, me and Zoe again. I’ve talked about it before, but having a sick kid, or being sick yourself, really throws things off – and this last month-plus was pretty rough. Towards the end of the bad stretch, I admit to feeling pretty depressed – like I was never going to feel better and things would never get back to normal. Slowly but surely, though, things have returned to the pre-sick state – and now that we’re all healthy and back to work and school, we’re back to our daily routine. I’m not the biggest fan of the sense of sameness that occasionally accompanies our life-with-kids routine, but I’ll take it over illness-induced upheaval any day! Now, if only we can get the rain to stop…
-M
Today the four of us headed to AT&T Park in celebration of our friend Jack’s third birthday; there we took a tour of the park and got the chance to visit the dugout, clubhouse and playing field. Zoe had a blast (thanks, Jack!), and little Avery got to sport the same Giants outfit that Zoe wore during her first trip to the ballpark back in summer 2007. I’m sure the girls have many more trips to AT&T in their future!
-M
