Saturday, January 22, 2011

Avery 12-15 Months

The fall of 2010 was accompanied by Avery's first months as a toddler. We had a blast watching her grow and change from a baby into the sweet little girl she is. I am so happy to finally be writing down the memories from this period for her baby book.
  • Stats from 12 months: 19 lbs (45th percentile), 26 inches long (25th percentile).
  • Stats from 15 months: 22 lbs (50th percentile), 28 inches long (10th percentile).
  • With her short stature she is proving to be like her momma and meme. Since almost all pants in her waist size are too long, her Grandmommy helped us out by hemming them. She was in 9-12 month size clothes from 12-15 months. Her shoe size was 3.
  • Also due to her tininess, we decided to keep her car seat turned around through 16 months. She has been used to long car trips since she was born and travels really well, so it hasn't been bad at all.
  • Beginning in her 12th month she could identify all of her basic body parts (head, mouth, nose, eyes, ears, toes) and that list continues to grow and now includes arms, hands, tongue, belly, belly button, knees, teeth, hair, etc. She has her own unique way for showing you what each part is. For example to show you her teeth she taps them together in her mouth, to show you her hands she signs for milk.
  • At 12 months she really picked up on waving bye and saying hi. She started saying bye bye right after turning 15 months old.
  • She LOVES to read. This love has continued to grow each month. By 15 months she was able to recognize a story and go pull that specific book off of her shelf. She will bring the book to you, point to the floor and say "sit" in the sweetest little. Then she backs into your lap for you to begin reading.
  • When she sees an object on the page that she recognizes (ex. fish), she explodes with joy and yells the name of whatever she is seeing.
  • Speaking of short commands like "sit," she can also tell us "more," "no," "yes," and "all done." By the end of 15 months her word arsenal included versions of: owl, squirrel, hot (accompanied by holding her hand out like she is warming it at a fire), ball, bath, bubbles, fish, moon, up, Aubie, Auburn, car, key, cup, book, baby, Huck (our dog), & duck (pretty funny hearing her quack the night of the national championship).
  • There are really no words to describe this little girl's love for all things Auburn! She recognizes, says his name, and points to Aubie. She get down dancing to the fight song, and glory glory, she can tell you that an AU stands for Auburn and loves to shake her pom pom. She holds her hands up for touch downs and by the end of 15 months she cheered when football games were on, despite who was playing.
  • Her hide and seek abilities have increased from peek-a-boo to full fledged walking in a dark room at our house, finding a spot, and hiding there as quite as a mouse. This is a little unnerving, since she could possibly do this to us a store, but at home it is hilarious.
  • She is quite the little mommy and loves to take care of her dolls by feeding and rocking them, as well as wrapping them in blankets. She also likes to share her paci...just not for too long! She loves for me to say her baby doll wants her mommy!
  • She has a love for girls between the ages of 4-7. She will just randomly run up to them at stores and either hug them or hold their hand. Sometimes she even reaches her arms up for them to hold her.
  • Her sleeping habits have stayed the same, she usually goes to bed by 8:00 and then I wake her up at 6:40 each weekday. On the weekends she sleeps till 7:30 or 8:00. We are soooo blessed with a good sleeper.
  • She is addicted to her paci. It is going to be very hard to break this habit but we plan to at 18 months. It makes her feel so good and I would rather have to break her from a paci than sucking her thumb.
  • She enjoys giving kisses and high fives. She can't just give out one, anyone who is in the room gets them.
  • She can drink out of cup without a lid, but we don't let her take the cup by herself. She really likes using a regular cup with a straw. We cut the straw to her size, which works well.
  • She likes taking a bath and splashing whoever is giving it to her. She washes her baby just like we wash her. She helps us put her lotion on and enjoys looking at all of her clothes when we are picking them out for the next day.
  • She likes when I sing to her and at night when I rock her, signs and verbally tells me more when I am getting close to the end of a song.
  • Now that she is so active and such a fireball, it is definitely harder to go out shopping for anything other than groceries. If I need to be able to look at anything, I know that I have to leave her with someone. Who can blame her for wanting to explore?
  • She knows how to throw a fit and has zero patience. For each hard moment though there are at least 5 amazing ones.
  • She eats pretty much anything and LOVES milk. We only do milk and water, no juice. Why start the habit if you don't have to? Her favorite foods are cheese, green beans, cucumbers, tomatoes, grapes, cheese, apples, chicken any way, any kind of noodles, rice, cheese, chocolate, and anything Levi or I might be eating that she wants to try. Did I mention she likes CHEESE? Oh and something I find funny is her daycare has collards on the menu every so often and "all" is always circled in the how much she ate column :)

Monday, January 17, 2011

Snow Much Fun!


The day after Christmas, we headed to North Alabama to for Christmas with my mom and dad's sides of the family, as well as Levi's parents, Samuel, and Alyssa. Even though everyone had called to tell us about the snow Christmas Day, we honestly were not convinced that it was that big of a deal till we got there. They got 5-6 inches and it stayed for 3 days. Fast forward to present day and we actually just returned from up there and from experiencing the remnants of the great winter blizzard of 2011! There was 7 in. or so still on the ground that fell over a week ago. Schools were closed all week due to the ice. I don't think there has ever been that much snow to fall within 2 or so weeks of each other in Haleyville.
The pictures are from the Christmas snow. I don't know if you can tell, but Avery LOVED it and only cried when the sled stopped and we had to drag it back to the top. I even got a picture of her signing "more" sledding. She also cried when we had to go in for a nap :)

Monday, January 3, 2011

Christmas Morning 2010

Levi and I made the decision several years ago that when we had children, they would wake up from their own bed on Christmas morning and that we would spend the day relaxing, not traveling. We were both always at home on Christmas as children, the difference however, was that both sides of our grandparents lived a very short distance from our own homes. Thus, seeing them throughout the day wasn't terribly difficult. Although we missed being a part of Christmas breakfast with the Smiths and lunch with the Elliotts, we really enjoyed being together and seeing Avery wake up to presents under our tree!
We were blessed to have both my Mom and Sister with us to celebrate. When we took pictures in front of the tree Avery really hammed it up for the camera. It is so much fun to hear her say cheese and smile. You might notice a little bow in her hair. She finally has enough that I can slip in the smallest of small bows. If she sees herself in the mirror with one in her hair, she just smiles and coos at how pretty she looks. Such a little girl :)
Avery's big gift from Santa this year was a toy shelf. We bought it unfinished and plan to stain it very soon (I'll post pictures then). I think that Mommy was most excited about this gift since a lot of her toys had been stored in an empty Huggies box for several months :) She loved seeing all of her toys lined up neatly and really couldn't decide what to play with first. It was like all of them were new!
She also got the Weebles Little Tree House, crayons to use in the bath tub, two new sippy cups, clothes, and her favorite, an ornament with a tiger on it. Even though the tiger has a little bow in her hair, Avery immediately for the very first time said "Aubie," which in turn melted everyone's heart. Note the pictures of her hugging the ornament.
After presents, we made breakfast and talked to family in North Alabama about all the snow they were getting and how we were missing out. Little did we know that about 5 inches of it was going to stick and we were going to get to play in it while visiting with Levi's parents!
Loving Avery from the very second we knew she growing inside me and watching her grow and learn each day has deepened our sense of awe and complete humbleness at the thought that God loved us so much that He willingly sent His only Son to die for us and our sins. Amazing the love He has for all His children. Thank you God for the gift of life You gave to us with Jesus' birth, death, and resurrection!

Sunday, January 2, 2011

Mize Family Christmas

Saturday, December 18th, we headed to Birmingham to celebrate Christmas with Levi's mom's side of the family. It was a bittersweet time of fellowship, since we were missing his Daddy Mize. Sadly, he passed away earlier in the month from complications of heart disease. He will be missed tremendously!The day mostly consisted of lots of eating, talking, opening presents, and relaxation. Levi's Aunt Johanna makes the best hash brown casserole and of course there was ham, dressing, mac & cheese, and too many desserts to name. After lunch, we played Dirty Santa which never disappoints. I truly play dirty...my first one with his family I took $25.00 from his Ma Mize...Hey don't judge me, I was a poor college freshman! This year Levi and I came back with an Auburn Snuggie and a really awesome pot for my flowers this summer.
Christmas 2009
Avery, Taylor, and Graham
Christmas 2010
Taylor and Graham
It was a lot of fun getting to see how much all of the babies had grown this year. Ava Grace and Avery had a ball with each other. Avery was her little doll and she only referred to her as sweetie...it was too cute!Avery is really into reading right now, you finish one book and she has another one already in mind. Uncle Keith just loved reading to two of his favorite girls. Taylor and Avery have him wrapped around their tiny fingers!
For the first time ever, Levi's Aunt Pam was there to take part in the fun. She lives in MA, but due to the funeral she was able to join us.
Levi's Mom, Ma Mize, and Aunt Pam
Several years ago, she started the tradition of sending all of her nieces and nephews Christmas Ornaments each year for the tree. Levi and I have so much fun taking out the ornaments he received and hanging them on our tree each year. Since all of those nieces and nephews have grown up and many have kids of their own, she has extended the tradition to them. Avery got her first one this year...a Noah's Ark. She loved it and at least once per day after we put it on our tree, had to take it down to examine the animals!
After a long day, we said our goodbyes and headed back to Auburn for the night. Maybe we will get to visit with everyone again this July :)