Applause, Applause

Avery waves her arms a lot and likes to slap/bang things. She's also learned how to coordinate those hands and bring them together to clap. We never purposefully encouraged her to do this, but she just picked it up by watching us and she's getting really good at it! She can also hold a bottle really well (can't quite keep it tilted up, though) and she can pick up her binki and put it in her mouth (right side up) with no problem. She tries to grab for her spoon while I feed her and put it in her mouth, but I haven't let her loose on that one yet! I love to watch her pick up her toys and hold them in the air to examine them. She's starting to pick up the crawling motions as we practice together but my friends think I'm crazy to encourage her to crawl sooner... One said her son didn't crawl until he was a year old and it's probably the biggest blessing she's ever had. Hmmm... they have good a point! Maybe I'll let Avery put forth the effort when she's ready. Overall, I'm really pleased with Avery's coordination skills.

Dance

Avery likes to dance and shake to the music! Usually she giggles and smiles with her mouth wide open the whole time but she's still cute in this video even though she's not as jiggly and bubbly all the way through.

Who cuts your hair??

I've been cutting Brian's hair for 2.5 years and by no means am I a pro, but I feel like I've finally got the hang of it and do a rather decent job. Saturday afternoon I whip out the buzzers like normal and begin to ease my way up the back of his head to trim up that bushy hair. Only one difference. Instead of getting a #3 guard cut up the back, he gets a numero zero guarded cut. Translation: I forgot to put on the guard!!!! Somewhere between the hair dropping to the floor and my eyes popping out of my head did I realize the extent of my botch-up! Have you ever gotten that lump in your throat when you realize you'd just done something so terrible and irreversible?? Kind of like clicking the "reply all" on accident or sending a heated e-mail to someone that you regret later. Deed is done. Now you have to live with what you've done and attempt to deal with the consequences.

I began to apologize to Brian before I even said what I'd done! He figured it out pretty quick. Because of feeling so ashamed and sorry, I asked if I could just go to my room and cry. Thankfully, Brian didn't freak out too bad (or I seriously would have cried) but just said "no, you're gonna stay here and finish what you've started." In no way did he say this cruelly... more like "have fun fixing this one."

So he handed me the #1 guard to finish up the back. Sad thing is that the first buzz I made went a bit past the crown on accident so I knew it was going to look even more ridiculous because of that. I also had to do some blending where #0 buzz met the #1 buzz. Can you see the mark still? Later on, I was feeling so nervous trying to get this super short hair cut just right that I made a little gash on the right in the back. Ah!

After spending much time blending, we both admitted that I had surprisingly made a decent recovery afterall.... at least from the front. I can't vouch for the back much. Good thing he'll be meeting people at the career fair this week from the front!

This is the left side; it looks quite a bit better from the right side so I didn't show that one.

Seven months old

Within this past month (or two), Avery's learned a lot....

Rolling Around: She's become somewhat more comfortable on her tummy and can roll both ways on her own even though she doesn't do it much and struggles some still. She likes pushing off of the crib bars with her feet for leverage.

Scooting: Avery likes to migrate on the floor ever so slightly while sitting up. She can pretty much bend in half to reach for her toys, too. She's gonna love it when she can crawl!

Baby Food: She's been eating Gerber once or twice a day now (depending on her appetite) and she's been wonderful with trying new flavors. She does, however, dislike bananas and beef. I think it's too early for meats anyway and the bananas tasted horrible to me as well. Fresh ones are 100x better.

Sleep: Oh, she was going to bed at 8pm for a little while, but we botched that up in one night at Steve & Jen's (but it was worth it). [By the way, Avery's cousins love to play with her and keep her quite entertained! See the pictures below.] I'm not a real stickler on bedtime, so it doesn't bother me; however, we will try to gear her towards about 8pm again. Not sleeping through the night yet.

Reading: She'll now sit down and be entertained with books longer than before.

Bath Time: For about a month, she's been in the real tub since she can pretty well sit up on her own. She's enjoying being in the water more and more.

Jabber: When she's in the mood, she can jabber away. She mostly says "da-da-da," "ga-ga," and "buh-buh-buh." Don't be mistaken, though, "da-da," isn't technically her first word since she hasn't associated it with her dad yet... I'm still rooting for "ma-ma."

Morning Strolls: Since she's up by 8am now and the weather is cooling, I'm doing a routine stroll every morning for about 45 mintues. I like this routine. Brian and I also try to get a stroll in every evening too. He's also started to walk to school now.

Teething?: So, I don't really see any teeth yet. For a couple days at the beginning of this month, though, she went through a really tough period in which we think she must have been teething. That's about it.

Overall: What a sweet, happy, GOOD little girl! She's truly a delight to be with and we're extremely lucky!

Here's our trip yesterday to the Little Cottonwood Canyon. We had a beautiful hike:

Brian and I get a kick out of this face! Even her whimpers/fusses are kind of cute.

The running water through the rocks behind her is gorgeous!

Photography Practice

Since we can't really afford professional pictures for Avery or ourselves, I thought I might whip out the camera and do some practicing on my own to see if we can get some professional-looking shots. Besides, who needs to go to a studio when you've got the beautiful outdoors! If anyone has any basic tips for me about lighting/shade and good times to do shots (or how to do good indoor shots), let me know! We want to do family pics next month, too, so our friends, Russ & Adri, have agreed to help us out (thankyou!).

This is the only indoor one; she's just so cute!

This shot with the hat reminds me of some wallpaper we had in our laundry room growing up. It was some cute doll-looking children with big hats like this.

I love this one. I think it's my favorite because it shows her curiosity up close!

Sack-o-Potatoes

This is Brian's sack-o-potatoes (Avery). He does this with her sometimes when he takes her to bed and she thinks it's great! (Which is sort of surprising to be honest, because I don't think it's very comfortable!) She also likes it when he does the "Avery Hat," which is the same thing but on top of his head!

By the way, this is proof of Avery rolling over by herself in the crib. Here she fell asleep like that while I took a shower.

Sneaky, Sneaky

Avery rolled onto her belly when she woke up from her nap today. I walked in and found her that way! I decided to let her be even though she was fussing a little. Next time I walked in, she was back again! Sneaky little girl-- deciding she can roll when mom isn't looking!

Progressing!

I am happy to report that Avery rolled from tummy to back for the first time all on her own yesterday! She's really close to going the other way around, too. At over 6.5 months olds, she's a little behind, but we're very persistent practicing every day. She likes for me to demonstrate to her and we'll roll together on the bed (like as one unit). She laughs! Of course I'm careful not to crush her. She also likes to do front rolls and back rolls on the bed (like summer saults). Oh, by the way, as far as her sleeping goes, we're trying to get her down by 9:30 p.m. Yet, regardless of the time we get her down, she's been consistent about waking up at 10:30 pm, 2 am, 6:30 and 9-ish. At least she's sleeping more than 3 hours at a time! I've forgotten what it's like to sleep all the way through the night! No worries, though.

Here's Five

I tried a new hair do today! Amazing! I'm devoting a whole post to this because I'm usually not too adventurous when it comes to my hair. I really love this loose/natural look and my hair is the perfect length for this one right now. I just twisted and pinned it up in the back; really simple. I'm always afraid to try this look because I feel like everything will just start coming down since I didn't pin it tight and it will be a disaster. I'm glad I took my chances. :) Next step is to dabble with some make-up. I'm not much of a make-up person, but I have to admit that it makes me feel nicer when I use it (not so casual all the time). I'll use it more when I find a few good eye and lip colors I like and a foundation that's nice and light on the skin and, of course, when I have the money to get these things. Until then, here's five pics of the new do:

Happiness

Despite us both feeling miserable this morning (Dad's gone and we're both sick/teething; I guess we just can't handle his absence!), we made it through the day after all! Although it was a struggle to take care of us both, I'm happy to say we're both feeling better from this morning. I'm proud of my baby for being in good spirits whenever her pain subsided; it helped me get through my sickness, too. This evening as we played together before bed, I felt a close friendship with my little girl that I hadn't noticed before. Even at this young age, and with respect to our roles one to another, I felt like she was just one of my buddies and we were having a fun girl's night together. Crazy, huh!

As a result from this good-spirited night, I'd like to share with you a list I started two years ago and will always be adding to it. It's a list of the things I like. I hope it makes you think of all the wonderful things in your life that you like.

I like…

1. When my hair has pretty ringlets.
2. Coming home after a long trip.
3. Quietly enjoying nature.
4. Bowling over 100.
5. Satisfying a craving.
6. Laughing and being silly with my husband.
7. When my husband acts all cute and innocent.
8. Finding great deals.
9. Saving money on something I buy.
10. Having clean hands.
11. To flirt with my husband.
12. When gas prices go down.
13. Getting good gas mileage.
14. Shopping at Ross.
15. Looking at my pictures.
16. Enjoying quality ice cream.
17. European chocolate.
18. A long massage.
19. Long shirts.
20. Tennis Shoes.
21. Sunglasses with a gradient lens.
22. The feeling after cleaning the house.
23. Having a really good lindy connection.
24. Being a follow.
25. Great dance frame.
26. Yummy smoothies.
27. Dressing up and looking really pretty.
28. Fresh pineapple and navel oranges.
29. Grapes and berries.
30. Alone time.
31. Taking a walk with my husband.
32. Taking a bike ride in great weather.
33. California neighborhoods.
34. Real Virgin Pinacoladas
35. Going to a restaurant.
36. Having plenty of time to make a meal.
37. Baking goodies.
38. Being by a pool, palm trees and a resort at twilight.
39. Visiting a big city… especially near water.
40. Chicken.
41. Indian food (you know, from India).
42. Making my husband smile.
43. Being funny and entertaining.
44. Salsa dancing.
45. Having a productive day.
46. Getting organized.
47. Critiquing design.
48. Working with details.
49. Being a leader.
50. Doing back dives.
51. Healthy cereal.
52. Being “in-the-know.”
53. Being ahead and on top of things.
54. Magnolia flowers.
55. Eating smores at a campfire.
56. Changing the gears on a 4-wheeler.
57. The thought of growing a garden and berries and fruit trees.
58. Snowboarding downhill fast but in control; it’s exhilarating!
59. The thought of being able to carve better someday on my snowboard.
60. Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners.
61. A deep, rich red color.
62. Thinking of the house I’ll have someday and the kind of decorating I’ll do.
63. Getting excited for HALLOWEEN!
64. Stepping into the warm sun after being in a cold building.
65. Petting and playing with cute dogs (small or medium sized).
66. Eating a great watermelon in the summertime.
67. Playing ultimate Frisbee and being involved.
68. Having hair ties on my wrist, ready for me to use.
69. The feeling AFTER I exercise.
70. Being put to use when I visit someone’s house.
71. Hondas.
72. Being young.
73. Getting a nice tan.
74. Feeling alive.
75. Sunday afternoons with nothing to do.
76. When my husband compliments me (of course!).
77. Being in control of my finances.
78. Being understood.
79. Understanding others and concepts.
80. When people talk good about me behind my back.
81. Being enlightened in class or at church.
82. Ordering pizza after being on the lake.
83. Pizza Hut Pan Pizza
84. Mountain Biking downhill (at a moderate level).
85. Crisp, autumn air.
86. Tennessee fall colors.
87. Cuddling in bed.
88. Laughing and kissing before bedtime.
89. Feeling nice and warm under the covers.
90. A good SQUEEZE from my husband.
91. Having a clean house.
92. Straightening up and putting things away.
93. Feeling comfortable around new friends.
94. Talking to my mom on the phone.
95. Laura’s jokes- she’s so funny.
96. Sleeping in.
97. Feeling awake in the morning.
98. Rice pudding and German pancakes.
99. Thai food (especially the curry).
100. Playing Badmitton.
101. Teaching dance.
102. Going crazy / letting out all my excitement.
103. “Being a Bonnie”
104. Cheesecake
105. Being naturally good at something (especially something new).
106. Learning something new.
107. Filling a room with sunlight.
108. Being so happy to see my husband at the end of the day.
109. Bean burritos.
110. Festive decorations.
111. Jordan Almonds
112. Playing with my happy, baby girl.
113. Talking to Brian on the phone when he's away.
114.