4th of July!!

I love this holiday. This year we (mom, dad, Justin, Avery, and I) joined Stephanie’s family for a fireworks display at Stephanie and Quinton’s apartment. It was a really close display...in fact, some of the firework debris actually landed on or around us. It was really fun to see them so close up though, and after a little hesitation at first, Avery really enjoyed them. The following night we attended Symphony above the Clouds, which was so relaxing and fun. I saw a lot of my old students and Avery walked all over the middle school track waving at EVERYONE! They say that she looks too small to walk, so that must draw attention.

Avery now weighs 16 pounds 15 ozs. and literally runs through the house. She is in the 1^st percentile for weight, so it will be some time before we can turn that dang car seat around! I knew she was tiny, but was surprised when they shared her chart. She started in the 12^th, then went down to the 5^th, 3^rd, and now 1^st. The doctor isn’t worried though! She says Avery is healthy and strong willed. There’s a lot of spirit in this little monkey. She’s 29 inches long, which is the 29^th percentile, and is in the 69^th percentile for her head. Overall, she’s growing, which is what counts! Avery says “baby” “baba” “trees” “puppy” “mommy” “daddy” “hi” “thank you” and tries to repeat any word that I say to her including “juice” “drink” “box” and anything else you can think of. Unfortunately, despite every effort to sculpt her vocabulary, she has taken a liking to the word “no no” and uses it CONSTANTLY! This morning at the doctors office she ran over to the wall, slapped it with her hand and yelled “no no”. I think she tries to discipline inanimate objects since it makes her feel bigger. Though she started sleeping through the night at 10 months (most nights I should say), she now sleeps soundly through the night, which I have learned is an entirely different thing (only if she is feeling well though). She LOVES to hold fingers and steer adults through the house...it gives her complete control. She still break dances by bobbing her head back and forth, and likes to shriek at the top of her lungs and hike her leg up like she’s stomping things. Though she has lots of tomboy traits (she prefers the tools at Toys R Us to the girl toys) she really likes her baby doll and feeds her a baby bottle when possible. However, the next second she body slams her baby to the ground and stomps on her face, which confirms that Avery is not ready for another sibling.