Al's New Car

I guess it has been a busy week, but I am finally getting around to posting pictures of Al and his new car! Al LOVES his car. The fact that it has air conditioning makes it a ton better than his old car already. Now if it would warm up here he could actually use the air conditioning.

Al's car is a KIA Optima. It is quite a bit roomier than his old car and has a lot bigger trunk. It gets great gas mileage, which he needs since he drives downtown every day. We got really lucky with Al's car and found one in Missouri that had never been smoked in. And it hardly had any miles on it!

We drove out to Quincy, Illinois last Saturday to pick up both mine and Al's cars. We called each other back and forth on our cell phones comparing our new rides. We couldn't believe how smooth and quiet they were compared to our old cars...no vibrating...no smoke...no deafening exploding noises. We had to really watch our spedometers because we were used to relying on the shakiness/loudness of our cars to tell us how fast we were going.

I almost think that Al was glad that his car broke down in the ghetto so that he could get this car which he is thrilled with. Almost. I saw how stressed out and sad Al was in the last few weeks to know that this wasn't true. But we are all glad that he has a lot more reliable transportation to get him in and out of the city and home safely to us.

2nd Cooking Class

Wednesday Avery had her second cooking class. We couldn't make it the week before, with everything going on, so I was glad that we were able to go this week. Avery was a little shy when we got there and kept hugging my legs, but she warmed up after a few minutes. She even answered a few questions that the teacher asked!

This time we made ham and cheese rolled up in cresecent rolls. Then the teacher baked them so that the cheese was all melted. While they baked the kids decorated sugar cookies. Avery's were loaded with the sprinkles. But when I looked around I saw that hers were pretty tamed compared to some of the other kids!

After the cookies the kids sat at a long table and strung fruit loops on a piece of yarn to make a fruit loop necklace. Avery's necklace wasn't very full...for every one piece she put on the yarn she ate 3 or 4 others. She likes the green fruit loops the best, even though they all taste the same. The other moms found this to be very amusing. They watched as Avery would scout out all of the green ones and eat them.

This coming week is our last class. I am sad that it will be over. I think Avery has really enjoyed it.

It doesn't get any cuter than this...

Sunday Best

Avery absolutely loved her Easter dress this year. She kept twirling around and making the skirt of the dress flair around her. Al and I think she is looking so grown up.

It snowed on Easter Sunday, so after we took these pictures we bundled Avery up in her white cardigan and then her big red dress coat. It was funny to see all of the other little girls come into church with their pretty summer dresses underneath their big heavy coats.

The Easter Bunny came!!

Yesterday morning Avery woke up and found her Easter basket waiting for her on the couch. She was so excited! The Easter Bunny left her some Little Einstein figures and some other fun little toys and treats.

Harold the Helicopter has been bumped out of bed to make room for Annie and June.

Avery was very happy to see that the Easter Bunny also left her some Starburst jelly beans, one of her new favorite treats. Avery wanted to eat them for breakfast today. She loves her jelly beans.

Easter Egg Hunt

Yesterday morning we had a little Easter egg hunt for Avery.

I hid 8 little plastic eggs around our familiy room for Avery to find.
She did a really good job on her own this year! Last year I remember directing her from egg to egg, but she seemed to get the concept this year and found the first 3 or 4 without being prompted.

The difference this year being that as soon as she found an egg she wanted to open it immediately and scarf down the chocolates before moving on to the next one. We let her do this a few times but then moved her along to find the other eggs so that she wouldn't get too sick!

I keep thinking that one of these years we will be able to have a little egg hunt outside, but it was in the low 40's yesterday.

As you can tell from the pictures, Avery really enjoyed the hunt.

Dyeing Easter Eggs

Avery loved coloring the Easter eggs last night. We got her the Disney princess pack, which is why she's wearing the crown in the top picture.

We had spoons in all of the glasses, but Avery liked the hand approach better.

I really love her facial expressions. She is so entertaining and is full of personality.

We tried to explain to Avery that she needed to be gentle with the eggs, but we're still working on that concept. I would hand Avery an egg to put in the dye and she would toss it in, sending little waves of dye out of the glasses. I'm glad the table was covered. It was fun to watch her enjoy herself so much. A couple of the eggs suffered some cracks. I think Avery got a little over excited and squeezed them just a little too hard.

Al and I were a little worried about the dye coming off of her hands. As you can see in the last picture they were pretty covered. But it actually came off pretty well. I was trying to imagine how Avery would look on Easter Sunday in her pastel dress with bright blue and orange dye up and down her arms.

In the last picture Avery is showing off her dyed hands and kind of doing "touchdown." We thought it was appropriate since she was wearing her Beetdigger shirt.

Harold the Helicopter

I took this picture a while ago but am just getting around to posting it. Avery loves Thomas the Train and knows the names of most of the other trains in her books and on the shows.

Her new favorite is Harold the Helicopter. My mom gave him to Avery for part of her Easter present. We kind of gave it to her early just because she's been a real trooper this last week.

As you can see, she was thrilled with her new addition. She wanted him to sleep in her bed every night. I was surprised to go in and see her a couple of hours later, still holding onto Harold.

She's also wearing her "fuzzies." That is what she calls her fleece jammies. She has a purple pair too, which she highly prefers over the pink ones, but they were in the wash. Avery will pull them out of her laundry basket and beg me to put them on her. I have to admit that I've indulged her a few times.

Our first cooking class

Yesterday was Avery's first Little Chef class. Avery's tumbling class got pushed to April and so they bumped her Little Chef class up to March. We were the first ones there and Avery walked into the big kitchen pretty timidly. We walked around exploring for a while and then more little kids showed up. There were 3 other little girls and one little boy. Avery was one of the youngest ones there.

The first thing the teacher had the class do was wash their hands. Then they got to work. There was a huge butcher table and the teacher had set chairs up so the kids could stand at the table. Each child had a bowl of dough and a bowl of cheese. There was also a communal bowl of green pepper slices. Avery was pretty heavily tempted by that cheese and kept touching it. At one point she got a mouthful almost to her mouth but I told her we had to wait until we heard what the teacher wanted us to do.

We made pizza caterpillars! Avery and I divided the dough into little segments and then rounded them and flattened them out (Avery loved this). Then we got to put little mushroom pieces in for legs. After that they had to bake for a little bit. While they baked we got to make peanut butter play-dough. The teacher passed out samples before we got started so the kids could taste what they were going to make. It was really easy and all of the kids loved it. The teacher told the kids they weren't allowed to lick the spoon until they were done mixing their own bowl. Avery was really glad when we were done mixing. She took a huge bite of the dough off of her spoon. The teacher had the little kids throw away their spoons and bowls so we could get back to work on the pizzas. The kids really seemed to like lining up and throwing things into the trash.

As we finished the peanut butter play-dough the timer for the pizzas went off. The teacher passed out the caterpillars to the kids. When Avery got hers back she lowered her head to the caterpillar and took a big bite out. Everybody thought that was funny. The teacher passed out little bowls of sauce and pepperoni. Avery helped me put the sauce on but when it came to the pepperoni she just kept shoving them into her mouth instead of on the caterpillar. While she chewed up her mouth full of pepperoni I put some on the caterpillar. Then I helped stick in the green pepper antennae. Avery finally got to put the cheese on--she dumped the whole bowl on top before I had time to show her how to sprinkle it on, but we were able to make it work.
While the pizzas baked again the kids got to sit at a table and color pictures. When the pizzas were done the teacher passed them out again and the kids each got a napkin and a cup of apple juice. Then they got to eat their little caterpillars. Avery picked all of the pepperoni off and ate them. She was pretty happy with her work.

After we were done we cleared our spot and got cleaned up so we could go. Avery went in and said and waved bye-bye to her teacher. She also said thank-you. It was so cute!! On the way home Avery kept saying, "Bye-bye to the teacher! Bye-bye to the teacher!" I think she will be really excited when we go back next week.

Taking a Nap

Yesterday I put Avery down for a nap. She had been acting tired all morning and then fell asleep at 12:30 on the way back from Target. I carefully carried her to her bed but she woke up (not happy) when I lay her down. She wanted her ba-ba and so I went down to the kitchen to get her some milk.

I brought it back up and everything seemed fine. Her eyes were already falling closed. I went downstairs and Al called me on his way to a clinic out in O'Fallon. As I was talking to him I could hear little bumps and thuds above my head. After I hung up I went upstairs and listened at Avery's door. There were definitely noises coming from inside.

I opened the door and found this: Avery standing in her shirt and princess moon boots. She had moved all of her stuffed animals to her little table and was playing with her little bunnies, making them "hop hop hop!"

That was the end of yesterday's nap.

Little Chef

Avery likes to help me in the kitchen sometimes. The other night I was making breakfast food for dinner. I had this tube of crescent rolls in the fridge that would go along with the dinner and so I called Avery in to help me make them.

I showed her how to roll the first one and then she rolled all the rest! It was so cute to watch her little hands work. She got so excited about putting them in the oven. Sometimes when I let her help me she wants to watch whatever is in the oven and so I turn on the oven light for her.

When the cresecent rolls were done she wanted to eat one right away. She was so excited about what she had made.

A while ago I signed me and Avery up for a Mommy & Me cooking class. It doesn't start until April, but I think Avery is going to love it.

Daddy's Valentine

Yesterday Al got to come home early from the hospital because the surgeon he is working with was out of town. We spent a few minutes together in the morning and then Avery and I left to go to her playgroup's Valentine Party.

When we got home Al had some surprises waiting for us. Here are pictures of Avery with her first rose! You can see on her face how excited she was. I have some more cute pictures of it too. She was so excited when Al showed her this rose. She kept exclaiming, "Hold it! Hold flower!"

Al also had 3 red roses for me and our traditional box of chocolate covered strawberries. Avery and I were both pleased with our Valentine. He did a great job!

Two Year Check-up

Yesterday Avery had her two year check-up. Avery remembered what a doctor's office was, so she was none to thrilled when we headed back to the exam room. I felt a little badly for her because it was pretty cold yesterday and we had to strip her down to her diaper and parade her around the office so she could get weighed and measured.

Avery weighed in at 27 lbs. even, which puts her in the 55%. Then they measured her height. For some reason Avery really freaked out at this, but she finally settled down enough to get the measurement in--34 1/4 inches--60%. Then the head measuring, which came in at 47.6 cm., or the 55%. So Avery is growing very evenly.

The doctor said Avery was growing perfectly and doing great! She asked if I had any concerns and I told her that we were planning on taking the paci away that day. She wished me luck and gave me a few pointers. She did an autism screening on Avery, which consisted of me answering a lot of questions about Avery's behavior and abilities. Avery passed it with flying colors.

We had already had a rough morning (Avery coughed and threw up all over our bed, I accidentally stepped on her hand while I was carrying a load of laundry and Avery was quietly playing on the stairs) so I warned Doctor Shiue that the rest of the check-up might not go smoothly. It didn't. Avery cried the whole time. At least it wasnt loud, just quietly crying to herself. After Dr. Shiue checked all she needed to she proudly said she didn't need to see Avery until she turned 3...yeah!! Avery only had to have one shot and she handled it like a trooper.

The Birthday Party!!

Last night was Avery's 2nd birthday party. She invited her best friend Emmy, and Finn. Avery is starting to get into the princesses, so she had a princess party.

Avery woke up yesterday and I think she knew it was a big day. She was so excited and happy the entire day. She kept saying, "Happy Birthday!!" and asked repeatedly if she could hold her birthday cake. Grandma Nette and Grandma Louona and called in the morning to talk to Avery. She was pretty good about talking on the phone.

I decorated for the party while Avery was taking her nap. When she woke up the crepe paper and balloons were up and the table was all set with the princess plates, napkins and cups. Boy was she excited! She was smiling the entire afternoon. Then when I told her Emmy was coming after dinner she kept going and looking out our window, waiting for her friend.

Avery was getting so anxious for the party but luckily we had some fun distractions. Sarah and Hannah called to say 'Happy Birthday' and then so did my dad, Granny, and Jen, Allison and Dylan.

The party started t 6:30 and Al got home just in time for the festivities. It was close! For a while the kids just played with the pink balloons, tossing them around and sitting on them. Then we did a fun activity. Everybody got to decorate a crown and a wand! I got them for super cheap at Michael's and then got some stickers to decorate with. The kids seemed to really enjoy it.
Then it was cake and ice cream time! Avery knew just what to do with the candles. As soon as I lit them she blew them out. So I lit them again and she blew them out again. I told her she had to wait until after we sang to her...but she couldn't wait and blew them out again. So we moved the cake away from her a little bit, got through the song, and then she gave the candles a final blow. Avery asked for strawberry ice cream and sprite for her birthday, so that is what we had along with the cake (and diet coke and chocolate peanut butter cup ice cream).

After cake Avery opened her presents. She got some fun books, 2 mixers (one looks just like a kitchen aid!) an outfit, and a princess backpack.

It was a really great birthday party!!

The Kitchen!!

Well, as you can see from the pictures, Avery got a play kitchen for her birthday!

Avery opened her presents from us Saturday morning because we wanted to make sure that Al was going to be home. Al and I got the kitchen put together on Friday night so that when Avery woke up Saturday morning it was all ready.

She was so excited! At first it was like she couldn't believe it. She just stood and smiled for the longest time. Then she went and opened and shut every door. She just couldn't stop smiling.
We also gave her some play food and dishes. When Avery opened the play food she got so excited she was stomping her feet up and down. So cute!!

I made chocolate chip muffins for breakfast and then we got ready and went to the Mills. Avery likes to go to Cabela's to look at the fish. Then we went to the toystore to play with the Thomas the Trains, which Avery absolutely loves. After that we played on the playground, had lunch, and Al took Avery on the carousel. We went in a couple of stores and I got some really good deals on some stuff for Avery for next winter. It was the perfect day!

After Avery's nap she came downstairs and it was like she saw the kitchen again for the first time. She just smiled and smiled. We had a gift certificate for TGIF's so we went out to dinner that night. Avery had a lot of fun and so did Al and I. It was a great start to being two.

In the Bed

Tonight, on the eve of her 2nd birthday, Avery decided she didn't want to sleep in the crib anymore.

Avery had a rough afternoon and I was pretty much ready to put her to bed at about 4:00, but we toughed it out until almost 7:00. By that time we figured it was not so unreasonable and she hopefully wouldn't wake up too early tomorrow morning.

About thirty minutes later I could still hear Avery whimpering/babbling up in her room. Al went and got her and was laying on one of the twin beds with her, trying to calm her down. Avery started calling out, "Mama! Mama!" and so I went in the room. I hugged her for a little bit and then told her it was time to go to sleep. I headed with her towards the crib and then she said, "In the bed" and pointed to the bed. So I said, "Do you want to sleep in the crib or in the bed?" She repeated, "bed."

Al and I looked at each other, shrugged, and pulled down the covers of the twin bed. We layed her in and she snuggled right up on the pillow. Al and I went downstairs and turned on the monitor. It was silent. After a while I went and peeked into her room. Avery was fast asleep, in the bed, just like she wanted.

She is such a big girl. I am sad!

Candy

So, a little background info on this cute little story: When our bishop did tithing settlements in December he passed out those little mini candy canes to the little kids. We had our tithing settlement the first week of December and sure enough Avery cashed in and received a couple of candy canes.

Fast forward to today: As we were leaving church for the day we walked past the bishop's office. The bishop was standing in the doorway. As we walked by the bishop cheerfully called out, "How are the Tanners today?" Al and I replied with the usual pleasentries. Avery, who was in Al's arms, turned and took a look at the bishop. All of a sudden she lunged towards him, holding her arms out to him like she wanted to be held. Then she started saying, "Candy! Candy! Candy!" The bishop of course obliged her. He told Avery to come with him. She followed him into his office and waited patiently while he went through his filing cabinet. After a few seconds he produced a jar of smarties. He told Avery that she could take two rolls. Boy was she thrilled. She thanked him and said, "bye-bye."

Al and I were just flabbergasted that Avery rememebered receiving candy from the bishop in the first place. It was two months ago that she got that little candy cane. I guess she's got to remember her sources. Smart girl!

First Sentence

Avery has been saying a lot of two word sentences/phrases as I wrote about below. But today she said her first REAL sentence. It seemed so long compared to everything else she has been saying. I couldn't believe all of the words that came out in one string. And now, here is the sentence in all of its glory. There has been no embellishment and no tweaking of words.

Drumroll please.....

"Change my poopy bum."

There you have it. That is one for the record books. The one that will be going down in her baby book.

Big Talker

Over the last couple of weeks Avery has really turned into a little chatterbox. She is in a kind of parroting phase where she repeats almost everything I say.

She has also in the last couple of weeks started to string two or three words together, making phrases or sentences. I can't believe how quickly her talking has changed from single words to more conversational. She likes to say, "Daddy at hospital." Or she will bring me my cell phone and say, "Call Daddy!"

She's also started using adjectives. She likes to point out the color of whatever object she is pointing to-- red shoes, blue circle, white bunny, fuzzy pants, etc. Colors are her most common describing words but she also likes to use big, hot, or tell if an object is "Mommy's" or "Daddy's."

Something that I find amusing is when Avery is trying to tell me what she wants to eat. The other morning I was unloading the dishwasher and Avery grabbed a tupperware bowl, handed it to me and said, "Roni!" I always make the microwave macaroni and cheese in a tupperware bowl for her. I asked her if she wanted "roni" for breakfast and she got a big smile on her face. I made it for her and she ate almost all of it.

She also likes to ask for more of something, "more fruit loops" "more chocolate cookies" "more juice." It is really helpful that she can tell me these things now! And it is very cute to hear her little requests or descriptions of things.

She has been playing with her dress-up clothes a lot and likes to get very dolled up. She puts on her make-up and I help her put on the tu-tu/dress and wings. But her very favorite dress-up item is the pair of clip-on earrings that came with the tiara. She wants to wear those earrings all of the time, not just when she's dressing up. And they are huge! They are these big silver/fake diamond looking, dangly earrings. But she absolutely loves them and will leave them on all day if I let her. She occasionaly will reach up and touch them softly and say, "earrings," kind of like she's in awe. She is such a funny little girly-girl.