Our trip to Safta and PopPop’s house was a bit of a whirlwind one (it went very fast), but the girls still got to spend lots of time with family. I’m sure the highlight for Avery was being held and fed by different people, including G-Gma; for Zoe, it was playing games and running around with Safta, making funny faces with Uncle Dan, and hitting the National Zoo (again) with PopPop and her dad. As for me, I loved getting the girls all dressed up on the first night of Passover – and watching Zoe repeatedly squeeze Avery (and remind her to use her “inside voice”) during dinner. Zoe seems to be enjoying her big-sister gig more and more each day!

-M

Yesterday morning, when we reminded Zoe that we were getting on an airplane later that day, she told us, “PopPop is going to miss me.” And today, now that we’re back home, I’m fairly certain that the girls miss him, as well as Safta and the other relatives and friends we spent the last few days with. There are lots of pics to share; for now, here are two of my favorites.

-M

We made it to DC, and I’m happy to report (while hoping I don’t jinx us for the trip home) that the plane ride couldn’t have gone better. Despite a one-hour delay, both girls were quite well-behaved and rather happy; neither one slept much during the flight, but they still made it (relatively) easy for us.

We also learned on the trip just how much of a flying pro Zoe has become. When we were waiting in line for security, she called out to me, “Look, Mommy!” and when I looked down I discovered she had already taken off her shoes (without being asked). She obviously knew what we were about to do! And later, once on the plane, she said out of the blue, “I want some peanuts.” They weren’t serving any on this particular flight – but maybe next time!

-M

We had to cancel our Dec. trip to Madison, so it’s been many months since the four of us have been on a plane. We’re getting on one today, though, and heading to DC… Here’s hoping for a smooth trip, few tears, and a lot of the scene below!

-M

Zoe’s class at school made a family tree with photos of all the kids and their families. Originally done for Purim, her teachers liked it so much that they decided to keep it up for the rest of the year – and it’s a nice thing to be greeted by each morning. Zoe likes the tree, too, though when I asked her about our family “leaf,” which features a picture from last summer, she pouted and said she was upset that Lori (the art teacher) cut off our “legs and feets.” I had to smile at that one…

-M

Zoe was a little tired and grumpy when she woke up this morning, so I decided to play around with her to lift her spirits. When Avery started to cry in her room, I looked around in surprise, saying that I heard something but wasn’t sure what. “It’s Baby Sister,” Zoe told me, but I still played dumb. “Who’s Baby Sister?” I asked, to which Zoe responded: “She was just born, she was in your tummy before, and we used to drive her all around when she was first born.” When I inquired about what what Baby Sister looked like, Zoe described her for me. “It’s got a round face, a big nose, two big eyes, little hairs and an A in her name,” she said. And then she ran off to greet Avery.

By the time we were done talking, Zoe had forgotten what she was feeling grumpy about – and I had gotten a feel for what Zoe thinks of her sister!

-M

…You’re not fazed to be out in public with a large sticker on your back. The story: I was out shopping and waiting in line at a store on Sunday, when I felt a gentle poke to my shoulder. “Excuse me,” the man behind me said. “You have a sticker on your back.” I reached to the back of my shirt and confirmed that there was, indeed a circular Trader Joe’s sticker there – Zoe had put it on me earlier in the day, and I had completely forgotten about it. “Oh, thanks – it’s from my daughter,” I told the man as I peeled off the sticker with a shrug. Old-Michelle might have been mortified to be wandering through the mall like this (I had been to several stores before this one), but Mom-Michelle just had to laugh! And I couldn’t wait to tell Q and Zoe what had happened…

-M

As mentioned here previously, Zoe loves birthday parties – and it appears that Avery does, too. Both girls had a fun time celebrating at Avery’s buddy Xavier’s first-birthday party over the weekend, and I thought Avery looked particularly stylish in her pointed hat. Here are some pics.

-M

One of my all-time favorite photos of Zoe is a bath one – taken when she was 7 months old – and I was excited to get a cute one of Avery in the bath the other day. When putting the girls’ photos next to each other, I don’t see tons of resemblance (though their noses are pretty similar) – but I love how they’re both clutching yellow bath toys and obviously loving life. And both pictures make me absolutely melt!

-M

March 11, 2010:

June 29, 2007:

I’m not really a Miley Cyrus (or Hannah Montana) fan, but her Party in the U.S.A. is a bit of a guilty pleasure for me. Zoe likes it, too, and we often play it in the car and sing together: “Got my hands up, they’re playing my song, and I’m going to be okay. Yeah, it’s a party in the USA!” (If I’m having a rough day, it’s an instant mood-lifter.) I had to smile yesterday when we got in the car and Zoe, obviously thinking about her sister’s 9-month “birthday” and a party we’re going to today, asked for the “birthday party” song. “Let’s sing it because it’s Avery’s birthday, and Xavier’s tomorrow!” she said. And so, we “partied” all the way to school.

-M

Another month (where does the time go?), another update.

Avery is continuing her role as super happy, super fast baby. Now that she’s a seasoned pro at crawling, she’s always zipping around with a big smile (and some heavy breathing). A common thing for her to do these days is crawl up to me and Q and pat our foot or leg as a signal that she wants to be picked up. And she’s always, as mentioned before, crawling over to her toy shelf and getting into something. She’s also been extending her legs and pulling up on things lately; she hasn’t “cruised” yet, but I don’t think that’s far away.

She loves putting things (okay, almost everything) in her mouth, and her favorite things, of course, are things she’s not supposed to have. (Zoe has learned the hard way to keep her toys and artwork out of Avery’s reach!) She routinely makes a beeline for my phone or netbook when it’s out – the fact that they’re both pink, I think, could have something to do with it! Other things that make her particularly happy: jumping in the ExerSaucer (still), hearing someone say “Ah-choo!” and watching her sister jump up and down. (As previously mentioned, that’s a new development.) Her favorite toys are the same as mentioned last month, as well as her rubber ducks, and a wooden activity tube that her Aunt Yola and Uncle Jake gave to Zoe a few years back. Her favorite book these days is Neighborhood Animals from Baby Einstein (Zoe always liked that one too) – every time I open it and start the first line (“Could that be a dog in the park?”) she smiles.

In the last few weeks or so, Avery has adopted a (very loud) squeal as a way to express her happiness/excitement. She’s prone to squealing when someone new walks in the room or when she sees a toy she likes – or sometimes, she’s prompted by seemingly nothing at all. She’s also chattering way more than before: she babbles “dada” and “mama” a lot, and she can say what sounds like “hi.” I still don’t know what counts as her first word (when she says “mama,” does she know it’s me, or is she just making sounds?) but it’s fun having her talk just the same. And on a related note, although she can’t say the word “milk,” she does understand it. I’ve noticed only in the last week or two that she perks up and starts breathing heavy in excitement when I say that word. (And if I’m far away from her, she’ll crawl right over to me.)

In terms of looks, Avery is getting more hair, and it’s a bit darker than it was when she was first born. Her eyes are still bluish-grey, and she still only has two teeth. She’s always opening her mouth (in a big smile) and showing off those bottom teeth; we think she kind of looks like a can opener!

On a less fun note, Avery has been a bit of an inconsistent night sleeper this month. For awhile, she was sleeping straight through the night and waking at 7 AM to eat; lately, though, she’s been waking up several times in the night. It could be teething or a growth spurt (the typical things on which to blame sleep problems), or maybe it’s just a bad phase. I don’t like it, obviously, but when she gives me her big smile in the morning (like below), there’s just no way I can be mad!

-M

Aunt Sandy was here for the last week (she flew home this morning), and we had a great time with our house-guest! She fit right into our crazy household, and she was a huge help to me when Q was away for a few days. She also spent lots of bonding time with the girls: she watched Avery on Mon. and Tues., and stayed home with Zoe yesterday. The two of them, I was told, had a fun and busy day; their packed schedule included “beauty parlor,” art and sticker projects, storytime at the book store, shopping at the “Dora Store” (i.e. our neighborhood toy store) and doing some singing and dancing. (They also played doctor, as you’ll see below, several times during the week.) We didn’t do tons of outside activities with Sandy (though we did get to the Ferry Building for the farmer’s market on Sat. morning), but it was nice just to relax at home and enjoy her company. We’re already looking forward to her next trip!

-M

Zoe had an accident in the middle of the night (a rare occurrence, thankfully) and since Q was out of town and I was too tired to change her sheets, I invited her to sleep with me. I wound up feeding Avery right afterwards, and when I tiptoed back into my room 20 minutes later I assumed Zoe was asleep. But when I crawled into bed, I heard a small voice say, “Welcome back,” followed by an “I love you.”

Getting up in the middle of the night to tend to the kids is no fun, really, but moments like this make everything seem better.

-M

As mentioned before, Avery definitely has her favorite playthings – and one such favorite is a little rubber duck. When I want to calm her down when she’s upset or distract her when she’s wiggling away from a diaper change, handing her a duck always does the trick. And I always smile when I see her with one – because it reminds me of Zoe, who also had a fondness for ducks at Avery’s age. Like sister, like sister…

-M

My sister and I went on a shopping spree yesterday (in a role-reversal, she was the one who did most of the buying), and when we got home Sandy put on a little “fashion show” for us. Sandy showed off her new outfits while Zoe and I sat on the couch and provided commentary – e.g. “That one would be great for a date night,” and “That would be perfect for shopping with girlfriends” – and Zoe soon decided that she wanted to part of the show. Wearing nothing but underwear and a cami (but pretending to be changing into different outfits), she kept running in the room and saying things like, “This would be great for going down the slide,” and “This is my outfit for petting the animals at the zoo.” We all had a blast, and it made me look forward to shopping and critiquing clothing – for real! – with Zoe in the future.

-M