About two-and-a-half years ago, when I wrote Zoe’s three-year update, I used words like “easy-going, “calm,” “sweet,” “funny” and “at-times bossy” to describe her. Several of those words apply to Avery now, too, though I would probably strike “easy-going” and “calm” and go with “bubbly” and “at-times naughty” instead.
So what else?
As it turns out from a quick read of Zoe’s update, Avery has many of the same likes as Zoe had at her age. She loves playing school, Mystery Reader, “family,” and “Monster.” She was on a big guitar-playing kick for awhile, and she often just dances or bounces around. (Just two nights ago she put on a little show for her sister; dancing around in her room wearing no clothes. It’s the type of thing that would be really funny to show at her wedding someday, if only I had videoed it.) She also just likes spending time with her sister – she almost always takes Zoe’s lead on what/how to play and more often than not is just happy being around her. (Do the girls ever fight? There’s a bit of “she took so-and-so from me!” but for the most part they get along really well.)
Avery loves the fact that she’s getting older, and she’s constantly telling us she’s a “big girl.” She made me laugh a few weeks ago by insisting I change the lyrics of what she calls the “Button Nose Song” (a song I made up about her), which contains the line “You’ve got two big eyes and ten little toes.” She told me, “Big toes, Mama! I have big toes.” And the truth is that she is getting awfully big – demonstrated by her physical being, the fact that she does more older-kid stuff like helping out around the house and by her talking.
Speaking of talking, readers here know the saga of her hearing and speech issues. (So much has happened since the last update – including the start of what she calls “talk class,” our subsequent discovery of her hearing problems and the surgery.) It’s been three weeks since her surgery, and Q and I are continuously amazed at how much better she’s talking and how much more we understand. And people outside of the family have commented on the noticeable difference in her personality since her surgery: She’s even more bubbly and somehow happier, people have told us. It makes sense, really: She can finally fully engage in the world around her!
As I mentioned above, Avery has a bubbly personality, and she can be wild and even a little naughty at times. She has been known to throw items across the room – sometimes in anger, and sometimes just to be playful – though she knows it’s a no-no. (Luckily, when she’s really misbehaving, she responds well to the counting-to-five tactic. By the time we get to five she has usually said sorry.) It should also be noted that she likes to tease her sister a lot. Just this morning, for example, Zoe was visibly upset when she came into our room and saw that Avery was already in our bed. (Zoe used to wake up before her sister and come snuggle with us; she doesn’t like it when Avery wakes up first and takes her spot.) “Sorry, Zoe,” Avery said in a mocking voice, “There’s no room for your pillow.”
At the same time, Avery has a soft and sweet side. She often does and says sweet things to her family – as recently written about here, here and here. And just this morning, she told me out of the blue, “Mama, I like your haircut.” She’s not as attached to me and Q as she used to be, but she does still have her moments when she wants us: It often takes a lot of hugs and kisses at school (and now camp) drop-off, for example, and she always dashes over and clings to me if I happen to be holding a friend’s child. (“My mama,” she’ll say.)
And speaking of other children, I’m not sure if it’s birth-order or innate personality – but Avery’s personality is such that it’s difficult to imagine her being anything but the younger sibling. Let’s just say - despite her saying that she’s a big girl – she very much likes being our family’s baby!
Happy Birthday, A.
-M
