Between work, school stuff, and numerous doctor’s appointments, life has been nuts! I don’t want to ignore Avery’s two-and-three-quarter-year milestone, though – so in the interest of time I’ll do our update bullet style (after sharing a photo of a very Avery face).

• Interests: Likes to play school and pretend she’s a “mystery reader” (“Close your eyes, guys… Open your eyes!”), sing and play the guitar, play “family” with Zoe (during which she’s usually the baby, Zoe is “Mama” and I’m “Grandma”), sit and look at books (“Hop on Pop” is a current fave), run around with her babies – often covering them with washcloths and pushing them in a stroller
• Temperament: Generally bubbly and happy and devilish, teases her sister and calls things “funny” or “silly” a lot, can be feisty (“No do that!” she’ll out in anger) and naughty – even scratching and pulling hair at times. Also has a sweet side – rubbing my face affectionately at bedtime and running to get Hippo for her sister when Zoe is sad, as examples.
• Verbal abilities: Talks a lot, and in more multi-word sentences, but still not always easy to understand. Likes to comment on the obvious (“I’m awake!”) and ask “why” a lot. Has her own (cute – though I’m totally biased) way to say a lot of words: waffle is “faffle,” lipstick is “lipdick,” Band-aid is “body,” working is “wooking” and octopus sounds like “ah-puh-puss.” Likes to tell everyone she’s two-and-a-half (though she’ll have to update her wording now) and Zoe is five, often greets us in the morning with a big “Hi, guys!”
• Other stuff:  Likes school and often gives reports on her classmates and teachers (“Monie’s sickie today”), still often imitates her sister (including doing the kung-fu moves from Zoe’s class), acts less shy and more comfortable in new situations (she took to swimming class with no problem for example). Is clearly a younger sibling: When I recently held a friend’s baby, she climbed up on my lap and said, “My mommy.” Needs more attention at bedtime than she did when she was younger, is fully daytime potty-trained (and has been for a few months).
• Little stories: I recently told Avery “good job” after she went to the bathroom, and she responded with a big smile and an “I potty-trained!” ~ The other night Q told Avery he had just ordered her (nighttime) diapers and they were being delivered soon. The next morning Avery told me, “The diapers are out of town.” ~ After seeing Zoe yawn and hearing me ask her if she was tired in the car the other day, Avery said to her sister, “Good night, Zoe.” This displeased a grumpy (and, yes, tired) Zoe, who told her, “I am not going to bed, Avery!” Avery just laughed and said again, “Good night, Zoe,” and continued to do so despite Zoe’s pleas to stop. It’s the first time I’ve seen Avery straight-out tease her sister (in such a little-sibling way); Q and I held back our giggles from the front seat.

-M

This entry was posted on Monday, March 19th, 2012 at 2:10 pm and is filed under 68.Two kids-March 12. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.