Seven!

I can't say that number without thinking about a very funny, yet highly inappropriate episode of Friends. If you are a true fan, you know which one I am talking about. In this case, however, I am talking about the number of months my sweet baby is. I can't believe how fast she is growing. I know every mother says that, but it really is true. The last month has brought about many new things in our life.

She is eating (and enjoying) food. We had a little hitch for a while because of teething (by the way - we have 2 teeth now!!), but we are now eating 2-3 times a day which is where our doctor said we should be at this point. I am still making all of her food, so I am trying to keep up! When she eats, she likes to really experience her food. I cannot say with certainty that this particular time she actually got any in her mouth, but how cute is she!?!?



She can now sit up by herself. It is like a whole new world for her. She can see tho whole room instead of the ceiling and loves it! She has started lunging forward and tries to pull herself up. She is not strong enough to crawl or pull herself up, but that does not stop her from trying!



She took her first swim. I was so excited about this very cute swimsuit I bought her, but the top was cutting off her circulation, so she went in just the bottoms over a swimmie diaper. Also, please note that her daddy is right next to her in the pool. We did not just throw her in there to go at it alone. She enjoyed being pulled around by daddy for about 5 minutes, then decided that was enough. Perhaps next time we will be able to stay a bit longer.



I put her in a basket. This has no real meaning, but I thought it was a cute picture.



We attempted a family picture while we were playing one afternoon.



Oh how we love this sweet girl. She is really developing her own little personality. She loves to laugh and entertain us. She has just started reaching for us when she wants to get up. She puts her hands in the air which signals that she wants to be held or just to stand up if you are holding her. I think she is going to have her daddy's determination because if she wants someone or something, there is no changing her mind! She is going to get what she wants, and usually she does.

I could talk about her all day, but I won't. She is a little angel and makes our family so fun. I don't think we could have imagined the joy she would bring to us seven months ago.

Family Reunion 2010

Over Memorial Day weekend, we had our second annual Cook family reunion. It was a blast. We had it in Garland this year, so we didn't have to pay for hotels and everyone was able to be put up at someone's house. We got to stay with my parents, so we were quite comfortable and Avery was in somewhat familiar surroundings. We flew down Saturday morning and back late last night. Avery was a champ again and did great on both flights. It was so great seeing everyone again. There are 5 great grandkids now, so this is about the only time we get to see and meet the kids. I have to admit, they are 5 of the cutest kids you will ever meet!! Tommy has a nice camera, so we were able to get some really great pictures of everyone. It felt like a professional photo shoot at times! Here are a few pictures from the weekend.










I also have some very cute pictures of Avery eating carrots for the first time, and I will post those sometime soon. I have just been lazy and haven't uploaded them off the camera. We have hit a little snag in our eating of solids, so I only have a few pictures of her covered in carrots. She got her first tooth just as we were starting to eat and she hasn't had much interest since. We are pushing through, and she will hopefully be eating before we know it!!

Six Months!

Avery turned six months on Sunday which just happened to be my first Mother's Day. What a great day. Avery sent me flowers at work on Friday for Mother's Day. She is quite advanced for only being 6 months old!!



Two weekends ago CC came for a visit. Although it was a quick trip, we were so glad to get to see her!!



We had our check-up last week with the Pediatrician. Everything went wonderfully. She is still long - 26-5/8" which is still 90th percentile. She gained less then 2 pounds over the past 2 months; she weighs 17 lbs 2 oz which is the 80th percentile. The doc told me she was slender for her height! I am pretty sure that is the first time she has been called "slender"! Her head is pretty normal. I can't remember exactly, but it was 75th percentile which is what it was at 4 months. We had to get 3 more shots which I was not a fan of. Since Josh has started his new job, he couldn't come with us so I had to be the brave one to hold her while they gave her the shots. Not a fan of that, but we survived and found out she doesn't have to get any more until 1 year!

Other than that, we have started some spoon feeding. She is not too fond of it quite yet. It is just rice cereal, but she is not quite sure what to do with it. I am making my first batch of real food - carrots - tonight, so I will post and let you know how that goes. Here are a few funny shots of our girl trying to figure this out.







She is beginning to enjoy walks again. For a while all we could do was put her in our Jeep carrier and let Josh carry her like that. While that is fun, we can't go too far because she is heavy! She can sit in the stroller like a big girl now, so she is enjoying that. We can usually make it for a while in the stroller, then finish with Daddy carrying her. Progress!



She is so alert now and makes us laugh ALL THE TIME. I think she is going to be a funny girl. She makes the weirdest noises and then waits to see what our reaction will be. When we laugh, she does them again. She loves the exersaucer and her Bumbo chair. Those two things can keep her entertained for a while now. It is fun to watch her bang around and see what she is learning. I think next time I blog, she will be sitting up on her own. She can do it for about 5 seconds now before she topples over.



We like to read and can make it through a few pages before we are ready to move on to the next thing.



She is so sweet when she is tired and ready for bed.



Bath time is becoming more fun. If you look closely you can see that her hair may come in curly - if it ever comes in!!



We love our sweet girl. She is changing and growing everyday!

First Easter & Five Months

Avery celebrated Easter and had her five month birthday last week. I can't believe she is five months already! I don't have stats on her since we didn't have to go see the doctor this month, but I will have some after her six month check-up. Just trust me - she is healthy and growing!! We love her so much & enjoy watching her grow. She is such a sweet girl with a smile that will melt your heart and a hint of an attitude! We love it! Here is Avery in her new Exersaucer. She is not real sure what to do when we put her in it, but it entertains her for about 3 minutes. We are working up to 15, so mommy and daddy can eat dinner while she plays. I will let you know how that goes...



For Easter we went to Dallas to see CC, Pop Pop, Aunt Jenn, Uncle Tommy and Uncle Jeff. We had lots of fun. Here are some fun pics from Easter Sunday. I don't think they warrant an explanation. We also got to play with Aunt Kim and Aunt Sandy, but I forgot to get pics. We will do that next time!

First Flight

Avery took her first trip on an airplane last weekend when we went to Midland to visit my grandparents. It was just me and Avery, and let me tell you, I was very nervous about it. We left late Friday afternoon and had a direct flight to Midland. It was an hour and a half, and she did great! She was awake the whole flight and fussed a little bit, but she is so cute that no one around us minded. She was smiling and charming everyone early on, so when she got a little tired they still thought she was cute. I sat next to this wonderful lady and her mom who helped me out so much. I was thankful for them.

Once we arrived in Midland, we didn't do much all weekend. We stayed around the house all day Saturday because it was about 40 degrees outside. Grandad went to work for a while in the morning but was home with us for most of the day. Some of my aunts and cousins came by to see us, so the day passed quickly.

Sunday was about the same. Everyone came over for lunch and stayed for the early part of the afternoon. During Avery's nap, my mom, my aunt Judy and I went to Kohl's so my mom could buy Avery some new clothes! It was so fun looking at everything and getting to buy her some stuff. We also received a huge bag of clothes from my cousin whose youngest (of six!) daughter is about a year older than Avery. It is such a blessing to get hand-me-downs from her, and all the clothes are so cute and in great shape! I love it.

Our flight left Monday after lunch, so we didn't do much that day. We had to take a flight to Dallas and switch planes to get back to Houston. My mom was on the flight with us to Dallas, and Avery slept the whole way. I mean, before we took off until after we landed! It was great. She ate on our flight back to Houston and then was in a great mood for the last 15-20 minutes until we landed. She was such a great traveler! Her daddy was very happy to see us when we arrived. I think he missed his girls!

We had such a great weekend, and I am so glad we were able to see Mir and Grandad and all my mom's family. We are so blessed to have so many people that love Avery so much; it was fun getting to see everyone. It is also nice to know that we can fly with Avery without too much trouble. Where will we go next!?!?

Here are some cute pictures from the weekend.



This is Avery with my Mir and Grandad (her great-grandparents)



This is Avery with my mom (CC)



Here she is with my aunt Judy (CC's sister)



Here she is with my aunt Sherry (CC's other sister)



I wish I had gotten pictures of Avery with all of the family she was able to meet. I will do that next time!

Four Months!

Well, Avery hit the four month mark last week. I can't believe she is growing so quickly! This month has definitely shown the most change in her. We took her in for her four month check-up on Tuesday and found out she is 15 pounds 5 ounces (85th percentile) and 25 1/4 inches (90th percentile). I can't remember what her head size was, but it was the 75th percentile. Our little girl is growing!! Everything else was great - she is perfectly healthy. What a blessing! I think she is going to be taller than her mom which is fine by me.

This month she has learned to hold her head up very well which makes carrying her much easier. She learned to roll from her tummy to her back which was amazing. We caught it on video! She likes to sit up now and enjoys being able to see the world. She babbles a lot and keeps us laughing. She loves to laugh at her daddy and all the funny noises he makes.

Our computer has been down, so I don't have any new pictures to post. Just trust me, she is cuter than the last time you saw her. We love our little sweet pea and love watching her grow! I will post pictures soon and try to post more often when we get our home computer fixed. This is a quick post from work, but I wanted to update on her four month stats!!

Pass a Tissue, Please

No one informed me that upon entering motherhood I would need to stock up on the Kleenex. I am not an emotional person most of the time. I don't cry at movies, and I rarely cry in real life. I just don't like to cry.

Until motherhood... I think I have cried more in the past 3 1/2 months than in my previous 27 years. Well, probably not THAT much, but you get the picture. I have cried so many tears - tears of fear when Avery's heartbeat dropped while in labor, tears of joy when I saw her for the first time and got to hold and kiss her, tears of pain as I recovered from a C-section that I was not expecting - and all those tears came in her first few days of life! Since that time, I have cried many more tears - tears of happiness as I have watched her grow and change right before my eyes, tears of heartache as I head off to work in the morning, tears of joy as I watch how she lights up her daddy's life.

I know my tears will not stop as Avery continues to grow. I will cry when she takes her first step and when she says her first word. I will cry the first time I drop her off at school and when a boy breaks her heart. I will cry when she is in pain and when she scores the winning goal (or basket or run - whichever sport she happens to be dominating at that time!).

I am not trying to sound like all I do is cry, but being a mom has changed my emotional state. I love that little girl so much that she has completely changed the way I see the world around me - for the better. I never knew one little person could have such a big effect on you. What a wonderful (and sometimes wet) journey motherhood has been, and it has only been three months!

I will leave you with some pictures of my sweet little angel.

We take so many pictures of her that sometimes she just doesn't want to look at the camera! The truth is, she is probably watching TV. It is her favorite pastime.



She is getting very good at holding her head up, and she likes to sit up on our kitchen table (with mommy or daddy keeping her balanced, of course).



My two favorite people!