1 Year Home

Can you believe it! Avery has been home 1 full year! And I must say, it has been an absolute wonderful year. We have enjoyed her so so much! It is just amazing what a little light Avery is. She brightens our world beyond belief. So tonight we celebrated!





And to celebrate this milestone we bought Avery Kate a cupcake:








Since she didn't have a smash cake at her birthday party, we decided this was an occasion worthy of one. We really weren't sure what she was going to do with it.



At first she kind of looked at it....








But then the fun began...







And once she got started there was NO holding back...










She definitely smashed the cake...

Needless to say, we finished up the night in the tub...

It was definitely a fun night!

1st Birthday!!

An update on Avery Kate…

Now 1 year old! Can you believe it!!

Avery Kate is growing up so fast! It’s hard to believe she is a year old! Her birthday was April 2nd. We had a party for her on the 11th and she did wonderfully. It was the first time she was around that large of a group of people and children. There were about 10 children and 25 adults at the party. Avery was actually napping right up until party time! When she woke up most of her guests were already here. I wasn’t sure how she was going to respond to that, but after a few minutes of waking up she seemed fine. She actually wanted to get down and go explore the party herself…as long as I was in eyesight that was. I couldn’t hold her, but I couldn’t leave her either. I think all in all she had a good time at her party. Avery is very inquisitive, so having lots of new people and new things around to investigate was very entertaining to her.


Here are a few pictures from her party. Her cake was made by her Grandma (Maw).

On the 14th we took Avery to the developmental specialist for another check up. This time we met with the physical therapist. She did a screening/assessment of where Avery is vs where she should be and she said Avery is right where she is suppose to be and that she was very pleased with her and had zero recommendations. She of course reminded us that they base Avery’s development on her adjusted age up to age 2 and not her birth age. So that means they were looking at how she compared to 9 month old babies, which we knew. Avery is crawling like a normal baby and pulling up on everything.

She has been doing both for quite awhile now, over a month on both. She is also starting to get into finger foods. We went through a spell this last week or two where Miss Avery didn’t want to eat her food. She wanted her milk, just not her food. She drank a ton of milk (formula). She seems like she is over it now.




Avery is definitely a curious little girl. She wants to check into everything. I don’t think she leaves one rock unturned. She goes all over the house looking for anything she can get her hands (and mouth) on. We of course keep all the doors to the rooms we don’t want her in shut. Oh but when one is open on accident and she has to be removed from one of those rooms…MELTDOWN! Avery can have quite a meltdown. It’s usually when she is getting tired. She is winy when she is getting hungry and melts down when she is getting tired. Oh and what a meltdown she can have! She has been known to kick her feet and throw herself backward. She has pretty much stopped the throwing herself backwards, that is unless she is sure she is someplace where it won’t hurt. I noticed in the kitchen where it is tiled she throws herself forward…almost like she is touching her toes. Can you say DRAMA QUEEN!

Avery is definitely getting lots and lots of personality. I think she looks like Daddy and act’s like Mommy. I think if we ever have another we need lots of prayers that that child would act like Daddy, because I don’t think we could handle any more feisty women in this house. Avery is very independent and quite opinionated.

When she is exploring, for the most part she prefers to go off on her own. We always have her in eyesight, but she isn’t crazy about is being on her heels. She has always been good about letting us know what she does and doesn’t want and that hasn’t changed. The only thing that has changed is that she is more vocal about it.

I have to say Avery is a ton of fun. I can play with her and watch her play all day. I love it when she laughs, which is often. Avery smiles and laughs quite a bit. It makes us feel good to know she is a happy baby. It’s really funny when we laugh at her doing something and then she stops and laughs too. You can tell she has no idea what she is laughing about but that she thinks she should laugh because we are. Daddy claims Avery barks at the neighbor’s dogs, but I haven’t seen this so I don’t buy it. He said when their dog or our Kacey dog gets barking like crazy Avery barks back…I’m going to have to test this this weekend. I think he is making it up.

You never know though, babies this age do like to mimic things.

By the way right now Avery is about 18 ½ lbs and 27 inches long. That is what she weighted at the developmental specialist’s. We are due to take her in for her 12 month check up and shots so we will see what she weighs at that appointment.

She has come a long way in the past year. Just look at the difference between Easter pictures. The picture with Avery on the bench in the blue dress is Easter. Look back at the post from last year and you can really see just how far she has come. I have to say we are thankful everyday for Avery and how far she has come and we are so thankful for the people who supported us through Avery's NICU experience. It's been quite a year!!

January 2010

January 2010 was a good month for Miss Avery Kate. Not only did she start sitting in mid January we noticed on the 22nd that her first tooth had broken through and by the following weekend the second had broken through. She has been a pretty good teether. She hasn't had any fevers or anything like that. She has been a bit ornery, but who wouldn't be with all that going on. (hehe)

Miss Avery Kate is starting to show more and more personality everyday. Miss Avery has no problem whatsoever letting you know what she wants and what she doesn't want. She can be quite the bossy bee. It amazes me how someone so small and who can't even talk can boss all us big people around. I don't know how, but she does it.

She loves to jibber jabber. Usually it's the same types of sounds over and over, but every now and then you will here her and it sounds like she is talking. It's kind of funny. This past weekend she has been practicing the sound "ma". Which I have to say I have enjoyed. Even though she has no clue what she is saying it is fun watching her sit there and say mama over and over again. I can't wait until the day she looks up and acknowledging says "Mama". Until then I'll get my fun where I can.

Miss Avery still loves the bath like you wouldn't believe. She gets super excited when she is just taken into the bathroom where her tub is. She loves it. I think she would stay in there most of the day if we would let her. Knowing how much she loves the bath I can't wait to see how she does with pool/beach water this summer.

She is also a big fan of dogs (Kacey & Lily especially) and men (Daddy & Ken). Do you think there is a link there? Dog's and men? Just wondering. :) No, but seriously, if any of the ones mentioned above walk through the room and she will notice and she will react. It usually starts with a kind mellow fun scream which says seems to mean "hey you, come over here!" and then if the subject of her affection does not respond appropriately the next scream, still with a twinge of fun ,seems to say "Hey you, I'm talking to you!". Eventually if the object of her affection is one of the dogs she might do this attitude scream where she is saying something along the lines of "Don't you understand I want to play! Fine be that way, next time I see you I am going to pull your ears." If the object of her affection is a man...(i.e. Daddy & Ken), depending on the day, you could be subject to a very dramatic mini melt down. It seems to say "Oh, how dare he! I can't believe the nerve! Come back! Come back! Oh, I've been abandoned!" I think we are going to have to work with Miss Avery and teach her some man handling skills. (lol).

Avery is quite the little character. It's hard to believe she is already 10 months old (almost 7 adjusted). She is a chunk at about 17 lbs. She is happy and silly and when you look at her you would never know she started out as a micro preemie at 1 lb 15 oz.

Christmas

Avery had a wonderful first Christmas! We of course spent it house hopping. She did get a bit overwhelmed by the end of the weekend and it was obvious she was in need of lots of a little R&R. I was really proud of her though. She is getting so big and is just so much fun to watch change! She has to be over 17 lbs now. Oh and she is definitely a Daddy's girl! There is no doubt about it. She screams with glee when she sees him and smiles so big and bright. It is just too cute.

Above is a picture of Avery Kate and her Daddy Christmas Eve night playing before bed. Daddy bought Mommy a shiny new Nikon D3000 for Christmas and Phototshop Elements so...expect to see lots more pictures of sweet little Avery. We have some great pictures from DW that need to be uploaded, but until then you will have to live with my work. :)

Here is one more from Christmas Day....

That would be her Uncle Todd's hat that she has on.

Developmental Appointment

On December 10th we took Avery to her first developmental appointment. She will have 2 developmental appointments during her first year of life and then one appointment per year until she is five, if I remember correctly.

During the appointment we met with the developmental specialist and basically he did a quick check of her reflexes, movements, etc. The he proceeded to tell us that she seems stiff in her upper body and that we need to not do anything further to develop her lower body. He told us that “stiffness” is very common with preemies and typically goes away when they are 15 months of age. He said it is not typically a real issue; however it can delay things like sitting, crawling, and walking. He also told us:

- No TV or computer screens for babies until 2 years of age
- No shoes on babies, except for decoration
- A larger % of preemie babies have language and/or math issues
- A larger % of preemies have ADD.

I have to say we were actually quite taken back by the fact that Avery had “stiffness” and from that point on it was hard to focus. I guess the main issue was I had never heard anything about stiffness before and if it is something that can be worked on with stretching or by limiting certain activities then why weren’t we told about this before? He also said something about how Avery was only developed muscle wise to right below the shoulder and that we needed to work on the lower back in order to get her to sit. His basis for this was the way Pat was holding Avery. I think I was in shock through most of the appointment.

Even though he didn’t say anything in particular was wrong with Avery, other than mild stiffness which will go away, I walked out of there feeling like he just told me a thousand things were wrong and to get ready for more. It seemed like he had his mind made up about Avery before he even met her or examined her. I’m not sure why but something about this developmental appointment didn’t and still doesn’t sit well with me. We have decided that we will do what he says, however when we take her back for her next appointment in a few months we will see what he has to say and if we still don’t like it then we will look into options for other specialists, even if that means taking her someplace several hours away to see a different doctor.

Avery is actually doing quite well. She is getting very vocal with her jibber jabber. When she is really happy she screams “AHHH!” She loves to gargle when she is drinking her bottle…yes I said gargle. She fills her mouth up with milk and then looks up and smiles while she makes this gargling noise. She is completely pleased with new ability. She is still eating wonderfully and sleeping a ton. She sleeps 11 hours a night and typically naps at least 3-4 hours during the day. She is getting quite good with her sitting up. She can go a good 30 seconds before toppling over…pending she is interested in something in front of you. She is getting better with tummy time. She doesn’t love it, but is getting better. She definitely keeps things entertaining around the house.

Avery Kate the Chunkey MOnKey

Ok so an update on Miss AK...

Can you believe this is the same baby from all those NICU pictures? Look at those cheeks!

Lots and lots of changes. Miss Avery is quite the energetic little girl and she can eat and sleep with the best of them. She typically goes to bed around 7/8 and wakes up around 6. Then she has her cereal mixed with a little fruit and followed up with some formula and talk about a happy camper! She is the best early in the morning. When we go to get her from her crib she usually greets us with a big smile and maybe some jibber jabber. She is usually in a good mood in the mornings.

She loves to play and absolutely loves her jumperoo! Right now, in typical baby fashion, she is putting absolutely anything she can get her hands on in her mouth. And she wants her hands on everything. She is constantly trying to reach for things. She is completely facinated with Kacey! If Avery is pitching a fit all you have to do is call Kacey over and it stops immediately. It is pretty funny. Avery is contstantly reaching for her and jibber jabbing at her. Kacey is a pretty good sport about it all. They are actually quite cute together.

Avery is not liking tummy time. She does roll over, but she is usually irritated. Every now and then she will actually tollerate tummy time, but usually it doesn't last for too long. She knows she needs to use her legs to move but hasn't quite grasped that she needs to use her arms too. If she is laying on her back she will often push herself off her play mat. She is at the point where she wants to be independently mobile but can't figure out how to make it happen and it irritates her. I am scared of the mobile Avery Kate. We are going to be chasing that girl everywhere! She is in perpetual motion.

Avery is up to about 14 lbs now and is over 23 inches long. She is our chunky monkey! Look at her on the scale! Big difference from some of her older scale pictures!

As soon as I think she just couldn't get any cuter or better tomorrow comes and she is!

5 Months!!!!!!!

Ok so I know it has been awhile...

Avery Kate has been in need of lots of attentions so I of course had to give it to her so that left little room for much else. She is doing splendid. I don't think she knows she is a preemie so we aren't going to tell her. She eats, sleeps, plays, and gets loved on.

She is quite the little characters. She gets irritated when you leave the room and she can't see you. If you do that you get her fake cry. As soon as you reappear it stops immediately. Now if you stay gone too long out of her sight and she wants you back it will eventually turn into a real cry.

She is great in the car...as long as it is moving. It's funny she is fine when you put her in her car seat, however you better get moving out to the car ASAP, because she knows the car seat belongs in a moving car and that she is fine with, however she is not fine with it sitting still. She is the same way in her stroller. Loves walks! But just like with the car...whatever you do don't stop! lol. The stroller puts her out like a light after just a little bit.

She has started laughing and smiling. It is so much fun. She is so sweet. Her cheeks are so chubby you just want to eat them up!

Last time we took her to the doctor, which was August 13th ,she was 8lbs 13 oz. We are pretty confident she is probably about 10 now.

She has recently started sleeping a good bit of the night. She sleeps from 5-7 hours. During the day though she is like a stop watch - 3 hours - 3 hours. You don't have to wonder if it's getting close to 3 hours she will let you know.

It has been so wonderful having her home. I think we fall more in love with her everyday. You think you just can't love them any more than you already do and then you wake up the next morning and see than and you do. It still surprises me just how much joy seeing her chunky little self brings me. It doesn't matter how tired, grouchy, or anything else I am...she makes me smile.

Daddy is of course WONDERFUL with her. I don't think it is possible to have a more supportive, loving man than Avery's daddy. :) We surely lucked up with him. I don't know what we did to deserve him but we are so blessed and thankful we do.

Well we got some pics from DW of AK coming home. We haven't seen them all yet, but here are a couple. I had to post the one with Mr. Bear and Ms. Chick because if you guys remember from Easter the Chick was almost as big as Avery.

This picture below is super special. Not only is Avery holding the NICU graduation gift DW gave her, but it is one of the very last pictures taken in the NICU.

Here are some new pictures as well. Isn't it amazing how she has grown. She looks and acts like a normal 2 month old should...she's just 5 months....TODAY! :)