twenty-three months

It's official, this is the last month I'll be telling strangers Avery's age in months. I fully intend to continue her monthly updates because it's a great way to help me remember milestones and who she is and what she does every month. However, I've decided that once she turns two, I'll say she's...well, two. Oh, woe is me! Ah well, life moves forward and besides, she's still only twenty-three months right now!

At 23 months Avery loves Dora, Wonder Pets, outer space, riding (scooting) her bike, playing at the park, eating noodles, eating any random thing she finds ANYWHERE, playing with her babies, and of course Mommy & Daddy! She dislikes not getting her way, being told NO, and this organic flavored water beverage.

She's taken to calling me Amy quite often and I know it's just a phase so I'm trying to push past the pain. Sometimes I remind her to call me Mommy, sometimes I tell her I don't know who Amy is, and sometimes I just answer her because we're busy or talking and it is my name after all - I'm used to answering to it. Her vocabulary is expanding daily and a certain husband must learn to watch his mouth. He dramatically asked me why I hated him the other day and Avery piped up with "Hate?" So Deran was all, "No, we love. Say love!" And she yelled back, "HAAAATE!" Lovely. For the record, we don't hate one another, he was just trying to get my attention because I wasn't listening to him.

Here's a list of a few of my favorite Avery words and phrases, with helpful correct pronunciations, at 23 months: Hess (yes), Worry (sorry), Nope, Doodoo Hock (cuckoo clock), Durdle Dut (turtle Tuck), Wenny (Lenny), Moose (move - still cute!), Milt (milk), Mitmus (Christmas), Dhost (ghost), Ha Hooo (ho ho, as in Santa Claus), Backbus (cactus), Diedo (Diego), Oss (off), Help me, Hold it, hold me, No more bed, C'mon let's go, and Oh no! There are so many more that I can't think of right now, but pretty much anything she says is darn cute.

And I really have to devote a separate post to The Wonder Pets and how those pets have completely invaded our lives and reality, but for now just a short tale. Avery really loves one episode where they save the visitor, an alien. They go into space and she's pretty much been crazy about space ever since. We were at the library one day and in preparation for a visit from a NASA representative, the children's section had lots of books on space on display. I was already halfway down an aisle, bending down searching for titles when I hear, "Amy, space! Spaaaace!" I look to my right and see Avery in front of a bookshelf, hands on her cheeks in surprised awe, staring at one of the books with a big picture of the moon and a rocket on the cover. So cute, but seriously, people are going to think I'm some random woman babysitting if she keeps calling me Amy!

We still manage to fit some school-ish time in most days. We're still working on letters and numbers. When I ask her what starts with the letter A, she always answers with, "Me." And it always makes me smile. "Indeed!" I say, "Avery does start with the letter A." She usually throws Oscar on the A list too and I totally get that because she learned the A says ah, and Oscar sounds like ah. I've been teaching her how to count like The Count from Sesame Street. She tries hard to manipulate her fingers and it's always cute to watch. She mostly says two over and over when counting like The Count, but it's still really hilarious to hear, "Ah ah, Doo (two) ah ah, doo ah ah," until she gets through five fingers. Since the beginning, Deran and I have both really loved to see her learn and discover new things. Every day is an opportunity to learn about the world around her and we never tire of watching her try to figure it all out.

I feel like I'm leaving so much out but it's hard to remember it all right now, it seems like she's growing up and changing so much from week to week. I feel like the last month has passed in a blur of playgrounds, playdates, and fun family time. I love this age and stage. Deran recently said he likes to watch new parents because you can see the love and wonder for new life and an adorable baby that's a part of them. Maybe he doesn't realize that 23 months later, he still wears the same love in his eyes as he looks at her as he did in those first few moments. She has our whole hearts, how blessed we feel to call her ours.

Her 23rd month iPhone photo tribute:

Happy 23 month birthday sweet girl, we love you lots!