Amy Schilling Photography Blog

June 3, 2012

two years + ten months

Soooo it's been a while since I blogged, like an entire month!!  Much has happened since then and I can't believe our sweet girl is only TWO months away from being THREE.  Crazy.

At 34 months Avery loves to be sick.  See ya next month with hopefully a healthy update!  Just kidding...sort of.  She really has had a tough time of it this last month with two rounds of antibiotics (different weeks!) and a crazy virus thrown in just for fun.  It was definitely her highest bout of fever, with it going up to 105.2 - just slightly below my heart rate when reading the thermometer.  Two days of lukewarm baths, cool strips on the forehead and many doses of Tylenol/Ibuprofen, followed by another couple of days of lower fever (nothing over 101) and our world was better.  We've been to the doctor every week over the last month.  We are becoming very friendly with both our new pediatrician and her on-call partner.  The good news is Avery likes them both and I really like them too!  

Honestly though, our girl handles sick fairly well.  There were some bad days but she's become a champion medicine taker.  This is so amazing since she previously rivaled Linda Blair from The Exorcist when trying to administer medication.  No Internet, I'm not exaggerating.  It really was that crazy.  Of course we offer incentives, she pretty much gets a new toy every day.  Having an ill Avery is not cheap but you can't put a price on health, right?!  

So at 34 months Avery really doesn't love being sick, but she does love My Little Ponies, reading, playing outside, running errands, singing, being totally adorable, shopping, her parents (of course), family, friends, the color purple (like the crayon, not the movie), throwing things, talking about pumas, and acting twelve instead of two.  As always, she does not like not getting her way and she's not a big fan of the time out.

I could pass on My Little Ponies, I'd even choose Max & Ruby and that's saying something!  But Avery loves the cartoon and the figurines.  We've got quite the collection going and we just added Rainbow Dash courtesy of our good friend, Tina!  We hardly ever watch Diego anymore but I'm pretty sure that's where she learned about pumas and she talks about them A LOT.  She pretends to see them in various places and often rescues them all over the apartment.  They're mostly nice.  Though one night after tucking her in, she serious-as-could-be asked, "But what if there's a puma in my room?"  Even an animal scientist in training doesn't want to be surprised by a puma in the dark!  We then prayed a prayer of protection over her room and the apartment so any wayward pumas wouldn't dare to enter.

Avery still loves to read and we feed this by purchasing new books often.  Some days we just read at the library, but she loves go to the bookstore too.  I usually let D take her to browse and then I make my way over there and sift through the pile.  Momma's got to make those two see sense (and cents), they're a dangerous pair!  I'm not sure what it is about the bookstore, we usually go to a couple of different B&N stores and while there she wants to perform her magic tricks.  I've yet to actually see a trick, it's really her jumping around saying "Presto!" and something that sounds abracadabra-ish, with sometimes a tah-dah! thrown in for good measure. :)  One morning I set Avery up with a box of toys in my room so I could clean out our suitcases and do some other laundry with her in the same room.  We ended up on the floor with books and as I read her a Berenstein Bear book she said, "You always read me this book, you're a great mommy."  Seriously?!  Oh my goodness, I was pretty sure I couldn't love her more but geez does that girl get to me!

I've been meaning to blog a long list of things I've kept in a note on my phone and since several tie into this month - I finally am!  Avery sings all the time, mostly things she makes up but she's started singing nursery rhymes and some of the songs we listen to frequently.  Sometimes she goes through the morning just responding to me in song.  One day she was getting into my closet and I asked what she was doing.  She replied, "I'm not doing anything." But you know, she SANG it.  She has one song that she sings often when she thinks you're mad or wants you to be mad?  The lyrics are pretty basic, but awesome.  "Don't be so ma-ad. Don't be so canky (cranky). Don't be so mad. Don't be so ma-ad." And repeat.  Sometimes there's a, "Don't be so angy (angry)" after the cranky verse.  She makes our life more colorful for sure!

Speaking of, our girl loves to color.  With crayons, and especially markers.  One day she really went to town on her face, hands, arms, and legs while I was getting ready for our nephew's band concert.  D was picking us up and when I walked into the living room I realized we'd be later than expected.  A few days later, D came home and sat in front of Avery in the living room. He noticed her arms once again were colorful and he asked her why she'd markered (can we get credit for this?!) all over herself.  She said, "Buzz (because) I'm silly and I'm a kid.  And kids usually marker all over theyselves when they mommy's tell they no."  It's true, she's a kid and it's what she does, so she should know.  You can't argue with that, it's sound.

This girl has such a fantastic imagination!  It's so much fun to be her parent and get to experience these things!  She still counts Lulu and Brother as her "friends" and I'm sad to say that Brother has joined the dark side and is now up to no good with that rascally Lulu.  She'll be pulling on her clothes and say something  like, "Lulu and Brother won't quit pulling on me!" or in the car a couple of days ago I asked her something and she said, "I can't right now because Lulu and Brother won't quit pulling my hair!" Sure enough, I see her in the mirror holding onto her hair.  Her relationship with those two is...interesting.  When they're really acting up and I threaten them going home she says they'll be sweet or she's "just 'tendin" which I think is pretty cute.  

Around Mother's Day we talked a lot about mothers and the ones we know, etc.  Days later she would tell me that she's not a mother but I am a mother.  She's also told me more than once this month that she doesn't want to be a grown-up, she's just a kid.  And I'm glad, I'm not ready for her to grow up just yet. :)  She's quick to point out that she's not a baby now, she's a big sister!  Though one day she said, "Yeah but, I'm still Momma's baby girl." And she is, forever and always.

We can't wait to see our Avery as a big sister!  Still many months to go but an exciting time even now.  She talks about the baby in my tummy and I always have to remind her not to jump on me when I'm laying down.  She doesn't always listen and I figure this baby will come out a little tougher, if not a little dented.  We talk a lot about being a big sister and by her third birthday we'll know if she's getting her much wished for beloved baby sister or her "I guess so" baby brother.  Exciting times indeed! :)

We are still working on potty training and if she's not by three, then...she's not.  But hopefully she will be!!!  One morning I got her off the potty then turned for a second to grab something and she had the training seat around her neck, like some kind of monster-sized unsanitary Elmo necklace.  Totally gross!  And talk about gross, public toilets.  I feel like a need a shower after helping her use the restroom in public.  Ah well, these are the things we must endure!

Avery feels she must endure a lot as our daughter too.  She sometimes replies with an eye roll or a drawn out, "uuuuuugh" or "oooookkkaaaayyyy."  Like whatever we've asked of her is so taxing.  Yesterday she told me I was making her tired.  I had no idea it was so exhausting to be my daughter, now I know. And I can't wait until she's a teen, no doubt life will be awesome. ;)

She's pretty much always in a good mood as long as things are going her way, though aren't we all?!  I've heard, "I won't do X never, never again." three times in the last 24 hours.  Always when she wants something back that's been taken away.  She got a timeout for throwing something at my face, you know, just for fun.  She's been throwing things like crazy in the car.  Mostly at the back of my head.  Thankfully it's soft things like french fries or crackers, and she thinks this is hilarious.  Sometimes it is.  I was in the middle of singing a song when she threw the first fry.  I felt kind of like I was on stage and the crowd was pelting rotten tomatoes to hurry me off.  But throwing things in general?  Not a good thing.  When I threaten to take the snacks away she stops so at least she's listening...mostly.

This may possibly be the longest monthly update to date, and I'm sure I'm leaving so much out.  The last few days have been filled with family, friends, and good times.  Our life is good and having Avery just makes it better.  She is unbelievably rotten and so completely precious.  Gosh, we love her so much!!!

The monthly iPhone update with some lovely notes on the photos. Starting with the top left and going across each row: eating a breakfast of cookies on D's birthday at the Emily Morgan in San Antonio, running fever and yet looking incredibly stylish in an outfit of her choosing, zonked out on sugar from a ginormous cupcake, clowning around while making a phone call to Cinderella and holding a baby raccoon, an ornery start to the day, a markering incident, eating cheese pizza after a swim at Nana & Pop's house, first time bowling in Austin and with Daddy, sitting on the senate floor of the Texas State Capitol.  She was super cute there and even whispered instead of shouting while a guide was talking.  She asked, "Can I has a snack?" because I told her we had to leave all the food in the stroller in the hall.  The girl likes her snacks. :)

  akjune

Happy 34 month birthday sweet girl, we love you lots!           

6 comments:

  1. Learn the art of photography sydney in Australia by creative and enthusiastic team of Deyan photography. Photographic workshop Sydney is all set to put wings in your enthusiastic dreams.

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  2. So excited for all the details; can't wait to see you next weekend. By the way, remind me to tell you about the time I slept with 2 ghosts at the Emily Morgan hotel!!

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  3. I miss seeing Avery's smiling face in my blog reader! Sorry I missed seeing you at graduation!

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  4. OMG! the picture of Avery in the middle with her messy hair cracks me up!!!!! Awesome!

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  5. Lori! More pics of Avery are coming, I'm finally getting back in the swing of things. I wish I'd seen you at graduation, it was so crazy!

    Sarah, her hair is ridiculous every single day. :) I comb it after her bath and every morning she wakes up looking like something has nested in her hair over night!

    Debbie, your ghost story gave me goosebumps! Loved the hotel but now I'm not sure if I can stay there again, I may freak myself out! :)

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