14 Months Old

Look who's 14 months now? My not-so-little Avery! Being home with her this summer has been fun because she is changing more and more each day. From saying new words, to doing funny things, the changes just don't stop. As I mentioned back in the "13 Month Update," I'm trying this chalkboard sign that I made instead of the monthly number stickers I used her first year just to mix it up a little and hopefully make our photo shoots a little easier. Well, the problem I didn't foresee is that she has to hold the sign...did you read that? HOLD the sign. Does any 1-2 year old want to old anything (that they don't choose)?

That's right the answer is NO. I think I got lucky that first month with #13 because she held it (she did some throwing, but in the end, she held it). Well, this time around I got her all ready, the month written on the sign, my camera all set then I went to hand it to her and she said, "No!" So I went with placing it in front of her and snapping my camera as fast as possible before she throws it. With that I did manage to get a few good shots.

"I'm not touching that sign!"

The throwing in action.

  

She was happy to pose without the
sign.

Wonder what life is like for Avery now that she's 14 months old? Here's some of her favorite things:

1. Favorite food: Veggie Straws...without a doubt!

2. Favorite word: "Whoa!" You'll hear her say this when she's very excited or impressed by something. Sometimes it's because of something yummy someone is eating or just if she hears a really loud sound. It's pretty funny. You can see her do it in this video about how you can make your own fruit and veggie wash (it's about 40 seconds in):

  

3. Favorite book: The Very Lonley Firefly by Eric Carle (or as Avery calls it "lie lie")

When she wants a book, she come up
holding it then drop it by your feet saying,
"Book, book!" or "Please, please!"
That's when you know you've been
chosen as a reader!

We have our own paraphrased version of the story we say
as the firefly goes along looking for fellow fireflies, we'll say:
Mom: "Is that a firefly? Avery: "No" Mom: "That's a candle."

You can often find her reading on her own
too.

4. Favorite activity: swimming at the pool! I was pretty sure Avery would love swimming at our local pool since bath time is one of her favorite activities, but you just never know with kids. We took her there and she was hesitant for all of 5 minutes, and then there was no turning back...she was hooked.

Testing the waters...

"This place is amazing!"

The addition of the Puddle Jumper Life Jacket has really helped
our trips to the pool because Avery was so adventurous in the
water, but yet she didn't want me holding onto her at all times.

The Puddle Jumpers have helped her to be more independent
in the water, and for me to breathe a little easier too.  I'm still
right next to her at all times, but now I don't have to be touching
her the whole time.

You better have Veggie Straws on hand
when it's time to get out for Adult Swim!

See her swimming in action in this video about how you can go green with a reusable swim diaper:

Second favorite thing to do: look for bunnies, birds, and squirrels out of this window in our dining room. Every time we walk by this window, we'll say: "Do you see any bunnies?" Usually the answer is "No." But sometimes she'll say, "Bird!" and we'll come watch them. It's funny how certain areas of your house become "baby hot spots" that you never would have guessed. Back before we had Avery, I never would have guess that she would have loved this window so much. But she is crazy about animals and this window gives her the perfect spot to view them.

Standing on tip-toes to try and see out.

"Bunny! Hop hop hop!"

Another fun thing we've been up to this past month is Potty Training...let me re-phrase that: "Pre-Potty Training." I call it pre-potty training because I don't expect to potty train her now and be done with diapers, although that would be nice. But I do think she is aware enough to start learning what a potty is, what we do with it, and all the lovely vocabulary associated with it. I'm sure it helps that I have a little bit more free time this summer to work with her on it, but nonetheless, she's showed some interest in it, so I'm going with it.  Let me tell you about our set up and potty routine...

• About two times a day (in the morning and after her nightly bath) I give Avery chances to sit on the potty and see if she will pee. The time usually last for about 10 minutes or sometimes longer.
• While she sits we read books, and I jokingly call it our "Potty Story Time". If she pees during the time that I'm reading, great. We talk about the word pee, she helps me flush the toilet, we sing a little song and we go on our way. 
• If not, no big deal. We go put a diaper on and call it good. That's basically it.

Let's see it in action.

Avery helps me put her special seat on
the potty.

I tried using a Baby Bjorn Potty Chair, but Avery hated it and wouldn't sit longer than a few seconds. She wanted to sit on the big potty, but I didn't want to try and hold her every time. Luckily there's a huge market out there of potty seats that fit right onto the "big potty" for babies to sit. I went with this Price Lionheart weePod Basix seat ($12) mainly because it's nice and comfy (not hard like other inserts). She doesn't mind sitting on this thing one bit and will sit for 15 minutes at a time if we let her. Wish we had the pink one, but it was all sold out! ) : Gray works just fine. Plus the seat is nice and smooth, so that makes cleaning it very easy.

She's more mesmerized by the toilet
than most of her toys.

I keep a basket of books above the toilet
for "Potty Story Time" and I'll read them all.
If she pees 3 books into the pile, we take
the rest to the bed and finish them there.

She's been loving it when I give her
a choice between two books. She'll
look back and forth between the two books,
then smile at me and make her pick. It's
fun learning what she likes.

She loves the page in the Potty book
I show above where the character starts
to fell like they have to go to the bathroom.
He says, "What's that?" She always makes
this funny face. This is a great potty-training
book!

When she does pee, she gets very excited!
Me too!

Now although we have a long way to go in our potty training journey, hopefully this "pre-potty training" fun will lay the groundwork to making things easier when she is ready. I'll keep you posted on our journey. Until then, you can find me sitting by my toilet, reading lots and lots of books.

Date Night: Onto some more fun topics (other than potty training), Brandon and I celebrated our five year wedding anniversary this past month. I can't believe how fast the time has gone.  While lots of things have changed since we got married five years ago, (i.e. Avery!) I still feel so lucky and grateful to be married to him, and to share this fun, crazy journey we call "life" together.  Love you Brandon.

We tried including Avery in the photo,
but she was hard to keep in one
spot with that 5!

To wrap up with, here's a few more pics of our little 14 month girl...

She loves to throw the ball!

See you guys next month!