39 Weeks

• I look like I'm smuggling a ball, one of those $2 large bouncy balls at Target. We are well past basketball here. 
• Still not noticing any pre-labor signs.
• I get SO hot at night while I'm sleeping.
• When I sleep, that is. It's a lot of tossing and turning and I'm up at least twice, some nights 3-4x, to use the bathroom. 
• I walk like an 80-yr-old if I've been sitting for too long.
• Trying to stay active, though it's hard and I'm tired. 
• My sister, Michelle, came in and cleaned my entire house for me this past weekend. What a blessing she is!! Now it's just a matter of keeping clutter at bay. 
• So ready and excited to meet this sweet baby!

Avery at 4.5

Four was a hard transition for us. Six months later, we are in a better rhythm and I'm really enjoying this age now. I mean, I enjoy ALL the days. Every single one of them. :)

Avery started preschool in September, and a month later, she is still loving it. She wishes she could go every single day, and she has nothing but positive things to say about her time there. I am a big fan of her teacher who picked up on the fact that Avery has started reading (just a little bit - no novels here) and has asked how she can help support that outside of the class. Avery isn't as verbose on what goes on during the school day as she was at the beginning, but throughout the week she'll throw out some random fact that could only have come from school, so I know she's absorbing something at least. And hopefully she's not talking too much.

She and Eleanor love love love to play games together. All day long they are involved in some kind of make-believe, with Avery as the ringleader. I love seeing their friendship develop.

They still fight over toys and personal space, too, but it's become less of an issue in the past couple of months.

More and more I see fruit from training and prayers, and it's a sweet gift to watch her learn kindness and generosity. She's always been tender-hearted, but to see it extend to others is a true treat. Her energy is huge, so teaching her to be calm and considerate of others can be difficult. She is joyful and has a big personality. I pray that she will continue to live life joyfully and vibrantly and never lose that.

She loves to have something to snuggle with, so losing the lovey a few months ago was so sad; thankfully, she has gravitated towards whatever strikes her fancy that night, usually her kitty, though I've seen her curled around a book or a cup also. And this afternoon, she actually fell asleep during her quiet time. I went in to wake her, to which she replied, "I'm still tired. Will you snuggle with me?" Gladly, sweet girl, gladly.

She overheard me singing a lullaby to Eleanor one evening when she wouldn't settle down, so now every single night she asks me to sing the same song to her. It's become a wonderful ritual after storytime and prayers.

She still loves to dance. We've taken a break from ballet for the time being, but I am hoping to resume after Christmas.

She says she wants to be an artist when she grows up, and to paint faces. She loves to draw and color, and eventually I'll be the fun mom that pulls out real paint and glitter and other messy things. Maybe.

She is still a picky eater, and if she could eat only foods that belong with ketchup, she'd be one happy camper. However, she also thinks anything can be eaten with ketchup, so sometimes this is how we get vegetables down her. Fruit never has to be forced, thankfully.

After bath, if Luke helps them get ready for bed, he always warns the girls, "No monkey business!" Monkey business then ensues, of course, which involves lots of jumping on the bed and giggling.

Even when she doesn't nap, which is most days, she still takes forever to fall asleep, sometimes an hour or longer. She will sit and read in her bed quietly, though sometimes we catch her up and trying on her dress-up clothes.

And some favorites quotes from the past few months:

Daddy, why do my tears not fly off like an airplane? But on tv, those tears fly off like an airplane. (this one's a bit of a mystery)

Daddy, would you like to talk to me all the way to Nana's house?

Taco Bell isn't a very awesome place. (Must be because I craved bean burritos with green sauce during my pregnancy with her.)

She threw a huge tantrum a couple weeks back over only receiving 5 marshmallows (she wanted 10, because "5 is not my favorite number). She then chose zero marshmallows by her attitude which spiraled down into a complete and utter meltdown. We talked through it with her, and she voluntarily apologized for yelling at us and having a bad attitude and agreed that next time she would ask nicely. First thing the next morning, she came in and asked us, "May I have some marshmallows please? I just want 5 because yesterday I had a bad attitude so I think I'm good with just 5."  (Seriously, is she only 4?!)  Luke surprised her with some extras..."You gave me 11!" (HUGE grin)

Whew. I have to go potty from all that learning. (upon coming home from school)


We just adore our sweet Avery-girl!

The School Report

Avery had her first day of Pre-K today. Insert all the cliches here about how fast time has flown by. Backing up a bit, we had meet the teacher last week along with parent orientation - two different days, two visits to the classroom, and just enough time to make Avery excited. Her teacher took her picture to put on the bulletin board in the classroom, and of course our daughter struck a pose.



She slept in this morning, of all mornings, but I planned ahead and was all ready to go so we wouldn't be rushing. Into the dress we picked out the night before, a fight over the shorts she had to wear under it and the shoes to go with it, into a ponytail because she wanted to be "pretty" and talked her out of wearing jewelry (that she would only lose later at school) because she wanted to be "even prettier". I don't think she gets this girly side from me. It must be from one of her aunts.

showing off her new backpack, courtesy of Nana

Drop-off consisted of Eleanor and I escorting her to the classroom, where she promptly ran in when the door opened, did a twirl of happiness, and sat down at a table (per Mrs. P's instruction), quickly finding some busywork to do. She didn't even give me a second glance as she yelled back, "I love you too!"

Only a couple tears were shed in the privacy of the car. I'm quite proud of myself.

Eleanor and I killed some time at Target and then back home for play and housework until pick-up time. I peeked in the door to see Avery and another girl chatting away happily, ready to go with her backpack on. She seemed happy to see me, but not overly relieved like it had been a rough day, so yay! I'm so thankful for a chatty daughter, because I got the full scoop on the way to the car and all the way back home.

She is now friends with all of the kids in her class! But she can't remember any of their names. They played with the toys. She used the potty once and she "didn't have an accident in [her] dress."

They read books, "a Max and Ruby book! And one I've never seen before about washing our hands! And then a book about a dog that goes to school. It was a very short book." They apparently had a very short lunch time (??) so she needed to finish lunch at home, but Avery likes to dawdle, so I'm wondering if perhaps she was talking too much and eating too little. The lunch report: she forgot to eat her banana bread (her special treat today), didn't have time for her sandwich, but ate some of her grapes and ALL of her baby carrots.

You guys. She ate ALL of her CARROTS. SIX of them!! Voluntarily! "Hey, maybe I like carrots now." I mostly put those in for looks, you know - the "healthy" lunch. Really thought I'd be seeing those again at the end of the day.

One boy didn't share with her, even when she asked him nicely if she could have a turn when he was finished, "but he wasn't finished, and then it was lunchtime!! (cry)" And the big downer of the day - she sobbed the rest of the way home because they didn't get to play on the playground. It was too hot, so they skipped, but she had been looking forward to it the most, I think. "I'm so disappointed!"

And now, she's napping. Must have worn her out.

Conversations with Avery (and Eleanor!)

On our way to Bible study on Wednesday, Avery and I had a discussion about sin and Easter and what that means for us. I was trying to define sin for her, and she promptly told me, "I sinned on the floor on the carpet at church." I'm not certain what that meant? Perhaps I need to keep working on this concept. :)

Avery jokes around with us more and more. She had the perfect set-up a few weeks ago:
Avery: "Daddy, did you know that Mommy is so pretty?"
D: "Yes."
A: "Did you know that Mommy is so sweet?" (goes on to include "so nice" and "has nice hair")
D: "Yes."
A: "Did you know that Eleanor is so sweet?"
D: "Yes."
A: "Daddy, did you know that you're a poopy face?"

Hahahaha. Oh man. She really set him up for that one. (And what is it with kids and poop?)

Eleanor, who is a girl of few words these days (she's too busy being mischievous and testing her mobility in new ways), still manages to have funny little conversations with us. She responds with yes and no head nods, says a few words, and communicates remarkably well without actually speaking to us. She'll babble something to us, but it's totally indiscernible at this point.

At lunch today, Eleanor threw her tomatoes on the ground. I looked at her, asked her, "Where should our food go?" (meaning, where should it stay - on the tray), to which she looked right at me, pointed to the ground, and said "Down there." Whoa. Try getting upset at that. Ha.

Conversations with Avery

"I made the car go faster with my mouth yawn."

Eleanor took her shoes off, and I teased her that she should quit doing that because her feet are sweaty and it's hard to put shoes back on them. Avery: "She has Aunt Shell's sweaty feet!" (No, I don't think my sister has sweaty feet...care to weigh in Aunt Shell?)

While coloring one day, not wanting to stop, "I have to hurry and color before I pee in my panties."

Playing with a flashlight, shining on me: "What's inside your ears? I think it's just dust."

Upon me telling her she had to quit playing with stickers and get dressed for Bible study: "This is the WORST.DAY.EVER!" (while flinging herself down and burying her head into her arms)

"Daddy, maybe when you're big like me you can make Valentines too."

"I don't wanna live!" To which I had to explore further. Why? "Because I'm scared!" Turns out, she was saying "I don't want a live", NOT "I don't want to live". She had hit her head when running and thought that a live (pronounced LIV) was an object that I would put on her head, which terrified her.

"Avery, how did you sleep last night?"
"I slept left."

"Mommy, I'm sorry you yelled at me."

Last night in the tub, she did something mean to Eleanor, so Luke had her apologize to her little sister.
"Eleanor. Eleanor. Look in my eyes. Eleanor, look in my eyes. I'm sorry for being mean to you."

Monday Musings (on Tuesday)

You know it's Monday when Eleanor puts something in the toilet that doesn't belong there. Today it was her snazzy pink shoes.

Monday also brings dance class, and the new studio has more space for Eleanor to walk around and more space for the moms to sit and talk. Really enjoying this one hour of our week.

Avery is doing so well with listening to her teachers, following instructions, and focusing in class.

Our home is a disaster. We've been out of town on 3 separate occasions over the past 2 weeks, and we barely have time to recover from one trip before we're packing for another. I have exactly 8 days before we leave for Thanksgiving, so it's a flurry of activity trying to get everything unpacked, washed, and re-packed all amidst purging the extra junk that has piled up and the regular life activities of the week.

Worn.Out.

Eleanor loves post-bath naked time. She runs around with just the hooded towel flying out behind her and squeals with laughter as we chase her.

I'll throw in a couple Avery-isms, too.
We saw a "hiccup" truck on the road yesterday.
"Break-dancing is much more cool. Check this out." And then...she break-dances. (She's quoting from Angelina Ballerina.)
Her dance teacher couldn't find a CD she wanted, so she asked Avery if she took it. Avery didn't even miss a beat, responding with, "Yes, I did!" So Ms. Sarah asked Avery to return it, and Avery pretended to toss it back to her and exclaimed, "There, I gave her her music back!" Ha!
"I just want to focus on eating right now."

an old photo, from a month or two ago, but just the right amount of cuteness to perk me up

Conversations with Avery

A few of my favorites from the past month....

"Fee fi four three!"  She was sitting on her bed, reading Jack and the Beanstalk.

At Joann's, while looking for a pattern for her Halloween costume, I was perched on the edge of my chair (I rarely sit all the way back). She turned to me, rubbed my back, and said, "Sweetie, you need to sit back in your chair." The lady across from us looking at magazines had to turn around to hide her laughter.

"Uuuh, this is ridiculous!" (pronounced ridicholas) while having trouble putting on panties

Me: "Avery, you're so sweet. I really enjoy that about you."
Avery: "Yes, I know."

"Hi, kiddo."  To Eleanor one morning.

"But I need my doctor bag!! I'm not healthy!"

This morning at church she told one of her teachers that she was going to be Audrey Hepburn for Halloween. I started laughing when she told me this, because we haven't introduced her to Audrey yet, and Avery has requested to be a cow. There must have been another girl who said that, and Avery agreed that she was going to be Audrey, too. I asked her about it in the car, and she confirmed that a friend was going to be Audrey Hepbird.

Also, at church, Eleanor cries LOUDLY when I drop her off. Her room is across the hall from Avery's, and Avery told her teachers, "That's my sister. And she is crying and whining."

While working on Avery's Halloween costume, I had her try the pants on one morning, because I had to alter them down to fit her. I asked if she liked the costume, would she be okay with wearing this (yes, why would I ask a 3 year old that...she's going to wear it regardless of her answer)...she responded with "Yes, but I just want to walk on two legs, not three (she meant four)."

Conversations with Avery

My sister and I took the kids out for lunch one day. We had Texadelphia, and everyone knows that cheese-steaks are yummy and delicious and have bits of chopped meat. Avery stuck her hand out to Aunt Michelle, said, "Can you please take this?" (it's common knowledge that Avery hates meat as well), and handed it over to my sister. Michelle grabbed the piece from Avery without really looking at it, only to discover it was actually a big BOOGER stuck to her finger, not a bit of meat. She shuddered with disgust, started laughing, and cried, "I'm such a novice mom!" She'll learn one day.

One night Avery got in trouble for screaming at me. Luke told her that she needed to apologize to me, telling her how sad and hurt it made me to have her speak that way. She walked up to me, her eyes nearly watering, and asked, "Mommy, do you have a broken heart? I am sorry for screaming at you. I love you!" Oh, melt my heart. She can be so difficult and then so awesome. I love that kid.

She is learning to tell time. We're impressed with how often she gets the time correct.

In the car, singing: "The B-I-B-L-E, yes that's the book for me. I stand alone (on the Word of God), the B-I-B-L-E." She gets the song a bit jumbled there in the middle sometimes. She then asked each one of us to sing it. And then for Eleanor to sing it. We explained that Eleanor couldn't sing it yet, so Avery sang it for her.
"The B-I-B-L-E, Eleanor, yes that's the book for me, Eleanor. I stand alone on the Word of God, Eleanor. The B-I-B-L-E, Eleanor!"

She recognizes songs more and more, especially ones from her kids' music that they also sing at church, so she is always asking if this is a song "like they sing in Bible study?" I love how wonderful our children's program is!

She is also a fan of "10,000 Reasons", as is Mommy, and she loves when it comes on the radio.

When asked who her favorite aunt was, Aunt Haley or Aunt Lela (Luke's sisters), she looked back and forth at them and answered, "Aunt Haley!" This is huge, because Avery as a baby was scared of Aunt Haley. Hard-won victory there.

A typical trip to the bathroom used to go like this:
Avery announces that she has to go, and takes herself. "No, don't come in!"
I wait nearby in case she needs help. She then yells for me to come help with some aspect of it - sometimes it's turning a light on, or helping her get clothes up or down, or wiping depending on 1 or 2, to which she then points and announces if it's 2, then "Go away! Don't help me!" She finishes and may or may not need help with hand-washing or lights, and I can be in and out of that bathroom half a dozen times depending on what she did in there, what she is wearing, and if there is a stool or not. She's such an interesting mix of dependence and independence these days. Lately, though, she's been able to go start to finish by herself with only a gentle reminder to wash her hands.

"Eleanor, no-no. I'm not your Mommy. I'm Avery Jane. And I'm dancing."

Having a conversation with me in the car, it gets pretty lengthy, when all of a sudden she says, "Mommy, are you done talking?" Well, I guess I am now!

When laughing with my great-aunt and my mom at something funny Avery had said, she looked at us and said, "What are you laughing about at me?" We explained that we were simply laughing at something cute she had said, not laughing at her. She put on a very serious face and pointed at my mom..."Nonnie!" We took that to mean "I know you'll tell me the truth, Nonnie, and you better do it right now!"

"Oh my gosh, that's terrible!" I still have no idea what was terrible.

Made-up conversations on her cell-phone (toy) with various people. Today it was Mrs. Grooms. I wonder what they talked about, since I only caught it at the very end of the conversation. :)

Lately she's been pushing hard for us to go eat at the "restauronk" more often. She loves to go out to eat.

Girls' Weekend

What do you get when you pair two three year olds and two 11 month olds? A wild and crazy weekend. It's like two sets of twins, but with the added bonus of extra mom hands to help out. The girls and I traveled to Waco a couple weeks ago to visit my friend Elisabeth and her girls while her hubs was away for work.

We had the best time visiting and playing! The girls got along quite well, especially for so much face-time, and the babies were their typical easygoing selves. Avery had a few meltdowns, and the weekend seemed like one crazy event after the other thanks to the weather, but flexibility was key and we had fun! Plus, Annie is one of the funniest, coolest kids I've ever met (next to mine, of course).

I baked with the girls Friday night - Annie was so excited to have a pastry chef help her make cupcakes (see EMU's post for pics), and we baked grown-up desserts (tarts) the next night after the girls were down. Once the girls were in bed for the night, Elisabeth and I had lots of catch-up time. It's nice to have hours of uninterrupted talk time with a good friend, especially one who is in the same stage of life right now.

This was also Avery's first sleepover experience, and let.me.tell.you - this was the best free entertainment I've ever had. They shared a room each night, and as soon as we tucked them in, we'd race downstairs to listen on the monitor. They talked for at least an HOUR each night. Both of them are quite talkative by nature, and they just shared everything on their minds that weekend. Some favorites:

"Annie, do you love Jesus?" I love God. "So you don't love Jesus?"

Avery: "I put my lovey on my bottom." Annie: "I put my lovey on my bottom too!"

Annie: "If you have to go to the bathroom, just tell me and I'll take off your diaper and pull your pants down and put you on the potty." (This was a recurring theme and they'd circle back to it every 15 minutes or so.)

Concerns about a cricket in the room, from a story Annie told about a bug her mom killed. It was really a cockroach, and apparently it's now in heaven. With God and Jesus and D-dad (Annie didn't know what a D-dad was.)

A discussion about an event that transpired while playing earlier on Saturday, in which Avery hurts Annie's feelings, words were misunderstood, and sweet Annie tried to express her feelings on the matter. I don't know that Avery ever really got it. But, to hear those two try and work it out on their own - melt my mama heart!

Annie fell asleep first Friday night - it was silent for a couple minutes, and then we hear, "Annie? Annie. ANNIE!" Avery settled for talking to herself for the next few minutes before also falling asleep.

Saturday night, Annie: "Now, when your mommy comes in to tell us to be quiet and no more talking, don't talk. We have to stop talking. It's time to go to sleep. And when she comes in, don't cry. And when she leaves, don't cry." Guess who did too much crying!

They also practiced their diving off the end of the beds (for the Olympics, of course). It's a favorite past-time of Annie's these days. 

We took a trip to Baylor (where Luke and I went to college and also where Elisabeth's hubby just started teaching) where we saw one of the bears, got soaked in the rain, dumped both big girls out of the stroller onto the sidewalk resulting in massive amounts of crying, stopped at Common Grounds for a break from the rain and some good coffee, and showed Avery a bit of the campus where Mommy and Daddy met. We also convinced hundreds of college students to delay having children for awhile.

the only pic I have of Elisabeth from the whole weekend, and Sally! This was pre-rainstorm, at the bear pit.

At least I look happy. Neither of the girls wanted to pose for a picture.

We visited my old church, Redeemer, on Sunday and enjoyed a potluck (of course I picked the weekend there would be free food) where we got to visit with old friends and meet some great new people. The older girls had fun in their class, but the mamas were paged out at the exact same time for the babies. It looked like we were ditching the sermon. Oops.

silly girls

sad faces because it was time to go home to Austin

Thank you, Ueckers, for such a wonderful weekend! We can't wait to see you gals again soon!

**If I can figure out how to get it off my phone, I have a video of a portion of the girls' conversation from Friday night. I'll post here for your extreme entertainment.

Conversations with Avery

This is an exhausting and funny age for her. She asks questions non-stop, and loves to play question games with us. It delights her to no end to have Luke ask her questions, any kind of questions, so she asks him, "Do you want to ask me some questions in my room?"

She will be in the middle of a conversation with me (really, when is she not?) and will shout out "green car" and then keep on going with her conversation. Not sure what the fascination with green cars is.

Plays doctor. It usually goes something like this:
"Hi, Mommy. I'm Dr. Bell (this is her actual pediatrician, btw). It's so nice to meet you! First, I need to check your heart. (listens with the stethoscope, somewhere near my heart, sort-of). Good. Your heart is good. Now I need to check your blood pressure. Help me, I can't put this on. Wait, I want to do it! I want to buckle (velcro) it! Ok, 123456789-10 (pumps it up). Your blood pressure is good. Now I need to check your temperature to see if you have a fever. (sticks thermometer in my ear and spins it). No fever. Now I have to reflex you. (hits my legs with the reflex-thingy, and sometimes it's hard enough to cause my reflexes to kick in regardless of where she taps it) Good, good. Now you need your medicine. (shakes out pretend pills and hands them to me). Ok, now I check your ears. (sticks the light in each ear). Good. Now it's time for your shot. Chuk-chuk (that's the sound it makes, obviously). You're all better!"

And, as she uses each tool from her doctor bag, she sets them aside. She also closes the bag after each tool she pulls out to use.

She plays with her babies and stuffed animals and is sometimes heard during naptime telling them, "Now, everyone GO. TO. SLEEP!" By the way, I don't yell that at her, although she does have some reminders on occasion. Her baby gets frequent naps during the day and can be found in a variety of locations. 


The other day, she asked Luke to help her with something, and he was too slow for her, so she said in a deep voice, "Come, child." 


Our new apartment has a coat closet in the entrance, in which we place our shoes. She has labeled this the "shoe pantry". Quite astute.

Conversations with Avery

In the car, on the way to a play date
Avery: Mommy, when we get home can you wipe my booger?!
Me: We can wipe it when we get to Mrs. Crystal's house.
Avery: I don't want you to wipe it!
Me: Well, we'll get rid of it in a tissue when we get there.
Avery: There, I got rid of it.
Me: Where did you put it?
Avery: Right here, safe and sound. Safe and sound.


This morning, after a time out. I'm trying to explain that what comes out of our mouths shows what's in our hearts. We had just had an incident over cupcake sprinkles. Just when I think she might be understanding what I'm trying to teach her, she ends with this:
Avery: Sprinkles come out of my mouth! God doesn't need my cupcake or sprinkles. (Or something to that effect, I was trying not to laugh - she might have said He can have them.)

Conversations with Avery

While laying in bed, hands cradling her face, legs kicking idly in the air. I'm nursing Eleanor, and it's bedtime for both girls.
A: "Hey, is that your bob?" (now I think she's been saying brav - 5/14/12)
M: "My bob? Oh, do you mean my boobies? Or my bra?"
A: "Yes. Is Baby Eleanor getting milk from your boobies?"
M: "Yes, she's getting milk from my boobies."
A: "Is she going to get more milk from your boobies?"
M: "Yes."
A: [thinking for a second] "That is sooooo yummy!"

blankets are still blanklets


Today, while running up and down the couch, she kept yelling "eaty-up, eaty-up, eaty-up!" I suppose she meant giddy-up.

necklace comes out as "nicholas" most times, and Eleanor is often "Illinois" or "Hellenor"

to her new doll, whispered, "Stay awake. [kiss] Goodnight! I love you! I'll be back soon!"

to Eleanor, who is crying in the car, "It's ok, Baby Eleanor, we're almost there."

During potty training, while sitting in a fitting room nursing Eleanor, Avery turns to me and says, "I peed just a little bit." I yanked Eleanor off so quickly, grabbed the girls and fled to the bathroom.

And two more, just tonight:
Luke walks in the door from work with his messenger bag slung over his shoulder.
"Daddy, do you got your shoulder-purse?"

Digging around in my wallet, she found quarters. She handed one to Daddy, one to Mommy, one to Avery.
"There, now all the ladies have money."
Luke: "I'm not a lady!"
Avery: "Are you a people?"
Luke: "I'm a man."
Avery: "Are you a me-an?" [giggle]
Luke: [points to himself] "I'm THE man."
Avery: "Do you gotta man on your tummy?"

The Things She Asks

A long time ago, I started pointing out things that God made to Avery while we're driving around town. I'd ask her, "Who made the sky, the grass, the leaves, the birds....?" She would never respond, but I'd bring it up periodically. This week it's opened up conversation between us in HUGE ways. I am in awe of this age and the way her mind works and the things that are taking root. It reminds me that we should be ever diligent in implanting in our children truth, even if the fruit isn't apparent immediately.

While driving to church on Sunday, she began telling me and asking me what God made.
"Did God make the birds?"
...the grass?
...the water?
...the clouds in the sky?
...the cars?
...baby Eleanor's carseat?

which led to a "yes, but" statement on my part, explaining how God made the materials for our car and the carseats and gave people brains to think how to make them. A lesson in nature versus manufacturing that I assumed was over her head. Yesterday, she told her Aunt Shell that God made the "terials" for her carseat and Eleanor's carseat.

This then led to our conversation this morning. The logic in her brain is astounding sometimes. Since God makes things, did God make me (Mommy) sad? She had seen me crying yesterday, and I guess it was still bothering her today. And then, does she make Mommy sad? What a reminder to sit down and remind her how much I love her and how much more so God loves her and Mommy. That sometimes people get sad, but she makes me happy (insert reminder that disobedience makes Mommy sad!), and that God makes me happy. He makes me feel better.

A short, simplistic conversation, but seeds are being planted, and today I am grateful.

Conversations with Avery

The other day, she bolted from the car and ran straight to the front door. She likes to "hide" on the front porch, waiting for me to come around the corner. She turned to look at me and told me, "I want to poop inside." Okaaaaayyyyy, I think we can handle that. Did she want to poop on the potty inside? Nope. Just didn't want to do it in the great outdoors.

Later that day, she shut her bedroom door in Luke's face and told him, "I'm going to poop in here." 

I think we might be moving past the booger stage. 

Speaking of boogers, most of her conversations have been about boogers this past week. They're usually in the realm of "I have a booger. Wanna help me clean it?" Sometimes she doesn't ask, and she just wipes it on my jeans, to which I reply "Ew, go get a tissue." Instead of blowing her nose and wiping her fingers, she wipes my jeans and leaves tissue fuzz stuck to the booger that is STILL there. 

When tucking her into bed one night, she asked if I wanted to cuddle. I said sure, I'd love to, for two minutes. She looked at me with her negotiation stare: "How about 3 minutes?" Ha, ok. Then, "How about 20 minutes?" Ha, no.

Yesterday, she was jumping on my bed and telling me that she was climbing the tallest "hell." What?! In what episode does Dora go to hell? Turns out, it was a hill. Of course. Everything is hills and mountains around here.

"Mommy, Eleanor has a scratch on her belly. She has two scratches on her belly." No, Avery, those are Eleanor's nipples. You have nipples too. "I don't want you to show me my nipples!"

One night, right after putting Eleanor to bed, Avery asked to go to Target. I told her we couldn't go tonight, and she had a literal meltdown. Sobbing, "I want to go to Target! I want to go to Target!" And, this wasn't a tantrum, but just utter, extreme, sadness over not being able to go shopping at Target. I think she might be my child.

Leaving Bible study today, she ran up to me out of the nursery and told me, "I missed you so much." while she held my hand. Make my heart melt!