Week 7

The top picture is of Isla and Avery with their GG Edie who is 96 years old! Also in the picture are their second cousins Lauren and Stella. It was fun this week for Isla to play with the girls.

This week Avery went to the beach for the first time and also in the swimming pool. She slept through most of the beach outing but Isla loved it. Isla played in the tidal pools but kept a distance from the waves and actual ocean. We had a nice lunch on the edge of the beach watching a thunderstorm roll in. At the swimming pool Avery was in a cute little swim suit and really seemed to enjoy the water.

Daddy came to Florida on Friday and Isla was SO happy to see him!!

Avery continues to socially smile. She loves the sound of her Grandma Barb's voice and tracks her face as she talks. She is reaching out more, not at anything in particular, but is less of a "ball". Her hands are less clenched. She is still eating and growing like a champ! 5-10pm is still her fussy time but she is taking the pacifier now which helps.

FLORIDA- Week 6

Check out my little chunk-o! She is getting SO big! Bigger every second it seems! The girls are loving Florida! Well, Isla and mommy are enjoying Florida. Avery is enjoying eating and sleeping (during the day!)

We arrived on Monday and Isla has been to the pool almost everyday! A little fish/dancer. Everything is a stage...even the pool stairs, the stairs at GG's house, the bench at the airport...basically any elevated structure is a stage for singing and dancing!

Avery has developed baby acne. I remember Isla having it bad at almost this same age. A preview of the teenage years!

We have seen GG Edie a couple of times and she loves watching Isla dance around. We also had lunch with Great Uncle Ray who's dementia has worsened. So sad but glad I got to see him! He had fun chatting with Isla.

Today we went to a little open house at a swim gym. There was a bouncy tower and face painting. Isla was transformed into a little butterfly!

4-5 weeks old!

Avery had many special visitors in her fourth week of life! Laura and Jon came from Boston and Grandma Barb and Papa Marty finally got to meet their second granddaughter!

Auntie Lou enjoyed every second with Avery, always wanting to hold and kiss her! Isla really enjoyed having Uncle Jon around to play with! We had a campfire in the back yard with s'mores that Isla loved. We also celebrated Easter early and had an Easter egg hunt! There were trips to the Mall of America and I even got a night on the town with Laura and Jon. Mmmm...Chino Latino! While I was out Avery had her second bottle and did a pretty good job once she got the hang of it!

Barb and Marty were so excited to meet little Avery and Isla was so excited to see them too! Barb was very helpful that week coming over often to relieve me from mommy duty a few times to run errands and get away for an hour or two! Barb also got to give her a bottle and I think she is getting the hang of it!

At just over 5 weeks Avery took her first airplane ride! We flew to Florida with Barb and Marty. Thank goodness they were along! I can't imagine the ride alone with the two kids! Isla had a tantrum in the aisle (not the first!) and Avery had a "blow-out" up the back of her shirt! But we made it intact and are really enjoying Florida!

Avery has started to smile a little. My parents say they saw it at week 4 but I didn't see it until recently! She still eats every 3-4 hours. Her fussy time is between 5pm and 11pm! I remember the evenings being a problem with Isla too. She is GROWING so fast! The home nurse came at 4 weeks and weighed her at 10 1/2 pounds! She seems to grow overnight and I'm not surprised with how much she eats! She is such a good baby- really the only time she really cries hard is in the car seat! Otherwise she eats and sleeps most of the time and really isn't awake for more than an hour at a time. Isla is being very helpful although she did "dump" Avery out of the vibrating chair yesterday! Isla has also been pretend breastfeeding her dolls which is so cute!

Easter 2012

Easter was very special this year as we had our little Avery to celebrate with! She was just over 5 weeks old. Isla also really enjoyed it this year. She woke up to an Easter basket with a bubble machine and a dinosaur in it! We headed over to the Stapleton's and went to church. We then went to their country club for an Easter buffet. The Easter bunny was there and Isla had fun following him around. There was also a petting zoo with baby animals!