From Thanksgiving to December 2009

This is Thanksgiving. Avery is a stunt diner.

  

Aaron is trying to put Avery's socks on her.

"I don't care what I get for Christmas. I want my mommy!"

 

When lunch is late... Avery conked out while she was eating.

Fall at Evelyn Losack's farm

We raked leaves at Evelyn Losack's house. It was a beautiful day. Avery played in the leaves for awhile and then her sister held her while she ate an apple from the barn. Our 80 year old voice teacher is an organic farmer and has an apple orchard. Avery wanted to go home before we were finished. Her big sister played with her in the swing under the pecan tree while we finished dumping the leaves in the garden to be tilled in for the spring.

The apple orchard with the mountain in the background.

Avery's hexagon "3-d" glasses.

For math one day Alisa and mom were using shapes to learn fractions. Avery had a good time playing with them. Stephen was making eyeglasses out of them to see things in different colors. Avery got a bang out of that too! Last weekend we took the kids to the movie. Avery sat on my lap and ate popcorn. When ever Brad would put his hand in the popcorn bucket she would grab his hand and push it out. When we ran out of popcorn she started to wail. Autumn and Madie shared their popcorn with her and she was content the whole movie, but quite possessive of her snacks!

Happy First Birthday

Avery trying to put on the swim suit she got for her birthday.

Eating the frosting. Her first taste of cake!

Avery pulled out the candle and tried to eat it.

Avery didn't know what to think of the birthday candle. (Strange anniversary traditions!)

Having Fun

 Avery is eating "raw."

Avery has good taste in art! We've moved on from potatoes to markers. Yumm!

Who has big teeth?  Avery looks just like mom!

   

October pictures

See my new teeth!

October 5 - Avery's first steps!

Walking soon

Avery standing

Not quite ready to start walking, but she is great at standing up.

Avery making a hat out of a toy. This kept her and Aaron busy for quite awhile

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Navajo Lake

The volcano cone on the left is called "Cabezon" which means "fathead" in Spanish. On our drive to go camping. 

Aaron and Avery having a nap at the lake while the big kids skied. Mom started reading Mortimer Alder's "How to Read a Book."

This is Avery's crawling style. Hands and feet! She is as cute as a bug!

Avery says "Camping is #1!"

Navajo Lake 2009

Eating hashbrowns on the way to the lake.

We went camping at Navajo Lake in August. Avery's first camping trip! We spent the days on the lakeshore. Avery, Aaron and Mom sat in the shade under a tent awning and read books, ate snacks and splashed in the water. Avery loved playing in the sand.

 

Avery with teething biscuit all over her face. Her favorite snack!

August 2009

Avery and her brothers are making reflections on the wall with a glittery hat. Avery took a minute out to smile for a picture.

This is the first time Avery tasted hummus. She is a big fan! She has never been so excited about a new food. She not only ate it heartily, but she reveled in it! It is all over her face and her hair.

Mediterranean facial!

MMMmmmmmm. I LOVE hummus!

Everyone Loves to help take care of Avery

We were blessed to capture this wonderful moment that Stephen was feeding Avery.

July Adventures

Avery standing up by the vacuum cleaner. This is the first week she started to pull up to stand next to things (First week of July.) She got the hang of it very quickly!

Aaron and Avery think that Stephen's dump truck is their personal taxi. They play with it and ride in it. Stephen has very patiently explained that it is for sand and blocks to go in, but then he usually relents and pushes them around in it. This is Aaron taking Avery for a ride in the Tonka taxi.

Avery fits just right under the kitchen table. This is her favorite place to stand up. We have benches along both long sides of the table so there are lots of places to hold on. She crawls under the table and stands up. We bring her out and she goes right back under. As she has gotten better at pulling up next to other objects she isn't as attracted to this spot. But many days she and Aaron still play under the table and Aaron shares raisins with her. This is confirmed by the reconstituted "grapes" that I find in her diaper. Avery is eating lots of solids. Raisins are just a little bit ahead of her. She likes bananas, sweet potatoes, avocado, peaches (LOVES peaches), watermelon, blueberries, and anything else she can get a taste of. We just got back from Phoenix where Brad had a Chiropractic conference. Just the three of us went (Brad, Janet, and Avery - we had a family friend stay with the older kids at home.) I was letting her taste baby mushrooms. She really loved them. I was holding it and just letting suck on it and she was mad when I took it away. (I didn't want her to choke, so when it got too mushed up I took it out of her mouth before it broke into pieces.) I got another mushroom for her to taste and she sucked it down as soon as it reached her mouth. She swallowed it whole! That was the end of sampling Mom's food. She was very pleased with herself though!

June- July 2009

Avery loved playing in the wrapping paper when Stephen celebrated his 5th birthday. We took a short trip to Utah. We spent a day visiting Janet's family and a day visiting Brad's family. We also got to do some sightseeing at church sites in Salt Lake City. There is a large reflecting pool at Temple Square and Avery and Aaron loved splashing their hands in it. On our way home we stopped at the Wilson Arch. It is a natural sandstone arch that is within walking distance of the highway. We always get out and hike up to it.  The scenery was beautiful this trip. There had been a lot of rain and it was green and the desert had many colorful things in bloom. We saw three rainbows on the way up.  There is a place near Monticello, Utah where a mountain stands behind the farmland. It was stormy and the clouds were magnificent. The soil is deep red. The bright green of the fields, the red of the plowed earth and the blue mountain with the threatening storm were breath-taking. We drove through Moab as it was raining and the red cliffs and all of the rock formations were shining with wetness. We could actually see the rain running down the sides of the cliffs and soaking in, changing the color of the sandstone. We've been swimming a couple of times. We went yesterday, on the Fourth of July. But we also went on June 19th. Avery loves splashing. She is eager to get in the water. The first time we took her to the pool she was tired and took a nap in the stroller (I walked home with her) before we'd been there 30 minutes. There is a city pool a block from our house. Yesterday when we went swimming she sat in the water and crawled around, splashing and laughing. She and Aaron played with pool toys and later we sat on towels on the grass and they shared a snack. A big first happened this week. Avery pulled herself up to standing! Janet was sitting on the floor with her and she stood up, holding on to her knee. Since then she is standing up next to everything. She even has tried to crawl up the stairs. We've had to put all of the baby gates up. She is fast! We did some sparklers and some little fireworks in the driveway for the Fourth of July. Avery did not like the loud noise. She was up late with all of the fireworks and firecrackers in the neighborhood.

Blessing Day

Avery's Blessing Day. Babies in our church have a special event where they are given a name and a blessing. It is a special occasion for families. Brad gave Avery her baby blessing. Her given name is Avery Rebekah Fackrell. She received a beautiful blessing which centered on her being a an important part of our eternal family.

 

Avery and Brad

Avery and Janet

Almost crawling! Avery in her PJs. She is getting up on her hands and knees (this week she got on her hands and toes) She will take off crawling any day now. She has mastered scooting on her tummy. She loves to wiggle over to the kitchen floor where she can slide across the tile more easily.