Another Road Trip

We are off on another road trip this weekend to Vass.  Football game versus Georgia Tech on Saturday and a baby luncheon for Mary.  

Guess who likes bananas other than Gwen Stefani?

This hoodie outfit is too cute not to post another picture.

Baby Proofing

I think it is time to start baby-proofing the house.  She isn't crawling yet, but is becoming a master of barrel rolls and wiggles in order to move in the direction she desires.  It won't be long before she is crawling.

9 seconds after this picture she got her hands on the Wii and tried to pull it down.

 Don't worry about that dust bunny in the picture.  Laura got Avery a pair of fluffy gloves to wear so that she can dust when she rolls around.

"Fun"draising

So this week while Laura was gone, Avery's day care teacher handed me the below form without saying anything. So I look at it when on the drive home and it appears to be a fundraising thing selling cookies.

I think to myself...what the heck?  Before I get mad and bent out of shape, I decide to ask the assistant principal the next day what it was for.  I mean it could have been for blind kids to go to Niagra falls or a donation to the local animal shelter.  Who can get mad at raising money for a little puppy?  I think Laura should be pretty proud of me not walking back in the next day and setting it on fire in front of the principal to prove a point.

So the next morning I ask what the sheet was for and she said "It's a fundraiser."  I replied "For a for-profit corporation?"  She at this point knew the gig was up based on the way I looked at her and said "You don't have to participate."  I replied, "We will not be participating."  Every bone in my body wanted to tell her if the school needed something, they should take it out of the money that I send them every week ($234.90) or take it out of their profits.  But I bit my tongue.



The next afternoon, I was picking up Avery and another father was there picking up his daughter (imagine that....2 dads on daycare duty....what is this world coming to.....next thing you know we will have a female candidate for president).  Anyways....this guy was commenting on how he had almost sold his entire sheet of cookie dough coupons in one day.  I looked at him and asked "Do you know where the money is going to?"  He gave me a look like I had asked him to solve the Riemann hypothesis and said "no, I assume the school."  I said "you know this school is a for-profit corporation held by private equity funds?"  Once again, I got a dumb look.


So the moral of the story is parents are idiots and if you ask them to sell crap "for the good of the kids" they will do it.  And for that Chesterbrook Academy gets a wag of the finger.

***Update****
Apparently the classroom that sells the most cookies gets a cookie party.  Do they really think that the hope of my infant getting cookies is going to motivate me to sell cookies?  I already have cookies.  Avery loves them.  That's what happens when Laura leaves me alone with her.  Instead of carrots we eat cookies.

Best Friends

I think this is both Charger and Avery's favorite part of the day.  Charger gets played with and Avery gets to watch.

In the Hood Now

So I am at home with Avery over the next couple days as Laura travels to Colorado for work.  She told me that I needed to "blog my butt off" so that she would have pictures of Avery to look at.  I don't know why...she was there when we took all these pictures.

These are some pictures from Saturday before we got in the car to drive to Vass then on to Raleigh for the football game.  We dressed her up in this hoodie sweatsuit that came from Wren (her cousin) because it was cold out.  We were running late (in my opinion), but Avery couldn't stop smiling so we had to take a few pictures.

 Laura thinks Avery is starting to look more like her......I don't see it.

Avery getting into her rock and roll guitar pose.  I hope she doesn't want to play guitar left handed.  Or want to date someone that plays guitar.

Upset Avery

This is how Avery has been crying recently.  When she gets upset she stuffs her hand or her feet into her mouth and starts crying.  When she really gets frustrated she starts making motorboat sounds.  That is about the 30 second warning until all heck breaks loose.  It is so hard not to laugh though when she makes the motorboat sounds.

6 Months Old

Today was Avery's 6 month birthday and her 6 month doctor's appointment.  Laura did a bang up job scheduling that.  So Boogie's measurements.....

14lbs and 1 oz.  20th percentile
Height 27" 90th percentile (really length, because she doesn't stand vertically yet)
Head 17.25" 80th percentile

As for the actual doctor's appointment.....Avery had an awesome time.  We had just picked her up from school and she had a good nap.  Once we got there, she was the happiest, smiling, talking baby ever.  The doctors couldn't stop laughing at her, because everytime they talked, she would smile, chuckle, and kick her feet.

As you can see below she LOVED the paper that they put out.  She had a blast tearing it up and rolling around in it.  When we would stand her up she would try to grab it with her toes to make it crinkle.

Tummy Time

She may not be crawling yet, but if you put her on her tummy and put Charger in front of her, she sure does try to crawl.

Carrots

So she didn't like sweet potatoes, but loves carrots.  I guess that is her Gibson side.....

More Talkin

A sampling of her talking. The last two she is more talking to Charger more than anything, but it is still talking. I am going to count it as "Da-Da" but it is more like "Hey Dog".

I have a few videos to post.  This is Avery trying to whistle.  She started doing it after she talks.  Occasionally noise will come out.  I think is trying to call Charger like her mother.  (I can't whistle.  It is my biggest failing as an adult.)

Eating

Some random pictures of Avery's adventures with food.

She really enjoys oatmeal.  Personally I think it needs honey.

 She is getting better and better at making a mess.  Often times she will grab the spoon and try to smack it out of Laura's hand, slinging whatever she is eating all over the place.  We used to give Avery a bath every other night.  Now she is making so much of a mess, she is getting one almost every night.

 She is wanting to feed herself.....which I think is probably a good thing.  If she does get her hand on the spoon, she stuffs it way down her throat, which is probably a bad thing.  This is her reaching for her first bite of sweet potatoes. 

 This is her reaction to that first bite.

Lake

As I mentioned this past weekend we took Avery up to the lake to hang out with my Mom while we went to the football game.  She had a great time.  Which she?  I think both Mom and Avery had a blast.

This seems to be one of the new ways she is smiling.

I wonder where she learned it from?

 Avery had a good time in the lake because the water was pretty low.  She had good time stirring up the dirt with her feet and kicking to move around.  It won't be long until she needs one of those walker things and we need to wear shin guards around the house.

 Mom enjoyed wrapping her up in my baby towel.

Avery of course enjoyed playing with her doggy.

Lake/Football Preview

We went to the Lake again this weekend as well as a football game so we are pretty worn out.  I will upload the pictures and words later once I clean the grill, pick up the sticks in the yard from the storm, and get measured for a tux.  Or maybe I will do it tonight while Avery is screaming from teething.  Who knows?!?!?!

This was taken right before we left the lake and got in the car.  

Aunt Sara got her this shirt before she was born.  It says "I love my big brother" and has a picture of Charger.  Truer words have never been spoken.

Teething

Guess who's teething?