Crazy Driver

So after last week's fun with a rolling car type thingy, we brought down one of Avery's Christmas presents from the Gibsons and I put it together.  She had a good time being pushed around on it, although she doesn't know how to use her legs to push it along.  Mommy and Daddy got tired from being on our hands and knees pushing it around, so I will have to figure out a way to attach a tow line.  She did do a pretty good job of holding on, so that was comforting.  It also converts into a baby walker, so we took a few turns at that.  She would push it out in front of her until her body was about 60 degrees from the floor then take a step or two.  A couple of weeks of practice and maybe she can figure out the whole walking thing.

Who is the happiest baby in the world?  Avery is!

 Trying to figure out how to make it go faster.

Happy Birthday Wren

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So as a part of the Raleigh trip last weekend, we went and saw Laura's cousin's daughter for her 2nd birthday. There was a great debate as to how Avery and Wren are related....if they are 2nd cousins, first removed, etc, but for the purposes of this post, I will describe them as cousins and use far too many commas in this sentence.

Wren blowing out her 2 candles with help from her big brother.  Lukas did a pretty good job helping her open her presents as well.

 Playing in her car, being cute.

 Once again Avery got to enjoy some big kid toys.  Her little legs could barely reach the ground but she was trying to push it around.

 With a little help from mommy, she ended up having a good time.

 What is a family gathering without a forced family picture?  Shortly after this we ended up leaving because it was someone's nap time.

Throwback Thursday vol 4

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Touchdown sleep.  Or catching fish.

Ryan James Akinc

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This past weekend we took a short trip to Raleigh for 3 reasons. 1-Why should we spend a weekend at the house?  2- To see Helen and Joe's new baby.  3- To see the Gentry family at Wren's birthday party (later post).

Laura got to hold another little baby and trade war stories with Helen.  Me and Joe got to eat pizza, so it was one of those "win-win" situations that they always talk about at work.  And if you count how much fun Avery had playing with Ryan's future toys, it was the mythical "Win-Win-Win" from The Office. 

Laura holding the future not boyfriend of Avery.

 Ryan having a discussion with his mother about what today's menu would be.  It was milk.  He seemed pleased.

 Avery had a great time playing with all of Ryan's little Caterpillar toys.  I can't wait to give her my old matchbox car collection.

"You use this backhoe to load this dumptruck daddy"

9 Months / 10 Months

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Avery turned 9 months old before Christmas and turns 10 months old next week. So last Friday seemed like the perfect time to have her 9 month old appointment as well as a name for an Ice Cube movie.  Also because we forgot about her real one that was a couple days after Christmas.  Shout out to Providence Pediatrics for not charging us for missing that appointment.

So for the tale of the tape.....  She weighed in at 17+0.6 which I can only assume means 17lbs 0.6oz, but that is an assumption.  Apparently in nursing school they don't teach you how to write down weight.  This puts her in the 20th percentile and up 3lbs 5oz from 6 months.  Her height(length) was 27.5" which is in the 50th percentile.  This is only up 0.5" from her 6 month checkup but is a pretty unscientific measurement so there is a good chance she is actually shrinking.  Her headsize is at 17.75" which is in the 60th percentile and only 0.25 inches larger.  This is good that her body is growing into her head, because she was about to start wearing adult hats.

Anyways......here is a picture of the happiest baby in the whole wide world.

Happy Birthday Aunt Sara!

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Happy Birthday to Aunt Sara!  Along with Aunt Stephanie, Sara has ensured that Avery will be a spoiled little girl (more than what I would have already done).  When mommy says no in the future, Aunt Sara will be there to buy her that short skirt, ice cream, and take her to get her ears pierced.  Whether it is bringing Avery cute clothes or begging to come babysit, it is awesome that Avery has such an amazing aunt that loves her.

First time holding Avery.

Sara was good at getting those early smiles out of Avery.  It doesn't hurt that Sara looks so much like me.

Playtime at the lake.

When Avery couldn't reach the ornaments on the tree to pull them down....guess who was there to help....Aunt Sara!

Do you see the family resemblance between Sara and Avery?

Easton James Giorgi / NYE

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This past weekend we went to Greenville, SC as our usual New Year's Eve experience.  My parents came down to watch Avery and they had fun spoiling her.  She was so worn out from playing that she slept in until 9am on January 2nd.

This year was a little different as Mary and Jimmy just had a baby and Corey and Carice weren't there.  Anyways we had a fun time.

Instead of going out all night as usual, we went and saw the Avett Brothers play and had our midnight celebration there.

Laura got to hold little baby Easton, who despite his larger size than Avery, felt significantly smaller.  Unlike Avery, Easton was awake and alert for quite a bit during the day (and night).  He seemed to take well to having other people around and Jimmy said he was on his best behavior.

 Easton was a little concerned about this new person holding him.  Jimmy is sure that he is going to date Avery and although a Giorgi-Marshall wedding would be a lot of fun, I am not even going to entertain the idea until Avery is at least 25.  Maybe 30.

Farm pt. 2

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Here are a couple outtakes from the Farm trip.

The surprise is on everyone's face but Avery's.

Chicken tasting my buttons.

Trip to the Farm

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So while we were down in Vass we took a side trip from the Gibson Farm to a farm where Avery's grandfather works to go look at some chickens and a mini-horse.  These pictures are a visual representation of what happened.

Watching the Chickens....She didn't seem to figure them out, but enjoyed watching them walk around and make noises.

 While we were sitting watching the chickens one of them jumped up on my lap.  Both Avery and I had no clue as to what to do about it, especially when it started pecking at the buttons on my shirt.

Avery got to take a quick ride on the mini-horse.  His name was Cooper.....get it?  Mini-Cooper!

 Getting to pet a real horse.

A fun day at the farm!