23 Months {and 5 days}

Avery Claire, at 23 months, you:

- are a funny, funny girl. We laugh at you all.of.the.time. You have the best little personality. You are so friendly and love attention. I took you to the chiropractor with me Tuesday and you gave them quite the show. You did all of your cute faces and winked at the boy sitting across from us in the waiting room. You said "Hi" and "Bye" to everyone that walked through the waiting room. They spoiled you rotten there. You ate "sur-e-ul" and left with a Reese cup.
- can say just about anything we say. I think one of the most fun things about watching you grow up is watching you learn to talk. I love the way you say things and it's bittersweet when you start saying some things the "right" way. Some of my favorite Avery Claire phrases are: "Don't touch eeeet." "I want much." "Eeeet havy {heavy}." "Eww want shome?" "I'm hooooome." "Don't seee eeet." "Huh?" And you've started saying "What?" when we call your name. I know you need to learn m'am and sir, but it's so funny to hear you yell "WHAT?" Most nights, I call your Daddy from another room. So you've learned to yell "Guussteee!" Most of your "d" sounds come out like "g"....like goggie for doggie.
- love your friend Madison at daycare. When I ask you everyday who you played with, you always say "Mad-son." And then you tell me Weah, Bubba, Ka-Ka {Kirby}....
- tell me every day that you've eaten "beeeans" for lunch. And you think it's so funny.
- will not take no for an answer. I have a video I will upload to demonstrate this. You will ask a question over and over until you get the answer you want. I hope you keep {most of} that determination as you grow up.
- love to be outside. I'm am going to have to learn to just give up on the inside of the house when spring really gets here and let you play outside til dark.
- love to shop. You pretend all of the time that you are taking your baby and your stroller to "Mawmart" or the "mawl."
- have started to sit still for an entire book! You love the book Pinkalicious and the Pink Drink right now.
- love flip flops. I bought you a new pair that came in the mail from Old Navy and you were sooooo excited. And you look for them every afternoon when you get home so you can "wayer it."
- everything is yours....my truck, my cah, my house....
- keep us hopping. You are fearless. And wreckless. And smart. It's a scary combination. If I leave you for a second, you are either climbing into the computer chair, climbing on the tall kitchen chair, trying to climb on the potty to tee-tee, or moving your bench somewhere that you can use it climb. Needless to say, I don't leave you alone for very long.
- are starting to play by yourself more. I don't leave you for long by yourself, but I try to encourage you to play by yourself some...I just check on you every 10 seconds.
- are cutting one of your 2 year molars. It's broken through the skin. You haven't been acting like you were teething, so we think the worst of it must have been why you weren't sleeping well for a few weeks there!
- are going to sleep without a fight and sleeping all night long! Thank the Lord! We know it's just a phase and there will come another phase when you don't sleep well again. We'll enjoy this while it lasts!
- can count to 2. When I ask you how old you will be soon, you hold both pointer fingers close together to show me "2." Too sweet.


It is getting harder and harder to do these posts because there is so much I want to remember about you at each little stage in your sweet life and I am so afraid I will forget something sweet you said or did!
I cannot believe you will be TWO in less than a month. The past two years have been the fastest, most fun of my life. You are such a joy to love, teach, and learn from. Daddy and Mommy feel so blessed that God sent you to us. I am going to soak up every second I can of the next few weeks because I know after you turn TWO that time will only speed up even more.