Basketball and Avi.

Anything that involves a ball automatically has Avi's full attention.  In fact, one of Avi's first words, signs and most common word is "ball".  She loves them!  So, while Avi was not the best spectator at her 2nd Cousin Kelly's basketball game: she kept trying to walk onto the court; she was definitely the most enthusiastic!  

 Avi is carrying the team's mascot - the Lion. Behind her Great-Aunt Pam and Great-Uncle Eric are entertained.

 I LOVE this picture!  Great-Grammy Louise is happy and Avi is content.  

Gigi hasn't missed one single game of Kelly's - talk about a dedicated fan! 

Here's the star, Kelly, in black, #34.  Go Kelly!

Cell Phone Pictures Update (October 2010-February 2011)

 Avi's first Jamba Juice smoothie.  She L-O-V-E-D it!  People walking by would literally stop and comment on how cute she looked.  So, after the third or fourth comment like that, I asked a stranger to take our picture.  She is about 16 months here.

 At about 19 months, Avi loves taking everything out and then putting it back in (well, most of the time she puts it back).  Here we are at Jamba Juice again.  While I was getting the correct change out of my wallet to pay, Avi accomplished this whole mess!  Ahhhh... the joys of parenting in public!

Mimi fixing Avi soup.  Avi learned how to say "soooop" after this time with Mimi. 

Kendall and Avi going to Costco together.  Gotta love those extra wide shopping carts with two child seats!

 A rare moment away from Avi.  Maren and Michael got out on a date after we put Avi down for bed and left her with Sitti during Christmas time in Fresno.  We drove down Christmas tree lane during a light rain.  The water on the street reflected the light and made the experience magical!

 During a hiking trip: Harmony Headlands.  Notice Aveah in the back, saying "come on, parents!"  Cousin Kelly went on this hike with us.

At about 17 months, Avi finally has enough hair to pull back into a very small ponytail! 

We got a new (to us) car in August.  Well, just a few months later, we discovered a rat or mouse had chewed through our new upholstry to get inside our car.  Why?  Because Avi's little snacks were thrown all over the back seat.  Why do I let her eat in the car? (Well, I didn't for a long time after this tragedy); because it's one of the only ways to keep her happy during car trips.

A happy (but cold and wet) morning picnic on Pier Avenue beach.  Mommy made breakfast burritos wrapped in foil, hot tea, and extra snacks for Avi and we headed to the beach one winter morning.  About five minutes after we got there it started to rain.  We finished our food quickly and headed home.  But it was still a fun memory!

I would never! Right? Avi would never! Right...?

So, as a parent there are things you say you will NEVER do, and then of course there are things you swear you'll kid will NEVER do (how could they if you raised them?).  Well, my list of things I promised to myself that I would never do keeps getting smaller everyday.  As a pregnant woman, it was so easy to have ideals about how you would raise your children.  I will never put my child in front of the television so that I could finish washing the dishes (because couldn't I do the dishes and watch my child at the same time?!), I'll never let my child sleep alone in a bed by herself (after 8 months of co-sleeping, I regretfully gave up that principle.  But I will say, I wouldn't trade those 8 sleep-disturbed months for 80 months of great sleep!), I will not be one of those people that bring their crying kids into public places (let's face it, if you're hungry and tired, you are not tempted to leave that plate of food even if the couple across from you at the restaurant are giving you and your fussy child the eye), I will never let my kids eat processed or color-dyed food (Yea, I said this before I knew how loud my child could scream).  So, you all know I'm a big failure, and that's okay, because I know my kid won't ever do anything against my principles, like: be a groupie for a boy-band, or like the Disney princesses, or want to play with barbies.  Right?  Right.  My daughter will be above those superficial trappings of childhood and adolescence. 

Well, I have a feeling that even as hard as we try, our daughter may - oh please spare us - might fall for the likes of Justin Bieber.  In fact, that's exactly what happened to the sweet, innocent daughter of some of our closest neighbors.  Rachel is totally in love with the latest boy-pop-singer, Justin Bieber.  And just because I believe in the power of blackmail, I took the opportunity to snap some photos before they left for Justin's movie premier the other night.   (Notice their Justin Bieber shirts and matching eye shadow?) Let's just hope that  Rachel's crush will fade by the time she's getting married so I can cash-in on these pictures!

 Rachel on the right.

Avi confused and stressed by this pop-culture infatuation.  Stay that way, Avi.

Music Time

Most Wednesday mornings, Avi and I go to Boo Boo Records in downtown SLO to participate in the fun sing-along.  Lots of other kids come and try to sign, definitely dance and just have fun!  We've been going since Avi was about 17 months old.  Just last week, Avi started doing the hand motions that go with the songs.  You should've seen the look of pride and contentment she had on her face!

 Before singing we meet with other mom's and babies at Pete's coffee.  Yummy for mommy!  Avi has fun playing with her friends!

 Avi takes a break to contemplate "what goes in must come out."

 Taking it all in: Avi watching the other kids at music time.

 Mommy getting her Avi-fix.

 The awesome teacher/song-leader!  All the kids love her!  

One dedicated listener.

Eating with Avi. Or, rather: Not eating with Avi.

Part of the reason I write this blog is for my children someday - should they choose to become parents themselves - to look back on and encourage them during the difficulties of raising my grandchildren.  Well, one of the difficulties I have with Avi is getting her to eat.  She's just not that interested in food.  And if she does sit down at the table, her attention span lasts for about 1 minute.  This is not long enough for her to get any substantial amount of nutrition in her (and nor is it long enough for her parents to come close to finishing their meal).  So, in order to get her to eat, we let her eat in unconventional places (i.e., the car seat, the kitchen floor, mommy or daddy's arms, while walking around...) and we feed her whevener she is hungry (afraid that if we fed her only at set times during the day, she might wither away).  Part of the problem is that Avi is tiny!  She is in the 1 or 2% for weight and 5% for height.  So, we feel pressured to have her eat whenever and wherever she can!  Ahhh, how I miss the months of just breast-feeding and her fat, chunky, healthy baby fat!  Now, feeding her is work - whereas breastmilk was always ready, fresh, complete and loved-by-Avi.

 Since returning from Hawaii, our whole family has become addicted to coconuts.  Avi LOVES drinking the milk and eating the meat.  The other day she wanted to hold the coconut herself while drinking.  Well, this proved difficult, so we had to move the coconut to the floor to accommodate her preferences.

 Another problem with Avi and eating is that Avi thinks of food as a toy more often than not.  Here she takes the food from the bowl, puts it on the table, runs her finger through it on the table (in essence, finger painting with her food), then she finally brings the trace of food on her fingertip to her mouth.  Hence, getting calories in can be a laborious, long process.

Family portraits take a village.

We wanted some simple family portraits of the three of us to use on our Valentine's Day cards, so a budding-photographer/teenage neighbor offered to help us.  We set up the location, the lighting, chose the right lens and the camera settings, and Hannah focused and shot.  Here are a few of our favorites taken during our 8 minute session.

 Our other neighbor, Amie, watched Avi for the remained of the afternoon because Michael and I had an engagement shoot we had to do in SLO.  Not only did our neighbor watch Avi, but she baked us cupcakes!  Notice the proportionally sized "baby" cupcake for little Avi!

So, a week later, Hannah (the budding photographer), wanted pictures of her Winter Formal dress.  I was happy to oblige!  Thanks, Hannah!

Our finished Valentine's Day card.

Santa Barbara Zoo trip!

Avi and all her friends (i.e. my friend's babies) went to the zoo on a mini field trip.  The babies loved it, and so did the mamas!  The kids favorite thing was the park we sat at during lunch with the sliding turf grass hill.  All the mommies were lucky enough to see the gorilla walk by in front of us carrying his "blanket"- so amazing it's size and human similarities!  

 Mommies Sarah, Amanda and Sarah with babies Avi, Kendall, Tessa and Olivia.

 Macy, Olivia & Avi trying to get a better view of the napping lions on the other side of the glass.

 The slidy-turf-hill that entertained the babies to no end!  Here Macy hugs Avi.  Avi wasn't too into the sliding, she more liked to watch everyone else do it.  In fact, I got a video of this slide and Macy's face is all smiles, while Avi's face remains stoic and uninterested the whole time.   Funny.

Negative Tide at the Beach

Once in a while the negative tide will go way low and reveal some sea caves.  This time, with the warm weather, it left warmed pools of shallow water for the babies to play in.  Play date!

 Thinking about all the fun she is about to have in the natural pool behind her.

Our friend Julie came to visit. 

 Sandy and loving it!

 Olivia sporting her sunglasses and designer suit.

Macy, Avi, Olivia (editing compliments of Amanda, Olivia's mom)!