2.5

It's been a while since I've detailed all the fun and not so fun things Avery is up to.  As I've said before, this blog is Avery's baby book as well as a journal of sorts for me.  So here is what Avery is up at one week shy of 2.5.

INDEPENDENT. OMG so independent.  In her mind.
Regular phrases we hear:

I do it.
I do it by myself.
I don't need help.
Let me do it.


Independence is awesome, and, obviously, we encourage it whenever possible.  But sorry, honey, you may not drive the car.

Helpful.  Veeeeeeery helpful.  I LOVE her helpful spirit.  Have you ever been helped by a toddler though?  It's actually the opposite of helpful.  When I do laundry she stands by me and I hand her each article of clothing so she can put it in the dryer.  It takes about 10x longer but it's very sweet.  The flip side is that if she helps you do something one time, that is FOREVER her job.  If you do it without her she will lose her ever-loving mind.  Tuesday morning was completely ruined because she wasn't up in time to push the button on the blender when I made smoothies.  I have also seen her fall into a heap of tears in front of the dog food bowl if she wasn't the one to put the food in it.

As I mentioned the other day she is becoming less and less of a scaredy cat on the playground.  She is more confident in her ability to climb, slide, and jump.

Every day she has a different favorite color.  Sometimes it's pink. Sometimes orange.  Sometimes brown.

The friends she talks about most from school are Cohen and Keelie.

When asked about her day she can usually recall what she had for lunch (the other day it was fish, but she told us it was STAR fish), if she played outside, or if she watched a show.

She LOVES Dora.  We have one Dora DVD and she will watch the entire thing, despite the fact that she's now seen it probably 20 times.  Mickey is still very popular.  Barney has fallen by the wayside.  She hasn't asked to watch the purple dinosaur in forever.  No one in our house has shed a tear over that.

She knows her colors, shapes, alphabet, can count to ten, and is "reading" (aka memorizing) books.

I'm working on emphasizing the difference between want and need.  I often hear
I NEED to watch Dora. 
I NEED to play Angry Birds.
I NEED to go outside.
I NEED to play my apps.

She loves to give hugs and kisses and is very loving.  She is funny.  And sweet.  And sassy.  And shy. And fun-loving. And smart.

She is the absolute joy of our lives.