Who...

...stole our sweet baby and replaced her with an ornery toddler?  Did they think we wouldn't notice?

Instead of going to sleep with a sigh and a smile, this girl cries and screams for 20 minutes.

Instead of mornings made of sugar and spice, they're full of piss and vinegar.

Instead of hugs and kisses she tells us to "beat it." It was real cute when we taught her to tell Arthur that...

Where our baby was fairly obedient, this one literally laughs in the face of discipline.

Instead of asking for something, the new girl cries for it or simply pushes a chair over to the counter to get it herself. 

All in the past couple weeks.

Hello, 2.  You're going to be terrible, aren't you?

Playa Del Carmen

I finally have a chance to sit down and document the trip to Mexico.  It started out with a slight hitch: our flight out of Tulsa was inexplicably canceled.  We were able to get on a little bit later flight (thanks to Terri for spending time on the phone arranging all of that).  Avery was great on the plane(s).  There were enough electronic devices (and a sticker book) to keep her entertained, and the flights were not long anyway, as we stopped in Houston and caught another plane to Cancun.  

Thanks be to the iPad

By the time we got settled into the resort it was late afternoon, but of course we had to get some sand between our toes.  Avery was a little unsure of the sand at first.

Checking out the ocean for the first time

She quickly warmed up and got the hang of it

After traveling all day, we decided to order room service that night.  Avery (and myself) inhaled a burger and fries (local cuisine) as we didn't have time to get lunch and had only snacked on trail mix all day (Continental doesn't even hand out peanuts or pretzels anymore!).


The next morning she surveyed the landscape, taking it all in.  There was a grassy area off of our patio, which was a nice place to play.

Heading to the beach with Pepaw

More playing in the sand

Can't neglect the pool

Big decisions

Standard lunch at the pool bar-fish tacos

 That evening we decided to head to 5th Avenue, the busy local tourist area, for dinner.
  
 The next morning we headed to the beach.  Gigi and Avery went for a walk along the shore.

Again, we went to the pool afterward (tough day).

The next morning, Rob and I got up early and went to breakfast and walked around the beach a bit.  

There was a large chess board on the resort grounds.  Avery walked right up to it and started moving pieces around.  If you didn't know better (and I don't) you would almost have thought she knew what she was doing. 

Until she took one piece totally off the board and started giving it hugs and kisses.

Building something

Gotta keep the hat on

That evening we went back to 5th Avenue where we did a little shopping and had a great dinner.  Avery had a minor meltdown before dinner, so the iPhone was brought out so we could all make it through dinner.  I am not exaggerating when I say there was a three piece mariachi band in full swing about 2 feet away from her when this picture was taken.

Oblivious

The morning of the last full day I made breakfast.  I am so jealous of their abundance of big, ripe avocados.

                                 

And then they brought a monkey on the beach and I dragged convinced Avery to take a picture with it.  If this picture had sound you would hear Avery saying "no, no, no, no."  As it is, the picture really says it all.

PS that hat is not mine.  The owner of the monkey put it on me.

Guacamole was it's own food group for us while we were there, and I think we all ate our fair share of it, but portion to body size, Avery won hands down.

That evening we went to dinner at the seafood restaurant at the resort.  Have you ever tried to take a picture with a toddler?  It's nearly impossible.  The out takes could be a blog post all their own.

Avery had meltdown #2 near the end of dinner, so Rob and I left and put her to bed.  


We left early the next morning.  I think we were all pretty sad to go, except Avery, who was told she would get to see Mimi the next day.

Checking out the "airpanes"

All in all, Avery was a great traveler.  She behaved pretty well and slept great, so we couldn't ask for more.  We had such a great time, and are so thankful we were able to experience this vacation.  

Wordless Wednesday-Mexico

I have been so busy since returning from our trip to Mexico that I haven't had time to write a proper blog post yet.  We had an awesome time.  Here are some iPhone pictures that pretty much sum it up! Recap and *better* pictures coming soon.
From start to finish:

Telling Tales

On a couple different occasions recently,  Avery has, well...she has lied.  

One evening earlier this week I witnessed Arthur walk by Avery and nudge her leg with his nose.  She immediately started whimpering, holding her leg, and saying "bite. bite. bite."

Me: Avery, Arthur did not bite you.
Avery, crying whimper, holding her thigh like she had been ravaged by Montecore: Uh-huh.  Bite. 
She even told Rob the same story when he got home later.

Last night we were reading one of her lift-the-flap books.  She had previously pulled one (several) of the flaps back too far and torn it. 

Avery: Broke.

Me: Yes, it is broken.  Who broke it, Avery?

Avery, thinks for a second:  Dada.

Me: Oh, really? Daddy broke your book?

Avery:  Uh-huh.  Dada broke.

Hmmm, I know Rob doesn't like to read but I didn't think he'd resort to tearing up his own daughter's books!

Isn't not-even-even 2 a little young to be lying?!

Craft and Daycare Update

     Avery did great in her new class yesterday.  She even napped for an hour and a half on a cot (no more crib).  When we were on our way out we passed her old room and a crib was just outside the room, in the hall.  She pointed to it and said "Avery's bed" and sure enough it was her old crib (had a label with her name on it).  Kind of made me sad. Again.  I don't know why.  I guess it's because she seems to be growing up so fast.  

     She comes home with tons of crafts and finger paintings, and after a showcase on the fridge for a month or so, most get thrown in the recycling bag.  I do keep some, especially anything with her hand or footprint.  Throughout last year she was periodically sent home with these little footprint animals, themed according to the season. I had them all at work, but when I found some super cheap clearance shadowboxes at Target I decided that would be the perfect home for them, along with the name tag from her old cubby.  

22 Months

Yesterday.

I really can't explain how much this girl is talking now.  Well, I can actually.  A LOT.

She says everything.  Anything.  Most things I can understand, some I cannot.  She will attempt to repeat anything you ask her.  We are going on vacation in a couple weeks, and last night Rob was trying to teach her essential words like cerveza, margarita, amigo, beach, pool, swim, and hola.

Monday I received a call from the daycare director asking if we are OK with moving Avery to the next class.  Of course we are, but it makes me a little sad when she changes classes (this will be her second move).  Her current class is supposed to be kids that are about 1 to 2 years old, but as it turns out most of the kids are much close to 1 than 2, so Avery and another little boy (Kale) are quite a bit older.  The teachers have said that they play together a lot so it's nice they'll be moving together and she has already spent time here and there in this classroom to adjust.  This class will have up to 12 kids (as opposed to up to 8).  Today was the first day that she will spend the whole day there, and when Rob dropped her off this morning she seemed just fine.  The other class has a big table with seats in the actual table.  This room has a traditional table with little chairs where they sit at the table.  Rob said she sat right down at the table and started laughing.  And with that, moving right along...

Some pictures from this weekend:

Post-nap late lunch

Let's see-how much will I need?

Right idea-but you're forgetting something.

Bug in a rug

Alphabet Soup

Monday, when Rob took Avery in to daycare, the teacher asked if we knew that Avery knew her alphabet.  I knew that she knew the letters in her name, but I didn't know she knew them all (or most of them all, anyway).

The funny thing about daycare is that, when they're this little (and younger) they can't really tell you what they learned or did during the day.  You really don't know what they know until they exhibit the skill in some way (like the sign language).  

I really couldn't be happier with our daycare in this regard.  The kids aren't sitting around staring at a TV (I actually don't think there is a TV in Avery's room), or simply playing with toys while the teachers sit in the corner.  They have a structured, organized environment where they read, sing, dance, do crafts, etc.  And clearly she is learning.  We read tons at home (which I've may have mentioned a time or two), do alphabet puzzles, and recently have been going over the letters in her name, but we certainly haven't been focusing on learning the whole alphabet. 

I bought these alphabet letters for the bath a couple weeks ago when she suddenly became deathly afraid of her other bath toys (a story for another day).  There were quite a few she knew (and a few she didn't) that I didn't catch with the camera.  I think she did pretty good though!  And, yes, she has crazy hair from being put up.