Avery {9 months}

{9 months}

Sorry for the lack of good photos this month.... apparently we were busy and did not take our usual thousand photos... what we did get was mostly taken with my iPhone. It also does not help that I am writing this post on the laptop from a cabin in Tofino with a spotty internet connection...

Growth: 

Avery doesn't have his next doctor's appointment for a couple of weeks but seems to be weighing in between 18 and 20 lbs in our attempts to weigh him on the scale at home.

He has now outgrown the majority of the 6 month clothing... except for GAP jeans. I have mostly moved to 12 month shirts simply because they are easier to get over his large head! He is in size 3 shoes.

Eating: 

Food continues to be one of Avery's favourite things. 

He has now grown aware of when and what others around him are eating. If he sees someone eating, he excitedly gestures that he wants some. On the ferry to Tofino, he saw a lady near us eating sweet potato fries and kept pointing at them... much to our chagrin she actually offered one to him!

On the flip side he also has started to want to share his food. He is constantly offering up taste of his slobbery pre-chewed food for others to try.

He is also learning that he has a captive audience at the dinner table and loves to show off his vocabulary align with his skills of spitting and throwing...

Favourite Foods: fish, egg, tomatoes, oranges, grapes

Milestones:

Avery is not yet walking but can stand without holding onto anything for short periods of time.

His vocabulary is growing daily and he loves to babble. He is getting very close to real words. He is making consistent attempts at saying 'mama', 'dada', 'bye-bye' and 'more'. He is also getting proficient with the few signs we have taught him... 'all done', 'more', and 'food'. 

He now has two bottom teeth!

Sleeping:

His sleeping has dramatically improved this month! When it got to the point that he was waking up three or more times at night, we got desperate and implemented a modified 'sleep training' program. Not being able to commit to letting him cry it out, I simply stopped breastfeeding him at night and only went to him briefly to comfort him and offer him a soother. After only one night he slept from 6:30 PM till 5:00 AM, had a brief feed then went back to sleep until 8 AM. He has been doing this pretty consistently ever since. 

Personality:

Avery is growing to become more and more of a ham. He thrives in public settings where he is on constant look-out for people willing to pay him attention.

He loves being around other children. Especially older children - he will sit and study them with extreme intensity then suddenly burst out laughing when he decides they have done something funny.

He is still fearless and constantly moving. He loves jumping, climbing and dancing. He has no concept of gravity. One of the most common words used to describe him is "busy".

Much to our surprise, however, he appears to have a reasonable attention span and can sit for amazing periods of time studying a toy or book. He is very mechanically minded. He is constantly exploring every latch, lever and switch he can get his hands on. 

Likes: being outdoors, showers, baths, trees, wind, food, swimming, being the centre of attention, being loud, animals, music, musical instruments

Dislikes: getting dressed, sitting still

Nicknames: clown, monkey, monster, mister, small pants, small potato, little man

Amy

PS. Taking these photos has become a two person job...

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Avery {8 months}

{8 months}

Our little man has had another big months of milestones complete with another big trip - this time we travelled with our friends Graham and Nicole to Maui, including a short stop in San Francisco to visit Eric, Yuko and Christopher once again.

Growth: 

We have not gotten an official weight on Avery in a little while but guess that he weighs about 18 lbs. Now that he is getting more and more mobile his weight gain seems to have slowed considerably. If he keeps up his current level of activity, he is going to burn off all his baby rolls in no time!

Eating: 

Avery continues to be very excited by food. Any food he can get his hands on. We still have yet to find anything that he does not like besides hot food and spicy food.

While in Maui, he devoured endless amounts fish, pulled pork, pineapple and shave iced (without syrup of course!).

He takes eating very seriously and will sit for 30 minutes or more excitedly eating anything that is put in front of him.

He is still breastfeeding but it is getting more and more difficult. He is too easily distracted and has very little interest in breastfeeding during the day. Which means he tends to cluster his bigger feeds during the night. Not the best for sleeping...

Favourite Foods: fish, pineapple, steak, egg, tomatoes, berries

Milestones:

Avery is now crawling FAST. He can pull himself up to standing on furniture and is constantly trying to stand straight up in the middle of the room. He can also climb up one or two steps.

Just a day after his grandfather was commenting that Avery only knew vowels and even "possibly invented some of his own vowels", Avery suddenly sprouted quite the vocabulary and begun to babble almost non-stop.

Thanks to his swimming lessons, he has also learnt how to clap and blow bubles.

Sleeping:

This month has seen the complete demise of his sleep routine. Between colds, teething and travel - his sleep has been constantly disrupted. He still consistently goes to bed around 6:30 PM and wakes up around 8:00 AM but the number of times he wakes up in between is different every night. Some nights he is only up once. Some nights he is up every two hours.

He did adjust to the time change in Maui quite well and, most amazingly, even learnt how to nap on the beach.

Firsts:

Another big month of 'firsts': first wedding, first swimming lessons, first night alone with dad (mom escaped on a girls hiking trip to Elk Lakes Cabin).

In Maui, he had his first real experiences with the ocean, sand and pool as well as his first (non-ferry) boat ride on a snorkelling trip to the Molokini crater.

He also is getting his first tooth! One day shy of his 8 month birthday, the first hint of a tooth broke through his gums.

Personality:

Avery continues to have a big personality. He is a clown and an entertainer at heart. He loves to be the centre of attention.

On our flight from Calgary to San Francisco, the couple across the aisle offered to take Avery while we got organized and seated. Next thing we know, he is being passed from aisle to aisle as everyone is asking for a turn to hold him. From that flight onwards, every time we sat down on a plane the first thing Avery did was scan around to see who would be game for paying him attention!

He is very easing going and up for almost any adventure we drag him on. Whether it be waking up at 3 AM to catch a flight or waking up at 3 AM to watch sunrise from Haleakala volcano.

Likes: being outdoors, showers, baths, trees, wind, food, his wooden train, playing with kitchen utensils on the floor while mom cooks, playing in the sand, pools, being the centre of attention, being loud, animals

Dislikes: getting dressed, being ignored, naps, sitting still, ocean (mostly the waves)

Nicknames: pterodactyl, monkey, monster, mister, small pants, little man

Travel Log: Vancouver, Tofino, San Francisco (x 2), Edmonton (x 2), Iceland, Maui, 8 flights, 29432 km flown

Amy

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Avery {7 months}

{7 months}

Growth: 

At his 6 month appointment Avery weighed in at 17 lbs and was 26" tall. Almost triple his birth weight! 

He is at a weird stage right now where he could still be wearing 3 month shorts if it was not for his cloth diapers but needs 9 month shirts in order to fit over his huge head! His Size 1 Applecheek diapers are starting to get pretty tight around his chunky thighs so we have started to put him in Size 2 diapers at night.

Eating: 

Avery LOVES food. 

We have not found many foods that he does not devour if they are put in front of him. He loves salmon, hummus, peaches, plums, steak, roast potatoes, roast vegetables... He still seems to be sensitive to dairy which is a shame because he really likes cheese and yogurt. 

We are still following the philosophy of Baby Led Weaning - it can get pretty messy but it is so rewarding to watch him experience and enjoy food. He can sit through an entire dinner feeding himself. Sometimes he is still not done eating when we are ready to leave the table! 

Firsts:

This month Avery had his first trip to the splash park and he attended his first birthday party. He has tired a long list of new foods. Including expresso ice cream thanks to his grandparents! At 10 PM that night he was still wide awake and giggling!

Milestones:

This month has been quite the month for milestones! At the beginning of the month he figured out how to crawl backwards. A couple weeks later he has figured out how to go forward as well. He is still very awkward with the forward crawl - often it looks closer to a bear walk or shoulder roll. He is constantly getting himself stuck in corners or under furniture!

Avery has also mastered sitting up on his own. Not that he spends much time sitting!

He loves to have his hand held so he can walk around the room.

Sleeping:

Avery continues to go to bed between 6:00 and 7:00 PM. On a good night he wakes up once between 3 AM and 5:00 AM to feed and then sleeps in till 8:00 AM. We have had a couple mornings where he has slept in till 9:30 or later. This kid loves to sleep! 

He still typically takes a 90 minutes nap around 9:30 AM. His afternoon nap is pretty inconsistent.

Personality:

Avery's personality is infectious. His blue eyes and big smiles attract constant attention. He loves to flirt! 

He is a goof. He has learnt to make a 'monkey face' that he knows will get him laughs. He has the best giggles.

He continues to love to be outdoors. He loves to play in the grass in the backyard and splash in the river when we walk the dogs. We took him hiking in Grotto Canyon and he was so excited by the rock walls that he was gasping and giggling. Dave was quite excited to think he might have a future rock climbing partner!

He loves animals. He is enamoured with Scout, Jersey and Mylo. He loves watching the birds in the feeder outside of our front window. He laughs at the ducks in the river. 

Likes: being outdoors, showers, baths, trees, wind, FOOD especially anything he can eat with a spoon, his wooden train and wooden dog, playing with kitchen utensils on the floor while mom cooks, watching cartoons with dad

Dislikes: getting dressed, being ignored, naps, sitting still

Nicknames: baby pterodactyl, chubs, bump, triple chin, monkey, mighty mouse, thunder thighs, monster

Amy

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