Number 2 Makes Number 1

So, I did it. I managed to go six months without writing about our kids.
I blame them.
There's just not room in the schedule to sit down for 2 hours on a Sunday and write something worth reading. (especially when you did almost the same thing three years earlier while balancing only half of the responsibilities)

I also blame Paul, because he always has his camera out when here, so we don't take as many pics, which were always my cheatsheet to blogging.

So there it is. The fault for this blog lying dormant lies with everyone but me.

But I'll make up for their negligence now, by giving you a rundown of where we stand.

First off, as of about 12 hours ago (my time), Avery is officially one year old. Of course, plenty of things have happened in her life since my last post, but I'll, fittingly, procrastinate those to another day.

This weekend, we had a little birthday party for her. I say little relative to Riley's first, which was a crawfish boil for 75 people.

This was a much more manageable pizza for 30-something, but she liked the more intimate crowd.





Since Joan has been bitten by the Pinterest and baking bugs, she made the cupcakes and cakes that looked pretty good. (Well, at least temporarily)







But eventually, the time came for the goods to meet their demise. After Riley helped to blow out the candles, Avery suited up and gave it her best shot.










She actually destroyed most of one cake (notice "destroyed," not "ate")






Then a quick pose with her spoils before heading off for a quick bath.





While she did that, the bigger kids enjoyed the new (to us) trampoline







and the biggest kids enjoyed one of their own, failing to master a kids' ride on toy.







Then it was time to fill our house with more things we don't have room for. (We're not ungrateful, just full after a bountiful Christmas)

But Avery will surely appreciate all of the thoughtful gifts. (or at least the chance to unwrap them.)






Of note, a couple of friends got her some baby Toms. I didn't know they made them, but they're pretty cool. And now some kid in a third world country will get a pair of shoes, that he'll hopefully put to better use than she will. (she refuses to walk.)





and, to give her motivation to get her figure in check before the summer, she got her first two piece. (Cajuns colors of course)





To make up for our failure to adequately document both kids' aging, we headed out for studio photos on Sunday. While the process could have gone smoother with Avery, Riley was very cooperative and we got some good shots (mostly because there was no one scheduled immediately after us.)

eventually, she calmed down and her cuteness made brief appearances.

She was especially happy when she got to team up with her big brother

and The Original Cajun Baby Wallace came across looking way older than we see him.

Almost half

By now, you are all familiar with every aspect of Avery's life so there really isn't much to say.

Wait.

What's that?

"Who is Avery?" you ask.

Yeah, yeah, I know, I'm a bad blog parent and you, the loyal reader, barely know that we have two kids now, but that's going to change. (at least for today)


Avery is now five months old and really starting to come into her personality.

She's laughing, smiling, trying to sit up, and attentively studying every detail of her brother's behavior. (who knows, maybe she can figure him out.)


She hasn't been too much trouble so far.
We were lucky that she didn't have the same milk protein intolerance that her brother had, but she did have some reflux problems that took a couple of months to get under control.

Now, aside from being somewhat restless at night if she loses her pacifier, she's on a pretty good course.

At her 4 month visit, she was at the 25% for height and weight and the 80% for head size.
Contrast that to Riley's usual 50% height and head and 5% weight.
Definitely children of differing proportions.


Despite being generally healthy, she did give us a good scare a couple of months ago.

One morning she had a pretty high fever that came on pretty quickly.
Joan called the ped to see what she would recommend.
The answer, unfortunately, was a calm "get her to the ER asap."
Due to some test results around birth, she was potentially positive for a bacteria that can manifest itself as meningitis. So, the instruction to send her to the ER also came with the warning that they may want to spinal tap her and keep her for a few days.

That was quite a jarring way to start a Saturday morning, but it ended up not being so bad.
The doctor found an ear infection and decided that a spinal tap wasn't warranted, though if this had happened just a few weeks earlier, it would have been the first test.

The worst part of the whole trip was that she was given an antibiotic shot and then decided to hold her breath for a minute or so and turn blue.
She was quite the drama queen that day, but I'd rather her get it all out of her system now than save it for the teen years.





She's developing on track and has recently perfected rolling front to back.
Unfortunately, she likes to do that all the time now, which leads to difficulties in trying to get photos of her.





and , usually, at least one shot of her looking really disheveled and mad that I keep flipping her back over.






She has recently started solid food, and, around the same time, earned the nickname, "Piggy."

It was a slow start, but she had a change of heart and now is quite interested in having the food shoveled into her mouth.






Within a week, she was grabbing at the spoon and trying to help/speed up the delivery.



While we have no visual evidence, just this week when Joan walked away, Avery grabbed a bowl, pulled it towards her, grabbed the spoon and put it in her mouth. At 5 months old.
Riley still doesn't do that. (eating is pretty low on his priority list)


We've even caught her trying to smuggle food to bed in her neck folds.





She is a lot like her brother in many ways.

She took pretty quickly to the Baby Bjorn and the "deathtrap" walker.







She's content to watch mommy get ready for work.





She loves destroying clothing, but is pretty good with sunglasses.







Aside from the appetite and size disparities (and junk), they differ in very few ways.


For one, she loves the sling that he wouldn't tolerate.






and, well...... that's all I have photo evidence of, and all I can think of, but I would assume they do have a few other differences.



She does have quite a talent for making mean or at least strongly indifferent faces. (again something I'm hoping she gets out of her system.)






But she's just as likely to be making a goofy face when the shutter clicks.







All in all she's just a pretty little girl, and a pretty good kid.











I think we'll keep her.

(especially if she keep up the habit of laughing when I do things like throw cold wipes on her bare stomach. dad-o-the-year)