So I know I promised I wouldn't send out emails with our monthly updates, but I never agreed to not write about the months following Avery's first year :)

Anyway, you'd think there wasn't much to report on, but she just keeps growing physically, mentally and emotionally! It's a great new stage in her life and we're along for the ride.

I'm sure I'll miss lots of stuff but here are a few new and exciting things Avery is doing. Just recently Avery started playing with her hair when she's going down for a nap, which I think is super cute. Thankfully, she's been consistently sleeping through the night. The funniest thing is she totally sleeps like Joel, either with her legs up or with her arms behind her head, it's so sweet, and neat because it's innate.

On our grocery trips I like to point things out so it's more fun and also a great learning experience for Aves, because of that she now says banana or "nuh - nana." Now that little one is getting taller she can reach low counters, so that means we have less places to hide things from her. She's great at giving high fives, is now throwing the ball, and can get off our bed all by herself, "feet first." Avery has just started to learn how to climb down stairs, and likes to try to walk up them like we do instead of her normal crawl, we're in trouble!

Little one loves the outdoors, mostly flowers, and gets mad when we have to bring her inside. She loves playing in the water, mainly going to friend's pools, she's such a little fish, unless the water is freezing of course. Speaking of water, Avery is a big help when I am watering the bushes and flowers in the front of our house.

Since we have family that's far away she is learning to talk on the phone, sometimes she just runs away with the phone and other times they'll get a nice, "hi" or even some animal noises. Avery loves to close all doors and push the garage door close button.

She's definitely got her own personality and is such a ham. She loves being silly, and says, "wow" and, "oooh." Avery also loves teasing us with toys. She'll bring a toy over and pretend to hand it to us, just to run away as we reach out for it.

As Avery gets older and ever closer to 2 years, has temper tantrums, luckily they are quick and mild. Thankfully though, she is able to tell us more what she wants now, so that does help understanding her needs.

At mealtimes Avery has learned to like bananas. She also loves steak, and broccoli and we're still working on other veggies. She loves whole milk and juices and even helps take off her bib. She's been working on taking her shirt off too and tries to put clothes on, but we're not quite there yet.

Avery is getting taller and more hair as time passes and she is becoming less and less of a baby. She now has two molars, talks more like a big girl and is getting around so well. Stay tuned for the next updates on our precious little girl.