Avery is a Blessing

Rebecca and I were just talking the other day about how we are thankful Avery is such a good baby.  Nothing against our sweet Taylor bug, but she wasn't the easiest baby to take care of in the first several months.  Rebecca and I recalled night after night of "shift work" trying to share the burden (although I will admit Rebecca endured most of it) of trying to sooth a baby that decided sleeping at 2 AM wasn't a great idea.

Avery, on the other hand, only gets out of sorts when she is getting clothes put on or getting in her carseat or . . . now that I come to think of it, really any time you are messing with her.  She is perfectly content in just about every situation.  Here are some pictures of Avery in her first two months of life.

Taylor's Two!

I know it is cliche, but holy crap!  I have a two year old daughter?  It seems like just yesterday we were spending every night holding her hand at UAB while she was clinging to life.  Today, she's living it up.

We made the decision to go to Chuck E. Cheese for her second birthday party.  It was 3 hours of pure madness, but Taylor and her friends had fun and that's what mattered.  Below are a few pictures from the party.  Enjoy!


The cakes:

 This pizza was in various bellies 5 minutes after this shot.

Becca was pretty excited.

Mommy helping Taylor blow out her candles.

Taylor was really liking Chuck E Cheese.

Trust me, she really did like him.  You can't tell from this photo though.

Sweet birthday girl!

Opening presents.

Caden scaring the rest of the children.

She doesn't hide emotion well.

Look at the play kitchen Mommy and Daddy got Taylor!

The Fair

Let's face it.  Mommy needed a break from the madness that is providing care for two kids under the age of two for a month solid.  So, when Becca suggested we take Taylor to the fair, I happily agreed.  

The sun was setting when we arrived at the fairgrounds.

We stopped at the carnie food shack to get our cotton candy fix right away.

Taylor had been on the Merry Go Round with Gammy and PawPaw Jody before, but this one went at light speed.  Becca was almost dizzy as she stumbled off the archaic machine.

Next, it was over to the barn to see the animals.  We expected their to be a petting zoo setup for the kids, but we got cows.  Taylor was enthused, but I was hoping for something better.  Maybe a kangaroo...

The ferris wheel looked ominous.  When I asked Taylor if she wanted to go for a ride, I received a flat, "No".

Taylor actually rode a ride by herself.  It wasn't that scary; just mini cars and trucks rolling around a 20' diameter track, but still. . . it almost brought a tear to our eyes.  Our little girl is growing up.

To cap off the evening, Daddy attempted to win Taylor a ridiculously large stuffed animal by throwing darts.  I was given 7 darts and was supposed to pop 4 balloons to win a prize.  I think the lady felt sorry for me when I only popped 2 balloons.  She looked into Taylor's eyes, felt pity, and handed over a Hello Kitty stuffed animal.  Thank you random carnie lady with a Russian accent.

Welcome Avery!

Yesterday, the Laney family welcomed a new addition, Avery Grace!

Date: 8/26/2011
Time: 5:13 PM
Weight: 6 lbs, 7 oz
Length: 20"
Status: Beautiful!

Thursday night, August 25, 2011, Rebecca and I came into the hospital at 11 PM so Dr. Short could induce labor.  Although Rebecca had a considerably better pregnancy than last time, the midnight throwing up and extra frontal baggage were getting too much to handle.  She actually started contracting before we came into the hospital.  The "thinning" medication did its job and her water was broken at 8:15 AM.  The contractions came hard and fast and Rebecca did a wonderful job of pushing through them, but it finally came time to have an epidural.  It worked amazingly for about an hour and then. . . pain, EXTREME pain.  The contractions kept coming harder and faster than the pain continued worsening.  Dr. Hall did her epidural again and this time kicked up the dose.  It did the trick!  After almost 9 hours of active labor, Avery came at 5:13 PM with only 2 1/2 pushes.  Dr. Short told Rebecca to hold off on pushing for a second while Dr. Short tied a bow in Avery's hair.  It was a sweet gesture, but the bow came up quickly. Here is that baby, mad at the poking and prodding, shortly after birth.

Taylor has been a great big sister so far.   I dont' think she fully realizes that Avery will be coming home with us, but she does already love her.  She has kissed her several times and we have let her hold Avery (with a little help).

Girls, I just know you are going to be great friends!

The Zoo

Rebecca and Rachel took the girls to the zoo in May.  Rachel is a much better writer than I am, so I'll let her provide the update and pictures (she is also a professional photographer). 


Rachel's Zoo Post

Memorial Day, Independance Day, and a General Update

Since the last time I posted, Taylor has learned so much. It's embarrassing that I haven't updated the blog in such a long time.

She is making sentences. We have to spell things (i.e. "I'm going to feed the D-O-G").

She is taking to becoming a big sister wonderfully.  Often, when she is eating something, she will offer it to Becca's stomach and ask if "Avery want bite?".

She loves to play with her cousins (Rylee, Jacob, etc.).

She asks every day if she can ride on the lawnmower, but then cries when it gets close.

She loves to play hide and go seek.  If Rebecca and I are in another room, she says "Mommy, where are you?".

She asks me before bed time if I will chase her ("Daddy chase you?").  She is such a sweet baby and I know she is going to make a great big sister. 

For Memorial Day, we went on a mini-vacation to the beach with Gammy and Papaw Jody (my mom and dad). 

We spent the 4th of July with Mama-bo and Papa (Rebecca's mom and dad) along with all of Rebecca's family (there were over 25 people at the lake that weekend at one time).

Question of the day: With Avery's arrival quickly approaching (due date in less than 7 weeks), should I split the blog into a "family" blog where I provide an update on both kids in the same blog (as many of their activities will be together) or should I keep the blogs separate (if so, how do I do this given the former statement about dual activities)?

Updates

So much has happened since the last time I posted. I suck as a father for not updating this blog better. I'm going to regret not doing so years from now. Alas, I'm here now. Let's get you updated!

Look at this sweet girl!

Since I posted the first steps video a few months ago, Taylor has made some serious progress. Seriously, I think she could pace me in one of my upcoming 5k's. She has learned to say more things than I can type in one sitting, but here are a few: apple, up, "Here ya go", please, thank you, coffee, banana, chip, bite, cereal, pee pee, bye bye, hello, cup, baba (bottle), ninny (we are trying to get her to forget this word), bath, ice, Auburn (YES!), A-B-C, one, rockarocka (rocking), Caca (Cotton, Gammy's cat), Gaga (Gammy), Pawpaw.

Thanks to our family's friendship with Rachel, and the introduction of Lady Gaga's "Paparazzi" song to our household, Taylor now calls Rebecca's father "Papa, Papa, Paparazzi".

She likes to model hats:

She learned how to fish for fish her size (note the minnow bucket):

She conquered wild beasts (Beasley):

She LOVES balloons! Here she is sitting in a rocking chair at Gammy and PawPaw's house that Gammy could fit in until she was 13 (you think I am kidding, but no . . .):

She'll give you smile regardless of the situation. Here, she was happy to see Mommy during Becca's recent hospital stay for kidney stones:

Here's she's happy about bath time:

I'll close with my favorite picture of the bunch. She loves to give "tight squeezes":

Learning New Things

I've been excited about the possibility of children since Rebecca and I got married, but when the thought of kids crossed my mind, I always envisioned them being between 1.5 and 6 years old. I've always looked forward to the endless questions, the learning new things, and the not pooping in their pants . . . I never thought that I would be able to see her learning so much this early.

As documented last week, she learned to walk. Every day, she walks a little further before plopping down to crawl a little.

She has learned to say Mommy, Daddy, Baby, Bye Bye, Hello, PawPaw (Robbie's dad), Gammy (Robbie's mom), Mama Bo (Becca's mom), Papa (Becca's dad), Rylee.

She knows where her foot, ear, nose, tongue, and hair are. She knows Patti-cake, the Itsy Bitsy Spider, and the Auburn fight song. She'll clap her hands when she is proud of herself.

She thinks that all dogs are named Beasley (Bobby and Kim's dog's name). On request, she will tell you what sound a dog, horsie, and cow make.

She also knows how to make a fishy face:

This age is much cooler than I thought it would be. I can't wait to see what you learn next Taylor!


Here's a couple of pictures I haven't shared on Facebook yet (which is the best place to go for pictures of Taylor since I update it more often).

Napping with Daddy!

Crazy hair:

Taylor's First Steps

For the last week or so, Taylor has gotten more brave in the world of walking. She would actually lunge. No steps were taken, but she got over the fear of falling enough to attempt it. Saturday was the culmination of that experience. She took her first steps. We were at Gammy and PawPaw's house (my mom and dad). She wanted mommy, but she was at the coffee table and mommy was pretty far away. She decided to go for it and here is the video:



After that, she was a pro. She demonstrated her skills again not five minutes later: