Catching up

So I've been told numerous times that it is time to play catch up with my blog! I seem to have fallen quite a bit behind. So here I go!

Miss Avalynn is now 17 (almost 18)months old and is a busy little bee. Her separation anxiety is quickly fading, I am happy for her but sad for me. I miss my little baby girl who's being rapidly replaced with a busy vocal toddler. She has started putting words together. While watching Elmo on tv she'll say "Hi Elmo its me!". Her favorite words are currently "c-ya/bubye" "lets go" "GO away!" "I know, I know, I know (always in response to my asking her to do something or a question)" "stow-eee (story)" "pleeeease" and of course... "cookie". Anything edible that is circular in shape is called a cookie, including her whole wheat organic baby waffles. This is such a fun stage. Literally every day she learns a new word or phrase. Monday she learned that kitty cats say meow and she practiced her meows for a looooooong time. We'll have to find some kitties to visit. Avalynn still LOVES stories. She recognizes her books now and picks each one up with a word or two with what its about.

Avalynn is now learning more focused tasks. She's accomplished her very first puzzle and I was so proud of her. I'm amazed that she can pick up the puzzle piece, match it to the correct spot and get it fit. Its takes a lot of work and fine motor skills to figure out a puzzle!

I've discovered that my sweet little girl has a stubborn streak and the temper to boot. The word NO is now a huge part of her vocabulary. "Avie are you hungry" NO. "Avie are you thirsty?" NO "Avie do you want to play with the ball?" NO than this is immediately followed by "peeeeeease Cookie" and a starving baby girl look. There is no keeping up with her! Discipline is difficult. Its a constant internal battle for me. Did she hit me because she is frustrated and swinging her arms or because she is mad and wanting to lash out. Is she whining because she's bored, tired or hungry? Than there is always her frustration. She wants to do more than she's physically able to.

Life for me has been busy as well. I took a cruise with one of my best friends in May which was a fabulously relaxing vacation. We swam with the stingrays, dolphins, snorkeled, went para sailing, laid out on the beaches and on the boat and had a 'few' cocktails. I've never been so lucky as I was on that boat! We were magically given a VIP ticket for reasons unknown to us, we were given a better room than we expected, upgraded our massages to a massage AND facial, and all in all we had an amazing time. I can't wait for Adrienne's and my next vacation!
I leave this Thursday for a few days to go to Denver for my friend Rachel's wedding (I was QUITE honored when she asked me to be her maid of honor) and I'm applying for a new position at work (wish me luck I interview on Wednesday!). Between Avie, work, house work and play dates I haven't had much time to sit around but that's OK being its SUMMER and I love love LOVE it! The only thing I dislike are all these rotten storms we've been getting. Wishing I had a nice basement to hangout in every time the tornado sirens go off. It makes me nervous that to get to my basement I have to go outside. I'm starting to seriously consider moving so we can have more space and a safe basement.
That's the update, a little long I know but as you know I'm a chatty person!