Our Fiesta of Five: Avery is 9 Months!!

April 2, 2011 marks 9 months since Avery has joined our lives! She has now been out as long as she has been in! And boy has she changed in the last 4 weeks:

EATS: literally anything she can get her hands on. We try to keep the dog food, hair and carpet pieces to a minimum and instead encourage fresh healthy foods such as steamed sweet potatoes and apples, mangos, bananas, pears, turkey and chicken pieces, avocado and "puffs". She is quite dexterous and can grab with her pinchers very well. She also still gets some homemade and jarred baby foods, and after her 9 month check-up next week I hope to add some more foods to her repertoire (fish! cheese! blueberries!).
DRINKS: about 16-20 oz of formula from her bottle a day and drinks a few ounces of water from a sippy cup.
CLOTHES: She wears size 4 diapers and 9-12 month clothes. I can't seem to find jeans that can fit over her adorably chubby legs and still allow her to sit and stand comfortably, so she mostly rocks leggings or dresses/skirts.
MOVING: She can crawl like crazy, but she is still using a modified belly-drag style.

She can get from crawling to sitting to standing in the blink of an eye, and is an excellent and fearless "cruiser," which is walking while holding on to something.
All this movement means she is slowing down on the weight gain and is still at 22 lbs.
It also means baby-proofing is upon us. We have lowered her crib mattress and have latched drawers in the kitchen and master bath. She is very attracted to cords/outlets/things-that-can-harm-her in general, so we have to constantly be vigilant.

COMMUNICATING: She can wave bye-bye, says hi, dada and baba, and has recently started "kissing" by popping her lips together (like in POP goes the weasel). She also recently learned to sign "more" and we are working on "please" "Thank you" and "All done"

COMING UP: This month, I am SO EXCITED to take her swimming in a pool for the first time when we tag along with Alex to a conference he has in Scottsdale. Also, all 3 of us are in my brother's wedding in Valencia on April 23rd, and Avery is going to look so cute in her pretty dress and flowered headband (stay tuned for a MILLION pictures, I am sure! I will try and get some of the groom and his beautiful bride too ;)

In crazy-over-planer news, I am in the beginning stages of planning Avery's first birthday party which is to be Saturday, July 2nd. We are still deciding on where to have it (our house, park, beach) but it will definitely be a Hawaiian Luau theme! I can't wait!!

Enjoy the pictures!!