Happy Father's Day

Avery would just like to say that her dad had a great Father's Day! We went out this morning and got bagels and lattes to start the morning off right (except Avery had rice cereal and prunes)! Freddie got some great presents - two pairs of Carhartt pants that he's been wanting for work. He got a coffee maker and an insulated mug with pictures of Avery on it from his mom and dad. He also got a special treat from Avery. Since she's been telling me how excited she is to go out on the farm with him this winter, we thought it would be best to provide the most appropriate attire. So I bought her a pair of pink Carhartt overalls to surprise Fred! He loved them and I think she will too!

My dad is so important to me, always being there for us and taking great care of our family. I know how truly special the father/daughter bond is and am so excited for Fred and Avery to share that bond. She lights up when she sees her dad, she loves riding in his truck and thinks he's really funny when he makes all those silly noises! She knows who her daddy is, and it's been such a joy to watch. From the moment she was born, Freddie has always been there, he was even the one who changed all of her diapers in the hospital!! They already have some pretty special memories together.

Happy Father's Day to my dad and Freddie's dad...two dads that we are so thankful to have in our lives. Avery's lucky to have two of the best grandpas around!!

6 Month Check-Up

Today was Avery's 6 month check up. She is just shy of 13 lbs and is almost 25". She's growing, which is the good news. I made sure to let the doctor know about my frustrations with her less than stellar eating habits. Lord knows, you can't make a baby eat (I've tried). Because she is happy, healthy and reaching her milestones he has no cause for concern. He did say, however, that our main objective at this stage is making sure that she is taking in enough calories and that it may mean finding what she likes to eat and sticking to it. As she gets older, solid foods will help her get the fat and calories that she needs. Another thought is that she may be growing bored of her formula. Because she isn't colicky or sick, and isn't waking up starving in the middle of the night (she's been sleeping through the night now for 3 months!), the idea of her disliking the taste of formula (have you smelled that stuff?) sounds fairly accurate. Don't get me wrong, she does eat; it's just that it's so hit and miss with her.

We have some ideas to try. This weekend we're going to give her a little soy milk (not soy formula) and see how she reacts. Because it's not dairy, her body shouldn't have a problem digesting it but all we can do is see. After she turns one, she'll be switching to whole milk. The doctor chuckled and said that we'll probably make her drink whole milk throughout her teen years!!

I'm just so thankful that she's developing and growing, even if her rate of growth is on the smaller side. I think about all of the things that we could be dealing with as parents and thank my lucky stars that our gal is healthy. In the whole scheme of things, that's all that really matters.

6 Months

Today Avery is 6 months old. Hard to believe that half a year has sneaked up behind us. My mom's flowers look so beautiful right now, we put Avery in a little red wagon and took some pictures. She wasn't up for looking at the camera but I guess I can't blame her - there were so many pretty flowers to enjoy!

Happy 6 months, Little Miss!