Aveline is Twenty Months

Aveline turned twenty months old a week ago yesterday. To celebrate, we were able to go to the aquarium with Kate, James, and Baby Robert (who were in town with Tim in preparation for the beach trip we are currently enjoying). Alison and her boys also ended up joining us for what ended up being a very crowded visit. There were a lot of school groups there and it just became pretty difficult to maneuver around with a stroller and see a lot of the exhibits. It was still a good time, though, and Avie had a lot of fun running around when I felt it okay to let her out of the stroller to do so. She was super excited to see the fish and was squealing with delight, and waving and telling them hello.

On Friday, I kept Elsa out of Gabriela's (really, it was her choice) and we all went (again with Kate and her boys) to the Atlanta Botanical Garden. I had seen photos of their current exhibit, Imaginary Worlds, which is a collection of sculptures created out of living plants. The exhibit was pretty amazing. Elsa and James had a fun time following the map and discovering each new sculpture along the way. And Aveline sat so quietly in the stroller, taking it all in, that I almost forgot she was there. I usually save the Children's Garden for the end of our visit, so by the time we got there, the kids were super excited to run around and enjoy it. I let Avie loose, and she immediately took off through the tunnels with Elsa and James. She loved the slides and was not intimidated of even the bigger twisty one (to the point that she nearly walked off of it on her second trip down). It was a reminder that the Garden is probably my favorite of our memberships, and I'm really looking forward to spending some more time there.

Now we are at the beach, which deserves a separate blog post all of its own, but suffice it to say that Avie is thoroughly enjoying it. We all are. Even after a full week here, it is going to be difficult to leave tomorrow morning.

So what has Aveline been doing this past month? A lot of the same, I guess. But, of course, she continues to develop and change. Thankfully I got "Salsa" on video, as it is now gone and has developed more into the "correct" pronunciation of "Elsa." Those sweet "uh-huhs" are usually "yeah" and "yes" now too. She is now adding names to things she says, so we hear things like, "Ank you, Mama" and "Bye-bye, Dada" or "Go Mama" (for "Here you go, Mama," as she hands me something). So super sweet.

Avie loves her sister and any baby she can get her hands on, and wants to give them all hugs and kisses, sometimes much to their chagrin. It is so nice when the girls decide to hug each other, though, and makes my heart happy. I have to watch Avie with the babies, though, as she thinks she should be able to pick them up or pull their arms to get them to sitting. And she loves taking them toys and books and such, but you have to watch the delivery of the items to make sure there isn't a toy drop on the face.

She is definitely getting a mind of her own these days and, as such, the tantrums are starting to rear their head. If she has her mind set on something, you are certainly going to hear (and see) her thoughts on the thwarting of that plan, complete with back arching and crying and throwing. Turn off the faucet when she is in the bath, and you'd think her plan was to drown herself. Fun times. But, as I know it is completely normal, I just try to ignore it as much as possible and move on. Eventually she gets over it or I am able to distract her with something else.

The cause of many of these tantrums is the "I can do it all by myself" attitude. Forget trying to feed her much of anything. She wants to feed herself the yogurt, thank you very much. That has been her attitude for months now, but now don't even stick the spoon in it. And she wants to walk, but still is very agreeable (and often wants) to hold a hand.

We are looking forward to Aveline's first camping trip next weekend. I cannot wait to see how it goes!!!