Mommy and Me

Miranda took these sweet pictures at Ben's softball game last night. I was excited to get some pictures of me and Avery together since I am usually on the other side of the camera!

Little Fishy

Tuesday afternoon when we got home it was beautiful and sunny and warm. I decided it was a perfect time to try out Avery's new baby pool. When we set the pool up a few days ago, we didn't realize it was on a slight slope. And we ended up with a deep end and a shallow end. I first tried sitting Avery in the deep end where she could lean against the side of the pool. But all she wanted to do was wiggle her way down into the water. So I moved her to the shallow end where she could lay on her back and splash. She had a blast! I can't wait to take her swimming in the real pool very soon!

Memorial Day

We celebrated Memorial Day this year with a cookout at our house. Unfortunately, the scattered showers they were predicting turned out to be constant rain. So we had to move the party inside where we ended up playing Rock Band for the majority of the afternoon. Avery really enjoys watching older kids run around so she had a great time playing with Brady. Especially since they won't get to play again before the Coon family moves to Kansas City this week. But she definitely missed her friend, Anna. (Feel better soon Sergents!!) I was disappointed that the kids weren't able to play in the baby pool we had set up in the back yard. They didn't seem to mind too much, though :)

Roly Poly

Avery has been on the verge of rolling for weeks now. Well, tonight she finally did it! She is now constantly rolling from her back to her belly. And boy is she proud of herself....notice the great big grin. She hasn't quite figured out how to get her arm out of the way to roll onto her back, though. She gets so incredibly frustrated when she can't do it. But she is also becoming quite independent. If I help her roll to her back, she flips right back onto her tummy to try again. Hopefully, she will figure it out soon!

Yum Yum...Or Not

At Avery's four month checkup, her pediatrician said we could start solids whenever we were ready. So we decided Saturday would be the big day. I got out my Royal Doulton baby bowl and tiny silver spoon. I mixed up the rice cereal. Ben got the camera ready to capture Avery's reaction to her first taste of solid food. She opened wide. The cereal went in her mouth, and then it came right back out. I'm not sure she actually swallowed any of it. Thinking maybe it was the spoon, we switched to one of her new plastic ones. But still no luck. So we'll try again in a few days. I'm sure she will be eating solids like a champ in no time. But for now, here are a few pics of Avery not eating rice cereal :)

Circle Time

Avery and I had a wonderful morning. My 8:00 and 9:30 appointments both rescheduled so we got to go to the Mt Juliet Library for Circle Time. Avery was by far the youngest baby there. The next youngest was a little boy who was 9 months old. But she did great! She sat in my lap while we sang songs and clapped our hands and stomped our feet. She loved watching the big kids crawl and run. But her favorite part was the parachute. All the moms stand up and wave the parachute up and down while the kids crawl around underneath. I sat just under the edge of the parachute and held Avery on her back so she could see it. She was mesmerized by all the colors. I was sad to learn that there are only 3 more classes before summer break. But I am looking forward to taking her back again in the fall when she will be able to participate a little more. She must have had a good time, because she hasn't stopped babbling since Ben picked her up from school this afternoon.

Cinco de Mayo

Why Americans celebrate Cinco de Mayo in such a huge way is beyond me. But it is a fun excuse to eat lots of Mexican food. This year, however, wasn't much of a celebration at the Hopper household. I wasn't about to brave the crowds at our local Mexican restaurant with a little one in tow. Plus, Ben was in Chicago for a meeting. So I took Avery to visit our friend Miranda while I went to my usual Monday evening appointment. Avery had a blast. She loves playing with Miss Miranda. While she was there, Miranda took these cute pics I wanted to share. Don't worry, we didn't totally miss out on Cinco de Mayo this year. After I got back from my appointment, Avery and I stuck around to eat some yummy homemade tacos with Miranda and Stephen :)

Summer's Graduation

She did it! Ben's sister, Summer, graduated from Mississippi State this weekend. So we travelled to Starkville to join in the celebration. We all went to the graduation ceremony Saturday morning. Then we headed back to the house for a big cookout. We were thrilled to get to spend some time with Ben's grandparents, aunt and uncle, two cousins and their families. This time we actually remembered to take some pictures of Avery with her great grandparents.

Avery was much fussier than normal all weekend. In fact, she was up every hour during the night Friday and Saturday. It was obvious that she was hurting but nothing seemed to soothe her. We suspected she might be teething based on the large amounts of drool and her tendency to stick things in her mouth. On the way home yesterday we stopped to change her diaper and let her get out of the car seat for a minute. And as she was screaming, we caught the first glimpse of a tooth trying to come in. It's teeny tiny, but it's definitely there. Thanks to Baby Orajel and some teething tablets, we were all able to get a little more sleep last night.

Four Months Old

It's that time again. Avery turned four months old on Monday!! She weighed in at 12 lbs 4 oz this month and is 23 1/2 inches long. And she has moved up to the 25th percentile for both height and weight! She has come such a long way considering she was in the 3rd and 5th percentiles for weight and height when she was born. She is definitely catching up slowly but surely. The challenge this month was keeping Avery's hands (and dress) out of her mouth long enough to take a picture.