Mommy Grace Anthony

Last night as Avi was eating dinner, she kept saying, "Mommy!" over and over again. I was over at the sink putting the leftover spaghetti up. Since her repetitive Mommy wasn't getting my attention, she said, "Mommy  Grace Anthony!" I looked at Drew, and said did she just call me Mommy Grace Anthony? He started laughing and said that she had indeed called me that! Of course, I started laughing. As I mentioned in an earlier post, she knows her full name is Avi Grace Anthony, so I guess she thought she would get my attention by calling me by my full name--Mommy Grace Anthony!! So, Drew took that time to explain to her that my name was Kelli and his name was Drew and only she could call us mommy and daddy. She thought that was funny, and she went on to finish her dinner. Later while she was in the bathtub, I was on a phone call, and Drew was sitting with her, and I heard her call for me--"Mommy Kelli Anthony!" She's figuring it out, I guess!

I Stand Corrected

Yesterday morning, I was reading a book to Avi before we left for school. The book is a counting book, and on each page it has a different animal that you are supposed to count. About the middle of the book, I turned the page and said, "Look Avi, 6 sheep." She precisely looked at me and said, "No mama, those lambs." I guess I heard that! Indeed she was correct. They were lambs and not sheep! She amazes me every day.

What a Difference a Year Makes

8.23.09

3.22.08

AVI-isms

Avi with her Daddy's shoes and socks on yesterday morning!

So, Avi has really got this awesome vocabulary going on these days. Every day I love to hear the new things she comes up with. So, I thought I would share some of my favorites with you as of late! Oh, and she is totally saying sentences these days. And yesterday she sang the entire ABC song by herself without stopping!! It was exciting! Finally, her SOUTHERN DRAWL has really started coming out! It makes me laugh pretty hard!

1. NOT CRY, BIG GIRL. She started this at the beach. One night when I was putting her to bed, I told her she needed to be a big girl and not cry. So, from then on, almost every time we put her to bed, she says, "Not Cry, Big Girl!"

2. ROCK SING. This is what Avi says anytime things go south or she wants me to comfort her. We also rock sing before bed each night. One afternoon back in the spring sometime she woke up from a nap early, but she was still very tired, so I sat in the rocking chair with her and told her I was going to rock her and sing to her so she could rest. Since that day, she loves to ROCK SING!

3. ABCs & JESUS. Avi's two favorite songs. When we rock sing, I always ask her what she wants me to sing, and usually her first answer is ABCs. Then either during the middle of ABCs or right after, she says Jesus...meaning Jesus Loves Me. Jesus loves the Little Children and He's Got the Whole World in His Hands are the "other Jesus" songs!

4. AVI DO IT...MOMMY DO IT. This is what we hear constantly. When Drew tries to do something for her, she usually says, "Mommy do it." And, of course, she wants to do lots for herself these days as well!

5. SILLY...GIRL, MOMMY, DADDY, AVI, SUN, YOU NAME IT. Everything is silly these days! The sun is silly in the morning when we are driving to school because it gets in her eyes! Mommy and Daddy are silly when we do something she thinks is funny. L.O.V.E. H.E.R.!!

6. HOW 'BOUT THAT? This is probably her favorite phrase these days. She just says it out of the blue or when we do something that she likes! Too funny.

7. MR. BROWN CAN MOO. CAN YOU? Oh how she loves Dr. Seuss! She loves this book so much she has practically memorized it. She says the next animal sounds before I even turn the page. I love reading this book with her! It makes my soul happy!

8. NAAWW. This word is Avi's substitute for no! In the past week every time we ask her to do something that she doesn't want to do, she says, "NAAWW!" Like, are you kidding me?

9. I-UTE-SIIIDE. Have you figured this one out yet? OUTSIDE! When we were at the beach, she started saying outside with such a southern drawl that I couldn't help but laugh at her.

10. ABI.GRACE.AMNTONY. Didn't you know this was her name?? She was in the bathtub Tuesday night, and for some reason I was talking to her about her full name. Now when you ask her what her full name is, she says, "ABI GRACE AMNTONY." LOVE IT.

Friday Fun

We had fun this afternoon playing with the Mardi Gras beads we have collected over the last year (mostly from eating at Oby's). We put them on as necklaces and then she loved that I made them into bracelets for her. It was pretty funny because she kept either holding her arms up or holding them close to her because she thought the bracelets were going to fall off.  It's fun when small things can occupy for long periods of time!

School is Fun!

Well, this picture does not do justice to the way I found Avi when I picked her up at school on Monday! I was really worried about her transition back to school on Monday after being out for 2 weeks. On Monday morning when I dropped her off, she went right to her teacher and seemed happy to be there. When I picked her up Monday afternoon I died out laughing when I saw her! They were on their way in from the playground when I got there...she was chasing Channing, a little boy from her class. She didn't even notice me standing there for several minutes! Her teacher said that she and Channing had even been holding hands on the playground! She was having a blast. She actually ran away from me when she noticed I was there. She didn't want to go home with me! She wanted to stay and play. Her hair was ringing wet, and her cheeks were bright red from playing so hard! The funniest part of it all is that she had gotten something on her clothes during the day and had to change into her extra clothes...and, well, the ones she had to change into were still her winter extra clothes! I guess I had never updated them since the summer began, and she hadn't needed them until now! So, she was also wearing clothes that were:  a.) too small and b.) not season appropriate...the pants were above her ankles and the shirt was now a 3/4 length sleeve instead of long sleeves! And, really I had to bribe her into getting into the car with me. I had a pretty good laugh from it all, and I think she needed a break from me as much as I needed a break from her :). I didn't take the picture until we got home, so as I said, it really doesn't do the situation justice, but I thought I would at least try to share my laugh. (I know she looks unhappy in the picture, but she wasn't; she just wouldn't smile for me!) Oh, and a side note: she hasn't needed extra clothes all summer, but Monday she had on her extra clothes when I got there, Tuesday she had on her shirt and someone else's shorts, and yesterday she had on an entirely different outfit (an extra from the daycare) when I got there! Crazy.

Beach Pictures

This was one of the last pictures we took last night on the beach...she was so tired! However, this is a pretty typical look from Avi!

Mimi, Avi, John Michael, Madison

Abbi & Joel (my sister and her husband) moved to Athens, GA last week, but we are so glad they joined us for most of the week at the beach. We will miss them greatly!

Another typical look from Avi :)

This has been one of Avi's favorite things to do this week...she loves to get buried in the sand.

Sweet cousins!! 

Avi decided she might need to take a little nap!

This was the demise of "boppy" at the beach last night! She dropped boppy when she was getting some sand, and needless to say it got very wet. I thought a meltdown might happen as a result, but she handled it pretty well!

Love this one...wonder what she is thinking about!

Adorable John Michael

Beautiful Madison

Love this one too!

Avi has kind of had a love-hate relationship with the water! She loves it but she's not too sure about it!

The sand is so much fun!

I brought out trusty Mr. Potato Head for this trip. This is the first time she has played with him, and she has loved him. She played with him a lot on the way down to the beach, which by the way was very successful! (I was very worried about it.) Anyway, as you can see, she found something else to do with "tata head's" eyes!

Okay, these last 2 pictures just make me laugh so hard! Avi loved putting on Uncle Joel's socks (these were ankle socks on him by the way) and his shoes! Too funny!