:: Change is in the air. The leaves are starting to turn colour, it's crisp and cool in the evenings and mornings are perfect for sweaters. It smells like fall is coming and I love it. This September feels pretty weird for us and there has been a lot to process and evaluate as we figure out how we'll be doing life, but there's really good things afoot and there's a lot to be excited for!
:: She makes fairy tea parties with little bits of leaves and petals and twigs. She's a girl after my 18-year old self's heart.
:: Sometimes I look about at all the puzzles and games left unplayed, the tea set and play food abandoned, the cabbage patch dolls and stroller sitting still and marvel at just how happily entertained Avery can be just wandering about with a couple small dolls or animals in her hands, quietly acting out their conversations and dramatizing their imagined lives.
:: The girls and I have started to go to Strong Start (a free drop-in early learning program offered in a bunch of the local schools) along with my sister-in-law Karen and nephew Cole. It's a great opportunity for Avery to get used to the idea of following someone else's instructions and set schedule before she hits Kindergarten next year. We made the choice not to enroll her in preschool and I'm feeling really good about the alternative options we have available to us - swim lessons in October and Strong Start as much or as little as we want, drop-in gymnastics, sunday school, dance, library days, etc.
:: Made my favourite fall cookies today, soft and smooth and loaded with spices, chocolate chips and raisins.
:: This little beetle makes it impossible to get anything done when she's on the loose. She's crawling like mad, will walk with our hands for support any chance we give her, stands and reaches and grabs and goes. She's impossibly drawn to cords and sharp edges, the basket of shoes to chew on, the stairwell that is unavoidably wide open. Her little gums are sprouting new pearls and it's been more agonizing than ever this time around.
:: But oh is she ever a nuzzly little baby. She loves to get right up close and press her face right into ours.
:: Her first real canvas painting, which she called "a masterpiece" (because they all are).
:: Avery loves to help with laundry. She likes to unload the washer and make a game of throwing each item, one by one, at me so I can load the dryer. Nothing like a super eager helper to slow a simple job down to a snail's pace. This is her trying on Levi's jeans, after which she said "I'm so handsome".
:: That baby doll doesn't seem to be very far from Ella most days. She's gotten pretty attached to her bald little friend and her soothing rubber limbs for itchy gums. Ella's also shown a pretty strong attachment for a bedtime cuddly - a floppy, pink bunny that is basically a head with a tiny blanket body that's knotted on three corners. Definitely not the cuddly sort of choice, but she's hooked. So much for the twenty-dollar adorable teddy we chose - she had an allergic reaction to it and never forgave it.
