17 Months Old

Hi all,


Month 17 is here already....the California summer is flying by! Of course, there hasn't been much hot weather to speak of yet...maybe Winter won't arrive this year!


We've been making the most of the days and weekends and have done some fun things. There are lots of pictures to share...


Now that Avalon is a little older, she loves the beach. She is still a little freaked out by the feeling of the sand on her hands (she always reaches to me to have me clean the sand off!), but she loves running around, feeling the water, and waving to people.





Manhattan Beach pier in the background...

I recently got Avalon a tunnel which she has been having so much fun playing with...

Avalon recently discovered that she can put her fingers in her nose! John took a picture of her in the car the other day with one finger in each nostril. I have a feeling that she won't like this photo when she is a teenager... John wants to use it as our Christmas photo! :)

Manhattan Beach has Shakespeare in the park during the summer, and so we met up with some friends and went to a show recently. We only made it to the intermission, but it was a fun night.

Our little backyard is pretty tiny (John says that's because the beach is really our backyard), but we set up a mini pool for Avalon to splash in. Here are some pics from the first day she played in it. She had such a good time that she spent at least 2 hours splashing!

Getting ready to get in the water!

Finally in!

Practicing her floating skills, which she's been working on in her swim lessons.

We were at home the other day and Avalon pulled one of my swimsuit tops out of my drawer. I told her what it was, and she wanted to put it on! So, in the next couple of pics, she's wearing my bikini top over her shirt...yes, it's a bit big on her still... I'm not sure if Daddy will ever let her wear a bikini... :)

Avalon has loved our coffee table since she was 9 months old. Ever since that time, she has crawled through the table across the low shelf on the bottom. I finally got some pictures of her doing it...

Half way through...

Made it through!

I celebrated another birthday at the end of July, and we got a few friends together and went to one of the concerts in the park in Manhattan Beach.



Avalon was dancing in her stroller to the swing music...

With Paula...

Yes, the candles on the cake do say 21!!!!!!!!

New mommy syndrome...my memory is shot! I can't quite remember what wish I made...

Redondo Beach has a small little aquarium with a marine life rehabilitation center. We took Avalon last weekend since she is obsessed with fish at the moment! She sat and watched the big fish and small sharks in this outside tank for ages. At one point, she took her shoe off and threw it in! Luckily, John was pretty quick and got it out without anyone being attacked by a shark. :)

Up on her tip-toes, trying to see into a tank with eels.

The most exciting activity was last weekend's Wiggles show! For those of you who don't know, The Wiggles are an Aussie group of 4 guys that do kids performances. Avalon got to know The Wiggles from watching a couple of DVDs from her Aunt Liz. Since Avalon has become such a big fan, we decided to get tickets to the LA show. Definitely definitely definitely worth it! Avalon sat still for 75 minutes and watched with amazement. I even saw John singing along to a few tunes!!

Getting ready for the show to start...



The Wiggly Circus...

Jeff Wiggle collecting roses for Dorothy the Dinosaur...

Murray Wiggle!



We made a sign to hold up, and Murray Wiggle read it out loud!

Hope that everyone is having a great August. Mom, happy birthday! Hope that you had a great day yesterday. Looking forward to celebrating with you in Seattle next week.

John's birthday is tomorrow, so the fun continues on for us. We wish we could send all of you some birthday cake!

All our love, xo

J, J + A