19 Months Old

Hi all,


Hope that everyone has been having a wonderful October! It's hard to believe that the holidays are almost here already...2010 has been flying by with great speed. I keep wondering when time is going to slow down...I guess it's probably not going to happen. We all need to keep filling out time with great things that make us happy, since it rushes past so quickly.


Speaking of happiness, watching Avalon during her 19th month has been fabulous. She's changing to fast now - literally new things happen every day. She started counting to 10 (and sometimes eleven!), and she says at least 100 different words. She strings a couple together sometimes. She knows body parts, some shapes, and some colors. She's been singing "Twinkle Twinkle" with me, and several Wiggles songs. :)


We took her out of swim lessons recently. She stopped having fun and started crying hysterically the moment I handed her off to her instructor. So after a few weeks of her being very upset during the lesson, we decided to stop for now, and start back up again in a few months. We still are in a Mommy and Me class - the new session started in September. Avalon is still loving it, especiallly the singing and dancing.


Here are some photos from some of our Month 19 moments with Avalon:


1. I recently had Avalon's Halloween photos taken. The photographer just shared a preview picture with me. It looks like they are going to turn out great! Avalon is a peacock this year. :)






#2 On a recent shopping trip, Avalon decided to put a box on her head. She said "mama, hat!"...so I pulled my phone out to snap a quick photo. So cute!

#3 Here is Avalon playing at Mommy and Me... She was really into the big dump truck!

#4 She doesn't sleep in her carseat much anymore these days, but she was really exhausted... Also, you can see how she's been pulling her upper body out of the seat belt restraints. Clever girl, but kind of naughty!

#5 We were at a farmers market in Torrance last weekend and Avalon drank alot of lemonade. We got a super big cup so that we could all share, but Avalon ended up yelling "mine mine mine!!" and wouldn't share much with mom or dad.

#6 We had a kitchen plumbing project recently. When the contractor came over, Avalon was really interested - she actually held a little flashlight for a while under the sink counter!!

Meanwhile, Bronte was completely freaked out that there was a contractor in the house. She gets more and more nervous everyday by anything out of the normal routine!



#7 In September we took a great mini holiday to the Palm Desert in California. There was a heat wave while we were there, so temps were around 100 degrees F. We spent most of the days in the pool with Avalon, while covered head to toe in SPF70!

Avalon was ready the first morning to get into the pool!

She started testing out her floaty...

#8 Avalon competed in the Toddler Trot in Manhattan Beach a couple of weekends back. The Toddler Trot is a race for kids who are newly walking and under 24 months. She had some racing experience, as she was in the Diaper Dash last year, for new crawlers. :)

Here's Avalon checking out the course before race time...

Getting a little encouragement from one of her coaches!

Moving into starting position with Mommy...

Off and running....

Go Avalon...she was in second place and moving fast...

Almost to Mommy and about to cross the finish line...

Oops! She turned around and started going in the wrong direction!! :)

Ok, finally going to the right direction again and now about to really finish the race. Not in last place, but she not quite in medal position either. :)

Mom and Dad were still quite proud. :)

#9 Avalon and I had so much fun last Friday! Our Mommy and Me class had a field trip to a pumpkin patch in Torrance. The patch was really great - it had animals that the kids could pet and feed, pony rides, and lots of pumpkins to touch and play with. Avalon had an amazing time and got to pick out a pumpkin that we will carve with John soon.

Avalon wasn't too into the scarecrows...

She was so excited to feed the goats!

Posing with some of the Mommy and Me kids.

Avalon's first pony ride had alot of tears! She was excited about the pony, but then super terrified when she got strapped on!

The tears finally seem to be stopping!

Enjoying a yummy banana muffin in the pumpkin patch.

Very satisfied by the fun and ready to go home for a long nap! :)

We hope that everyone has a great rest of their October and a fun Halloween! Avalon is going to get to do some trick-or-treating for the first time this year.

Also, a very *happy birthday* to John's dad who recently celebrated his big day. We hope it was special and we look forward to seeing you in Sydney very soon.

All our love, xo

J, J + A