He Knows His Name.....

The last few days when we've been out, people kept asking him his name. Of course we always had to answer for him until today. All day we would ask him what his name was and by the end of the day he learned how to answer us.

Davis Studio Returns

We finally took the time to take his 18 month pictures. If you would like a hard copy, let me know and I'll give you access to the snapfish account.











I love this one because he looks so sweet with the first two bear pictures, and then the real boy comes out.

1 Pair done!

Well, these have been almost 3 years in the making but since we finally have snow I decided to finish a pair over Christmas break. I usually like making things, but I think that buying snowshoes is a better idea than making them. I just hope it doesn't take me another 3 years to get Brandee's done.

Avery and Banana at 18 months

I wasn't going to take an 18 months shot with Avery and Banana but I decided to just to see how much he's changed. He's really looking and acting like a toddler now, the baby stages are gone. He's changed so much in the last 6 months. He's putting words together that actually make sense, he's creating his own fun games, and he's so full of energy! He understands so much, for example over Christmas I asked him to go plug the Christmas tree in. I didn't really think he would do it because I'd never asked him to do it before and the tree had only been up 2 days so he was just learning what a Christmas tree was. To my surprise, he ran over and plugged the tree in. Here he is 6 months at a time.....

1 week


6 months


1 year


18 months taken on January 14th

The most unlikely of toys

Over the weekend we were staying with our friends Kelly and Fernando as we looked for houses. Since we flew there, we couldn't bring any toys. Even though he didn't have any, he did a great job finding things to play with. The funniest "toy" he had was something like this.......

It's fuzz! I thought when we got home, he would play with the toys he has, but instead he found a new piece of fuzz.


He invented all kinds of games from hiding it, having blowing races with it, and carrying it around.

WhoNu.....

New Years could be so fun! This year we had to celebrate a week late because most of us were sick over the first. So last weekend, our friends all came over and we had a great time together. Cassie even came to celebrate with us, which was a special treat. Avery was asleep by the time we took the picture, as was Isaac.

Sensory Table

We no longer have to use the tub for our sensory table! If you remember, we filled it with flour when Avery was little. And I've since used it for snow and other things. Well, over break Scott built a frame for a container I had and now Avery has his very own table. He enjoys playing in it and I do too! The nice thing about these tables is you can continually add new things to the table. If you have any good ideas of what to fill it with, pass it on.

Winter Fun

Our snowpal




The sled Grandpa Davis made Avery. There is enough room for Avery and I to sit on the sled and for Scott to stand on the back. Now we just need a sled dog team.


Venus made a great sled dog, once she started moving.


Feeding the Ducks. This was much more difficult than normal because there weren't many ducks and the foreign ones that were there didn't want any bread.

Decorating Christmas Cookies

We did this before Christmas, but I never had a chance to post the pictures. Avery had fun decorating the cookies but I think he ate more frosting than he put on the cookie. His favorite was the sprinkles.





The finished product

Merry Christmas!

From our family to yours, we hope you enjoyed celebrating his birthday.

You Know You're From WI When.....

You win a chunk of cheese in your negotiations class! Scott was given this tasty trophy for winning the negotiation, and tasty it was.

Avery's Two Favorite Things

The tub and balls!

Words!

Avery's been learning and saying so many words lately. I thought this was a funny one to remember. I always have a chapstick on me and and he loves chapstick so he's quickly learned the word for it. Here he is on my bed asking me for my chapstick. Listen closely and you can hear it.

Finding the Perfect Tree

We headed out to a "cut your own" Tree farm yesterday to find the perfect Christmas Tree. After looking at a few trees we decided on this Blue Spruce.


Timber!




Laura and Avery decorating the tree. Avery was excited that the tree from the farm ended up in our house.


All decorated. This was the best picture we could get.


We were all looking here, but it ended up blurry. I managed to get Avery to look and to get Venus to stay because I was giving them bites of candy cane.

Christmas Lights

Tonight on the spur of the moment, Scott, Venus, Avery, Laura, and I dashed out the door to see the Christmas Lights. It was a really cold night, with a few flakes falling and Christmas music blaring. Avery enjoyed playing in the front seat with the various knobs and buttons more than he liked the lights. He would give an occasional Ooooooooh.

Cookie Walk

Today we went on a walk that the historical society sponsored to help raise money for the Crosse House restoration. This wasn't just any walk, it was a walk to collect cookies! We paid $3 for a box that we decorated and then we walked around to 17 different businesses downtown to gather our cookies. It was a wonderful family time, the snow was falling and Avery was running around all bundled up. Venus even enjoyed the time as many business owners let her come inside too. She snuck a few treats here and there. At the end of the walk, we were greeted by Santa and Avery didn't even cry. He was excited because Santa had a candy cane for him.

This was the beginning of our craft project. Avery loved swimming in the puff balls.


Our cookie man (the box, not Avery).


Avery wanted to pull the nose off.


Here are all our cookies. Paco is excited to hold them in his belly. (For those of you who've never met Paco, he's our cookie jar in the picture).

Puerto Vallarta Mexico!

This year we traveled to Mexico over Thanksgiving because I was in my friend, Irene's wedding. It was a perfect 85 degrees every day. They have 300 sunny days a year! It was Avery's first plane ride and he did great. We had a bag full of toys that were new to him and they helped keep him somewhat entertained. The wedding was beautiful and I was so happy to be able to be a part of it since Irene and I have been friend's since first grade. It was also fun to be able to be on vacation with my closest high school friends and their families.

He loved watching the planes in the airport.


Here we are enjoying a book together.


This was the place we stayed at. We had an ocean view room, ours was on the second floor- there's a towel hanging from the balcony.


Avery and Layna building sandcastles.


There were seven different pools at our resort. I liked this one because there was a shallow end that was only ankle deep and Avery enjoyed playing there.


We enjoyed a wonderful thanksgiving meal with all the trimmings.


The wedding party.




Dancing with "Grandpa" Risic


This is at the boardwalk downtown.