Why you should "baby proof" your home... starring Avery

Avery displays many examples of why you should baby proof your home in the following vid, as she tries to get into the dishwasher, open the drawer under the sink and also pull down some hanging cell phone charger cords (oops, they were right in the line of fire!).

And... lo and behold, she walks! :)

Tricks up her sleeve...

Avery has some new tricks... enjoy our latest video in which she shows them off:

She could be a farmer in those clothes... Avery is 13 months old!

I was reminded of the quote in the title of this blog post when we watched part of the movie 'Clueless' last weekend. Gotta love 90's fashion - funny to look back on!

When it comes to Avery, she is ANYTHING but clueless. She can point to her head, ears, teeth, nose, belly, feet and waves her little palms in the air when you ask her where her hands are. She pointed to her head at her doctor appointment and the doctor was shocked. Said she had actually never seen a baby at this age do that - it was more of an 18-month milestone.

She is understanding more and more, and talking up a storm. Today she said "hello!" and waved! She is now definitely saying "kitty cat" too. We are also totally onto sippy cups!

Avery and her kitty cat Stormie looking out at the neighbor's dog, Clark:

Avery is working on cutting tooth #9, and is back to drooling all over herself. Funny, I didn't notice this major drool the last few times. She likes to host tea parties for her furry friends with her singing teapot and tea cups.

Hey Ave, show us your grill:

She's into EVERYTHING - even Tom and Kelly's pantry:

Hosting tea:

She had her friend Cole over, who is three and they had fun together. Cole loved "holding" Avery on the couch and he gave her a cool singing book for her birthday.

Anyway, Avery has been busy practicing her walking (we are up to 5 steps in a row on her own). She is very tentative, and really hates to fall. As far as we can tell, Avery is not so worried about it hurting when she falls, but we think she is a little bit of a perfectionist.

Ready:

Set:

Go ker-plop!

We did a photo shoot in Grandpa Bricker's denim overalls from when he was a baby. Avery thought it was great fun playing outside in them, but was not to fond of me trying to make her wear a cowboy hat. Or sit in the grass.

I guess she won't be a farmer. Which is too bad, because she can seriously ROCK some overalls:

The Riverbanks Zoo

Last weekend we went down to Columbia to see the Alexander's. Chad and Adrienne took the three of us to the zoo Saturday morning!

Let us share with you the sights, frights and highlights from Avery's first zoo experience...

Meerkat Manor:

We got up close with a wallaby (you can kind of see him)... and a kangaroo (not pictured):

Mr. Elephant (you should have heard us trying to make elephant noises for Avery - not very impressive!):

Jeff was disappointed the lemurs weren't closer:

Mama giraffe and baby giraffe:

Papa Lion licked his chops:

I always forget how amazed I feel in seeing the animals so close... I'm always in awe of giraffes and elephants... of lions and gorillas! And I got to see koalas again... some of my favorites! Who DOESN'T want to snuggle a sweet koala? They are the cutest:

Avery enjoyed seeing the animals - it's even more fun to see these creatures through the eyes of a litte one. She loved the monkeys, and even loved being close up against the glass watching the gorilla relaxing.

One thing that Avery was NOT fond of - BIRDS! She was very anxious around the birds in general, but especially the flamingos! Sure they were loud, and for some reason extremely stinky, but I wouldn't have thought that would be the thing that would frighten a child. They don't look too menacing do they?

She was less than impressed. I have to say we all were a little frightened of the giant vulture. He just looked mean! Avery held on to me tight! Even the penguins left her a little unsettled.

Here she is checking out the underwater scene:

Hello Penguins!

Not so sure about them:

Jeff and Chad fed nectar to the pretty birds in the bird sanctuary, but the gals stayed carefully outside the area! (Turns out Adrienne and I aren't super-fond of birds - especially when they can fly over you, around you, etc.)

Here is Avery practicing her walking around the zoo with her friends Chad and Adrienne:

And the typical White family photo:

Oh, BTW it was Avery's second 4th of July holiday this past weekend too!

Here is Avery celebrating the holiday with her friends Elmo (red), Lampchop (white) and Cookie Monster (blue):