Avery

I looked at an old picture of Avery as a toddler tonight and had the sad feeling that she will never be at that stage again. It was a small reminder to enjoy my kids now and quit griping about the hard work that is raising people.

Avery is high-energy. She is also very loving and exciting and happy and smart. She is a lot of fun, and also sensitive to other people's feelings. She is many more great things that I am forgetting at the moment or I haven't discovered yet.

Recently, Avery told me that my real name is Shelly, but she is renaming me Sara. This morning she asked Eric, "If there isn't a bed at work, then where do you sleep?" This afternoon she solemnly told me about her dolls, whom she usually names "rock and roll", and how they go to movies and where they sleep, etc. As we loaded into the car to go to Winco she remembered to run back into the house to get her wallet. Among her 3 earned quarters was a dollar she hasn't seen. I told her about how our very nice neighbor found $2 crumpled by the mailboxes and told me to give them to the kids. Avery said "Oh, thank you mom! I love you so much!" She bought a sucker for herself and one for Tate, with her own money.

 After dinner she wanted to earn more money so I had her load the

washer and put the clothes from the dryer onto the couch. She climbed on the stool and twirled each item of clothing from hamper to washer as she dramatically and with lots of giggling told the story of how it was going for a swim. As the hamper was emptied she had to reach further and fell head first into the hamper with her legs stuck in the air. I was surprised she allowed me to laugh because she often chastises me for laughing at her. Anyway, by the time she was ready to unload the dryer, she was pretending to be a puppy. On all fours, she would grab an item of clothing in her mouth and walk to me for approval before dropping it on the couch. Never a dull moment indeed! I do love Avery.