joy avery -- 3 months!

growth stats:
weight- 11 lbs 4 oz's = 14th percentile
height- 23.25 inches = 28th percentile
head = 28th percentile

new tricks and such:

- number one and most apparent-- she LOVES her own voice!!! if she's awake, she's talking. trey and i will talk back to her and i'm convinced that she truly believes we are carrying on a conversation, and that we know exactly what she's saying! we'll try to catch it on video soon-- but to get the best reaction you have to talk to her in the annoying "baby voice" that neither of us really want on camera. ;)

- she has started "fake coughing" because she likes the sound and thinks it's funny.

- her changing table is next to a mirror. she loves to carry on and socialize with her bestie baby friend (aka- herself) in the mirror. it makes diaper changing quite fun.

- she likes to flirt with males...especially gary guadagnolo

- her biggest laughs still go out to, the one and only, piper guinn.

- she recently discovered her feet. she loves to stare at them and move them all around. they fascinate her.

- tummy time probably doesn't happen frequent enough, but she can lift that head high now and rock side to side. she's got the roll-over legs going but not a whole lot of rolling just yet.

here's pipes-- showing her how it's done.

- some of her favorite time is STORY TIME. book of choice is, hands down, goodnight moon. she makes little oohs and ahhs and likes to touch and semi-turn the pages.

- she sleeps in her crib for most naps (sometimes the swing) and always at bedtime. sleeps now from 8 or 9pm to 6 or 7am...with an occasional 4am wake up.

and when she wakes, it's all fun and games. laughs, giggles, screams. seriously, it's pitch black and 4am, not a creature stirring not even a mouse-- except joybird. stirring away and ready for the day. thankfully, she get's the memo pretty quickly that we're still in sleep mode and goes back down.

- her favorite kisses are eskimo kisses!! if you want to put this girl to sleep just rub your nose in a downward motion on hers and she's out.

-she loves blankies and things with texture that she can hold onto and cuddle with. one of her fave's is a little horse lovey from the mcgees

- the only thing that warrants any sort of crying or fussing is if she's hungry, or tired. both easy fixes, thank goodness!! she's still eating every 3 hours (hoping to make the 4 hour switch at 4 months), and get's tired about one hour after eating.

- people are now saying that she is looking more like me. i still see trey, of course...but definitely see myself now too!! but you be the judge. we think she has trey's mouth and my eyes....although, her eyes are still blue (so not completely my eyes). i definitely wouldn't complain if she turned into my little brown eyed girl!

- she stays home with dad monday and wednesday mornings while i teach class, and she's with me the rest of the days and afternoons! trey gives her a bottle on mon/wed mornings and you should take the time to ask him about his "feeding regimen". he is quite proud ("she never spits up when i feed her, jules") and i'm sure he would love to share his secrets.

HAPPY 3 MONTHS, LITTLE JOYBIRDY!

i'll be your mommy.

yesterday was special. guinn and i were up at the crack of dawn, drinking coffee and holding Joy, when trey happened to look out our bedroom window into the courtyard. he says "oh jules, you have to come see this. this is so sad and sweet."

i look outside and find a family of four huddled in a circle, dropping their precious little girl off at college. the dad was wiping his tears as he kissed his little girl goodbye. the mom struggling to show a strong face was fighting back her tears, but it wasn't working.

i couldnt believe we had stumbled across this precious moment, but within seconds i too was crying. we stood there, holding joy, and were so touched by every bit of this family event.

i realized that i was seeing something from both angles. holding my own daughter, i watched these parents say goodbye.... and, as this cute little freshman girl stood there in tears, it reminded me of when i got dropped off at college. i remember my dad and beth driving off, and i went into my dorm room and cried and cried.

The girl hugged her dad and they both sobbed. then she hugged her mom. same story. hugged her little brother. and then we watched them all part and all so emotional. it was heart-wrenching.

it's such a big moment and all i could think that morning was how much of this was going on all over campuses right then.

i was crying behind the glass window and it took everything inside of me not to run up to the family and say "hey, i will love and protect her and make sure she's happy and well taken care of!!"...although, i didnt want them to know that i had been watching their moment!

but, i'm making it my mission this year to take these little fishies under my mother-goose wing and love them as my own.

today, we found out that that very girl lives right next to us in the dorm. so, i went and knocked on their door, introduced myself (and, took piper with me, of course), and let them know - if they need ANYTHING - i am here.

i love living on campus. and i don't want to leave anytime soon.

just another day in paradise

it's 11pm and i should be fast asleep, resting before joy wakes to eat. instead, i find this time most relaxing and i'd rather stay up and enjoy it.

so here i sit, with a bowl of cookies and cream ice cream, a big comfy blanket, and guinn over to my left. He is sitting at his desk, dancing to some new techno jam he has been really into lately, and studying for comps --- for some reason, he is in an extra great mood (i can tell by his dance moves and make-shift drum routine number).

let me walk you through a typical day, shall we?
we'll start in the am. 6am rolls around (sometimes 4:30 or 5:30 but when i'm lucky, 6) and i hear joyful stirring in her crib. not crying, not fussing...just awake and ready. so i leap out of bed and peak inside with a "MORNING JOYBIRDY!!!" to which i receive a HUUUUUGE SMILE and partial laugh. she loves the morning, and reeeeeeeally loves me ;)
i whisk her up and give her one million kisses as we semi-dance around the room and celebrate a new day. about this point, i start seeing the heavy brow with a few grunting noises-- as to say, "i'm hungry, lets do this!"
15 minutes later we finish off breakfast with a few large burps and a really big happy smile. we then make our way to the pack and play for some fun. she lays there and stares at all her favorite little hangy toys. she touches them, grabs them, smiles and laughs at them. meantime, i'm right there in the kitchen making my breakfast.


next we're off to tummy time!!! we try to do this as long as possible. with the goal being to develop her neck muscles and her motor skills.


after about 10 minutes or so she's yawning, perhaps rubbing her little face with her hands, and ready for a nap!!
we go to our room, change her diaper, and down in the crib she goes! anywhere from an hour to 2 hours, typically.

these are her little "put myself to sleep" noises. sorry it's long. listen around 1:30:00. she's funny.


so now i do dishes, clean the house, laundry, respond to emails, sometimes sleep, whatever i can get done.
and then she wakes! and then we eat. and then we repeat above mentioned 4 times in a row.
we'll switch it up with running errands, taking piper on a walk, visiting daddy in his office. but other than that, this is our day-- for now anyway.

it has been so fun to see how much she changes developmentally from week to week. it's like one day she can't connect her hand with an object and then the next she is actually grabbing and holding on to them. seems silly but it really is a big deal when you watch it happen.

happy 3 months, joy avery!! you make me the happiest mommy EVER-- who knew that all i needed was a little joy in my life. not sure how we survived with out you.