My Dearest Avery,
You are almost FOUR years old! How did that happen? You are spunky, sweet, polite, sometimes shy, and sometimes naughty. You love your family fiercely. You think your brother is "so cute" and you like stealing attention away from him (I think that's typical for an older sibling). You're so much fun to play with and explain things to - and you understand way more than we give you credit for.
You're getting so smart too. You know the difference between a consonant and a vowel and you're learning how to figure out what letter words start with. You're also teaching me Spanish :)
You love to help dad and dance and you don't like that you sleep on the other side of the house from the rest of us. You like to ask dad or me to lay down with you or stay in your blue room (next door) until you go to sleep. You've also slept on the floor in our room in your sleeping bag a few times.
You're really good at pretending....pretending with your princesses or legos or pretending some chairs are a train. You've also pretended your magnatiles are barbies. You're about to have a Princess Elena birthday party so we've been planning for that.
Your cousins came to visit over their spring break and you LOVED spending time with them but you were also really mean to mom and dad while they were here. It was like you were putting on a front for them. We worked to straighten that out without embarrassing you too much.
Here is your life in pictures right now....
You and dad have had a lot of time together - and he took you on a trip to Santa Fe:
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| Only you have the power to do this..... |
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| At the aquarium in Phoenix |
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| My family! |
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| Smores at the neighborhood fire pit |
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| One happy dad! |
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| Building your computer with dad |
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| Passing time at the hotel in Santa Fe |
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| Brother's first baseball game...we didn't get to stay very long but you had fun! |
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| Loving on daddy's arm... |
Here are pictures of you during Easter and with your cousins:
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| Goofing off! |
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| Easter baskets! |
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| Ready for the Easter hunt! |
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| Looking for eggs in the backyard |
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| Coloring eggs with Greg and Zoie! |
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| Trying to fly the kites you got in your basket |
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| Heading to the pool |
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| Eating in the back - so fun! |
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| Prepping the "dirt" for the neighborhood Easter egg hunt |
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| The aftermath of the hunt! |
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| You had so much fun with Zoie in the pool! |
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| Heading back from fun at the pool |
Some good quality time with your brother (who you love very much):
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| You saw me getting brother's 3 month picture and you wanted a turn! |
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| Love this photo so much - this is you entertaining Evan for me while I got ready for work |
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| Conspiring, no doubt |
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| On a ride at the Phoenix aquarium |
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| At the children's museum in Phoenix - having loads of fun |
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| Royals! |
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| You love holding his hand - and you help us take care of him - he's so lucky to have you |
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| You guys are so cute! |
We also got quite a few pictures of you playing and at swim lessons:
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| You've gotten a lot better at riding your scooter - just need to teach you not to run over people! |
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| You're also getting a lot better at swim! |
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| You put your doll where you see me put brother. You also nurse your doll and pat her on the back, just like I do brother! |
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| playing at a new play place I found |
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| you're always first in line to go swim |
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| at the zoo |
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| at Luci's in Phoenix - our favorite restaurant up there! |
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| goofy! |
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| swim and dinner at the neighborhood pool - we try to do this once a week |
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| at your brother's first D-backs game |
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| I didn't realize at the time you were imitating me....so cute! |
Avery, we honestly couldn't ask for a better helper and big sister. You're always looking out for your brother and you long to be included in everything. You also entertain yourself pretty well in your play room - of course we try to join in often but sometimes you prefer that we leave you be. I've found that if I spend the time to explain to you why something you did was wrong, you're less likely to do it again.
I love you so much and can't wait to see what FOUR has in store for you!
All my love,
Mom
