Milestone Memory Lapse

Dear Avery,

You will be four years old in four days. Wow. The time has flown by.

Do you know that I have a baby book for you? I do. It has your bracelets from the hospital, your first footprints, your first lock of hair, and about 30 blank pages. It's not that I don't love you enough to write down all of those milestones. I just thought I would never forget.

Well, the truth is, when you are raising precious children, your heart is filled with each and every memory, milestone, smile and giggle, new tooth, first word, first step, boo boo and tear. All the joy is tremendous. Like a faucet dripping into a bucket, each drop is significant... and eventually those little drops overflow and spill out a fountain of joy to others. You are such a delight... here are some of my favorite memories after 6 months.

By the way, did you know that you have already been to Italy? You don't remember the miles we walked around Rome? The gorgeous flowers and landscaping at our villa in Rustico Sara? Missing our train and trying to find a hotel room at 3:00 AM in Firenze? Cramming into a Fiat with 7 loved ones and jamming to techno music? Exploring the awesome city of Venice? Listening to that horrible "musician" playing a saw while we ate our best meal in Lucca? Oh... You don't remember because you were only 20 weeks old... uh... gestational weeks, that is!

Anyway... here's your second taste of food! The first taste was Cheetos powder that you licked off of Aunt Beth's fingers. I made all of your baby food, I was such a purist (plus I had lots of time). Look at your daddy's hand- full of paint... He had his own home repair business when you were a baby and he and uncle Ryan did the brunt of the work. Don't feel insulted, he had paint all over his hands when he vowed his love to me at the alter!

This is your first trip to the beach. We came to visit Aunt Jode and Uncle Ryan and your cousins Grace and Ellie. You loved the water- and still do. Now we live just 45 minutes from here!
We moved from Aggieland to Vail (my hometown) when you were about 10 months old. This was your first and only hike we took while we lived there! We went to Hanging Lake.
These were my babies when I was a little girl and soon became your favorites. I called them Carole and Valerie, you called them Big Bone Baby and Stinky. You started walking when you were 11 months old, and you used to carry that bald baby EVERYWHERE!
This was your first Bronco game. We went with Jimmy Ray, Uncle Tommy and Daddy. We are all huge Bronco fans. Did you know that PaII is a Bronco fan, too? When they went to the Superbowl (whenever that was), he painted his F-150 Orange Crush and had big D emblems on the doors and two huge football helmets attached to the sides of the beds. Elway, Our way!
We went and visited Oma and Opa for your first birthday in East Texas. Aunt Beth and Uncle Ryan came too. Here you are with them, Aunt Margaret and your favorite yellow lab, Rogie. Who is ironically named after your Gramps' brother, Rogie!
This is your first birthday party in Vail. We had it at Nanna's house and Oma and Opa and Aunt Margaret came... It was super fun. You had your first bite of cake. Remember how I said I was a purist? Well Oma made this carrot cake, and I think it only had a pinch of sugar. You liked the lasagna just as well...
Ooo, your first fur! How posh (don't call PETA, it is faux).

You have always loved Jimmy Ray's ribs. You still do. The other night, daddy brought home some bbq and when he opened it, you exclaimed, "wow dad, did Jimmy Ray send us these ribs?"

You were piglet for this first official Halloween (your first Halloween, I had a bit of the baby blues and it was a miracle we made it out of the house at all when you were three weeks). We went to the Fall Festival at Nottingham Lake and it wore you out.Apparently, when we got home you were revitalized. Look at my cute little piggy. Do you see those keys in your hand? Yes, you had your first yucky fall with those. Mommy was terrified,Look what happened? See that big cut on your sweet face?

Time to get bundled up, Colorado is cold in the fall.
I told you so!
Here you are with Great Nana, this is Opa's mom. She adores you, and you always give her just the perfect smile

Your favorite food has always been and still is, Avocado. You like salmon, too. You are such a connoisseur. When mommy was little, my daddy used to joke that my favorite meal was Steak Diane and Perrier Water. Like mother, like daughter.
This is the first time we took you sledding. This little snowsuit was so puffy, you could hardly stand up.
And this is before your second Christmas. Such a little gift!

Okay, I have a lot more catching up to do this week. Stay tuned.