Little Miss Avery, you are seven years old! Actually I guess I should say my wonderful, beautiful Avery is seven! Not so little anymore. Lately you have asked me to call you Avery, and I'm happy to oblige. Just about everyone else still calls you Ava, but you "wanted Mama to call me my big name."
You have this patented baby koala cuddle that you like to do. Here you are, curled up on Daddy's shoulder for a little snuggle.
Ava what a beautiful little heart you have! You are generous, silly, sweet and caring. There is so much I want to remember about you at this age. You are just an absolute joy to be around, and you are developing this high pitched squeal/laugh that may hurt my ears a little but I'm glad to hear you so tickled! You love to play with your brothers and are over the moon excited to welcome a new little baby into our family.
On your actual birthday I ate lunch with you at school and I brought you chicken nuggets and a milk shake! Can't beat that! I'm so glad that our school allows this because I love sharing the brief half an hour with you chatting about your day. You wish that I would eat with you more often, but I think once a week is a good compromise. I think it's important for you to spend time socializing with kids at school as well.
On the night of your birthday we went to a family favorite hibachi! You made it very clear to me that you wanted the waiter to know it was your birthday. They have a disco light they turn on, play loud music and a waiter comes out with a birthday head and beats on a drum to wish you a happy birthday. Although you can be quiet and shy, you really do enjoy being the center of attention.
Stuffed animals. You love them. Sometimes at night while you are winding down you love to go over the names of all your stuffies and tell me their birthdays. You received twin baby dolls for your birthday, but you seem to prefer stuffies to babies right now. Most of the time they remain on your bed but you generally will pick one to put in your backpack for school or to carry around for the day. In this picture you are starting to look like such a young lady! You are chatting with Grandma and Bo on the phone. You love your family so much: Grandma, Bo, Meme, Bob Bob, and your aunts, uncles, and cousins too of course. It's not out of the ordinary for you to cry upon their departure or even at night before bed you will cry wishing they were around.
And, your birthday survey:
Favorite toy: stuffed animals
Favorite movie/TV show: The Good Dinosaur and Inside Out
Favorite Food: fish sticks, mac and cheese, sushi
Favorite outfit: dresses
Favorite game: Arby's birthday (on your tablet)
Favorite art activity: oil pastels
Favorite animal: giraffe, cheetah, dolphin, dog
Favorite song: Theme song to lego friends
Favorite outside activity: jump in puddles
Favorite thing to drink: milk
Favorite holiday: my birthday
Favorite thing to sleep with: pinkie and stuffies
What do you want to be when you grow up: singer or an artist or a veterinarian
What do you like about Carter: he lets me use his easiest nerf gun to jack
What do you like about Dawson: he repeats every word that I say
What do you pray for: everybody in the universe and animals
What do you like to do with Daddy: go eat lava cake with him
What do you like to do with Mommy: go shopping with her
Favorite book: The book with no pictures
This year you have participated in gymnastics and now you are doing softball. At first you told us you didn't want to play softball, but you changed your mind. I think at one of the softball clinics this winter they played a scrimmage with outs. You hated getting out and it almost turned you off to the sport! But you decided to give it a go,and I can't wait to see you in your first game!
Learning how to fail gracefully has been a tough lesson to learn for you. As I mentioned you hate to get out. You hate to lose a board game. You want to be the best at everything. Sometimes these failures end in tears, but it is an important lesson to learn. You won't always be the best at everything, but you do have special gifts and talents.
Have I mentioned you are messy? You love to play in the mud and get filthy. One evening it was raining but not thunder storming and you asked if you could play in the rain in your mud boots. We said sure, and of course all three of the kids joined in. Not only were you soaking wet but you were the muddiest of all three creatures by far! Thank goodness it was bath night!
Well sweet girl, I'm just so amazingly blessed to be your Mama. You bring smiles to my face and joy to my heart. Daddy and I love you forever, we'll like you for always, as long as I'm living my baby you'll be.
Happy Birthday!
