Shortly after Avery was born I was so surprised of what an easy baby she was. Harlan was definitely a challenge, so I was expecting much of the same from my second daughter. But she wasn’t. From day one, she was much more of a go-with-the-flow type of girl. And she continues to be to this day.
Her easy going personality paired with her incredible sense of humor makes her so much fun to be around. We’ve been spending much more time together now that Harlan is in school and she never fails to make me laugh. I don’t know if it’s her increasing sense of her vocabulary or just hearing things her big sisters says all the time, but some of the things that come out of her mouth have me laughing out loud.
Just this morning she walked outside and saw that our neighbors had inflatable Halloween decorations in their front yard. Har asked me what material they were made out of. Not knowing the exact material I muttered out that they were made of cloth. Avery abruptly interrupted and said, “No, they are water balloon Harlan.” I couldn’t help but laugh at her observation. This afternoon once we got home she looked out the window to see them deflated and asked me, “What happened to my water balloons?” Oh that silly little girl.
Her free spirit is always evident by the clothes that she chooses to wear. Right now she’s in a pink stage. It has to be a dress, has to twirl, and has to be pink. It doesn’t matter if it’s a costume or something that is entirely too small, if it’s pink, it works.
As funny as she is, she is super predictable. She has certain things she does and says that make us laugh all the time. I call them, Averyisms.
Every morning she wakes up running into our room asking for “mini pancakes.” I recently had to sit her down to break the news that Trader Joe’s has pulled them off the shelves while they “reformulate” the mixture. It didn’t go over too well. Guess who is up every Saturday making “mini pancakes” for the week ahead?
She loves these pancakes so much that I caught her licking her sister’s plate (not even her own) shortly after we got back from taking Har to school. I couldn’t help but laugh because this is SO something that she would do.
She calls Macks her “sweetie boy.” She talks in this little signature baby voice and says “Yes my little sweetie boy. You are my baby one.” Everything that is tiny is the “baby one” as she likes to call it. She says it in the cutest little voice. I wish I could bottle it up and keep it forever. We now refer to anything that is small as, “the baby one.”
I’ve watched her over these past couple of months as she has really stepped up in the big sister role. With Harlan being in school full time, she is there when Macks needs him. She is so nurturing to not only him, but everyone. She’s the first one to say I love you, the first one to come over and give you a hug for no reason, and the first one to ask for a kiss.
She will cuddle with you for hours on end and at 2 1/2 years old, she still wants me to hold her like she was when she was just days old.
I was always scared that with Avery being the second child (and now the middle child) that she would have a hard time finding herself – that she would just walk in the shadows. But she’s proven me wrong and continues to do so every single day.
Tonight as I tucked her in bed, she looked at me and smiled. “I love you, mommy,” she whispered. “I love you too,” I said as I smiled back at her. “Give me a kiss,” she demanded. I leaned down and gave her a kiss on the lips before heading out the door.
On my way out she stopped me. “I want another kiss, mommy,” she yelled from her bed. Of course I obliged (how could I say no?) and went over to give her one last kiss.
I hold onto these moments because I know they won’t last forever. But deep down inside I hope that they will.
Don’t ever change, little one. Don’t ever change.
