The Artist Within

I love to watch Avery in focused play. Such is the case when he is outside "painting" with his sidewalk chalk. He quickly uses his whole range of motion making broad strokes, giving sounds to different marks and colors, and narrates his drawings into stories. There will be a point where he backs up to view the piece at a distance, and then move back in to hone in details with quick marks. Sometimes he invites me to add a character, but tells me what and where it should be.

When something really interests him, Avery passionately makes an attempt to discover it - and master it until he is satisfied with the result. Otherwise, he becomes so frustrated that exasperates him enough to take a break from it. I wondered if these moments give me a glimpse of his budding personality and clue me in on how I can help guide his strengths and areas of weakness.

Room Time

Avery is still at an age where he shows us signs that he needs an afternoon nap. However, he is also old enough where there are days that the extra rest is not needed. So in an effort to be flexible, on the days that Avery doesn't nap, we have "room time". Avery is allowed to nap in his bed if he is tired, or he may play with his toys quietly.

The room you see pictured here was picked up and clean just 20 minutes before the photo was taken. Avery is a very spirited little guy and believe it or not, he did play quietly while creating this mess. Luckily, right as I walked in to check on him, I caught him right before he changed his own messy diaper.

The Season of Summer

I've heard life described as having many seasons. We have just completed our season of summer together. One of the great things about having a husband who is a school teacher is that he has more time to spend with Avery and I during the summer months (as his work consists of things more on a part-time basis). These two and a half months were our chance to "fill up our love tanks", so to speak, in terms of quality family time before the hectic school season arrives.

It is also was a blessing for Clint to watch Avery grow, achieve some development milestones and actually hear for himself the funny sayings I am always telling him about over the phone during his lunch break or after arriving home from school. Our recent favorites this week include when Clint was measuring Avery's height (3'3"!) and Avery said that "Dada" was "tall like a dinosaur!", and how he said he wanted to "go shoppink at Mar-Dart" (shop at Wal-Mart).

The upcoming school season is here...with it's new challenges and experiences. Like every season, it too will have a start and an end. Any season God gives us has a purpose and what we learn from it is a generous blessing.

Two and a Half

Our son is a little over two and a half years old. We've been warned about the "terrible twos". Although we certainly do not consider him terrible, Avery has chosen to challenge more battles with his parents. It's great he is a confident, independent little spirit, but that makes is all the more difficult channeling his energy positively and asserting our authority. Picky eating, spitting, refusing to use the bathroom, throwing tantrums when he is tired and off his usual routine are just some examples of struggles that have been much more pronounced. We hear "no" a lot more often and sometimes feel like we do not get much accomplished throughout the day except discipline.

Then.....

there are the moments that you realize he is growing up too fast. He tries to make us laugh and ends up laughing at the amusement of himself. Sometimes he will break out into a hearty song of "Baa Baa Black Sheep", sing a sweet song of "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star", and sing the "ABC's" in the lowest bass octive he can muster. He will grab your hand at the playground to dance if he hears the church tower bells belt out a hym. "Mama, you're a pretty girl" slips out his lips with squinty eyes and a toothy grin. Life is an exciting and tactile adventure for this curious, lively (not to mention fast!) little guy.

Little things like that helps put things is perspective when we have long, challenge-filled days.

Race Car Land

Hello, Lightning McQueen here. I am Avery's favorite race car. As you can see, it's been a while since I've used my Rusteeze Medicated Bumper Ointment. My rear tires do not spin anymore since they were broken from overuse about a week ago. Actually, they've been misaligned many times, but on this occasion, Dad's trusty mini screwdriver can't fix cracked plastic. My spoiler magically disappeared a couple months ago as well. However, that doesn't stop me from being the fastest car around.

Here is Radiator Springs, the cutest little town in Polk County:

"The King" is the blue race car on the main drag and "Doc" is resting over by me and the Cozy Cone hotel. Sometimes Avery stuffs us in the cones so we can sleep. I recently came back from tipping over the cow tractors (over on the far upper right side). Chick Hicks is normally cruising around here too, but right now he is napping with Avery. Sometimes Mom has to help me repair the road with new masking tape.

Playing at the Park on Eisley's Scowden's B-Day

Introducing Chores