Avery Rivers

Well, we’re two weeks into 2013 and I still haven’t posted photos from Christmas yet. Bad Dad…but better late than ever.

Christmas was very exciting this year. Avery loved all the decorations and Mom made an awesome advent calendar so we could have a treat for dessert every night. By the time the big day came, Avery couldn’t stand to wait any longer. We got up early and checked the tree to see if Santa came, then we had Skype calls with Nana and Papa and Amma and Papa as we opened presents.

Avery spent the rest of the day playing with her new toys, just as fast as Mom and I could put them together. Later in the day, I got my holiday wish… Mom was kind enough to take some photos of Avery and I in our makeshift photo studio.

We’re already looking forward to Christmas 2013.

Test driving her new potty

Opening presents

New “Big Girl” panties, worn on the outside of her pajamas. Apparently all the kids are doing this now.

New pajamas. Fortunately, the panties fit over these too.

Soloing on the drums.

Lucky Dad.

Avery was kind enough to sit still for a few minutes (literally) this evening while modeling her Christmas dress so I could take some photos for our holiday card. Which photo did we pick? I’m not saying… but keep an eye on your mailbox.

You might’ve guessed it – but Christmas is a big deal around our house this year. In 2010, Avery was only a month old at Christmas, so she didn’t really get the whole concept. Last year, we were in the process of moving, so we didn’t put up decorations or a tree. So, this year is the first that Avery’s celebrating Christmas in high gear.

No one is more excited about this than Mom. The entire top floor of our house is covered in wreathes, garland, and lights. On Saturday night, we put up the Christmas tree and Avery pitched in with the decorating. Since then, she wakes up excited every day and admires her work, saying “Pretty” and “You like this Christmas tree?”

And of course we do. The next month will be a lot of fun.

We still can’t believe it, but our little girl turned two last Wednesday. On her birthday, Sara brought her a bunch of gifts and they had birthday cupcakes for breakfast. Wednesday night, Avery opened some gifts from Mom and I. Then on Saturday, we opened gifts that arrived in the mail from Avery’s friends and relatives and had cake while Nana and Papa joined in via Skype. For the finale on Sunday, Avery Skyped with Amma and Papa and opened presents they sent her.

Here are some photos of the festivities:

Another amazing year in the books. Thank you Avery. I love being your dad.

Well, here Avery is in all her trick-or-treating glory. Avery’s nanny had the day off, so Avery spent the Halloween day at daycare in Berkeley. We were a little worried that Avery’s Dora the Explorer costume wouldn’t last all day and all night, so we got her a ladybug costume to wear during the day and saved the Dora costume for trick-or-treating at night.

It was a little rainy, but we managed to visit maybe a half dozen houses on our street. Avery didn’t always remember to say “trick or treat”, but she had a lot of fun. Always the shy one, Avery wanted to go inside every house we visited.

Once the fun started, it was hard to get Avery to stand still for photos, but I managed a few before losing Avery’s interest – not that I could blame her.

To see how Avery’s grown and changed in the past year, check out this post from Halloween 2011.

We’re all about pumpkins lately, so we took a trip down to the pumpkin patch and fall carnival at Harding Elementary in El Cerrito yesterday. The weather was perfect, the pumpkins plentiful and everyone had a nice day out.

Avery is STILL talking about everyone. Just when I thought she might be settling back to her schedule, she asks to go play on the beach with Amma or she wants to play with blocks at Nana’s house. This was truly the vacation of a lifetime for Avery, thanks to everyone for taking off work and hanging out.

She was so awake the entire 5+ hours we were flying, she didn’t want to miss a thing.

Not sure who had more fun flying kites, Jeff or Nolan.

I’m glad Avery got comfortable on the way home….me, not so much.

Nearly a year to the day that Avery visited Massachusetts for the first time, we were back on an eastbound plane for another week of fun with the grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins. We spent three days in Leominster staying at Nana and Papa’s house and meeting Avery’s new cousin Flynn for the first time. Then, we headed down to a beach house in Plymouth for a few days of swimming, playing, and visiting with family.

Here’s a quick photo recap of the trip. You can click here for even more photos.

Playing in a bucket

The annual portrait with Nolan. What a difference a year makes.

Beach fun with Amma and Emily.

Covered in sand.

Papa catching Avery after she climbed up on the second story roof and jumped off. (Just kidding, Papa was tossing her in the air. She’ll probably jump off the roof next year.)

Playing music with Marc

Roaming the beach

Playing in the sand

Up to no good

Heading out into the water

Dad and Avery

Modeling her most patriotic outfit

Hanging out with Amma and Papa

We recently discovered Point Richmond, a great spot about four miles from our house in El Cerrito. There are lots good places to eat and stroll around. And on the very edge of Point Richmond is the Miller-Knox Regional Shoreline.

The park has hiking trails, a pond full of geese and seagulls, picnic areas, playgrounds, and Keller Beach – a small patch of beach on San Francisco Bay. The water is warm and the waves are pretty mellow – just right for Avery.

On Sunday, we took Avery down to Point Richmond for lunch before heading to the beach and the park for a couple hours. For a while now, Avery’s had this love-hate thing going with lemons and limes. When our drinks arrived, Avery had to have our fruit, so I turned on the video camera and let her do her thing:

Then, off to the beach and the park:

Strolling the beach with Mom

Sitting in the surf

Peeing? Maybe. OK, probably.

Running

And running…

And sorta running…

Gathering rocks

The look you get when you say, “You can’t carry all those rocks.”