Little Gym

Avery and I went a trial class at Little Gym today. It was awesome! Avery absolutely loved it and I had a really good time, too. I hadn't intended to try out Little Gym because it's about 30 minutes away, whereas Gymboree is only 10 minutes away. Fortunately, Christie and Henry happened to be trying it, so they invited us along. Thank goodness! I was a bit hesitant to pay the money for Gymboree since it seemed so expensive for what we were doing. So I put off joining, even though I intended to sign up. Avery enjoyed Gymboree, but not in the same way she enjoyed Little Gym. This is a pricey activity, too, but I didn't hesitate to sign up because we both had such a great time. Gotta jump on the activities that both mom and daughter like.

Following that, we hit Beaverton Bakery where I bought Avery a cookie and me a doughnut (ok, maybe two doughnuts). Avery took a small little bite of the cookie, then asked for cheese. I thought she had a sweet tooth, but every time I've offered her cake or cookies (which, granted, isn't often), she's taken a bite and then gone on to eat other food rather than have more of it. Good girl! Not only is this good for her, but it means I get leftovers. Score.

Speaking of Avery's eating, she is improving rapidly. She'll try most things we put in front of her now, which is a welcome change. She even ate avocado. I've given her that probably ten times, each time with no success. This last time, she ate quite a bit. I guess cutting back on the milk is what needed to happen. Yesterday, she powered down six raspberries in one sitting, which for Avery, is a lot.

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Brace yourselves, I've got big news. D and I have decided to stop using house cleaners and lawn people. I know. Shocking. In an effort to spend less money, I did some math. I was a bit shocked at how much we spent on these two items combined over the course of a year. So, I told D I would eliminate the house cleaners if he took over the lawn care.

I love having my house cleaned by others. For one thing, I don't get upset when the dogs immediately come inside after it's been cleaned by someone else. When I clean it myself, it's like ripping out my heart to let them back in. I also find all sorts of little things that drive me bonkers when I clean. However, my other reason for wanted to eliminate these things pushed me to encourage us to make this change. I don't want Avery to grow up thinking that you pay people to do everything for you (even if that is so the way I would like to live myself).

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I'll be getting ready for our Colorado trip this week. Avery and I leave on Friday. Fortunately, she still fits just fine in her infant car seat and that seat is rated to 30 lbs. I'm so glad we bought that one since traveling with an infant car seat is considerably easier than traveling with a convertible one.

I'm looking forward to visiting with Mom. Today I did a test to see if Avery will give hugs to people other than D and me. She gladly leaped into Christie's arms and gave her a great big hug. Hopefully she does this with all the Colorado folks, too. You never know when babies are going to go all shy on you.

Of course, we'll get to see cousin Dylan on this trip, too! I am so looking forward to seeing Dylan and Avery play together. Seriously, how cute is he?