Look how far we have come… just look at yesterday’s photo and you will see. Now, this one could be construed to be a lot of things, but whatever way you look at it… she is darn cute… ok, biased parental opinion… you got a problem with that?

Wow.  Is she already this grown up?  Take note of the blue socks… her choice that morning (note to parents: only pick the fights that matter), but the fact that you can see them in the photo is priceless and adds to why we were happy despite the impeccable color coordination of our two year old.

Avery loves her music.  Whether it is “Baby Dance” on DVD, Laurie Berkner in the car, or just the White Stripes on local radio… it all gets her grooving. Recently, I bought her a new CD so that both Colleen and I would have one in our car to calm the musical beast.  But now Avery has learned that she can control which songs she hears by simply yelling, “different one! different song?”  This week, her song has been “The Goldfish.” It is a Dr. Suess-like song about fishing doing non-fish things - namely brushing their teeth, washing themselves, and riding bicycles.  Avery thinks it is hilarious when they say, “Wait a minute! Fish don’t …”

The point of this story?  Considering that we listen to a single song over and over and over again on all car rides means that I am now sitting here with the song running through my head.  Note to parents… CDs and music are great, but they come at not only a monetary expense, but eventually at the expense of your sanity.

Seriously, how many days in a row can you eat oatmeal?  Obviously as often as you wish. Too bad that because of your obsession with apple cinnamon oatmeal, you went 3.5 days without a bowel movement.

Everyone is obsessed with something, right?  Whether it is food, reality television, or Paris Hilton, we all have our obsessions.  It dawned on me tonight, while listening in on Colleen putting Avery to bed, that - surprise - Avery has obsessions and tonight a new one was added to the list.

Let me lead you back to the beginning of this story.  It starts with an old book series called the “Mr. Men” books.  Each book is named after its main characters - think “Mr. Funny” or “Mr. Bump.” Well, I have a number of these books from when I was a kid and they have been sitting with Avery’s books on her bookshelf for a while now.  The other night, as a treat, I offered a “new” book.  It was an instant hit. We have read a new book every night, but that is not the obsession.

This morning, Avery was awake early - seems to be the routine of late - and by 8:30am was exhausted.  She wanted to get in bed, but with her “Mr. Funny” book.  Not thinking anything of it, Colleen left Avery to read in bed and within minutes she was fast asleep.  Little did Colleen know that allowing Avery to “read” in bed was going to be the newest obsession.

Tonight, Avery insisted that she go to bed with her Dora book.  Don’t ask me how a child reads in the dark, but apparently our child can. So here’s to falling asleep with a good book - every night for the foreseeable future.

Ok, ok.  I’ve had enough.  I will get more photos (newer photos) online for everyone.  Our current photo solution is too time consuming, so bear with me as I put together a suitable replacement. As you were.

No question goes unanswered in our household.  No matter the difficulty, the subject or whether we intended for the question to be answered - we can always count on Avery to tell us what to do or whether or not to do whatever “it” may be.  Usually  her answers are in the form of “uh-huh” or “yes” and more recently “yup” or “nope.”

That brings me to the topic of today’s Avery-ism.  Indecisiveness.  Sure, it is not really a saying she has, something funny that spewed out of her mouth or even anything that may interest you for any reason, but we certainly always get a kick out of her enthusiasm to give us the answer we were not looking for.

But more recently, as mentioned earlier, Avery has picked up using “yup” and “nope” - we are not quite sure where either came from, but that is off topic.  As I also stated earlier, Avery loves answering questions not directed at her… well, what about those that are?  This is the thing… we are not sure what is going on in that brain up there, but every question — unless it contains the word “cheese” or “swimming” — garners a fast, un-thought out “nope” response.

Not sure if it is just habit or instinct, but the moment we take that enthusiastic “nope” as gospel, out flies a “YUP!” along with a chuckle from us parents — likely re-enforcing the behavior.  Of course we are then forced to re-ask the question, and maybe that is what she wanted all along?  To mess with us.

At lunch the other day, Avery and Colleen were sitting next to each other at the table. Typically Avery is the one holding the crayons and coloring, but this day was different.

Avery was the one “barking” the orders - telling Colleen which colors to color in which spots. To tell you the truth, I do not believe that I had never seen a green sun before Sunday, but Avery was quite obviously delighted by Colleen’s prowess with the crayon.

In respect of Colleen’s ability, Avery praised:

“Great coloring Mommy.”

Oh, I don’t know… maybe let it cascade from the innards of a toilet and flood the bathroom, as well as the storage area in the basement below?  Cleaning up hundreds of gallons of toilet water is a great way to spend the morning… just ask us - we will be happy to tell you.

Avery new passion? Going on walks. But this is not your typical walker. She demands to be pushed - either by stroller or wagon (is it her chariot - at least we don’t have to feed her grapes and cool her with palm fronds - no, don’t give Avery any ideas) - and about half a mile into the walk, decides she must run. Great. Fine. Splendid. Until a mile or more from our home, we are stuck with an exhausted, almost 30 pound, 21 month old who just stands there until we carry her home.

Yesterday, she learned of the stream that lies off the beaten path… why? I thought it would be cool to show her… she does love water. But while yesterday Colleen and I just let her look and listen to the flowing stream, today I decided it would be a dandy idea to teach Avery how to “skip rocks” despite the fact that I knew it may come back to haunt me.

So today, for the 20 minutes, we stood by the stream and threw rocks and stones with all our strength into the mighty rapids of one inch water flowing blissfully - yet slowly - by. Joyous… Until it was time to go. Reminder to parents - always, always, always use your marketing and PR skills to spin “time to go” into your child’s idea.

All in all, skipping rocks was a blast, but note to wife: Figure out a new walking path, otherwise we are going be skipping rocks every single night.