Family Day at Sea World San Antonio

Our first family trip together was to Sea World at San Antonio right before Emily's third birthday.  The weather was gorgeous, not extremely hot as it normally is around this time of year.  We were a little nervous about how the girls would react to the long trip and long day without a nap.

The day started out well with our two hour drive up to San Antonio, the girls didn't fall asleep as I would have hoped and we only had to take one rest stop.  Once we arrived we checked into our hotel room and met up with Ama, Apa, Alex and Andrea.  We all hopped into one vehicle and headed one mile down the road to our destination.  When we arrived we took a small lunch break and headed over to watch our first show, Azul, which featured Beluga whales, white-sided dolphins, colorful birds and acrobatic performers.  The girls were amazed and couldn't take their eyes off of the performers.  Emily didn't like the applause of the audience too much and wouldn't let me clap as well, but overall she enjoyed the show.

After the show we walked around and took in all the sights, sounds, and smells of the park.  We stopped at the Alligator and Turtle attraction.  At first it seemed as though they had taken the alligators somewhere and replaced them with statues, but at a second glance we realized that the alligators were real.  Out of all the attractions and shows we viewed the girls, especially Avery, loved this one the most.  Avery didn't want to leave and kept gripping the railing, but there isn't much to do but stare at the alligators all day and those weren't our intentions at Sea World.

After much walking around we also went and checked out the Penguins but I didn't take my camera inside.  The smell wasn't very pleasant and although the girls loved the movie "Happy Feet" they weren't at all impressed with the real live penguins, maybe because they were behind the glass.  The day was getting hotter so we decided to take Emily and Avery to Elmo's Bay of Play to cool off in the water area for children.  They both had so much fun here, Avery didn't want to get her head wet but Emily loved walking underneath the falling water.  Both had such a good time here they didn't want to leave and both pitched a fit when I changed them out of their bathing suits.

We went back to the hotel thinking the girls would nap for awhile but when it was apparent they weren't going to lay their heads down we ate dinner and went back to the park for the remainder of the day.  Not five minutes after we placed them in their strollers they were both fast asleep.  So we decided to have a little adult time and hit the gaming section where daddy got to show his physical strength and abilities.  He won a couple of stuffed animals for the girls and when nightfall came around we headed over to the last show called One Ocean featuring the killer whales.  Not having slept all day the girls were cranky and at first didn't want to watch the fantastic show in front of us, until the baby whale came out.  Emily asked me to turn her facing forward and Avery couldn't stop pointing.  Overall, we all enjoyed ourselves and had a great time.  Next stop I'm hoping will be the San Antonio Zoo.

Avery's Birthday Celebration

Avery is two years old now and we had multiple celebrations for her birthday this year.  Over her birthday weekend we celebrated with family and friends at the Aransas Pass Aquatic Center where she got to swim in their huge toddler pool filled with waterfalls and a slide.  Everyone had a great time but not everyone could make it so we had a family celebration on her birthday at Nonna's house.  Nonna made special cupcakes especially for the occasion which were so cute.  Avery had a blast at all her celebrations and got such great gifts from everyone. Thanks to all who could join us and help celebrate our baby turning two!

Avery at 24 Months Old

Yay, Avery reached her big two year milestone and with it comes along a more stubborn attitude and tantrums when she doesn't get her way.  Avery wants to do everything she can possibly do for herself and will throw a fit if you don't let her try.  This goes for anything having to deal with closing tops on cups to dressing herself to helping mom out with chores.  All I hear all the time is "I do it!".  Behavior of this sort was as to be expected having gone through it with her older sister who is still stuck in the same phase.  Although it can be frustrating to wait around patiently while Avery tries and does things on her own I know in the long run it helps to teach her independence and give her confidence.

At her 2 year wellness checkup Avery weighed in at 24 lbs. and came in at 33 in. in height.  She is small for her age, just under average, but we already knew she was petite.  Dr. Fuentes said she is doing great in her measurements and is right on track for her development.  She was quite impressed at how Avery didn't cry and let her do a thorough checkup without problems.  I was able to keep her calm all the way up until she had to get the flu vaccination.  This year we were early enough to have Avery take the vaccine nasally instead of getting a shot.

At this point in time some of Avery's favorite things include a show that she and her sister are obsessed with called "Peppa Pig", a book I read her every night called "When I Go To Sleep", and of course Dora the Explorer.  She still loves the song "Wheels on the Bus" and doesn't ever seem to tire of it, which irritates Emily to no end that she has to listen to that song again and again.  I'm trying to introduce both of them to new songs and recently I found one called "The School Bus" by Patty Shukla that the girls have really come to like.  She also has one that is called "Little Red" that the girls love as well.

Avery's speech is getting better with all the learning she is doing in school.  She still speaks in a low voice which is sometimes hard to hear, but don't let it fool you because she can get loud when she wants.  Avery loves to mimic her sister and copies a lot of the phrases she uses.  Although she is talking more, she still tends to run her words together and is a little hard for others to understand.  Emily is pretty good about knowing what sister wants and telling others.

We are currently potty training and Avery is getting better at telling us when she needs to go potty, but she still isn't consistent and sometimes doesn't want to sit on the toilet.  Other times she sits a little too long on the toilet playing with the toilet paper or the ladder attached to her seat cushion.  I don't have any complaints with her though because she is doing much better than her older sister who in my opinion should be reaching the end of potty training but is nowhere near the end.  I have hope Avery will be potty trained before she turns three.