An Avery story to make you laugh

Yesterday I got to hang out with Kristi and Avery and I have to share with you. We took a trip to My Gym which was quite an experience. It's cool seeing all the fun toys My Gym has to offer. They have a lot of gymnastics-type equipment, as well as lots of ladders, a couple trampolines, and jungle gym-type structures. Avery seemed to like climbing stairs most. My favorite part of her climbing stairs though is she likes to sit and watch the other kids running around. She looks so deep in thought probably thinking, "Wow. These kids are animals." One of her other favorite activities was the trampoline, but she seemed to like sitting on it while other kids jump up and down. I was impressed by her ability to do a dead hang on the straight bar. Bulk up that upper body strength, Avery! The sad news is Avery cried 3 times while we were there: once when she hit the top of her head when she stood up underneath a maze thing and once when she bonked heads with another little girl when they were playing on the wheelbarrow. The first time she cried though it was warranted: she got sacked my a little boy charging 90 miles an hour. ESPN's Chris Berman would have definitely shown that one on his best hits reel. And before I forget, Uncle Jason will be proud that Avery loved to point and say monkey at all the paintings. (My Gym's logo is a monkey.)

After My Gym, we went back to Kristi's house. I was going to babysit for a little bit while Kristi attended a lecture at her church. As I was finishing feeding Avery her dinner, I noticed she started leaning to one side and was concentrating really hard. Jacked! Why is it that every time I babysit she fills a diaper for me? And why is it that babies think it is so funny when an adult is gasping for air while changing a stinky diaper? So I'm changing her and I reach in the diaper stacker to get a fresh one. I start putting the diaper on only to be puzzled by how small it is on her. Jacked #2. Kristi only had a couple of the right sized diapers left and they were in the diaper bag. (For those of you who don't know, diapers come in sizes. Avery currently wears a 4. The one was trying to put on her was a 1. It looked as bad as a very heavy set man wearing a speedo 5 sizes too small.) So I carried Avery in her sized 1 diaper around the house with me to hunt down the right sized diaper. Soon after all was well. I got her in her jammies and we sat in the rocker to read a couple bedtime stories. She was snuggled up on Auntie Marisa's lap reading along, when she did the most adorable and pathetic thing ever. Avery looked up at me with the saddest eyes and cried out, "Beeeeenkeeeee." Kristi and Thane are trying to break Avery of her binky habit, but as many adults know a binky makes the world perfect. Avery then slid off my lap, sleepily walked to the kitchen counter, pointed up, and once again cried out, "Beeeeenkeeeee." This time with tears in her eyes. How could I say no? Besides, I figured if I didn't give it to her, she might start crying and I didn't want that of course. I handed her binky, she raised her arms to me to pick her up and rested her head on my shoulder. I walked back into her room, rocked her to sleep for a few minutes, and before too long the kid was out. I gingerly manuevered her into her crib. To end the night, she cried out once more for her binky which had fallen out of her mouth. I gave it to her and she was asleep in no time. I'm just grateful that I was actually able to get her to sleep this time since the last time I babysat she only wanted Unk Sha to put her to sleep. Yes, Unk Sha is what Avery calls Uncle Shawn. Drat. I wanted her to say my name first. I guess I'll have to work harder on Kristi and Thane's next baby.