Cousin Company

My sister Britney drove up from Des Moines, IA with her two kids last week and stayed with us for three days. Avery and Camryn had a great time with their cousins Stephen (4) and Emily (20 months). Our two main outings were to a local park and to a pumpkin patch. Here are some photos of their fun together.

Yesterday Avery said to me, "I'm sad..." so I asked her why and she said, "I miss my Stephen and Emiy."

Milestone

I failed to mention last week that Camryn reached a milestone on Thursday - she got her first tooth!

She's done really well. Not drooling a ton, actually. She got her tooth a few days before she turned 7 months, about 3 weeks prior to when Avery did.

Attempt at a Photo Shoot

So I've been meaning to take Avery and Camryn to get their pictures taken professionally, but I still haven't. Not even once since Camy was born! Plus they have these super cute matching outfits my mom got them and I thought they'd work great for pictures. Anyways I thought I'd do a test run in the outfits out in the backyard. I didn't get my "let's print and frame it" shot, but I think my kids are so cute that a lot of them are pretty precious moments.

Life After Binky

Yes, there is life after binkies! Avery said goodbye to her binkies on Saturday night, after over 27 months. We had prepped her all week that the "Binky Fairy" was coming to take her binkies away (thanks to the suggestion of a book by Mark Brenner). We decorated a box for them and put it on the doorstep and then a few minutes later we opened the door and they were gone, replaced by a new Dora movie! Here's the progress she's made so far:
1st night - She had a little harder time than usual to fall asleep (1/2 an hour of us singing songs and telling her stories, then 1/2 an hour of crying). BUT she didn't wake up at all asking for it, which was very unexpected.
2nd night - She whined a little more than normal but not too bad. And once she was asleep she was fine.
3rd night - She hardly whined at all.
Tonight - Piece of cake.

And the amazing thing is she hasn't even asked for one. A couple of times she's mentioned the fact that the binky fairy came, but she's really done well! Great!

Oh... one minor problem though - she hasn't taken a nap since Friday!!!! Ah!

Camryn or... Kimryn?

Many family members have suggested that Camy looks like my dad, Kim. What do you think? Here are pictures of them both at 3-4 months:

I think it's a pretty good comparison. Plus they both have hazel eyes and dark hair. (By the way, I never would've thought I'd have a baby with hazel eyes.)