"lello doo"

Avery has been practicing saying lello "Hello" and today...almost all day - she was saying lello doo for "hello dog" very very cute! We thought for a while now that she was saying hello - we kept hearing the same sound everytime the phone rang and today Im convinced - it was hello for sure - well, at least Avery's version of it! Also working on Hi dog - sounds kinda like eye doo. She has just been so much fun lately!

Avery's 20 months :)

Got in a little mini photo shoot with Avery tonight - with a lot of tootsie rolls for a bribe :) so if her smile looks crooked or her cheeks look full - they are totally full of tootsie rolls! She's 20 months now and boy...if it's possible to be into everything even more than she was a month ago...she is. She is getting so cute - I taught her how to make monkey noises today - it's the cutest thing ever!

Brenden is playing his first lacrosse game tomorrow - weather permitting (and thats not looking too good) It's hould be interesting because they are pretty terrible - lol He does look super cute in all his gear, pics to come!

Almost 20 months and what a mess

just some pics for now :)

Oh some fun with my camera and yogurt

Brenden got the very first home run of the season for his team - it was super exciting to see tonight!!! Also he is minus another front tooth :( The tooth fairy made another trip to the Hopf house last night. Avery enjoyed feeding herself yogurt, well wearing it anyway!

A quick trip to the beach

WE had some incredible weather in OC for Spring Break! 80 degrees on the beach in April....last year it was maybe 47 degrees during spring break. We had a great time! We rode bikes on Assateague Island, and to the candy kitchen of course. We also walked the boardwalk and made some time for a photo or two along the way.

Some flowers from Conner's garden

It's so exciting this time of year...Conner's garden is literally bursting with growth. And now I have this fab new lens to document it. Here are some of my recent favorites.

my baby boy is really growing up....and losing teeth :(

I have been trying to get Brenden out for a photoshoot in the anticipation of losing a big front tooth. The weather has been lousy...raining...always raining. So Saturday, after baseball I took him out. I offered cash, he requested a book instead. Ummmmm, deal! So we went out in Historic Ellicott City for 2 hours and got some really nice pictures. He asked me 1/2 way through if when I was done I could send his pictures in to the model people. So cute!!! At the end of the session he tells me he likes doing photoshoots with mom - it's like an adventure. I try to pick a new spot everytime and at least do 2 shoots a year with him.

So to make a long story short, Shoot on Saturday, tooth falls out Monday at school. I made it just in time! It will only be a matter of a week or two before the other front tooth falls out. He looks so different and is really growing up.

He starts Lacrosse practice tonight, after $250 spent on equiptment....he better like Lacrosse! He looks soooooo cute in his helmet. So baseball and lacrosse in the same season...we'll see how this goes :)

Avery's 19 months...and a week or so

Boy is she a spitfire!!! She is upto all sorts of new tricks. some pictured above...she undresses herself and takes her sleepers off or sweatshirts...anything with a zipper...it's gone. She climbs up and across everything....including our pub table and chairs in the kitchen. Oh, and she has discovered her inner artist, as noted by the display on our wall :)

Along with the new physical skills, comes.. dun...dun...dun...temper tantrums! Phew...she sure gets mad if she doesnt get her way! The other day she slapped herself in the face along with a glass breaking scream - all because I told her she could push the buttons on the new dvd player. She will also sometime throw herself on the floor - it's hard not to laugh, because, even when she's mad...she's so dang cute!

She had infant and toddlers yesterday and all is well. They have no developmental concerns and she is doing really well. She was also seen by a speech pathologist yesterday who also has no concerns. She feels that she is on the cusp of a "language explosion" She has started to make a hello sound when the phone rings...it isnt the word hello - but the same sound. And she started to say baby "bae buh" 2 days ago. She is trying to say ball also. It helps that the speech pathologist's own child is the same age as Avery and at the same speech level. Uh-Oh is still her favorite thing to say next to "duh" referring to our 4 legged hairy beasts. So for now - we just continue to track and monitor her development and see them again in June.