Avery Saves Mommy's Career ...

Avery at Mommy's office

So this week Mommy needed my keen analytical skills to help her with her work load. It seems that she was trying to finish yet another paper, but the results just weren't meeting her predictions.

Avery reviewing the statistical methods Mommy used in her paper

After reviewing the statistical methods she used, I noticed that Mommy was still using Carmines & Zeller's inter-item correlation methods when in fact her sample size had increased to where this method no longer applies (e.g. over 10 samples). I advised her that she should instead use Bordens & Abbott's methods instead.

Mommy investigating the statistical methods

error Avery found in her paper

And upon further review, I could just tell that something was off with the data. It was a gut feeling, but I could just smell/taste that the data was way off.

Avery smelling that the data was off ...

... and Avery tasting that the data was off ...



... and Avery really tasting even more how much the data was off

And finally eureka, I found the problem with the data!!! Mommy made a typical rookie professor mistake that just needed a second set of eyes (and my wisdom) ... she simply just switched the rows and columns when running the data thru her statistical software which led to the bogus results. Just a quick and easy modification will solve that problem!

Good thing Mommy had me to help her out ... this time!

Avery showing Mommy why the data might be off

(and Mommy agreed)

Avery putting her 'stamp of approval'

on Mommy's corrected/finished paper

It's a parade just for me?!!?!?

Avery up high to get a good view at her parade

Yesterday was just total awesome!!! On what I thought would be just one of our typical walks down to the University, Mommy and Daddy surprised me with throwing a parade in my honor!!!

There were tons of people walking around with my name on their shirts/hats/banners (well, it was just the first letter "A", but close enough) and all sorts of marching bands, floats, celebrities, and everything else you have for a parade.

There was even a little car with my name on it in the parade procession ... I guess that will be my first car when I'm able to drive (maybe sometime next year?).

UofA mascots Wilmer and Wilma test driving Avery's car

I guess Mommy and Daddy have a lot clout since they even got Santa to be in my parade!!! My Mommy and Daddy are the best ever!!!!!!

Mommy and Avery with Santa in his 'warm weather' sleigh

Mommy and Avery at the parade

Rice Cereal + Juice + Spoonie = Messy Delicious Fun Time (for all)

Yum ...

Yum ...



Good

Rice Cereal + Juice + Spoonie = Messy Delicious Fun Time (for all)

Now that's a big horse ....

Mommy, Avery, and Gus

Mommy took me to my first horse show this weekend and boy o' boy was it ever great!!! There were all sorts of fancy riders winning all sorts of fancy ribbons while riding fancy-like on their fancy horses ... but, not a single horse there was as pretty as my Beauty (although they all were a lot bigger)! Unfortunately I can't yet ride Beauty much since she's still too wild and needs some more time to get broken in a bit. I could have gone for a ride on Bobbi's horse Gus (above) who is Beauty's brother, but Mommy forgot my riding clothes. Maybe next time ...

I've never been so happy that I was so wrong ...

If you can remember from a few months back (on my entry http://averyclaire.blogspot.com/2008/06/does-this-onesie-make-me-look-fat.html ) I was really worried about my projected weight gain (based on just one month's worth on actual weight measurements) ... remember that it projected I would weigh upwards of ~500 lbs at my first birthday!??!?!

Well here we are today where I just passed my 0.5 year old birthday and since that original weight estimate curve would have put me at ~50lbs right now (of which you can clearly see from all my pictures that that prediction is far from true), I now have the need to update my weight estimate projection using more actual data.

Luckily, Grandma and Grandpa read me blog posts and knew that I would be in need of more actual weight measurements, so each and every time I have visited them over the last 4 months, they would load me into this contraption (seen below) and record my latest weight.

Avery in the baby/deli-meat scale

So, without further delay below is my new weight prediction trend line (the yellow line), which as you will note puts me at a reasonable 20lbs at my first birthday ... much better, wouldn't you say then the original prediction (the blue line)? The new weight prediction trend line is based on 4 months of actual weight measurements (red line), where the form of the equation is:

weight (lbs) = 1.1354*month+6.3212

with an R-squared of 0.9872 (an Rsquared close to one indicates a really good line fit to the data).

Avery's latest weight predication

Thus, this concludes all my concerns about my weight ... whew ...

Note that now I won't weight ~500 lbs until I'm 440 months (weight (lbs) = 1.1354*440+6.3212 = 505.8) or rather 36.5 years old ... that seems normal, right?

What in the world?!??!!

So I get it, ok? ...

I get the whole milk thing and believe "it does a body good" and such, but what in the heck are Mommy and Daddy trying to do to me now??? Just look at this ...

Avery meeting Spoonie for the first time

Are they crazy or something?!??!

What's the point in a) making me make such a big mess, and b) changing what I thought was such a good thing. I really enjoyed all my mealtimes with Boobie and Bot, so why bring this third wheel (let's call him Spoonie) into the mix serving me something very different than my typical meals/snacks. Mommy was even saying "Chugga-Chugga Chugga-Chugga Choo-Choo" over and over again while waving Spoonie around in the air and then dumping this foul, thick (well, more thicker than lovely milk) concoction down my throat ... just what in the heck is that all about??? Do I need to have her committed??? And Daddy is no better since he just laughed and filmed it all ... am I some sort of experiment or something???

When they start to understand my language better, I'm going to have a long talk with both of them.

Aftermath from encounter with Spoonie

Hiking in the great outdoors ...

Avery hiking (with Mommy)

I went hiking for the first time this weekend and it was so much fun!!! It was really pretty all around me and the temperature was really nice, but boy o'boy, was it ever tiring.

Daddy even said there was a big sign to watch for mountain lions and I watched and watched, but unfortunately, I never got to see one. Maybe next time.

Mountain Lion sign

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Mission Accomplished!!!

I can't believe it ... I finally did it just this morning ... I knew it would eventually happen (that's what I've read anyway), but it's been so hard to just seal the deal. Anyway, it was a typical morning where I was just playing around with Suzie and without even thinking about, it just happened ...

Good thing Daddy was there to capture it all on video ... check it out.

Making Beautiful Music Together ...

Avery playing the 'chimes

I bet you didn't know that not only can I compose and sing songs, but I also can play musical instruments ... I was playing the 'chimes the other day and it sounded ... what?, you've never heard someone play the 'chimes before??? Well then, you just don't know what you're missing ... it's sort of fast and uptempo while being smooth and jazzy all at the same time.

And it's really easy to play ... anyone can do it (look at me, even babies like me can play it). I still need help from Mommy and Daddy to get up close to start 'chiming away, but when I get playing, look out 'cuz I get in the zone and my arms (and legs) start flying all around!

Avery's Big Adventure

Hey everyone ... I'm back from my first ever big sleep-over trip to California where I even got to fly on an airplane!!! Wow!!!


Here are a bunch of picture of my awesome time at Great Grandma's 90th birthday party ...

Looking out the window on the flight to LA

With the birthday girl herself ... Great Grandma!!!

With Grandma and Grandpa (or using his other title, my personal photographer)

With Daddy as he "shows me off" to Great Auntie Judy

With Great Auntie Sherry (remember her from this post, http://averyclaire.blogspot.com/2008/07/kidnapped-but-in-good-way.html ) ... my sad face is from the constant and tiring 'pass and hold the baby' thing with dozens of people ... I guess it's my fault for being such a cute baby, so I'll have to just deal with it.

Here I am with a bunch of Mommy's cousins

And here I am sitting at the 'kids table' ... I guess at this party, even Mommy and Daddy are considered 'kids'

I guess even Great Uncle Don sat with us at the 'kids table' too, so Mommy and Daddy shouldn't feel so bad

With Grandma and Great Uncle Rick

With a bunch of guests/family that held me for a moment until I started to cry ...

Some more guests/family that also held me for a moment until I started to cry ... enough with the the holding and passing me around already!

With Grandma and lots of talking ...

... with Mommy and even more talking (with Hermie) ...

... with all this adult talking, I'm going nuts ... someone please play with me instead!!!

Avery exhausted and sleeping on Mommy while waiting to fly home from the LAX airport terminal

Avery sleeping on Daddy on the flight home

PS, sorry I didn't post pics of me with everyone at the party ... don't blame me, blame my parents or my other personal photographer (Grandpa) ... although, they all did try very hard.

It's a bird, it's a plane, it's ...

... me ... up in the air really really high ...

Avery practicing flying

I thought I should get in some practice before my first ever big flying trip this weekend. We're going to my great gramma's birthday party this weekend where instead of driving (which by the way, I have completely mastered now), we're going to fly ... I'm not 100% sure what that really involves, but it sounds so exciting!!!!

Plus, I'm going to see my way fun great grand-ma-ma ... it's her 90th birthday, so she's the oldest person I've ever met ... that's 4,680 weeks old ... holy cow!!!! And it's a sleep over party ... yeah!!!

I can't wait ... it's going to be so much fun ... yeah!!!

'Crazy Legs Chair Dancing'

Since I'm still unable to walk, I try to find all sorts of ways to entertain myself so I don't get total bored and go insane. I should be walking soon enough though ... when researching it on google it says not to worry, that I'm still just too young and it takes time to build up the muscles in your legs.

Anyway, this is my latest form of entertainment ... it's called 'Crazy Legs Chair Dancing'. Give it a try ... I'm trying to start a new dancing trend ... hopefully all the kids will be doing it soon enough!

My first piece of jewelry ...

... and it looks just like Carrie's necklace in that "Sex in the City" show (except with my name instead of hers). And there's even a heart at the end of my name!!!

Avery wearing her "Avery" necklace

Grandpa went on a big trip to Italy and just had to get me a fancy fancy gift!!! Now I just need to get the right pair of shoes to go with it ... I think these brooke heels( http://www.heelarious.com/brooke.php ) will match perfectly ... what do you think?

Jeweler handcrafting Avery's necklace in Florence, Italy

I feel like I'm King Kong!!!!

I finally did it ...

I've been trying to grab at these toy animals that swirl around my head for months and today I finally did it. I swatted them down just like I was King Kong swatting down a bunch of airplanes.

Guess that means I'm getting bigger and bigger and bigger!

I can't get no parental attention ...

Sometimes I just get so mad that if I don't do something about it, I'm going to totally explode ...

What's been frustrating me lately is that Mommy and Daddy have been dumping me more and more in the crib to just 'play on my own'. But really, if they don't give me a proper full time audience, how will they be able to appreciate every great cute/funny/exciting thing that I do? I really do not know what is wrong with them lately ...

Anyway, to keep myself at peace, here's my most recent venting ... I wrote a new song ... it's inspired by the Rolling Stones song "I Cant Get No Satisfaction" (hear it here: http://music.yahoo.com/Rolling-Stones/I-Cant-Get-No-Satisfaction/lyrics/58867057 ) and it's called:

I Can't Get No Parental Attention
_____________________________

I can't get no parental attention,
I can't get no parental attention.
'Cause I yell, and I scream, and I cry, I don't know why.
I can't get no, I can't get no.

When I'm ditched in my crib
and my toys just start flying all around me
and Mr. Frog keeps tellin' me more and more
that I need to be a nice quiet baby
and I'm suppose to just play all by myself.
I can't get no, oh no no no.
Hey hey hey, that's what I say.

I can't get no parental attention,
I can't get no parental attention.
'Cause I yell, and I scream, and I cry, I don't know why.
I can't get no, I can't get no.

When I'm lookin' out my window
and that baby staring right back at me

tells me it's ok to just hang out with her.
But I don't like that nearly as much
as when I'm with my Mommy and Daddy.
I can't get no, oh no no no.
Hey hey hey, that's what I say.

I can't get no parental attention,
I can't get no parental attention.
'Cause I yell, and I scream, and I cry, I don't know why.
I can't get no, I can't get no.

When I'm rollin' round the crib
and I'm doin' this and I'm playing with that
and I'm tryin' to just have some fun on my own
but then realize that I need my audience
'cause you know I am this great big star.
I can't get no, oh no no no.
Hey hey hey, that's what I say.

I can't get no, I can't get no,
I can't get no parental attention,
no parental attention, no parental attention, no parental attention!

Avery while writing her new song

So how do I style my hair around this???

Yes, I just noticed it this morning ... I was styling my hair so I could go shopping with Mommy this afternoon and felt this large bald spot (where previously I had hair back there)!?!? I thought I'm suppose to be growing hair, not losing it!!!

Mommy and Daddy think it's just so funny and laughed up a storm about it ... saying it's only a temporary thing due to me playing around so much while on my back. Boy o' boy, all I can say is that I'll be the last one laughing if any balding starts happening to them as they enter their adventure into old age ... some might even say a little thinning has already started ... good luck with that Mommy and Daddy.

Need some expert advice here ...

It's hopeless I tell you ... just hopeless. I keep trying and trying, but I just can't make it all the way.

Can someone please critique my form/methods/execution and tell me what I'm doing wrong here?

Need a little assistance here ...

Avery 'crawling' around in her crib

This is just totally getting so frustrating ...

All I want to do is get from point A to point B in the crib, but while I frantically move my arms, hands, feet, and legs in every which direction, I'm always still stuck in the exact same spot I started. This is totally unfair ... I see babies on TV crawling all around all the time, so why can't I do it? I would have thought that all my physical training to date has made me buff enough to literally 'pull my own weight', right? I just don't get it ...

And I'm really really sick of that dumb baby staring at me all the time through that window ... I even get this funny feeling she's laughing at me as I wildly thrash about. And while I can admit that I probably do look quite funny during this process (sort of like an upside down turtle), just who exactly does she think she is? Stupid window baby!!!

Avery trying to get at that 'window baby'

My first own pet ...

Mommy and Daddy are always trying to pull a fast one on me, but this last time it was to surprise me with my first own pet!!! Now I really really love Scrappy, Scout-No, and Suzie, but how exciting is it that I'm seen as 'old enough' to have a pet that's all my own?

I sort of felt that Mommy wasn't just borrowing Grandma & Grandpa's spare truck because her own car broke down ... and low and behold, the real reason was to bring home Fluffy!!! I'm still not really sure why his temporary home/habitat was on top of and all around the block engine of the truck (maybe he likes to keep warm?) or even how Mommy was able to drive the truck all the way home like that without spilling Fluffy and his home everywhere along the way, but she did it. I think it was even a big surprise to Daddy too since he sort of jumped and yelled when Fluffy came running out from under the front bumper towards him after we got home ... Mommy sometimes likes to surprise Daddy too.

Fluffy's temporary home/habitat in the truck

I think it only took Daddy a few hours to collect and transfer Fuffy's home from the truck ... and I guess Fluffy is more of an outside pet since he ran straight into our backyard. I've been looking for him (and so have the dogs), but I haven't been able to take any pictures of him yet. When I do get a pic of him, Ill post it for all of you to see ... he's just so so cute!!!

Fluffy's habit collected and transferred