I’m really lucky that I am able  to stay home with Avery.  Not only do I get to spend all day with her, every day, but I also get to take her places whenever I want without worrying about taking time off from work.

Earlier in the week Avery and I headed to Boston for some quick head shots.  As most of you know, Avery signed with Model Club Inc’s MC Club Kids division a few months ago.  Every month or so they offer a baby photo shoot with Boston Photographer , Kevin Day (www.kevindayphotography.com) We had signed up to go last month, but, of course, the day before the shoot Avery’s eye was scratched. (I wasn’t interested in her posing with her eye patch)  So, when I got the e-mail that they’d be doing this again I signed up. Immediately.  A little too immediately, it turned out, as I got the first appointment. At 9:30am. In Boston. Riiiiight.  Fortunately for us, we were able to take the train from TF Green airport, so we didn’t have deal with driving, or parking.

SO, up at the crack of dawn (actually, I think it was earlier) I got myself and a sleeping baby, ready (It’s so much easier to change diapers and clothes when they are still asleep!)  We were out the door by 6am, hit the bank, and arrived at the train station early.

Avery smiled at all the commuters on their way to the office, and was really good on the train, just chillin’ in her stroller.

She checked out the graffiti and dilapidated buildings along the train route…And then, we arrived at Back Bay.

We were early, but I wanted to make sure I knew where I was going, so we headed out to find the Model Club offices. We found them. In less than 5 minutes. I hoped we’d pass a little cafe or something where we could grab breakfast, but nothing was open. The only thing open was a CVS. I guess Bostonians don’t eat breakfast.

We had time to kill, and I didn’t want to walk all over the city in the cold, with a baby, so we hung out at the train station where I grabbed a pumpkin muffin from DD for us to share.  A very nice place for babies.  I have never in my life seen a changing station so filthy. (But, at least they had one…..)  So I changed her in her stroller. I’m no germaphobe, but, that changing station was a petri dish of rare and incurable diseases.

While at the Back Bay station we met an older man who told us about his 11 grandchildren, 7 boys and 4 girls. We talked about names, like “Avery,” that used to be boy names, but are now used almost solely for girls. (Shannon, Carroll, Aubrey and Kelley were also discussed) We learned that his wife died of breast cancer, and his new wife has an adopted daughter who is Native America, and married to a Mexican. They have a chid with a very unique name that I can’t remember. For some reason, people tell me their entire life stories. Perhaps it’s because i will always listen.

We also met guy with facial tattoos and a Pit-Beagle-Boxer mix named Roxie.  They came over to chat (Mr. Facial tats) and lick (Roxie) And proved, once again, that you can’t judge a book by its cover. I already knew that Roxie would be a sweetheart, but wasn’t expecting her owner to be so friendly. He was talking to Avery and kept saying how beautiful she was. He was really sweet. Apparently Roxie was a rescue, and he had just picked her up from the vet. He had her spayed. So, he was a nice guy with facial tattoos who rescued a pit mix and had her spayed. Again, do not judge a book by its cover.

After our time with Roxie and her person, it was time to go for our appointment.  As always, we were early, but they let us in, and was waited in the hall while the photographer set up.  He was so nice! And also had a little dog, a Boston Terrier named Millie. Avery was in love. This girl is a bit crazy about animals. All animals. from Dogs and cats to snakes and even the scorpions at the pet store.  After he set up, they called us in.

Let me say, this baby is a natural.  I know, I know. I’m her mom and all moms say that, but, seriously, she’s got it!  As soon as I sat her down and she saw the camera she started posing. At one point she leaned over to one side, supporting herself on one arm, with her legs out to the side. I didn’t now she was capable of that.  Then she rolled on her stomach, turned to the camera, pushed up, and smiled.  She really didn’t stop smiling the entire time.  He too 27 pictures, and we were done.   The ones I saw on his camera were fabulous, I have no clue how Avery’s agent will choose just one!  We thanked the photographer and the agent for their time, they thanked me for being on time (early) and thanked Avery for being an awesome first shoot of the day.

We had about two hours to kill before our train home so we hit up Copley Place. I grabbed a latte at Starbucks, we window shopped at Coach, Barney’s, Burberry, Dior, David Yurman, Jimmy Choo, Louis Vuitton,Tory Burch and American Eagle (one of these things is not lie the other….) then we headed in to Neiman Marcus. We didn’t belong there. I’m naive, apparently, when it comes to department stores. I expected this to be like Nordstrom. It’s not. I picked up a cute pair of boots, expecting them to be about $600.00. They weren’t. They were about $2,000.00 more than that. No boot is worth that. I could never afford that (and the two salesmen clearly knew that, as they didn’t ask if I needed them in a certain size. If fact, they didn’t even say “hello” They judged me, correctly, by my cover. Avery picked out a lovely crystal encrusted dress that would set Dave back about 30 paychecks.

Then we headed back to the train station, and headed home. Avery slept the entire way.

Avery is my awesome little traveler. She’s been on the train to Boston twice, she’s gone to New York City with me, she’s driven to Albany and back many times, and she’s been GREAT on every trip. I can’t wait til she is a little older and we can go to places, and have more new experiences together.  I’ve been thinking about taking her on one Mommy & Avery trip every year.  I’d love for her to choose the location. Perhaps a place she has learned about in school, or read about in a book. A new place every year.  Of course we’re far from rich, so they’d need to be affordable. I mean, we wont be jetting off to Monaco, but there are plenty of places we can afford to visit.  I now she’s only 8 months old, but she already seems to enjoy traveling, and I hope to make that a part  of her life.