Go, Go, Goers!

I know I just posted this morning, but I took some cute pics today that I didn't want to wait on posting. My friend Lisa bought her son, Dylan, a toy that he could ride and also push. Since Ava's so close to walking, I thought that would be a great thing to buy for her, too. I went to Once Upon a Child over lunch on Friday, and picked one up. She's enjoying it so far - she's especially intrigued by all of the "features" that it has for her to play with. Ava and I also went to the Children's Museum with Tiffany and Isabel today - it was so fun! Clifford the Big Red Dog is the main exhibit right now, so they had Clifford walking around giving hugs to the kids. Ava put her hand right on his paw, and he patted her on the head (that's a switch from normal!) and gave her a little hug. The museum also had an area called Habitot for the little ones, and even a special zone for babies. Ava had fun playing with the skunk puppet (oh wait, that was ME who had fun...

We've had another full week of working, playing, eating, pooping (OMG, like you wouldn't believe - I had to a run a bath one night to get it all off...Wait, let me clarify - the bath was for Ava, not us!) and cleaning out closets! I bought another big bin for all of Ava's clothes, and I managed to squash all of her 0-6 month outfits in there. I'm pretty sure the top might blow off at some point! We need to get up into our attic so we can start storing things up there. We're running out of room! I love this one...she might be on to the "camera" thing. This look is classic, like, "Again with the camera, Mommy? Fine, I'll smile, but only to humor you." Makin' a break for the bathroom.. I knew that smile was in there! Daddy, Darla, and the caterpillar taking a snooze...where's the baby??? Scott was very impressed that they were laying down the same way, without posing. He made me take this picture. :) And some beautiful flowers my hubby b...

Here are a few tame photos of the baby-free night my friends and I had over the weekend. L-R: Angie, Dee, Corinne, Tiffany, Lisa So, that takes care of one of the "chicks". What's the other you might add? Well, we decided to give Ava some chicken for dinner over the last few nights. It's the chicken and veggie dinner in the jar for babies, but it seemed like a good place to start. As always, I tried it before I gave it to her, and it wasn't bad. It needed some salt, but she doesn't know any different, so we left it alone for her! She ate the whole jar AND half a thing of fruit for dessert. We are so lucky not to have a picky eater (yet) for a kid. She'll try anything - we haven't seen her refuse anything yet, so it'll be interesting to see what turns her off the first time. We had an exciting 15 minutes with her sock tonight. She always manages to get them off her feet even though they're supposed to be "slip-proof" (yeah, right), so ...

Not too much to report, since I already did a couple of posts earlier this week. Ava clapped the other day, and not just like the little baby claps where the hands just happen to meet in the middle. This was open-palm clapping, with sound! We've been trying to cheer her on when she does something well..."Yay Ava!" and then we clap. It must be working! Ava spent last night with Grandma Deb - both Scott and I went out with friends and had a great time! It had been way too long since we were all able to get together without the kids, and have a fun night on the town. But, I'm getting old - I'm really tired today, and my feet hurt. Can't believe I used to do this more often when I was younger. :) No photos to post yet...hopefully I'll have some good ones of the Girls Night Out soon! (Hint, hint, Lisa! :) ) Have a great day!

It's hard to believe that Ava has been in our lives for 9 months already. The time has flown by waaaaay too fast - it makes me wonder how quickly the next 18 years will pass. She did great at her doctor's appointment last night...she's as healthy as can be! She's still in the 90th percentile for length (28.5") and just under the 50th percentile for weight (approx 18lbs.) All that crawling and cruising has been a good diet for her! Not that she needs to lose any weight, of course. :) Ava told me that she's looking forward to spending Saturday night with Grandma Deb, while Mommy and Daddy each hang out with their friends for some good pal-bonding time. She always comes back home from Grandma Deb's with a big smile on her face - we love that she is close enough to watch her! Almost time for bed - all three dogs and the babe are sleeping. I'm super tired, and am just waiting for Scott to get home before going to bed. TGIF tomorrow!

I cannot believe I forgot to mention what Ava's latest trick is...she has started waving bye-bye when prompted! Whenever I would drop her off at daycare, I would say, "Ava, bye-bye", and Debi would take Ava's arm and wave it for her. Last Friday, she started moving her right hand (touching her fingers to her palms), and waving her whole left arm at the same time. It's too funny to watch - she starts off watching my hands, looks at her own hands, and then starts waving. When I picked Ava up today, one of the other little girls was showing her dad how Ava waves. That made me smile. :) I tried to get a clip of her doing both things, but only got the arm wave on video. She was having a giggling fit during dinner on Saturday - no matter what I did or said, she would start laughing. I'd much rather have that than a cranky baby who's getting sleepy. Happy Monday!

I've tried to get past my fear of Ava choking on everything, and I decided to let her nibble/suck/gnaw on a piece of zwieback toast. She really liked the size of it - it was perfect her to hold in her hands, and amazingly enough, it dissolved in her mouth at just the right pace. She was never able to break off a big enough piece to cause a problem. Although, I tried a piece, and it's pretty bland. So, we've moved on to her sharing my toast (without butter) - much more exciting! And yesterday I was cutting off small pieces of my pear and giving those to her. She really seemed to enjoy that...although we learned that a juicy pear piece is not the easiest thing for a baby to pick up! It eventually turns into a pile of pear juice. Got it! Ooops, I lost it! When we let her crawl around our living room, she always heads straight for her bouncy chair. I decided to strap her into it, and while she still fits, it's questionable if she's comfy. I turned my back for 3 seconds ...

After realizing that I didn't take many pictures in January and February, I went a little crazy this week and took a ton. No big stories to share - everything is moving along happily. Ava's been getting better at standing on her own for a few seconds...before we know it, she'll be walking. Oh! I did buy her a swimsuit (brown with colored polka dots) and a cute little blue terry cloth cover up to go with it. She and Isabel will have so much fun this summer at the pool - Tiffany and I are going to sign them up for swimming lessons. I can't wait for warmer weather! My parents' friends bought her this camo outfit from Cabela's - complete with white lace! We took Grandpa Bruce out for his birthday on Sunday night - Ava got lots of attention from the waitress. Scott thought it would be nice to give Ava bunny ears. After many failed attempts at getting a pic of Ava and me, this was the best we could do. I think she was done with the camera at this point. Notice that we...

Once again, another week has flown by, and I wonder where the time went. The best news I have to share is that my friend, Julie and her boyfriend, Casey, got engaged on Friday! They have been dating for over 8 years, so it's about time!! I'm very, very happy for them, and can't wait to see what wild and crazy wedding/reception they will have. Ava did great at daycare this week - there is a new little baby boy there, so she is no longer the baby of the group. Ava didn't show any sign of jealousy - she's so easy going when it comes to other kids, but you never know how each person might react. She still doesn't have teeth, but I don't think she'll be toothless forever. I'm sure they're in there - somewhere! For now, we should be thankful that 1. she can't bite us, and 2. we don't have to brush any teeth. Plus, the gummy smile is still pretty darn cute. Ava and I were playing with her toys in her bedroom, and as you can see by the last photo...