Go, Go, Goers!

Ava took her first steps last night! Well, technically, she took one step at her 9 month well-baby visit, but we didn't really count that as "walking". Last night I was sitting on the loveseat, and Ava was standing in front of me, with her hands on my knees. Scott was sitting a few feet away in a chair, so I pulled my knees back from her, leaned down, pointed to Scott, and said "Go see Daddy!" And she did! It was all of three steps, but she did them all on her own, without falling! Scott and I were so excited - I'm sure Ava was wondering what all of the cheering and hugging was about. :) I'm just so happy that it took place at home, and when both Scott and I were there to see it. It feels like we're really moving to the next phase with her. WOW!

Since we missed last week's swimming lessons because both Ava and I were sick, we really needed to go tonight. I was so much more prepared this time, and brought a little stroller to sit her in so I could change my clothes afterwards, without worrying about a wriggling wet baby. PLUS, I brought a couple plastic bags to put the wet suits and towels in...all in all, I was pretty darn proud of how much more smoothly everything went this week! Once we got into the pool area, I asked another mom what I had missed last week, and thank goodness, it wasn't much! Still lots of singing, floating on bellies and backs, and getting the kids used to the water. The good news is that the water was much warmer this week than the 1st week. Apparently, they had just cleaned the pool out before that first class, so the water wasn't back up to its normal temp. Ava's little hands were still purple by the time class was over tonight. BUT, she was actually smiling and laughing while we were in...

Even though Ava doesn't have any teeth yet, I thought it was time that she move onto the stage 3 food. Stage 3 just means that there are larger pieces in there that she can feel in her mouth, and mash with her jaws. Our first attempt with stage 3 foods was MESSY! The 1st thing we tried was the spaghetti with meat, in a tomato sauce. Ava wasn't sure about the noodle pieces, so she kept them hidden in a corner of her mouth, and every once in a while, we'd see a noodle appear from nowhere on her high chair tray. She would just poke it with a finger, mush it a little, and then put it back into her mouth. The hardest thing about this process was allowing her to get messy, and not constantly cleaning up after her. Tomato sauce just stains so much... argh . I don't know how I'm going to handle it when she starts feeding herself. Strip her down to her diaper and let her go nuts??? She seems pretty happy even with the sauce all over her chin! Scott has a game where he likes ...

I am so glad that it's April 21. Not only is it my birthday today (yay #33!), but it means that our long and exhausting week is truly over. Last Tuesday, I picked Ava up from daycare at 10:30am, as we needed to hit the road for Kansas City. As I was walking out the gate with her, one of the little boys (Kyle, who I think is maybe 5?) told me he needed to kiss Ava good-bye. I thought, "Isn't that cute? He must really like her." I had no idea how much! He got out of the little car he was driving around, came over, gave her a hug (which she returned promptly), and then kissed her on the mouth! As we were walking away again, he yells, "I'm going to marry Ava when she grows up! I'm going to marry her!" It's never too early for her 1st marriage proposal, I guess! So, we had a nice long drive down to KC, which was fairly uneventful. Ava did pretty well, however, once we crossed into Missouri, she decided she was bored of looking out the back window and ...

Tonight I took Ava to her 1st Parent & Tot swimming lesson at The Grove in Inver Grove Heights. I thought for sure she would love the water, but I don't think either of us realized how chilly the water was (84 degrees? I don't think so!) Brrrrrr .....! Ava immediately started doing a cry/whine and tried to crawl up my chest. For the remaining 40 minutes, I barely got her to release her hold on me to play in the water. There were babies a few months younger than her that were having a ball being paddled around. I'm not going to fret too much about it, since this was her 1st time in the water, and she didn't know what to expect. We even went into the kiddie fun pool afterwards where it was much warmer, and she still wasn't sure about it. I'm not a water fan myself, and I was hoping that my children wouldn't be like me in that aspect - I really want them to be comfortable in the water. Keep your fingers crossed for next Monday! One thing to add - ...

We have had SUCH a busy week! I didn't get a picture of it, but Ava and Isabel took their 1st bath together on Wednesday night. I'm not sure that Isabel enjoyed having Ava share her tub with her, but she was a good sport, and even shared her bath toys with Ava! (For those that don't know, Isabel is the daughter of Tiff and Darren, our very good friends.) On Thursday, I went to a very fun happy hour (a.k.a. a "throwing-away party" - not going-away party - for my boss.) She's leaving us to take on another group at BI. Although, she'll still be our director, she'll be sitting in a different building now. PARTY at work!! Just kidding, Terrie. :) ) On Good Friday we didn't have daycare, so Ava and Mommy spent the day together - she is such a good little girl during the day...I often wonder how it would be to stay home with her full-time. Maybe one day... On Saturday night we went to an engagement party for our friends Julie and Casey...it seemed that ev...

Ava is so focused during her nightly bath...she's always chewing on either the rubber duck, or a squeaky dog toy (not a dog toy for the dogs, but a baby toy that is a dog. You know what I mean!) Anyway, lately she had started to try and climb out of her infant tub to grab the shampoo bottle I had sitting next to it. This probably would have continued on for a few more months until my wise friend Lisa connected the dots for me - she was ready for the BIG GIRL TUB! I was completely unprepared to bathe her in our tub, so I rushed out and bought a non-slip bathtub mat for inside the tub, and a cute faucet cover in the shape of a duck (wearing a bikini and carrying a surfboard...seems a little weird, but it's cute.) The neatest thing about it is that you can lift the top of its head up (also a little weird - reminds me of the Silence of the Lambs dinner scene), and pour in bubble bath so it drips into the tub at the same time the water is running out of the faucet. I never knew that...