What Are We Up To?

I was supposed to be taking a trip to see my family in CA in June, but instead we're postponing until August so that D can join us also! As such, here's a quick update on what Ava's doing these days!

Food
Ava still is exclusively breastfed, and will be until at least six months, at which point we'll start with either homemade cereal or homemade sweet potatoes. She continues to have a milk protein allergy, and so I have to eliminate all dairy from my diet with the exception of most things containing whey, most of which Ava can handle thankfully. In case you don't know - whey is in EVERYTHING. Graham crackers, Nilla Wafers, certain crackers, etc. Name a snack food, it's basically in there. And yes, I realize I probably shouldn't be eating those things anyhow, but I work with little kids, so the point is moot.


Unfortunately, it also seems as though Ava's milk allergy is getting worse instead of better :( I ate three yogurt pretzels yesterday before I realized that, DUH, I can't have them, and A paid the price. I felt SO bad when she whimpered and looked at me with those sad, telling eyes. Whereas before she just had blowouts, now she has blowouts and screams in pain. I thought they were supposed to grow out of it, as opposed to having it worsen? I'm hoping it's just due to either a.) her recent lack of exposure, or b.)that's just a particularly sensitive trigger.

Motor Skills
Ava is a champ at rolling over! She particularly likes rolling from back to tummy, over and over and OVER. Seriously, before I can even stand back up, she's on her tummy. Luckily she doesn't tend to do it at night (since we put her legs and tummy in a swaddle blankie so she won't play with her toes instead of sleeping!) She's rolled from tummy to back here and there, but she's not consistent with it.


She also really loves to stand! Naturally, I have to support her weight, but she's ridiculously strong. If I'm supporting her sitting up, she can go from sitting to standing with no problem. Such a proud mama! She's also really into trying to sit up on her own when laying down, and ends up doing a half sit up. She's not quite strong enough to sit on her own yet, but we're working towards it a little at a time. No hurry, honey!



Her fine motor skills are insane - better than her gross motor skills, strangely enough! She has been able to bring her paci from her hand to her mouth for the past six weeks or so, and can not grab it from where it is within reach and put it in her mouth. This makes mommy's life SO much easier. At least, when it's within reach. She also has managed to pick up the habit of chucking it, though clearly this is coincidental and not intentional. It'll be a couple years before she's tossing things around on purpose :)


Favorites
Ava LOVES Kitty Bear, or KB as we call her sometimes. She also recently got a new teether/rattle with different textures, a mirror, and a froggy on it that she LOVES. I'm feeling certain she's getting some teeth, but I've thought that for a couple months and nothing yet, so I could be way off base?? Anyhow, anything and everything goes in her mouth, and teethers from the fridge are a big hit around here!

She also loves music, and moves and coos and smiles when it comes on. She particularly likes the sound of violins. Concert violinist in the making? Perhaps!

Ava really, really enjoys bathtime as well. She splashes like crazy (I'm sure I'll regret encouraging that one day!!), and plays with her little hippo while I scrub her up. She doesn't mind getting wet, or even water being poured over her head! What a little trooper!



Ava's favorite time of day is morning. Every morning she wakes up smiling and cooing, and mommy sings the good morning song with her and we start our day off right. She likes to play right after "breakfast", so we tend to lay her blankie down and practice rolling and/or sitting, and have a bit of reading and toy time. Ava loves to look at books, and does this very cute thing where she holds onto the book with me. She does this at church with the program, also, and it makes our fellow parishioners laugh :D

Her favorite thing though? Nursing. Homegirl loves the boobies! And maybe also the mommy-baby time. Binky runs a close second, though! I've rarely seen a baby who was as into her Binky/Paci/Baba! As much as I dislike The Simpsons, I can't help but be reminded of a much-cuter Maggie Simpson whenever Bink is trying to make a getaway and she quickly sucks it back in. So cute!

She also LOVES peekaboo! Behind the hands, behind the sunglasses, popping up from behind the couch downstairs - any form of peekaboo she loves! This usually elicits some pretty adorable laughing out loud :)

She's generally a big sucker for her mommy. She loves her daddy, too, of course, but she's a mommy's girl through and through. Probably has something to do with the fact that we spend tons of time together day in and day out, and to be honest, mommy is quite fun :)


Personality!
Ava is such a vocal baby! She coos and oohs and aahs all day long. Unfortunately, she's also learned how to use her voice to express anger/frustration, and earlier as I tried to finish typing something up, looked directly at me from David's lap and let out a loud, fussy scream. When I looked up, she immediately got the biggest grin on her face. Um, shouldn't this type of thing hold off until, I don't know, her terrible twos perhaps??? Uh oh. She's a feisty little thing sometimes!

Also, she's clearly developing preferences with regards to her toys. If she has one that she really likes and she drops it to where she can't pick it up, this is one of the only legit reasons she sees to cry. And cry she does until the second you give it back, when she smiles and starts munching on it all over again! The other day she kept letting go of the toy she had in her hands and watching me pick it back up...hmm. Is this the beginning of the "fetch my toy or else" stage I so dread? Yikes! Too soon!!!!

Most of the time, though, she's the sweetest little baby you'll ever meet! She loves cuddling and hugging me close, and wants nothing more than to snug with mommy and daddy any chance she gets. It's adorable, though with working full-time and writing part-time, I do wish she was at an age where she could entertain herself if even just for a few minutes at a time. This phase will be over in a blink, though, and I'll want my sweet, cuddly baby back, so I try not to take it for granted.

Sleep
Most nights Ava wakes up once to eat, somewhere between 2:30-4, but lately she's woken up twice a night a couple times a week. Since I get to go into work a bit later than traditional, though, I still end up feeling decently rested, and A likes to sleep in til between 8:30-9 usually, give or take an hour sometimes. She sleeps a consistent 6-8 hours straight, wakes up, and then goes back to bed 2-4 hours. She's slept up to 10 hours in a row, though. Let's aim for more of that, shall we? ;)


Naps. What naps? Ha - she takes them, but instead of two long naps in her crib/bassinet/etc, she's more of a five shorter nap type of girl. I blame my constant on-the-go, erratic work schedule, where I tend to work different hours several different times a week. Makes it hard for her to fall into a good routine. In two weeks I'll start going in every day at 8:30, so that should work wonders with establishing a good routine. In the meantime, though, her current nap habits work for us, since I wouldn't be able to stay at home for two hours with the older kids anyhow, so I'm kind of going with the flow about it.

Well, that was much more long-winded than I'd planned. Sorry! Thanks for hanging in there and being a part of this journey with us everyone! And thank you all as usual for your wonderful advice/support/input!