18 Months!

Yeah, I'm running a bit behind schedule ;)

So, Ava turned 18 months last Tuesday, an age I've been super looking forward to! Not that the rest of the months and milestones haven't been wonderful, but when I've nannied, I've found that 18 mos - 3 yrs is such an amazing age. They're getting increasingly verbal and interactive, and they start to engage in pretend play, which is one of my favorites.

Anyhow, we had A's 18 month appointment Tuesday morning, and all is well. And by well, I mean aside from the fact that she screamed through the entire appointment. For as chill a kid as Ava is, she goes rogue at the doctor, I tell ya. In fact, as soon as we crossed the threshold of the building and the automatic doors slid open, she hightailed back towards the car - haha!

Here are her 18 month stats:
33.5" tall (90%)
26 lbs. (50-75%)

Tall and lean, that's my lady! Unfortunately, she had to get five vaccinations (three actual pricks), and that didn't go over too well, especially seeing as how she was already giving Dr. H the point-at-the-door-and-say-bye-bye routine. Aww, like I said. Such a cute age.

Also, A's vocab has exploded. She can say upwards of 60 words, including "octopus" and "hippo" (wth? she won't say dog or cat - she makes the noises instead - but she'll say oc-pus on a regular basis?!) She also says "thank you" and "welcome" regularly, including to Dr. H when he gave her her post-vaccine balloon and sticker. She may have been telling him to get the f out of the office, but she darn sure was going to thank him like a little lady for her treats.

Hmm...what else? She can jump with both feet off the ground, and likes to pull some dance moves out, ballet style, like balancing with her hands on the table and standing with one leg behind her. She can also somersault completely on her own, and walk across a thick balance beam without holding hands! Such a little gymnast :)

Happy 18 months, my love! I adore you beyond words, and have never found anything in my life as fulfilling and worthwhile as being your mother. I love you, baby bear.

15 Months (and 1 Day...)!

We are fresh from Ava's 15-month well check, and I'm happy to report that she is a healthy as can be! I'm less happy to report that her lungs are the healthiest part of her, having gotten a (screaming) workout for nearly the entire duration of the appointment. This kid, for being so mellow generally, really HATES to go to the doctor.

Without further adieu, here are A's 15-mo stats:
Weight: 22.5 lbs (50%)
Height: 32.25" (!!!)(95%)
I never remember to get a head measurement, and they don't do it regularly...oops! Rest assured, she's got a nice noggin :) Otherwise, she's tall and thin...future model?

It's been a while since I've done a "what's A up to?" type post, so here we are:
-She runs like the wind. EVERYWHERE. Why walk when you can sprint?
-She is a great eater, though she seems to be getting pickier. Her faves remain black beans, mandarin orange, strawberries, broccoli, and - the newest addition - french fries. Homegirl loves fries!
-She doesn't eat a ton of meat, following suit with her mommy at that age (and now).
-She still cannot have dairy, and is starting to tolerate eggs better. Mommy can have dairy, though! HALLELUJAH, hallelujah.
-She's so insanely tall, and her ability to reach things is getting her in trouble! She is starting to be able to open doors, too! EEK!
-She can go up and down stairs holding hands, and can jump with both feet off the ground if holding on to something. Too cute!
-She loves to be outside, and we spend some time out there every morning and evening. In the evening after dinner, we eat popsicles and water the garden together, stopping to play on her trike and in her playhouse too. I love it!
-She says a handful of words, including "mama", "dada", "baba", "bapa" (for backpack...how I know D lets her watch more Dora than he lets on), "uh oh", "num num", "hi", "up" and a few others. She uses them sparingly, though. I can't wait until she talks more!
-She's obsessed with my hair still, and likes to fall asleep at nap and bed with her hands in my hair.
-She still sleeps in our bed, and I'm 100% ok with this. David and I were just discussing the other day how we're not ready to make the move yet, and may not be for several months still at least.
-We've still only ever had breastmilk! Yay for 15 months of nursing, and all the benefits it has provided us both, including during our recent bout of illness. She nurses on average 4 times per day :)

Happy 15 months (and 1 deays - oops!) baby girl! You are the biggest joy in my entire life, and the past 15 months have been the best I've ever experienced!

1 Year Stats & Milestones.

Since I forgot in the post below, here's a brief wrap-up of Ava at one year old:

-First and foremost, she's awesome.
-She weighs 21.5lbs, and is 30.5" long.
-She not only walks, but runs circles around me. Literally. It's like training for the Austin marathon every. single. day.
-She says "mama", "dada", "baba", "hi", "bapa" (for backpack - too much Dora when A's with daddy...), "dora" (no joke. it's like she's tattling on him...).
-She can tell you what a doggie says ("oof"), what a monkey says ("ooh ooh ah ah") and what a kitty says ("ahhh"). Apparently our kitty has tonselitis judging by her kitty noise.
-If you ask her where something is in her favorite books, she can point at it.
-She LOVES books. She'll sit there and pretend to read them, turning the pages and pointing. This melts my heart.
-She nurses 4-5 times a day, with 1 of them falling in the middle of the night. Wah wah.
-We made it an entire year on breastmilk only. Not even a drop of supplementation. I'm proud of this :)
-She eats three meals a day, consisting of any number of solid foods.
-She still cannot tolerate dairy. We're uncertain about eggs.

I'm sure there is more, but I am here and, since David is off work, she is there, and my mind is blanking after a year of interrupted sleep.

I cannot wait to see what the next year brings!

My Little Ham..

...Mia Hamm, that is!

Happy 11 Months, Baby Bear!

Well, friends, the time is near! This is the last of the monthly posts for Ava's first year! This time next month, she'll be turning 1!!! AHHHHHH! Cliche aside, these past 11 months have flown!

At 11 months, Ava is:
-Walking is an understatement. Try, slowly jogging her way around my house, leaving a path of destruction in her wake! She's so insanely busy and never stops moving. Mommy has started napping on the weekends with Ava when she can because my activity level is skyrocketing!
-Eating any and everything you'll give her, aside from anything with dairy or eggs. Some favorites include: pulled pork, mandarin oranges, broccoli, black beans and oatmeal. Yum! She has also decided she likes onion (weird, I know!) and likes to eat my sandwich with me when I leave the mayo off. Last night, she had chicken enchiladas with red sauce in corn tortillas (no cheese, obvs!). I'm so lucky to have such a good eater!
-Remains exclusively breastfed (obvs she has solids also, but no formula still). This is something I'm really proud of, and can't believe how close we are to meeting my goal of one year! I am like 120891023812038% sure I'll continue past a year, as long as she wants to!
-Taking two distinct naps a day, at least when we're home and she's able. Her afternoon nap is hard with my work schedule, so sometimes it's abbreviated as she only will sleep en route to pick up S from preschool. These days, I'll take what I can get!
-Says "mama", "dada", "baba", "hi", "oof" when you ask what sound a dog makes, "ooh ooh ah ah" when you ask what a monkey says, and has said "byebye" once.
-Waves hi, goodbye, claps her hand, rolls her hands for patticake, and tries to snap her fingers whenever she wants you - or anything - to come to her, after seeing us do it for the cat.
-We see the allergist on Tuesday afternoon (dreading it!) so hopefully we'll have some more insight into her food allergies then!!
-Weighs 21lbs, and is 30" long!

Happy 11 months, baby bear! There are no words for how much I love you and how greatly you've enriched our lives. These last 11 months have been the most amazing months of my entire life, and I cannot imagine what my world would be without you! I can't wait to celebrate your first year of life!

Happy 10 Months, Baby Bear!

Ava is 10 months old today! Double digits! Two months from the age of 1! AHHHH!

I know I say it every month, but time is flying. Seriously, can someone commission researchers to check and see if time seriously accelerates while moving forward? Because even my childless friends say this is the fastest year to date. I mean, it's November on Monday, my friends! How in the world?!

This has been a great month around here, unless sleep deprivation is causing me to remember it wrong. Yep, that's right. Still having sleep issues. Woe is me. Seeing as how I'm still dedicated to breastfeeding to at least a year, and I feel like weaning, the transition to her crib and therefore sleeping through the night will most likely go hand in hand, I'm just dealing with being tired for now. Thankfully I don't have to wake up at some ungodly hour and head off to work before the sun comes up, so it's workable. But man, oh man, I would really just like a solid six hours straight of sleep. Why is that too much to ask? Anyhow, moving on.

At 10 months, Ava is doing so much. SO much. Here's a glimpse:

*She can take one step and maintain her balance, but that second step throws her every time. She took her first step on 9/24, and has done it about ten times since? It's definitely getting more frequent, though, and she'll be full on walking before we recap this next month, I'm sure. EEK!
UPDATE: As of 10/28 at 7:30PM, Ava took two full steps together!!! AHHH!!! Having a hell of a time getting video, but working on it :)

*Ava is a fantastic eater. She'll eat anything you give her, which for us is what we're having at that particular meal. Faves include pulled pork, turkey bacon, waffles, all beans, strawberries, grapes, cantaloupe, pineapple and mandarin oranges. She seriously can eat a full cup of mandarin oranges - they're her faves!

*Ava is saying "mama" all day long this week, and this mama loves it! Also in her repertoire: "hi", "dada", and "baba", all of which she seems to understand the meaning of. The other day she tossed her babydoll, which has quickly become her favorite thing, over the baby gate and then yelled "babababababa" at the top of her little baby lungs until I picked it up, alerting me to this very upsetting situation :P LOVE IT!

*Ava loves loves LOVES to swing. We try to make it to the park every other day, if not every day, because she loves it so much!

*Ava claps and waves and high fives - too cute! Now if only she could throw the hook 'em (intentionally)....

*Still no babysitters, even family. Wah wah.

*Ava has gone from pulling up on things to standing on her own. She can even squat down and stand back up with no assistance!

*The cutest thing ever: Ava dances! She can't take steps consistently, so half the time when she manages to stand, she shakes her booty. I attribute this to my non-stop Madonna singing/dance parties :)

*She still weighs 20 1/2 pounds. That's right. Despite all this eating, she gained 0 lbs this month. That's normal, though, seeing as how her growth is starting to level off, and it's not like she's not a healthy size :P

*It's impossible to get the squirmy wormy's height, but I'm working on it, friends!

Happy 10 Months, little A!

Happy (Belated) 9 Months, Ava!

Yesterday was B-U-S-Y! Between A's nine-month appointment, grocery shopping, running errands for the D's, working and so on, I barely had time to do anything. We did, however, manage a trip to the park to celebrate A's nine-month birthday! Can someone please tell me how it's possible that my baby is NINE months old? She's not been out and about as long as she was in my belly! Wowsers!

At nine months, A is:

- 20lbs, 7oz. Whoa!!!
- 28.75" long - again, whoa!
- Has made a major transition to table foods this month, and though she still eats pureed things (since they're in our freezer still and will NOT be going to waste after I put that work into it!), she's starting to develop a real taste for...whatever is on mommy's plate! She now eats black beans (whole), whole-wheat bread, tortillas and english muffins, brown rice, broccoli, sweet corn, cantaloupe, watermelon, apples, pears, avocado, bananas, shredded pork and chicken pieces and - sucker that I am - little pieces of nilla wafers, teddy grahams, etc. occasionally. All things are broken/cut up into manageable bites, obviously.
- Has six teeth, four added in the past week on top! It was a rough week, friends.
- Wears 6-9 or 6-12 mo tops, depending on the make, and 12 mo. pants.
- Is obsessed with all electronics (aren't they all at this age?), and likes to rile her daddy up by touching the x-box, computer, tv. That's what he gets for not putting things where she can't get to them, right?
- Sleeps inconsistently. Her naps have gotten so much better, with her taking a good morning nap (1.5-2 hours usually), a medium afternoon nap (~1 hour) and a 30 minute snooze on our drive home from work on weekdays, but nighttime sleep varies. Some nights (like last night - thank you!!!) she only wakes up once, some nights it's three plus times! Eek. I talked to her doctor about it and he said that it may have a lot to do with her teeth, as well as her milestones. Babies tend to have regressed sleep when they're about to hit a big milestone, and homegirl recently took her first step, and is on the brink of walking. So we'll be patient a bit longer before we look into other solutions.
- Can crawl like a speed demon, has taken ONE step THREE times, wants to walk so bad, can walk while holding onto her push car, loves her activity table, and loves all things Dora (books!).
- Little A thinks she's a big girl now, and we're retiring the swing (for a while now), the exersaucer and anything that restrains her, since it seriously ticks her off. We're keeping "baby jail" aka the playpen, obvs. Mommy needs a safe place to keep her when I need to grab lunch, etc!
- Loves her binky, but loves mommy milk more! I think it's adorable how she spits her bink out when I undo my nursing bra. So sweet!
- Says "baba", "mama", "dada", "geegee" (no clue what this means!), and "eeeeeeeee" when she sees Dora. Hahaha.
- Is learning the signs for more and all done, though her version is barely recognizable.
- Prefers her Alphabet Pal, books and activity table to any other toys.
- Has only had breastmilk for NINE months! YAY! New goal: 1 year :)
- Plays peekaboo by putting a blankie/her dress/whatever is around over her head and then taking it off and laughing. OMG I die!

Happy Wednesday, all! I have some writing to do, but will be back with a Wordless Wednesday post hopefully at some point!

Eight Months!

Oh my goodness, Ava is EIGHT months old today! She's grown by leaps and bounds this month, and is doing so much more than I ever expected she would at this age. Here's a bit of what she's up to:



-Ava weighs 19lbs even, and is over 28" long! Holy moly!!! Somehow, though, she's able to wear her 3-6 month onesies still, so perhaps she is short-torsoed and long-legged, since she needs the 12-month length pants! She's even wearing 12M PJ's!



-Ava eats (and eats and eats) so well! She's tried cauliflower, broccoli, tangerine, plums and blueberries this month (the last two may not have been this month), as well as jars of Earth's Best chicken, turkey and lentil mixtures (I cannot bring myself to puree meat either, A.Lee!!!) that we were given with some baby clothing a friend had outgrown. She's also started on a few table foods, eating cheerios, apple strawberry gerber puffs (which are too sticky once they mix with saliva/hands, so not quite a hit yet), banana and avocado chunks. She hasn't quite figured out the whole feeding herself thing, at least not since they stick to her hands like crazy, but she loves the textures if you give her a little help!



-She learned how to drink from a straw, how to wave bye-bye and how to clap this month, and also says "mama" and "baba" with consistency now. "Mama" she likes to reserve for when she's fussing and wants me, "baba" is constant, and sometimes almost seems directed at her binky, which we sometimes call "baba". D is a bit hurt that she hasn't decided to say "dada" yet, but it's only a matter of time now...



-A can crawl SO fast. I'm talking super lightning speed from one side of the room to the other, tummy well off the ground. Yikes! This has made for a big month of babyproofing, including new baby gates, corner and edge guards for the coffee table, outlet plugs, and - if we can get our act together - cabinet latches soon. We've also purchased a flat screen TV lock, but I need D to install it (I do everything around here EXCEPT hardward installation - sorry buddy, but you're it!), so hopefully he'll do that this weekend!



-A pulls to standing on EVERYTHING, including now the wall. Yep, somehow she can get her balance well enough with her hands flat against the wall to pull to standing. The other day she actually let go and stood for about 5-10 seconds before falling. Mommy nearly had a heart attack. I give it 4-6 weeks before she's walking....holy crap!



-In honor of her eight-month birthday, A finally grew enough hair to put a bow in it! What. Up.




Happy weekend, and happy eight months, Ava!!!!!!!!!

7 Months!

Holy moly, my baby is seven-months-old! That's insane. I mean, seriously, how has it been seven months since this day:


(On a side note, don't judge me for the worst photo of me ever taken. I'd just had a baby, ya know...)

???

How are we closer to Christmas than not? How is it that in five short months, Ava will turn 1! Oh my goodness...

At 7 months, Ava:
-wears size 3 diapers
-weighs 18lbs, 12oz (!!!!!) and is inches long
-wears 3-6 month and 6-9 month onesies (she apparently in short torsoed with long legs?), and 6-12 month pants/pj's.
-crawls further and faster every day, though still is a bit of a slowpoke (thankfully!)
-rolls both ways and has started using this as a means of transportation
-pulled herself to standing on mommy the other day!!
-has had sweet potatoes, green beans, sweet peas, pears, applesauce, banana, mango, squash (this is the only one she hates!), peaches, pumpkin, carrots, oatmeal and prunes. She's a terrific eater! Peaches, pumpkin, applesauce and bananas are her favorites, though!
-eats two cubes at breakfast, and then two cubes and oatmeal at night
-has decided sleeping through the night is overrated, and continues to wake up at least once nightly :(
-and the big news: As of Monday, SHE SAYS MAMA!!!!!!!!! Now I know I may sound delusional, but I'm 100% certain she's saying mama, clear as day. D didn't believe me at first, but I went for haircut Monday night, and he said from 7PM on (normally when she gets out of the bath and nurses) she said "mamamama" while fussing. Awww!
When I called my mom to find out if I could believe my ears, she said that I was an early talker, and by eight months said "mama", "dada", and "baba". By one year, apparently, I was using two-word sentences. Looks like A will be following suit!

Here's some seven-month-pics from this morning/earlier this week:

Stranger Danger!

Ava has recently wandered into the not-so-fun territory that is stranger anxiety. In fact, two weeks ago her grandpa came into town to see us and BBQ during the World Cup final match, and she screamed bloody murder anytime he came near her. While part of that was that she was in desperate need of a nap, she still has become extremely wary of strangers.

I know that this is completely normal, and can appreciate that it's healthy for her development (and for later in life) that she recognizes certain people are safe and trustworthy, but is there a way I can ease this? The reason I ask is that in three short weeks we're heading to California so that Ava can finally meet my family (besides my mom, no one on my side has ever seen her!), and I'm worried how the already potentially stressful trip will go if she freaks around strangers.

Any tips/advice? Anyone else going through this??

Giraffes, Blocks & Rings - Oh My!

Lots going on around here.

First off, Ava's gotten some new toys, and she LOVES them. Here's a quick pick of all her faves these days:



Notice Sophie the Giraffe nestled in there. Yeah, yeah, I swore to myself I wouldn't pay upwards of twenty bucks for a glorified chew toy, but I'm a sucker a mommy that wants her baby to be happy, and Sophie makes her very, very happy. In fact, expect to see many different shots of Sophie in upcoming pics because, well, Ava and Sophie are attached at the hip.

She also loves the stacking rings, and while she can't stack them yet, she sure as heck can take them off all day long. She's also a rather big fan of the stacking cups, and likes to pretend to drink them all day long. At least we know where she inherited that tendency...

The sorting blocks are a favorite, but not with the top on. They've also led us to discover that I'm passing on my uber anal tidy tendencies to Ava, since if you put the rings in the red blocks box (didn't know you were tuning in for a Dr. Suess book tonight, did you?), she freaks out and takes them out. Apparently only blocks can go in the red blocks box. Yikes.

One of Ava's favorite things to play with in the car is the crunchy book you see pictured. It has no words, just pics, but makes a crinkly sound she absolutely loves, and is great for teething. It also helps me to know when she's awake or not while in the backseat without having to crane my neck to access her mirror. Works for me.

We recently got her a little push car with balls that pop, but she's totally not into it yet. Which is surprising, since look what position she found her way into earlier:

What the heck. It is NOT time to crawl Ava, no matter how adorable your efforts are.

On a less adorable note, here are some recent things we've been dealing with that I'm far less fond of:

-Ava has decided it's great fun to blow raspberries at me during breakfast every morning. While I have no one to blame but myself (I knew it would come back to haunt me, but the laugh she lets out when you blow raspberries at her is just too stinkin' cute to pass up!), it's still a bit obnoxious, particularly this morning when we tried prunes.

-We tried prunes this morning, as previously mentioned, because Ava was super constipated. It's not that she hadn't gone in a while, but she was so obviously straining. I'm talking, grabbing-her-high-chair-and-turning-bright-red type of straining. Poor baby. Anyhow, I gave her prunes and pears, and over the course of the day, out popped SIX poo diapers. Geeeeeeeeeeeeez. The lesson here? Prunes OR pears, not prunes AND pears. Check.

-Ava decided last night that she wanted to party. While she only woke up once, which is fine by me, that one time lasted fro 2:45-5AM. Unfortunately, 5AM was the exact time I'd set in my mind that I was going to wake up David and tell him it was time for him to take over. She fell asleep at 4:57. I kid you not. She then proceeded to sleep in until 9:30 while I got up at 7:30AM to deal with the pest control guy. Oh, the joys of adulthood.

Anyone with any tips on how to discourage the whole spitting cereal and fruits all over mommy thing? I'm not a huge fan.

I am, however, a huge fan of this face:
(note the homemade "Argh, kiss me booty" pirate onesie and baby converse!)

And this one:

And I wouldn't have minded seeing this particular version of Ava at 3AM:


Here's hoping she'll continue to sleep better now that she's been getting some (homemade) oatmeal and rice cereal!

My Baby is Becoming a Big Girl...

She's trying to crawl!

She sits up and plays on her blanket:


She brushes her TWO teeth!

She goes to Chuck E Cheese for birthday parties:

She has playdates with BOYS:


She swings!


She DJs:


She pets Spencer with gentle hands:



Can you believe this girl...

...is the same as this one???




Ava - you are my heart and soul. I love you so much, and can't believe how much you're growing every single day. I can't wait to spend the rest of my life with you, just being your mommy.

Six Months!

Happy Half-Birthday, Ava!!!

The results are in from her six-month appointment this morning - she's a chunk ;)

Weight: 17lbs, 8oz. (75-90%)
Height: 26 3/4" (75-90%)
Apparently she's been growing JUST FINE on mama milk alone!

We reintroduced solids last night, giving her a mashed up banana and a helping of sweet potatoes. Not only did she finish the entire sweet potato serving, she ate HALF a banana. What a little chunker monker!

Ava officially has two teeth, with the second finally having broken the surface! Now that it's through, lil homie is in much better spirits and is sleeping better at night. She still continues to wake up once, but since she's been co-sleeping, I've actually had to ask D, "Did she wake up last night or did I dream that??" Niiiice.
Don't worry, though. I'm completely conscious of her being in our bed and in tune with her. I just am able to stay happily half-asleep while she eats. I'm quickly changing my tune on this whole co-sleeping issue!

On another note, while SIDS does occur after 6 months, cases are few and far between, with 90% occuring prior to 6 months. Wheewwwwwww. What a huge sigh of relief. I'll still be vigilant, of course, but to actually start to believe that Ava is here to stay is a huge weight off my shoulders.

Ava's shots went...decently enough, I suppose. She cried, of course, but that was to be expected. I'm pretty sure I would've cried, too, had I been the one getting stuck, so no judgment! I just felt so bad for her afterwards, since everytime Dr. H would come back into the room, she'd start all over again.

Some adorable things A's doing right now:

-She's finally reaching for me (finally by my standards, not by developmental standards!) I've really looked forward to the day when she can signal that she wants me or wants me to pick her up (although I'm sure it'll get old fast when she's always wanting to be held!), so this was a cute milestone.

-Since she's started sleeping in our bed, she's learned to wake us up in other ways besides crying, which is adorable. I love knowing she's learning to communicate her needs and desires in new ways. Last night, I woke up to a cold little hand on my face. When I looked down, I saw too big, bright eyes staring up at me, her little hand on my cheek. Too cute.

-Ava likes to babble and sing. She's really getting the consonant sounds down, particularly 'buh', 'muh', 'dah' and 'huh'. Loving it! Can't wait until she can speak!!

This weekend was nonstop - more on that later when I can post pics!

Happy Monday, friends!

Growing Up...

Ava is getting a SECOND tooth! While only the first one has completely broken through and is becoming more and more visible each day, it's my guess that her second one will be equally obvious by the weekend! How is it possible that my teeny tiny baby can now sit and eat solid foods and has TWO teeth?!?! Also, I think I failed to mention that at her doctor appointment over a week ago, Miss A weighed 16lbs, 7oz. Holy moly!

Here's a little cuteness for all of you out there that put up with my incessant rambling :)

To be clear, this is the most time Ava has ever spent in her crib :/

Look who's growing some hair finally!

My little sitter!

Our new sleeping arrangement. Seems like she gets the better end of the deal, eh?


I wanted to start asking around what other mommies were doing/have done for their first Father's Day?? I ask because I have ZERO idea what our plans are, and David is no help since he's standing firm on not wanting anything. Well, sorry, but I'm not neglecting your first Father's Day! That's just blasphemy! Any ideas/suggestions?

He's not into any sports (other than soccer - damn you World Cup! - and college football - we already have season tickets, so that's out), and I'll be damned if I contribute anymore to his (gulp!) video game habit!

Happy Hump Day, y'all! I'm sad my vacation is passing by, but we're filling it up with lots of goodness, including shopping trips, lazing around the house, movies, errands, and lunching with the "ladies" (AKA Ava's gay uncles). I wish I could be a stay-at-home mom :) Someday!

We Have A Tooth!!!

Last night, while getting Ava in her jammies, I was bit. Little munch has been going through a bit of a biting phase as of late - she actually made me jump last night when nursing (OWW!) - but this one felt different. This was the type of bite that indicated one thing and one thing only - her first little baby tooth has arrived! It's on the bottom on her left hand side! Cute!!!!

I'm incredibly excited, despite it barely having broken the surface, if for no other reason than the most painful part of this particular tooth is over! This has been such a huge week! As sad as I am that she's been on the brink of teething while sick, I'm so excited for the emergence of little baby toothy numero uno! Congrats, little A! Is this your way of trying to get the point across that you want some food already???

I tried to snap a picture, but it was nearly impossible. I basically ended up with a bunch of shots of Ava's adorable little tongue (this may have a little something to do with her being forcefed medicine several times a day since Saturday and her now quick attempt to spit out ANYTHING you attempt to put in her mouth. Ill try some more later on today!

Who Loves Their Exersaucer?

Ava does!





She mastered the art of spinning those three music makers around pretty quickly!

You're growing up so fast, Ava, and learning so much everyday! WE LOVE YOU!