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Ready for S.U.M.M.E.R!!

 

Another month has flown by, our sweet little girl is as busy as can be. I must say, she is really enjoying having her Momma and Daddy home right now...we are both enjoying being home with her too!! We are ready to go swimming, go to the lake, and spend time with one another.

Some of Ava's new words:

• No (05.08.11)
• Wawa (water) (05.11.11)
• Momma wawa (said while pointing at her bathtub) (05.12.11)
• All done (05.14.11)
• Woof (05.19.11)
• Bye bye (05.19.11)
• Yes (05.19.11)
• Di Dop (Big Pop)
• Kick kick (05.25.11)

Other fun things she has learned or loves to do:

• Clicks her tongue
• Playing chase with either Lola or anyone that will chase her
• Being outside
• Ketchup: she points at it and says, that, that
• If you ask her if she is ready to take a bath, she runs to her bathroom and tries to climb in the bathtub
• Eating whole apples
• Eating big girl cereal with a spoon
• Riding Big Pop's 4-wheeler 
• Reading books
• Chips and salsa
• Running

First cereal with milk! It was Cinnamon Toast Crunch...not the healthiest, but she LOVED it!

BOOKS...the only way to get her to sit still!!!

Our busy lil' girl!!

This month has flown by, seems like we just celebrated her 1st birthday.  We definitely have a blabbering toddler on our hands.  I look at Ava now compared to a few months ago and it is incredible how much she has changed. She is constantly, and I mean constantly, talking and on the move.  I am sitting at the computer and watching her on her baby monitor and she is rolling circles in her crib and talking non-stop.  Some of Ava's new words are:

• eyes (04.19.11)
• dog and puzzle (04.21.11)
• Easter night, she said Jesus, twice 
• pretty  (04.29.11)
• Is it? (04.29.11)
• Daddy and Ava (said in sentence form) (04.29.11)
• look (said while pointing at everything)
• Lola (05.03.11)

Ava is taking swim lessons on Monday nights at Miller Swim School, in Tulsa. She takes it with her good bud, Caleb, from church. She has so much fun singing the songs and "rowing", "kicking", and doing the "pancake." Often times, Ava is too busy to pay attention to her teacher, Ms. Glenda (who is awesome, by the way). She will point at other children in the pool, her Aunt LiLi who comes every week to watch her swim, or just random things that catch her attention. She is the cheerleader in the group and likes to clap when her classmates do a great job.  She has learned to go underwater, climb out of the pool, doggie-paddle, float on her back; of course, these are all done with the assistance of her Momma, who has just as much fun as she does in the class!!

Reading with one of her favorite people in the world, her Big Pop!

After a scrumptous 1 1/4 PB &J (yep, you read that correctly...she was a hungry girl!)

Ava has had such a busy month learning new things. She can jump, wave, say "Go Pokes" with her hands, clap, go find something, all when asked. She is such a smart girl!! We are so thankful for such a busy, heathly, and happy toddler!

The big O.N.E!!!



Ava showing everyone she's 1!!!

Well, we just celebrated our little girl turning ONE! It was such an emotional day.  I have never in my life thought about how my mom felt on my birthday, guess I was just selfish and was always thinking of it being my day.  When really, it should be a special day for her as well. 

Ava wearing the same dress that both her NoNo and I wore on our 1st Birthdays

Ava's birthday fell on a Sunday so we celebrated the Saturday before.  We had a small party with some family and friends.  Our guests started to arrive and Ava decided it would be time to open gifts... on her own...

B.U.S.T.E.D!!!

The week before Ava's first Birthday, we had our wonderful photographer, Ann Bennett, do Ava's 1st birthday shots.  It was literally freezing outside, but like usual, our Ava is easy going.  You'd never know how cold it was by the smile on her face. 

We had been planning these pictures for a few months and had wanted some great shots of Ava, outside, smashing her cake.  Well...the weather put a damper on that...soooooo, our sweet photographer called up her mom and asked if we could do Ava's cake smashing in her newly remodeled kitchen.  Did I mention it was the Mayor of Tulsa's kitchen?  It made for a fun time!!

Last but not least, I wanted to update you all on our little JOY's 1 year stats:

Height: 30.5 inches (90 percentile)

Weight: 24 lbs 6 ounces (91 percentile)

Head circumference: 46.2cm (80 percentile)

Favorites:

whole green beans

lima beans

strawberries

swim class

Big Pop (cause she gets what she wants)

playing outside

her new car

our neighbor across the street's for sale sign (she points and screams at it)

arching her back when she doesn't get what she wants

Not so favorites:

her new Sunday School class

diaper changes

sitting still

1 year molars

strangers



Countdown to...

...the big day! Ava is almost 1!!

We are getting close to the big day! Ava Joy is almost one and is changing everyday.  She is getting so independent and boy is she ever busy.  I have never met a lil' one who is on the move every waking moment of the day. We wouldn't have it any other way though. 

Here are a few of Ava's new tricks:

• Books, they are the only thing that slows her down for a few minutes, she even "reads" them the right way and loves turning the pages
• Throwing things and chasing after them
• Learning to stand
• Climbing on everything, i.e, fireplace, dishwasher, couch, etc.
• Chapstick, thanks to Aunti LiLi.
• Clapping 03.01.11
• Shaking her head no
• Pickles
• She took a step for her Big Pop at the beginning of the month
• Drinking with a straw 03.03.11
• Balloons

Some of her least favorite things:

• Having her diaper changed
• Not getting her way
• Being trapped in half of the house
• Getting dressed

We have already had a busy month so far. Mommy had her appendix out on Wednesday and it has been hard cause she can't hold Ava for 2 weeks. Daddy is busy taking 18 hours of school and Daddy is currently at Drill this weekend.  We will hopefully slow down during Spring Break as we are taking Ava to the beach for the first time. We are excited to just get away and enjoy some family time.  Soon after our trip, we will putting the finishing touches on Ava's 1st Birthday. 

Bubbles, teeth, and stairs...OH MY!!

Wow...where has the time gone??? Ava is 10 months old today.  It's so hard to believe that soon we will be planning a first birthday party!!  It makes Mommy so sad to see her baby grow up, yet it is so much fun to see her learning and growing everyday.  

One of Ava's favorite parts of the day is bath time.  She loves a bath...wonder where she gets it from?  Here are a few pictures of her first bubble bath. 

I know someone else who makes this face? 

Ava got her 4th tooth this week.  She now has 2 bottoms and 2 tops and boy are those think like razors!! She has taken to biting whatever she can, your pant leg, the remote, a shoelace, Momma...basically, you name it and she'll attempt to bite it! I am praying this is due to teething pain and not that she enjoys biting.  

If you look closely, you can see all 4 of them!

Another new trick Ava has learned is climbing the stairs.  Okay, so if you ask Dada, he'd say that Momma taught her. She absolutely loves to climb them and giggles with excitement if you pretend to chase her up the stairs.  She is so proud to do it by herself.  I have a feeling we are going to be hearing that a lot soon...she wants to do EVERYTHING by herself!!

In addition to loving bath time and climbing the stairs, some of Ava's other favorites at the moment are:

• feeding herself with a spoon
• getting all her toys out of her toybox
• climbing on the fireplace
• getting into things she knows she not supposed to be getting into, i.e. pantry, going through the baby gate, taking the remote or cell phones, etc.
• whatever we are eating, especially pizza
• watching herself on videos or looking at pictures of herself
• Sesame Street's Abby Cadaby
• Anything Elmo related
• she is learning to do puzzles
• shaking her head side to side to say NO!
• she likes to mimic faces or sounds that we make
• fake coughing

Her not so favorite things:

• cutting teeth
• sitting in her carseat
• being fed by someone, she wants to be big and do it by herself
• whole bananas

It has been such a busy month!! Mommy left for the first time EVER, it was a long 4 days away from her baby...her coworkers probably think she is crazy for crying so much at the convention.  Dada and Aunt LiLi held down the fort.  Aunt LiLi and Ava surpised Momma at the airport and it was such a thoughtful surprise.  Thank you Lin!!!  Dada's school semester also started so he has been busy taking 18 hours.  These last few days home due to the snow storm have been great to just take some time to slow down and enjoy being a family. 

9 Months!!

Today, I am sad to say that our baby girl is 9 months old! Where have these past months gone?  The better question is, how do I get them to slow down?  If anyone has the answer, please let me know!

This month has come and gone faster than any month this far. Ava had her first Christmas and New Year's celebration.  Dada was off from school almost all month and Mommy had almost 2 weeks of vacation that she used. It was so nice being home and getting to spend time with one another.

This month, we had family pictures taken. Last time we had some done was when Ava was 9 days old, I  guess we were overdue. We had a wonderful time, despite the terribly cold temperatures. I believe it was in the low 40s and boy was it windy!  We braved the cold and it was SO worth it. Our photographer, Ann Bennett, did an amazing job. She has a more hands off approach and just captured our normal quirks and the silly things we do with Ava on a regular basis. Here are a few of our favorite shots:

Here what's going on with our baby girl.

She likes:

• cell phones
• remote controls (yes, she knows difference between a toy and the real thing!)
• whole green beans
• computers
• Elmo
• orange juice
• bath time
• her Belle doll from Beauty & the Beast
• books
• staying in her jammies all day with Dada
• pulling on Lola
• Grandma Betty & Grandpa Al's cat, Lexi
• pulling ornaments of the Christmas tree
• shredding paper
• brushing her teeth
• cruising and walking along EVERYTHING
• the buzzers on Family Fued

Not her favs:

• changing clothes
• diaper changes
• cutting teeth
• being buckled into anything: car seat, stroller, shopping cat, etc.
• being made to do something she doesn't want to do...sounds familiar to someone, huh?

Our big girl now has 3 teeth, 2 bottoms and one top! She wears size 12-18 months mostly. She can also say, "ball." We go tomorrow for her 9 month checkup so I'm not sure of her stats. I'll post those later.

I wanted to give a SHOUT OUT to Ava's amazing Dada. Thank you for taking sure great care of her during the day. You are an amazing Daddy and we are so thankful and blessed to have you in our lives. WE LOVE YOU, DADA!! Your wife and Barnacle