Stair Master

Well I knew it was time to get a baby gate for the stairs, but here's the proof. I saw Ava heading for the stairs so I grabbed the camera and followed her. She made it all the way up with no help and no falls! She's such a busy little bee; definitely keepin me on my toes! :)

Laughter!

Table & Basket Walking!

Lately, Ava has been walking by pushing her little music table or a laundry basket around. It's so funny to watch her little legs work (and she's on her tip-toes half the time). Go, Ava, go! And hurry home, Richard!

More Videos

Here are two videos from this morning. Ava is really starting to move more while standing! In the second video, she is really getting around her little music table. :)

Counting Down

I can't believe this deployment year is finally almost over! Right now it sounds like Richard won't be staying later than the rest of his battalion after all. (Hopefully not!) So hopefully we will be reunited sometime in the next month or so!!! He is not going to believe how much Ava has grown and changed. He sees her often via video chat but obviously that cannot compare to actually seeing her. I'm so excited to see them see each other! :)

Ava has two teeth now. Her second one finally cut through the skin about a week ago. It's so funny to see a little toothy smile now. Ava is very interested in BB right now. She likes to try to follow her around and laughs when BB makes any sudden movements. She is starting to understand my "serious" tone and when I tell her "no" about things. For instance, BB was trying to eat this morning and Ava speed-crawled right towards her going for the food. When she got close to BB I said "Ava, no." She stopped crawling and sat up and just looked at me. Then she looked back to BB. I told her no again and she looked back at me. She sat there for a few more seconds and then went for the food again. So... I'm thinking she semi-understands but it doesn't quite stick with her yet. We'll definitely keep working on it.Hmm.... what else?... Oh yeah. I started letting Ava practice feeding herself with a spoon this morning. I scooped some oatmeal on the spoon and set it on her tray. She grabbed the oatmeal with her hands first but eventually put the spoon in her mouth to get the rest off. It's a very messy process but there's only one way to learn and just trying is fun for her and builds her confidence.

I can't think of much else to report right now... Until next time... :)

Videos!!!

I finally uploaded some more videos so I could put some on here. These are from 8/10-8/22 (dates shown under each video).

8/10/09 - laughing at BB

8/14/09 - pulling up on her music table
(I had to tuck her dress into her little bloomers cuz she kept stepping on it when she tried to stand up, hehe.)

8/20/09 - eating some bananas

8/22/09 - crawling to her bottle (of water)

A lot has changed with "Little A" in the past month or so. (You can see some of the progression of skills in the videos.) Just in the last week she has gone from doing what I call "the worm" crawl to doing real hands and knees crawling. And she's fast too!!! She's been pulling up on stuff for a while now too but that's getting easier and easier (and she's much more graceful at getting back down). A couple nights ago she even walked herself the length of the futon in her room by holding onto it! I was thinking Richard would probably be here before she starts walking but now I'm not so sure. It sounded like he was going to be home sometime around the end of September but now it sounds like maybe mid-October after all. A couple more weeks really isn't a big deal, but it's a long time in "baby development time" and could possibly mean the difference between Ava not walking and walking. We'll see... Anyway, oh yeah, Ava's second tooth is clearly visible next to her current tooth but has not broken through the skin yet. Any minute now. She is doing so well with feeding herself and is liking lots of different foods. I'm giving her a lot of regular table food now (peaches, bananas, pears, sweet potato cubes, carrots... anything soft that I can cut into small pieces for her). Not that it really means anything yet, but Ava is pretty much only using her left hand to feed herself right now. If she does happen to pick something up with her right hand, she'll pass it to her left hand before putting it in her mouth. We'll see if she turns out to be a lefty like her dad, Mimi, and Nonnie. :)

I'm gonna try to be better about updating this and getting videos on here. More to come!

Weight Check

I took Ava to the pediatrician today for her weight check (4 weeks after her last appointment). She was 14.1 lbs last time and today she was exactly 16 lbs. Woohoo! We saw a different doctor because our usual one was up in labor and delivery on standby to help with twins being born. The lady doctor we saw was really nice and said she is not at all worried about Little A and that she looks good and healthy. She is definitely eating well (see picture). :)

Ava is pulling herself up and standing a lot now. I put the legs on her little music table and spends a lot of time playing at that. She also loves climbing all over me when I get on the floor with her (or on Pancake if she'll lie still long enough; definitely no chance of BB lying still to be Ava's jungle gym).

We (Ava, pups and me) are walking pretty much every day; at least once a day, often morning AND night. It feels good for me, is great for the pups, and Ava enjoys stroller riding. Hmm... other than that we're just waiting for Richard/Daddy to get home!!! Should be 2 months or less now! So close yet it feels so far in this moment!