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!

Swimmin With Carter

Today our friends Anne-Marie and Carter came over to play in the baby pool. Anne-Marie's husband is also deployed (although he and Richard haven't met yet) so we've been through our pregnancies, deployment, having the babies, etc together. Carter is two weeks younger than Ava. Anyway, the video pretty much speaks for itself; just some fun in the pool. :)

video to come*

Making a Mess

Well this is not the video I was originally trying to put on here, but this is another one of her making a mess. :)

Feeding Herself

Eating some puffs this morning.

Sitting Up... Again

Well Ava's newest accomplishment is going from a tummy down crawling position back to sitting up again. All by herself! I just watched her do it twice in the last five minutes! She really is getting around (and into everything!) now, too. Her little knees are red from all the crawling and scooting she does. I'll have to have her wear pants some to protect them a little more. Last night I stood her up holding on to the couch and she held herself there for like 10 seconds or more. She's really developing good strength and balance. Her one tooth is really coming in now and I'm just waiting for the other middle bottom one to come in any day. Let's see... oh yeah, Ava is LoViNg bath time even more nowadays. We do our usual wash up and everything and then I fill the tub up a couple inches and get out. I leave her in there to splash and play while I'm brushing my teeth, etc there in the bathroom with her. Here are a few more pictures!

Morning Discovery

I didn't think I would updating this again so soon but I made a wonderful discovery this morning! :) Ava was in her highchair while I was making myself some breakfast. I gave her some banana puffs (little cheerio sized bits that dissolve in your mouth) to practice feeding herself while she waited for her own breakfast. She is not so great at the finger and thumb pinching motion to pick little things up yet, so those puffs often get stuck in the palm of her fisted hand while she tries to eat them. When this happens and she starts getting frustrated I usually help her out and put the puff in her mouth. Well she bit down before I got my finger out of her mouth this time and it hurt!! So I looked close and... she has a tooth sticking through on the bottom! Not much of it is out yet but it's definitely enough to make her little bite hurt, hehe. Our little girl is growing up! Of course, I already knew this but seeing her reach milestone after milestone makes it really real. She puts herself to sleep for naps and bedtime, she sleeps through the night (like 10+ hours!), she can sit up, she can crawl/roll/scoot, she's starting to feed herself... holy cow! That's a lot of stuff to learn in just under 7 months of life! She couldn't do ANYTHING just a short time ago!

Wow, okay, there were a lot of !!exclamation points!! up there... It's just so awesome to see Ava learning and growing and changing every day. I'm so blessed (thank you, Lord) to be able to stay home with her, too. Thank you, Richard, for working so hard to provide for us!