Ava & Mila

Our little Ava is now 36 weeks old…

When picking up Ava from daycare on Friday, we found her in the middle of band practice with her friends. When we got closer, we noticed that Ava’s eyes were a bit red and goopy… on top of already being sick with a daycare cold since last week.

When I lifted Ava out of her crib from her afternoon nap, her eyes were worse. They were red, swollen, crusty and uncomfortable. So it was off to the doctor’s office to get eye drops for her conjunctivitis. Giving a baby eye drops is not easy. As soon as she sees the bottle, she gets super baby strength. One of us has to pin her body and arms down while the other tries to pry her eyes open enough for the drops to get in. When picking up the drops from the pharmacy, Ava and I were waiting patiently for our prescription while Dan picked up some pizza next door. The cashier kept staring and staring at Ava and me. I figured she was staring at Ava’s eyes because they were swelling shut in front of my eyes. As soon as Dan walked into the pharmacy, the cashier looked at him and said ‘oh. now i know who she looks like’. lol. I guess she looked more like Dan that day. hehe. We usually hear that Ava is a 50/50 combination of the both of us. Dan had a puffy eye complex for the remainder of the day.

The drops seemed to help Ava immediately. Her swelling went down almost back to normal the next morning so we dressed up Ava in a hat and headed out from breakfast. Little did we know that a hat and an lingering eye infection made Ava look like a Tibetan baby. I wonder if she will be a monk when she grows up. Can girls be monks?

At breakfast, our smiling baby returned.

And then at home, Ava was back to old tricks.

On Sunday, Ava starting coughing. On Monday, she started getting a fever. On Wednesday, we picked her up from daycare, where she was enjoying staring at the book fair poster, and noticed that her eye infection returned. So it was back to the doctor. Guess who has an ear infection and gets to start antibiotics?

And guess who got 3 new teeth on top of it all? Poor Ava. And I tortured her with my picture taking. Her new teeth are on top… so she now has 4 on top and 2 on the bottom.

Yoda can not resist sleeping in comforters that look like soft fluffy clouds… and neither can Ava.

Poke poke.

Ava decided it was a good idea to engulf Yoda in the fluffy cloud…

…until she disappeared.

Yoda could only handle the abuse for the few minutes before she bolted for a new napping location.

Since Ava was still sick this week, she stayed home and made us read a lot of books to her.

But she enjoys turning the pages all by herself too.

Especially with tiny books that are just her size.

Curtains were one of Ava’s new discoveries this week.

She learned how to hide in them and giggle. Yoda loved playing in the sunshine patterns that Ava created with the curtains.

Ava’s other discovery this week is the door. She learned how to open and close it. Over and over again.

Ava and Ollie are getting along better this week. Especially when her teddy bear ‘Medo’ is hanging out with him.

What do you think of her new Medo hat? Pretty….pretty….pretty good.

Bath time is still one of Ava’s favorite bed time routines… but so is swinging in her towel hammock before putting on her pajamas.

During pajama time, Ava is known to rub her eyes like a cartoon character.

And give us a ‘fake’ smile for the camera.

When picking up Ava from daycare, she usually sees us before we can take a picture because she wants us to pick her up immediately. But this week, Dan and I started to become sneaky at our arrival in order to see what she really does there when we are not in sight. Our Ava had no clue we were there but her friends Hannah and Ava R sure noticed.

Ava was just too busy eating a bright pink toy bin.

The next day she was sitting in the corner, playing next to the spare clothes boxes.

Is time-out over already?

Alright. No more story telling. I need to finish my yams.

Ava is 35 weeks old and this has to be my new favorite picture of her. It reflects one of the many quiet mornings that we spend together, waiting for Dan and the animals to wake. Ava pulled herself up on the dining room window ledge and stared out into the street, maybe thinking of what the day will bring.

One of the silly games Ava participated in this week was laying her head on Rudy’s bed, using it like a pillow. Dan and Ava had lots of giggles watching each other ‘sleep’ on the pillow. Ava also likes to peek through the opening in the gate of her play yard….

… and then stands on her tippy toes to get a better view from above the gate…

… to laugh at her daddy.

But laughing doesn’t just occur from the play yard. Giggling from someone else’s tummy does the trick too.

Especially when the tickle monster appears out of nowhere.

Last week Ava fell asleep in the car with her finger in her ear. But this week, she decided that a sock in her mouth was a much better idea.

Ava hit a milestone this week. She waves! Well, she sorta waves. It is sometimes at the right moment but most of the time it is at the wrong moment. It began as an arm wave and then she started opening and closing the palm of her hand. We wave hello and good bye to everyone we see, especially the animals who don’t wave back. How rude. It’s not perfect yet but she sure is trying.

She must of used her new found waving skills to create this masterpiece. It is called ‘ball painting’ because she used a ball to paint instead of a brush.

Daycare was exciting this week. The fire alarm went off as we were dropping Ava off one morning. So, her teachers carefully threw all six kids into two cribs and wheeled the cribs outside into the covered area of the yard, protecting them from the morning drizzle. Ava was placed with two boys who had their breakfasts interrupted and were very upset. So, Ava quickly became upset too until she figured out that she could stand in the crib and stare at all the other kids out in the yard. I guess the fire alarm was not a just a fire drill as expected. One of the cooks burned the breakfast sausages and thus the smoke set off the real fire alarm. Oops.

In case Ava ever misses us at daycare, she has a box especially made for her that has picture of her mommy and daddy on it.

One of the kids at daycare was sick this week. Her teacher was hoping Ava wouldn’t catch it because she is still protected from nursing but Ava woke up with a stuffy nose on Tuesday morning. All the kids have runny noses at daycare. It’s pretty gross. Picture day was supposed to happen this week but it was canceled after the photographer hurt her back. At least the kids will have time to dry out their snot so they have a dried slime in all their pictures. Haa-choo! Bless you Ava.

After her naps, Ava wakes up with the best snot mustaches. She wasn’t too happy with me here… but I just had to take a picture before snack time.

Ava is beginning to cruise this week. A few steps here and there.

And some dancing here and there too. Lula. Lula.

Sometime before her ninth month appointment, the doctor wanted us to start introducing Ava to non-pureed foods and self feeding. So I piled some bananas for her and stuck a wheat teething biscuit in it to see what she would do with them.

I showed her how to eat with her hands by feeding her a banana chunk. Okay Ava, it’s your turn.

Huh?

You want me to do WHAT?

NO!!

After a bit of whining, Ava picked up the biscuit. I was on alert in case she started choking. This real food stuff is scary but no real choking happened. But the soggy biscuit did eventually break into her mouth and I quickly pulled it out. This thing doesn’t seem safe. If anyone has any pointers, please comment at the end of this post. Thanks.

After smashing the cut banana almost back into one solid piece, Ava did manage to get a chuck of banana stuck to her hand and feed herself. It was an accident but it still counts in my book.

And at the end of it all, we gently shake all the banana chunks off of her and she giggles like crazy.

Alright. See you next week. Get this thing off of me please.

Before Ava was born, I became obsessed with a certain stuffed chair named Ollie the Octopus. I decided that I was going to buy it for Ava for her first birthday but I got suckered by a sale and ended up buying it for this week.

Look Ava, it is a huge box!

Can’t see. Gate. too. tall.

What the…??

Hi there, Ollie. It’s nice to meet you.

You have nice eyes.

I think I like Ollie.

What? He has tentacles and he is not a potty training toilet. Get me out of here!

I got to go to the park for the first time on Sunday.

But I wasn’t alone… my paparazzi were there too.

Grace was also there. She was going so fast in her swing that she turned blurry. Unbelievable.

I didn’t mind the swing at first.

But then it made me a little scared so I made the best sad face… double-chin and all.

There was a train there and I peeked out of its window. Choo choo. All aboard. Grace taught me that.

To get to the front of the train, I had to crawl through a tunnel… but the sand made my little hands hurt…

…so mommy helped me walk through it.

Are you sure we are supposed to be up here?

Thank goodness Grace was there to give me an encouraging kiss.

To round up my adventure, Mommy took me down the slide. It was ok.

I think she had more fun that I did.

I have a secret trick. If I wet Ava’s hair and then put on her hat, she will get hat head… aka normal-ish hair. I kinda discovered this trick on vacation after taking Ava out of the pool. So Friday was the day that I tried at home. She didn’t mind it all.

Bye Ava! Have fun at daycare today. Yummy giraffe.

And when I picked up Ava from daycare…. OMG. Today is what? Crazy hair Friday? Looks like she joined a baby punk rock band.

She even belted out a song or two that afternoon.

Then decided to make a crazy face.

Followed by a supermodel pose.

I was a bit embarrassed to take her out that evening so we stayed home and played outside a bit.

You can really see the pink and purple highlights in the afternoon sun.

Ava stood all by herself for close to 10 seconds today.

And then remembered that standing on grass is no fun unless there are ducks to chase.

Then it was off to the tub with our crazy hair day Ava.

I guess her normal crazy hair isn’t so bad after all.

Yes, it’s true. Ava is 8 months old now. Dan and I are freaking out a bit because we just can’t believe how fast she is growing. It’s ridiculous. We need to use the video camera more often.

For each of Ava’s monthly birthdays, we snap a picture of her at 1:34pm, which is the time slimy Ava was placed in our arms for the first time. Since it happens to fall around lunch time, we are either picking her up from daycare or getting a bite to eat. And this month was no exception. We were at Chipotle enjoying a healthy serving of carnitas while Ava snacked on an appetizing blackberry holster.

Her personality is really coming out now. When she gets excited, she makes this great sound. I am having a bit of trouble explaining it. It is not really a grunt, but more like a huh sound. I guess it is similar to the sound that you would make if someone gently punched you in the stomach. She made the sound a lot last week when she saw waddling ducks. And this week she really likes to use it when she chases the animals around the house…

…and when she gets into the standing position.

The weather is so so nice here compared to the desert so we have been going on a lot more walks around the neighborhood. Here is Ava with her daddy, walking to dinner. So sweet…. Wait a second. I think Ava is trying to give us the bird.

I’m not sure what happened this week. Ava seems to have reached new milestones ever since our return from Palm Springs. The first new thing is standing in her crib. Before vacation, Ava was only able to get onto her hands and knees and smash her bumper into the mattress. But not this week. The morning after our trip, I slowly opened her creaky door to find Ava standing in her crib staring at me. We were both stunned. I quickly ran from the doorway to find the camera. Ava didn’t think it was very nice that I left her there alone but quickly forgave me upon my return.

Ava is also standing in her crib at daycare… but for a different reason. At home, she stands up upon awakening. At daycare, she stands so she can avoid a nap and play with the blinds on the other side of the crib.

Also at daycare, Ava has officially started to play with the other kids. She has previously interacted with the other tots but this week Ava and Max played peek-a-boo with each other and were laughing and laughing. Miss Lynn said it was a sight to see. We then both agreed that they are growing up too fast and let out a deep sigh.

Ava is a bit more tolerable of her play yard now. I used to have to sit with her the entire time she was in there, but this week she is allowing me to observe her from the couch.

I think it is due to her being able to play better independently. I actually caught her playing with a toy cat like it was a car. She moved it along the floor and then over her piano. I don’t know if it was an accident but it brought a smile to my face. But don’t get her wrong, if there is a chance to escape to play yard, Ava will take it.

Ava’s next accomplishment is figuring out how to get her toy birds out of the birdhouse.

I know you are thinking ‘big whoop’ but it’s amazing to see her finally grasp the concept that the hole in the roof is how the little birdies can escape.

I’m not sure what will happen next week… maybe some light reading?

On way from daycare to the house, Ava occasionally falls asleep in the car, especially if she skipped her nap due to standing in the crib and playing with the blinds. For some reason, Ava decided it was a good idea to fall asleep with a finger in her ear. Hmmm, I wonder if she tired of listening to Frosty, Heidi and Frank on the radio.

Check out Ava in her new dress and bird tights. She was very excited to wear tights for the first time…

… until we got to daycare and her daddy decided to tuck her dress into her tights, stick her in the buggy and make her look like a stuffed sausage. Good one daddy.

To make up for embarrassing her at daycare, her daddy ran with her through the house pretending she was a football.

Ava loved being a football much more than a stuffed sausage.

Ava got her third tooth a few days ago. It is a top tooth but not one of the center ones as we were expecting. For some reason, the tooth to the right of the center two decided to sprout first.

On the eating front, Ava loves to eat butternut squash, peaches and yogurt… but cauliflower? Not so much.

It makes her gag just like peas.

Whenever we buy Yoda a cat toy, she loves the box or bag that it comes in much more than the the toy itself. And now I have a feeling that Yoda has somehow brainwashed Ava. Here they are both trying to crumble up a paper bag.

Silly girls.

And for some reason, Ava is obsessed with our bedroom window for the past few days. She loves staring out of it, maybe at the hummingbird feeder, and playing with the curtains. Oh oh. I think Yoda the brainwasher might have hit again.

Ava is 33 weeks old and on a much deserved vacation in Palm Springs with Grandma Ester and Grandpa Jack. Here is this week’s story.

Ava was up and ready to play at 6:30 am every morning. I forgot to tell her that vacations were for sleeping in as long as possible or until the you hear the word ‘housekeeping’ at the door. We set up her portable crib in the living room with us so we had quiet hours during her naps and bedtime. The upside to the all whispering is that we could peek on her while she was sleeping.

Every morning Ava would look for Grandma Ester in the kitchen. Once she saw her, Ava would giggle because it was play time with the grandparents on their bed. Afterwards, Ava and Grandma Ester would go on their daily morning walks around the hotel.

Ava loved crawling to the kitchen. Here she helping with the dishes. How nice.

Ava also loved laughing at Grandpa Jack’s whistles and nosies. Here she is trying to turn down his volume. I guess she hasn’t learned that his volume control is broken.

Here is Ava rocking in the hallway. She has learned to respond to her first word, ‘lula’, which is Croatian for rocking back and forth. As soon as you say lula, Ava smiles and rocks out. What? Babies learn?!?

Mark your calenders everyone. Ava said mama on Wednesday September 5th. She first said it while we were playing in the hotel room.

And then she repeated it while crying in the pool. Sorry dada… maybe you will hear your name next week

Ava saw ducks for the first time this week. I took her to see them on the golf course behind the hotel. They ran toward us as soon as we were in sight. Ava laughed out loud multiple times when she saw them waddle our way. It was the best thing ever.

Then we saw them by the pool.

And behind gates.

And even on our porch.

Ava usually hates stepping on grass. She usually lets out a shriek as soon as her feet touch it. But thanks to ducks, she loves walking on grass now. She laughed and chased the ducks all over the hotel. Quack quack.

And don’t worry, there was plenty of pool time. Ava did great in the pool.

Goggles? Check!

Sunscreen? Check! Sunglasses? Check check.

Lounging in a rubber ducky raft that is upside down for some unknown reason? Check!

Laugh with mommy? Check.

Laugh with daddy? Check.

During our first night of vacation, Uncle David and Carrie came for a visit. Ava loved family dinner time.

Later in the week, Aunt Connie also came for a visit. Ava to glad to play with someone new.

Who wants to play golf in the heat? Not me. It’s more fun playing on our astro turf carpet.

Ava did a lot of babbling this weekend. Her favorite words were baa-baa, baa-boo and blah-blah-blah.

Ever wonder how Ava would look like with a mullet? Well here is her ‘business is the front, party in the back’ glamor shot.

Wow. How did daddy drink all of these beers so quickly? He is soooo talented.

It’s pool time again. Bye!