Ava & Mila

Put on your dancing shoes…

…and dance with me!

P.S. Happy 12th Date-A-Versary Dan
P.P.S Video week starts on Monday. Stay tuned.

Hi. Our little Ava is now 84 weeks old. Our week began wonderfully but didn’t end that way… keep reading.

Ava is still enjoying daycare. She is really good friends with Ava R. They like hugging good-bye when we pick her up. And when I mention the word school to her, the first word she says back to me is Ava R. When she says Ava R, it sounds like Ava Eye. Hehe. She likes to hug us too. The other day, she said Mama and gave me a hug. Then it was time to say Dada and give him a hug. And then Ava said her own name and hugged herself! It was too cute.

The two of them hug so much that they even have their own “wall of hugging” at school. In the next month or so, Ava R will be moving up to another classroom and our Ava will be without her buddy for a couple months. The director of daycare said that if our Ava gets too lonely and bored without her buddies, that she might move up to the older classroom a bit early.

On Saturday, we spent the day in San Pedro. Ava got a chance to go to the park again… the one where she didn’t want to play in last weekend because sand was getting in her sandals. This time we were prepared with frilly socks and pirate shoes. She had fun going down slides with Anthony and Marko. Weeee.

Ava also got more stickers from Nona to fuel her addiction to them. Check out her Sesame Street sleeve.

She also ran around like a crazy person after dinner when I tied a ribbon to her hair. Ava had no problem saying Teta Mary before dinner time. But after dinner, when I asked her who was sitting next to her, Ava said Nona Vinka. We all died laughing. Nona Vinka is Teta Mary’s mom. She made the mistake a few times after that too… probably because she knew it made us all giggle.

On Sunday, we were back home and relaxing in the back yard. Dan lost his voice this week so he had to whisper. It was hard for me not to whisper back to him when he talked. Ava didn’t mind his whispering. She actually made up for all the talking her Dada couldn’t do. As for her vocabulary, there are two words that stick out from the others. Not because they are difficult to say, but because they are words from a dialect found on the island of Hvar. The first dialect word is pants. Ava says gaće instead of hlače. The second dialect word is milk. Ava says mliko instead of mljeko. And in case your wondering, her Dida is very proud… and he’s keeping count!

Dan finally got a chance to set up the tent we bought at Ikea last weekend. Ava loved it. At first she was a bit concerned by the grass that was poking her through the tent floor, but she soon got over it.

Dan and I also finished our homemade teepee tent project. Ava loved this one even more. She got to pick out the fabric all by herself. After hours and hours of searching thru reels of fabirc at Fabric Town USA, she finally settled on Olivia fabric. Olivia is a pig from one of her most cherished books. She likes to read Olivia while sitting on Rudy’s bed with a group of her stuffed animals by her side.

Check out Ava wearing ‘bracelets’ in her new tent.

We also spent some time at a local park. I showed Ava how to slide down the slide all by herself… on her tummy. She was so happy that she didn’t need our help anymore. So much so that she started telling the other kids at the park that these were ‘my slides’.

Having two real tents at our house is not enough for Ava. When she is not under our sheets or comforter, she is using pillowcases as mini-tents.

And mini-tents are multipurpose. They also turn to nun hats…

…and into super hero capes too.

When Ava and I are under our comforter on the bed, she screams for Dada to join us. I taught Ava how to put her finger on her lips to say shhh while we wait for Dada. I think we need to work on it some more.

On Wednesday, Dan and our neighbor Bill decided to go skateboarding. I’m not sure why two grown men wanted to relive their glory days but what the hey. Ava and I decided to join them on their adventure. The first hill they decided to go on was pretty steep, so I decided to walk back to the car so I could pick the boys up at the bottom of the hill. As I was walking back to the car, I lost my balance as I stepped onto some wet grass. I was holding Ava in my arms as I lost my balance. It all happened in slow motion. As I was going down, her back was arching and her head was nearing the lawn. I thankfully regained my balance and brought Ava up to my chest before she hit the grass. Afterward, she looked at me with concern and kept repeating ‘Ava Ava’ over and over again. Sorry little one. But as we would find out in a few minutes, this was the least of our worries.

The boys graduated to a larger and windier street. Ava had that ‘Ummm Dada. I have a bad feeling about this’ look on her face as he left the car.

And a few minutes later, she had the ‘Ummm Dada, I told you so’ look on her face. When Ava and I got to the bottom of the hill, Dan was walking towards us, shaking his head and holding his right arm. My heart sank but I was thankful that we were only a few blocks from the hospital and thankful that it wasn’t much much worse.

Dan broke his arm and dislocated his wrist. Since the bone was a bit exposed (yuck!), he had to get a round of antibiotics in him STAT and also have emergency surgery. I quickly drove Ava home and put her to bed so I could get back to the hospital. Bill stayed at our house to watch Ava for a few hours, until Jeremy arrived… who was coming over to work with Dan. Umm, change of plans Jeremy. Dan’s surgery only took an hour but the whole process from ER to prep to surgery to recovery to getting moved to a real room, took about 7 hours. 7 LONG hours. And those 7 long hours also included being moved from trauma room 3 in the ER to hall 1 in the ER. Nothing but star treatment for my professional skate boarding husband. No autographs please!

While in the Surgery Prep room, the orthopedic surgeon walked us through what was going to happen in surgery. At the end of his explanation, the surgeon asked Dan if he had any questions. And what did Dan ask? Ummm, he asked ‘When can I eat?’. That’s my Dan!

Here is Dan a couple hours after surgery. In good spirits and really sleepy… but not hungry at all. I mentioned to the nurse that Dan’s thumb on his other hand was bothering him. It was black and blue and swollen. She ordered an x-ray for the morning, just in case.

In the morning, I got Ava ready for school and made a pit stop at the hospital to visit her Dada. She was happy to see Dan but was scared of the all the tubes and machines. I think it might of reminded her of her hospital stay back in January of this year.

After a few minutes of checking out the room, Ava felt comfortable to sit up on the bed. She saw a cup of water on Dan’s bedside tray and said ‘Dada piti agua’. Haha. ‘Dada piti agua’ translates to Dada drink water. It was her first official three word sentence. But not only was it three words, it was trilingual too. English, Croatian and Spanish. Oh boy. And you thought English-only speaking toddlers were hard to understand.

After completing his round of antibiotics, Dan was free at last… or was he? He actually got a call later that day that his thumb was also broken and it needed surgery. So not only will he have 4 more pins in his left thumb in addition to the plate and 6 screws in right arm, he will also have another cast. Ummm, who is going to have to help wipe an extra ass in our house? Ummmm, not it! Not it! Not it! Not it! Maybe I can drop him off at adult day care after I drop Ava off at her daycare.

After getting released from the hospital, we grabbed a bite to eat. And what did Dan want to eat? Chicken soup? No. Cherry Jello? Nope. A double cheeseburger from Hamburger Habit? You got it.

After teaching Ava how to say cast, Dan and Jeremy talked business and Ava and I played with Play-Doh.

Check out what Ava made all by herself. This fish. And it has an eye in the right place. I swear she made it herself. No cheating. I did roll the eyeball for her but she put it in the right place. I was sooo proud of her that I couldn’t even take a clear picture!

That night, Jeremy was kind enough to help me cook. We decided to throw…. Taco Night! It was delicious if I can say so myself. We also invited Michelle, Grace and Cole over to partake in our festivities. Ole! But ignore the look on Jeremy’s face. I swear he was enjoying his meal. He ate six tacos while my Dan only ate two. What the hell? Anyways, his Ventura business vacation was a LITTLE different that his previous ones. He ended being a babysitter, a chef, a dishwasher, and a chauffeur. Thanks Jeremy! Hmmm, maybe he can come over next weekend to help me wipe butts. OH COME ON!!! Please?

After our successful Taco Night, Ava showed off her new Olivia Tent to Grace. Dan might have multiple injuries, but he sure could still play DADA MONSTER with them. Hehe.

Oh, and you know how bad things supposedly come in threes? Well they do.

#1- Dan needs surgery on right arm.

#2- Dan needs surgery on left hand.

And #3 you ask? You don’t have a #3?
Ummm, yes I do!

#3- Ava gets croup again and PNEUMONIA and a 4-hour ER visit.

If you have a heart, please drop off a box of tissues and a six pack of beers for me on the porch. You don’t even have to come into the house. I’m okay with ding-dong ditchers.

Ava’s babushka picture on her clipboard, where the teachers keep track of her activities, mood and… poops.

Ava’s jail line-up picture on her cubby box, where we keep her sheets, blanket and spare clothes, in case she… you got it… poops.

Dear Blog Readers,

Today’s post will be delayed a day or two or three….

Dan got into an accident and has casts on both arms…

Ava got croup and pneumonia…

And I have a lot to work to do…

-Marlene

Ava loves to play with her friends at school (day care) and there are a lot of them who has been there since she was just 3 months old. Coincidentally, there was another Ava who is 2 months older than her who has been there for as long as we have been there. They really have fun playing together and here we caught a little bit of that they do all day long…

Hi. I’m Ava and this is my night out in Split story.

One night while in Split, Croatia, the six of us headed out to dinner. My Nona and Dida selected a restaurant down the street that is mostly visited by the locals… always a sign for good food and good times.

Dada and Mahky sure enjoyed the place, especially when they shared their wine…

…and shared their meat lovers plate for two.

Seeing all that meat made me a bit craaaazy. I got a wild look in my eye and tore some meat up too. Grrrrr.

My poor Mama swore she was going to become a vegetarian again after seeing me go nuts. And poor Nona didn’t get to eat much because I ate almost all of her food. Not my fault. They picked this delicious restaurant. Not me. Grrrrr. I love meat.

Hmmm. I’m not sure what came over me. But I’m back to my old non-meat loving self now. It’s nice to be back.

After dinner we decided to take a stroll on the Riva. 1, 2, 3, weee!!!

Oh. My. God. Balloons!

I didn’t know what to do to get a balloon. I had no money. Not one kuna. But I had a bright idea. Run to Dida…

…and give him the biggest hug ever.

Worked like a charm. Hvala!

Hi, I’m Ava and this is my friend Grace. She is going to push me down the hill.

Ready. Set. Go.

Oh oh. How do I get back up the hill? You’ll push? Great. So, I should make sure the stick shift is in neutral, not park. Got it.

Here we go.

Almost there. Keep pushing Grace. I swear I have it in neutral.

Weeee.