Ava & Mila

Weeeeee! Our little toddler is now 140 weeks old.

Over the weekend, Nona Dinka came up to spend her birthday with her two great granddaughters… and Ava made a very special card for her.

She got to spend some time reading with her…

… and got to show off her dollhouse too.

Later that day, we got a second batch of visitors. Who says boys don’t like to play with Dora? Not me.

Then it was cake time. The kids and Nona Dinka waited very patiently for someone to find a lighter so we can get this party started.

Cake time!

Later in the day, we went out for some dinner and the kids got to run off their sugar high with some rides on wooden elephants.

During the week, Ava spends A LOT of time still kissing Mila…

…and giving her hugs.

I have also tried to buy more art supplies to help keep Ava entertained. Say hello to scissors.

And say hello to a big ass mess.

Ava also loves these little paints… and pumping out lots of paintings. She gave one to each one of us when they were dry. Even Yoda got one.

We also attended toddler reading time for the 2nd week in a row. And this time Ava got to use lots of glue…

… to make a pinata. Bueno.

And of course our week wouldn’t be complete without park time.

Which includes playing with lots of sand…

… and going down slides…

… and let’s not forget about swings. Ava has been asking to go high in the sky so she can touch the moon this week.

But with the good comes some bad. Like time outs. This is her time out spot. By the ottoman. Ava is spending less time in time outs now which is good but we all hate them. So we are trying to phase them out this week by using a new plan. We are crossing our fingers that it will make a difference.

And just because I am no longer pregnant, doesn’t mean that we no longer eat ice cream. It just means that we no longer eat just mint chip ice cream. Hehe.

Here is my silly Ava with her ‘super lasso‘. AKA her belt.

Here is Ava with her new princess toothpaste… that caused her to brush her teeth as soon as we got home from the store with it. Yes, I put away her all-natural toothpaste for this pink crap just so she would brush her teeth without me pulling my hair out. It had to be done.

Oh and Ava’s favorite time of the day is now 6:30 pm because that is the time she gets to help me give Mila a bath.

Dada woke up bright and early one day this week to hit the waves. So the girls and I tagged along. Ava had a blast making sand castles…

… and throwing sand on herself… until she realized that there were sand flies everywhere and immediately ran onto my towel screaming. Such a girl. She must’ve got that from her Dada. Hehe.

Guess what? A morning at the beach meant a real nap for Ava that afternoon.

Hahahah. I won! I won! I won!

And so did Ava. We totally showered with gifts that we were saving for such a momentous occassion… because we totally miss nap time and will do anything to get it reinstated. So say hello to Snow White. She immediately ask the ‘prince’ to stop washing dishes and dance with her. Which explains the wet shirt. I hope.

Alright. It’s time for us to play some soccer now. GOAL!!!

Hi there. Our little smiley Mila is now 3 weeks old. And as you can see… it’s baby acne time. Poor thing. But at least it’s not bothering her one bit.

Mila’s week began with a trip to the doctor’s office. Check out her new birth mark on her back roll. Where did that come from? Mila weighed in at 9 pounds 8 ounces during her 2nd appointment. An ounce less than what the doctor considered minimum weight gain for the week. Ahhh. So the doc wants to see her in a week to make sure she is gaining weight well. We both agreed she is thriving and doing well (Mila is at 98% for her weight) but the doc is just following protocol. I totally lost my piece of paper with measurements and percentiles during this trip. Bad mommy. But I do recall that her head grew into the 60% range and her height remained the same at 22 inches.

We had a few visitors over the weekend. Mila got to meet her great-grandmother Nona Dinka for the very first time.

And got to meet Maryann, Glen and Nathan too.

Did I mention that we were on Poop Watch 2009 this week? This little one didn’t go poop for days. 6 days to be exact. And on the sixth day while watching her big sister Ava paint, I thought I heard something.

Mila? Was that what I thought it was?

And then she gave me the face. The KAKA face! Yeah!! Alert the media. Poop watch 2009 is over!

The aftermath of holding it in for 6 days was not a pretty site. Let’s just say she was literally up her elbows in sh*t. So, that marked the moment for her first official bath. Until then, her belly button was still bleeding so we were holding off giving her a real bath until it was completely healed.

Mila did great during her first bath. Not one cry. Maybe it was because she loved hearing us sing Old MacDonald to her.

All clean. It’s now okay to hug again.

Time for changes of the week. Mila is becoming more alert this week.

She joins Ava and me during our bedtime routine.

Much to Ava’s delight.

Mila is starting to stare at my eyes more during the day… much to my delight.

She is also becoming more interested in staring at my black and white track pants, which I can’t wear every day for her…

… but luckily we have some awesome animal cards for her to practice her focusing skills on.

We also said bye to her nursing blister. Does that make her a professional nurser now? I think so.

Mila is still stuck in her newborn frog pose during her wake hours, which are currently three hour increments in the morning and around dinnertime.

After being awake for 3 hours or so, I have some trouble getting her to fall asleep unassisted. So, she spends some time trying to fall asleep while on my lap or in my arms.

But that is not the case with car seats and the baby carrier. As soon I put her in one of these, she passes out. Night night Mila.

And she usually stays asleep during our outings until we get back home. But during her first trip to the beach this week, she actually woke up. What what! Yup, she ate and then passed out again.

I don’t know about you but it’s way past my bedtime. Yawn. Bye.

Hello there. Our little Mila is now 1 week old.

Last Friday, we packed up and headed home from the hospital.

Ava and Mila patiently waited for Dada to pull the car around.

And this is how our backseat looks now. One girl on each side. I tried to put Mila’s car seat in the middle but our car seats are too bulky for that to happen. So if you need a ride from us, expect to climb over a car seat and wedge your behind in between the two of them.

And then we were home and ready for our doorstep picture. Just a little different from last time.

Just as we were pulling up to the house, our first visitors arrived. Here is our friend Michelle with little Mila.

Before long it was time to take some close-ups of this cutie pie. After reviewing the pictures, I kept thinking to myself that I gave birth to Ava’s twin sister. A medical miracle, I tell ya. And Ava’s old blanket as the backdrop sure didn’t help things. I wanted to do a side by side picture to help me see the similarities and differences but after looking at Ava’s pictures, I realized that we didn’t take nearly as many pictures back then. And when we did, the pictures were of Ava with her eyes closed. Nice. So, this is the best I could find.

Mila is such an easy baby. Just like Ava. So peaceful. Only really cries if she is hungry. I hope I didn’t just jinx myself. She is happy as can be just laying on the couch, next to her big sister…

…holding hands.

Speaking of hands, check out these long fingernails. OMG. Mila’s nails are crazy long. So long that they started to fold into her fingertips. I tried to cut them during our first day at home… but I forgot how soft nails are at this age… after soaking in amniotic fluid for 9 months. I gave it a good try but the results weren’t too pretty. It will have to wait for another day.

And the other thing we noticed with Mila is her red splotches everywhere. Ava had peeling skin and Mila has red spots. The spots are completely normal. Don’t worry. Just her way of trying to process Mama’s hormones out of her body. By the end of week, they were almost all gone.

So what do you do with a baby all day long. Watch them sleep and sleep and sleep…

… and hope you are lucky enough to catch a sleep smile. Because those will instantly melt your heart. Oh, and on Monday night, as I start to blog again, Mila was sleeping soundly on the bed next to me and my laptop. Out of nowhere, I hear the sweetest giggle. A sleep giggle. Is this kid trying to kill me? Yup. My heart melted even more.

In between watching Mila sleep and smile, we take turns holding her… and watching Ava the acrobat…

…and entertaining visitors…

…and more visitors. And who can blame them?!?! Our kids are cute! Hehe.

I asked my mom to stay with us during our first week home. There is something about healing and having your mom around that helps the process go more smoothly. Or maybe it’s her yummy chicken soup. Or maybe it’s all the pictures we took together. Or maybe it’s fun memories that we we made. Whatever it is, my mom is awesome. Thanks for helping us out during our first week home with Mila!

On Sunday, it was time to get our little Mila all dressed up in a new outfit because…

… Dida was coming over to meet her for the very first time. And he even bought and signed his very own card! I KNOW! An early Christmas Miracle. Hehe.

My Teta Mary also stopped by for a visit…

…and she got to see sisterly love in the flesh.

And my Uncle Frank and his family stopped by also. Why aren’t the boys pictured here you ask? Well, Dan took them surfing. Must be nice to be a Dada.

Hey! This blog post is a long one. I know! It’s your first week ever. Give me a break. I’m processing hormones too. Now let’s continue.

On Tuesday, we told Dan we were going to Hallmark to pick up a baby album. He quickly shot out of his chair and announced that he was coming too. Really? A block away from our house, I asked him why he was so excited to go to Hallmark? He looked at me with a sad face and said “I thought you said Walmart”. Hehe. Here I am with my ladies in the backseat. Squished. Getting choked by the seat belt. But wouldn’t trade it for the world.

And looky here. Someone is asleep during her first shopping trip.

As soon as we got home with the baby book, Nona and I busted out red finger paint and started to document Mila’s hand and footprints.

Not too shabby.

Hey! What about me? They say that when you bring a new baby home, that your first born will seem bigger than normal. That totally didn’t happen… until 48 hours or so later… when I started to pick her up again. She is HUGE. Especially her hands and feet. HUGE!

Right after Mila’s first finger painting session, it was time for her first sponge bath at home. All clean.

On Wednesday, we took Mila to her first doctor’s appointment.

And why are we so happy?

Well, Mila’s stats were great. She is currently at 9 pounds exactly (86 percentile)… down only an ounce from her birth weight. She is 22 inches long (98 percentile)… she grew an inch in 5 days. Really? And her head is 13.8 inches (45 percentile)… yes, you read that right. 45 percentile!!! Hahahah. We are so used to hearing 98 percentile with Ava, it came as a shock to us. But to be fair, Ava wasn’t always at 98%. I think she started out in the 80s. High five.

And a couple hours later, Deets was at our doorstep to say hello to his two nieces… and to take away our nanny.

Alright, that concludes Mila’s first week of life. Hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed putting it together. Gotta run. I got a sleeping baby to stare at…

…in hopes that I see more smiles…

…and few sleep giggles too.

…the newest addition to our family. Say hello to Mila.

Born on Thursday, September 3rd at 2:11 in the afternoon. Weighing in at 9 pounds 1 ounce and measuring 21 inches long. She is as sweet as can be.

Hi. I’m Ava and this is my cousin Nathan.

And he just turned two.

YEAH!

He had a party the other day and it was so much fun. We got to hang out with our Nona Vinka.

And hang out with my Dida.

And with my Mama too, of course.

Since it was his birthday, I let him hug me as much as he wanted. And now that he is officially in the two years old club with me, I got to show him the official two year old secret greeting… a  monster face.

Oh boy. It’s my favorite time of the party now.  Do you see what I see?

Nathan’s birthday cake! Hello Mr. Robot.

Once he was done blowing out the candles, they lite them for me. Hold Nathan for a second. It’s my turn!

Oh cake. I love you.

And melon? You aren’t too bad yourself.

After cake, it was time for presents. Open open open.

Can you believe what Nathan got? Yes an ATV. But look what else. A Mickey Mouse balloon. I totally stole it too on the way out of the party.

And if I had my way, I would of stole his bike too!

Hello there. Our sweetie pie is now 123 weeks old. Which is funny because this week, she has been counting all things in pairs as 1, 2, 3. What a cowinkadink!

This past weekend was a four day weekend for us. We spent all of it down at my parents’ place doing all kinds of fun stuff. We had so much fun that most of it will be blogged about in separate posts next week… because I went a little picture crazy. It’s totally not my fault. I have a cute kid! Hehe. Over the weekend, Ava got the chance to see the Goodyear Blimp parked in its home off of the freeway. Would that be called the blimp airport? Who knows. But as soon as we got back to the house, Ava insisted on looking for it with the binoculars. And low and behold, she found it. That thing is always flying over the Port of Los Angeles.

Ava also spent A LOT of time singing her favorite song, Oh Marijana. Over and over again. Seriously. She is obsessed. I have to sort through all of our videos to show you since you all demand proof. But in the mean time, you can listen to the original version of the song here.

Here I am at 25 weeks pregnant with baby #2. Yes, I know I look like most people close to 40 weeks… but I am a big girl. And big girls get bigger than little girls. That’s your lesson of the day. Anyways, Ava has been extra sweet with the baby this week. She has been picking flowers, kissing, hugging and talking to him/her a lot more too. It just melts my heart when she does those things. I can’t even imagine what I will feel when they are physically together. My heart just might explode.

Ever since Ava has become an official jumper, she has been hopping everywhere. Off of pillows. Off of steps. Off of slides. Off of couches. Off of highchairs. Off of us. And off of Yoda, if she could.

With all the fun we had over the weekend, Ava’s naps were all thrown off. It drives me crazy when we get off of our routines but it had to be done in the name of FUN. On Saturday, we had a big day planned and Ava knew it. She refused to nap in her pack ‘n play. But luckily, as soon as we got in the car, she held her new kitty cat tight and announced ‘It’s nap time. I close my eyes.‘ Dan and I both giggled and said Good Night. Lately, on our car rides at night, Ava refuses to sleep. She talks during the entire drive. Seriously. I recorded her in the dark until my camera died. She looks out the windows for airplanes, asks a million questions and states lots of facts. ‘Dada, you’re a boy. I’m a girl. Where’s the airplane? What is the airplane doing? What’s in the sky? What’s that? What’s Yoda doing? I like ice cream. I wanna go to Darla’s house. I’m a monster. Ahh, here comes the banana monster. I’m not scared.‘ This can go on for over an hour. Easily.

On Saturday, we had big plans with Deets and Carrie. We met up with them at the house. Ava was so shy when we got there. She just woke up from her car nap and needed a few minutes to become her old self again.

We had so much fun on Saturday. It was one of those days you remember as being one of the best days ever. It really was. It was non stop action and fun… and nothing got in our way. You’ll have to wait until next week to get more details on our day. But I won’t keep all of it a secret until then. We spent some time on Olvera Street, the birthplace of the City of Los Angeles. Who knew?

They had an array of things for sale there. Like little hats that Ava did not enjoy one bit. ‘That’s for babies‘ she said.

But she did enjoy all of the puppets that lined the street.

Back at Carrie’s place, Ava got another piano lesson from Deets. Boy has she grown since her last silly lesson on this piano.

Ava also loved sitting on these theater seats with Carrie, browsing through all of her pretty art books.

But I must say that her favorite part of Carrie’s place was something else. Something that brought out the laughter.

Lots of laughter. And screaming. And barking too.

Darla the dog!

The two of them played and played and played until…

…they no longer could play anymore. It was awesome. (I miss you Rudy).

On Sunday, it was time to celebrate Croatian Independence Day with lots of ?evapi…

… and Kolo dancing too.

On Sunday night, Dan and I went out to the movies to celebrate our 7th anniversary a bit early. I left the camera with my mom to document what they did while we were out and I came home to find this picture. Oh boy. Ava holding her rosary beads as if she is posing for her first communion photo. Good one, Mom. Ava usually doesn’t wake up at night (unless she misplaced her prarie doggy or blanket). But not on this night. Deets heard her screaming and crying shortly after she went to bed. He opened the door to find her upset and screaming ‘Uncle Buddy‘. LOL. I’m not sure if Uncle Buddy was out to get her or if he needed help, but she settled down shortly after that. In the morning, I asked her why she was screaming his name and she told me that Uncle Buddy needs food.

On Monday, it was Nathan’s big day. His 2nd birthday. We went over to his house in the morning to help decorate. The kids had a blast playing with bubbles and scattering all of his toys around the house.

Ava had so much fun with Nathan at his party. More to come next week. This is not Nathan. I know. But this guy is the reason Ava started to do this…

… wink. Hehe. How about that new milestone. Good job Ava!

Ava is still enjoying herself at school. But when we pick her up, her personality completely changes. She goes quiet. She stops talking and responding to teachers. And don’t expect her to wave good-bye or acknowledge your presence in the hallway. She becomes so shy. I asked her teacher if the other kids do this also when their parents come. She said most of them act crazier or turn into babies. So… I will take Ava being shy at pick-up time over those other options, thank you very much.

Oh and another milestone for Ava… thanks to my mint chip ice cream cravings… her first ice cream cone. For some reason this is supposed to be messier option for kids, but not Ava. She stayed clean the whole time. How about that!?!

Here she is at swim class #7. Our second to last one. She is becoming more comfortable with floating with the pool noodles and keeping her head in the water while on her back. So much so that she is starting to rinse the shampoo off of her head in the tub just like this picture… minus the noodle, of course.

At home this week, Ava has officially moved out of her crib and into a new toddler bed. Sniffle sniffle. Here she is testing out her new mattress and duvet cover.

And here are two magical princesses that are about to put her new bed together.

She picked this bed out all by herself. She really loves the sheep on the headboard. Especially because she loves singing Mary had a Little Lamb.

As soon as she tested it out, she wanted to take off of her clothes and put on her pajamas. But she needed a bath first. So it was off to the tub and she totally forgot about her new bed. When I mentioned that she was going to sleep in her new bed, she stood up in the tub, said ‘gotovo‘ (all done), and tried to get out of the tub herself. Hehe.

Her first night went as well as can be expected. She asked me to sit with her in the room for about an hour or so. At first, I had to sit on the floor next to her. Then it was okay to sit in the rocking chair. Then I could go in and out of the room for a few minutes at a time.  Then she had to go potty. And then she fell asleep. Yeah! And was fine all night, with the exception of needing help pulling up her blanket once. In the morning, I wondered if she would call for me like normal or come to our room all by herself. But she didn’t do either. I needed to wake her up because she took so long to fall asleep and needed to sleep in. And that thing with her asking to go to the potty, only happens at night. A couple nights before this, I was awake with her from 12-3:30 taking a million potty breaks. It got to the point that we told her to just go in her diaper. She looked at us crazy and said ‘No Dada. No peepee in the diaper‘. Shame on us, Ava. We were sooo tired. Sorry.

On her second night in her new bed, we finally bought her new pillows and washed the new duvet cover and blanket. She was ecstatic. And refused to open her eyes while saying cheese. Hehe.

And on the second night, we moved some of the furniture around again. It looks a little better in here but something still feels off. Maybe I just need to get used to it… or maybe it’s the ‘nesting’ thing that I totally don’t have right now. (Shut it, Dan!). But her second night went better. It was okay for me to sit in the rocker but I only needed to be there for 45 minutes instead of a whole hour. And at night, I didn’t need to come into her room once to fix her blanket. Yeah for me! Her new duvet is a twin size and her bed is a special toddler size. So that makes her duvet cover a little big for the bed and thus I get to tuck her like a burrito. Hehe. But I did have to come in around 4am to help her find her missing prairie doggy… and I almost toppled over when I crashed into the ottoman in the middle of the room. And once again I had to wake her up in the morning. Miss Late Sleeper.

Ava’s crying fits are few and far between these days. If she whines, they are usually quick instances that go away as soon as she realizes she needs to ask for things nicely. But on Thursday, she melted. She melted because Dada turned off her Wow Wow Wubbzy cartoon and turned on the Lakers. Oh man. Sad Ava came out in full force and she kept repeating ‘my turn‘.

In these situations, it is best if Ava just gets a change of scenery… quick. So it was outside for bubbles. And it worked like a charm.

Okay. It’s time for us to pick some lemons. Have a nice weekend. Oh, and that thing I said last week about not blogging on weekends. I lied. You might see a post or two after all. Too many pictures!!

Hello! Our Ava is now 120 weeks old!!! And in love with flashlights!!!

Ava’s obsession with soup is still going strong. Dan made some soup for me a few days ago to try to kick some bug I caught but I didn’t have a chance to eat too much of it. The Soup Monster kept asking for more, more, more.

And there has been a shift in the sweets department. Ava now likes chocolate. It all started with this Easter Bunny. She ended up eating its ears… and its butt. Poor guy. He can’t hear or poop anymore. Nice one, Ava.

And eating bunny ears equals sugar high. Here we are dancing the energy off. Yes, Ava is dancing. She is doing her leg kicks.

A few minutes after our dance recital, I told Ava that Dada and I had to leave for the evening. She didn’t even blink. She kissed us good-bye and ran through the house like a maniac. I purposely told her we were just going out. I did not dare say the word ‘party’. That would have broken her heart. Here we are with the crew at Nicole’s retirement party.

Ava had a chance to spend some time with Nona Dinka at her house… and help her pack for her upcoming trip to Croatia.

She also got to garden with her Nona for the first time. I have really fond memories of gardening with my great grandma in my early years and I hope Ava has more chances like these to garden with her great grandma.

After a busy weekend of birthdays, the aquarium, trolleys and water fountains, we packed up the car and headed home. We figured out a new trick for getting Ava to sleep in the car. Put on her pajamas. It has worked three times in a row for us now and I am going to keep my fingers crossed that it continues. Having a toddler miss a nap is no fun for anyone. Trust me. So, here is Ava leaving. In one hand, Sponge Bob. And in her other, a mini bouquet of flowers from Dida.

As soon as we got home, we were hit with the gardening bug. The weather is warming up and it would be nice to take advantage of our yard. It’s been a while since we’ve done much back there. So, here is Dan. Digging up a few roses bushes in order to make room for our first vegetable garden. An organic one with no pesticides. Please stay away bugs!

Ava had a blast holding the hose to help water our brown weedy grass.

But she still has to learn the concept of watering the lawn only… and not her shirt.

She got really into using the little shovel too.

The very next day, we placed our first tomato plant into the soil…

…and Ava has been helping me water it every single day. And soaking herself from head to toe too.

So afterward, we go inside and pick something dry to wear. Ava has started to open her dresser drawers herself and pick out her own clothes. Here she is wearing her ‘monkey dress’. Her words, not mine. Because her monkey has the same white dress, but in a smaller size.

Ava’s drawing abilities have really improved this week. She drew this one all by herself. It is a ghost… with eyes, a nose, and a mouth. Told you! We couldn’t recognize jack last week! But not this week. This week we have ghosts!

Guess who has more coordination that her Mama? Ava!! She totally can kick a ball in a straight line.

Check her out! And check out Ava and Dada in their Lakers colors.

And she thinks it is completely ridiculous when Dada pretends he doesn’t know where the ball is. Silly Dada.

Little did Dan know that all this Lakers support and basketball playing would land him with box seats at a Lakers’ playoff game with Bobby and Glen. Let’s just say he was MORE than excited about this invite.

During our walks, Ava loves running down our alley.

And she especially loves peeping into this neighbor’s backyard… to stare at their pool. Peeping Tom! Peeping Tom!

The peeping doesn’t stop there. Here she is spying on the neighbor kids playing outside. She grabbed her step stool from the bathroom all by herself to get a better view. Peeping Tom! Peeping Tom!

Potty training is still going sloooooooow. We started to wrap cheapo gifts in pretty wrapping paper and placing them in the bathroom. Oh man did that work like a charm. She actually walked into the  bathroom all by herself and pooped in the toilet like a big girl. Without us asking.

Bribery works. Until we run out of gifts because she is on the toilet every few minutes trying to produce something… anything. Hmmm, it might be time to rethink our bribery plan.

Every once in awhile, Ava will discover some of her old toys and ask ‘that’s for baby?’. Hehe. Here she riding a ‘skateboard’. I just love watching her use her imagination.

Ava had swim lesson #4 this week. She is starting to kick a bit more. Paddling, not so much.

She refuses to keep her mouth shut in the pool. She is starting to associate a closed mouth with dunking her under the water. Smarty pants.

Her favorite thing is still jumping but in combination with watching the water drip from her bathing suit and diaper as if she is peeing. It’s pretty embarrassing. I’m sure someone in the pool is thinking she is taking a leak and giggling about it. But it’s just WATER. I swear.

Ava and I shower in the girls locker room together before we head home… so she can pretty much go straight to sleep since its bedtime when we finally get home. And here is Ava on the ride home. One. Tired. Goose.

This week our play date dinners have expanded to include Matheus and his family. I totally missed this dinner. I was home sick so I can’t tell you why the girls are topless and the boy is not. Hehe.

During sleeping time, Ava insists on covering herself with her comforter and little blanket. No excuses. She even places her hand on the blankets after we cover her up to make sure we didn’t forget. It’s so ridiculous… especially since our house is close to 80 degrees sometimes at bedtime now that spring is here. I’ve ordered her short sleeved pajamas to help out the sweaty factor but I’m not sure HOW I am going to convince her to lose at least one of her blankets. I think the transition to a big girl bed with a new thin comforter might be the way to go.

Okay. Say cheese. Here’s Ava with her ’camera’. No joke. Bye!