Ava is a "mover and a shaker" these days. As you can see in the attached pictures, this month's pictures in the rocking chair didn't really happen in the rocking chair. She doesn't stay-put in one spot long enough to take pictures, lately. So, these are the best we could do. We'll try to take others when she feels like sitting. :-)
Ava has three teeth, now. This past weekend, tooth #3 popped through. It is the second upper tooth from the front, on the left side. She doesn't have an easy time with teething, so I hope they all come in at once, so she can be done with the pain. She really tries to talk, lately. She will focus intently on your face if you try to speak to her, or say a word clearly to her.
Her vocabulary words now include:
"da-da"
"ma-ma" (indiscriminant. I think I'm in the "da-da" category...)
"daw" (dog, or any other animal, these days)
"wow"
"woah"
"bah" (ball)
"kah" (book)
"mah" (more)
"Tah" (Santa)
"ho, ho, ho"
"Dah" (All-done, although this is occasional that she'll say this)
"yuh, yuh, yuh" (yuck, yuck, yuck)
She will shake her head "no" if she doesn't want something. She can also mimic us and say "uh-oh". She was teething last week, but our fun-loving daughter has returned to us this week. :-) She LOVES to read. Her favorite books are: "Elmo Loves You", "Mr. Brown Can Moo, Can You?" If she isn't too tired, she would prefer that you read book after book to her. We've read 5+ books to her in one sitting, she likes them that much. She now brings books to us, so we'll read them to her. She likes to kiss all of the different animals on the pages of her books.
Ava waves at anything and everything, lately. The other day, we took her for a stroll, and she seemed to be practicing her "parade wave", as if she was a pageant queen. It was so funny to see! (And no one was around to wave back...Cue the crickets quietly singing in the background, and imagine Ava waving all over the place, smiling with her crinkled-up nose.) Funny stuff!
She just learned how to sip out of a straw within the past week. She eats most table food, now. She will point to something we're eating and grunt, which is her way of requesting she be fed the food we're eating. We gave her a piece of a diced onion last night, because she was asking for it. She didn't request the onion again, after eating it! :-) She loves mandarin oranges, green beans, strawberry banana applesauce, baked apple slices, bananas, cooked pasta, toast with peanut butter, green peas, "baby pancakes", and toast with peanut butter. I will try to post the recipe for the pancakes. She had edamame beans (soybeans) yesterday and LOVED them. She couldn't get enough! She doesn't prefer diced peaches or diced (cooked) tomatoes too much. I try to sneak them in when I can.
At day care, they say Ava is a "good eater". They say that she eats better than most kids in class, eating whatever they put down in front of her. I try to vary her "menu", so she gains as much exposure to different foods as possible. Doug and I aren't very picky people, so I hope that continues with what Ava eats.
She walks very well. She doesn't quite run yet, but takes giant steps when she wants to get somewhere quickly. She likes to toddle around in the woodchips at the park. She also likes to walk on the pavement in our neighborhood court, but doesn't seem to like the way the pavement feels on her hands, when she loses her balance. She doesn't cry, but looks at her hands curiously.
She loves to be chased. Lately, about 30 minutes before bed, she likes for us to rough-house with her. She'll lay on the ground when she wants to be "tickled". She'll just cackle when she's being tickled. She laughs, crawling away, when we try to chase her. She loves for us to help her do a somersault. She'll stand up, put her head on the ground and we'll flip her legs over.
She thinks it is hilarious for us to puff our cheeks full of air, and for her to use her hands to push the air out of our cheeks. Cheap entertainment!
When we try to give her a liquid vitamin in the morning, she's gotten to the point that she will spit it out some days. She knows the liquid vitamin bottle. When I pull out the bottle in the morning, she'll cry (not REALLY cry, just get upset). I'm sure she hates the taste; it smells horrific. When at the doctor the other week, the doctor offered some Infant Tylenol for Ava's teething pain. When the doctor tried to give the Tylenol to her by mouth, Ava spit it out very efficiently. It made me feel better that even a DOCTOR couldn't get Ava to swallow medicine...
She prefers Daddy's company lately. She seems to like baths, too, but doesn't like water being dumped on her head, to wash-out the shampoo. She LOVES to have her teeth brushed. I use a fingertip toothbrush, and she enjoys chewing on it. She tries to brush her own hair with a hairbrush, comb or a toothbrush. It's pretty cute.
She sleeps well. She will go to bed at 7:30 or 8:00 pm and sleep until 7:00 a.m. She has been doing this for quite some time, now. When we put her to bed, we normally put her into her sleep sack, pacifier in-mouth, put "Bun" or some other cuddly creature next to her face, kiss her 'good night', carry her upstairs, turn on her "waves" sound machine, humidifier, put her down and turn off the light. 95% of the time, she doesn't cry, but goes to sleep immediately.
There is a kangaroo puppet on the Baby Gallileo DVD that Ava adores. Whenever the kangaroo appears on the TV screen, Ava gets super-excited. She likes anything with music. It is so sweet to hear her occasionally sing. It doesn't happen too often, but when it does, it melts your heart!
Dinners out have become less frequent, depending on Ava's mood that night. For the past few weekends she has really been teething "something fierce", so we decided to forego dinners at more expensive restaurants. We ate at Taco Bell one Friday night. I told Doug that it was one of the more enjoyable dinners out that I've had, because Ava wasn't too tired (didn't cry), wasn't fidgety, and we were able to take our time (as much as parents can "take time" :-). We even stopped and got a Starbucks coffee before venturing home. Ahhh, the good life.
I must mention this story... one night when Ava was particularly cranky, we went to Houlihan's. Normally a "safe" place to go with her for dinner... Not the case this night. A 40+ couple was sitting at a table next to us, but both sitting on the same side of the table, facing me. Ava was in between myself and the couple, and became extremely wiggly. I know she was tired. I felt like we were on parade in front of this couple. They kept whispering into each others' ear. I felt like I couldn't look at them, because they were already looking at me. I should've just stared back. Being the super-conscientious person (now mom) that I am, I was not in a happy place. I asked Doug if we could just get our food to go, because Ava was just tired and not ready to sit still. We ordered our food to go, ended-up "wolfing" half of it down at the table (in take-out containers). Maybe I should've just sat with my back to them? That would've helped my stress level, even if Ava was crying...
Luckily I was able to relax after the couple left (not because of us, but because they were done eating). Another couple at a different table told us how "cute" Ava was. When I mentioned about the other couple and feeling like I was on parade, the woman (also a new grandma to an 11-month old boy) said "You're the mom, so of course you are more sensitive / conscientious about things like that." She mentioned nicely that Ava wasn't bothering them at all. That made me feel better. I was just glad the other couple left, helping my stress level. Of course, Ava went to sleep two minutes into the car ride home. Evenings like this aren't Ava's fault, (they are ours for dragging her out, I guess), but they're not fun, to say the least. Here's to long, philosophical conversations at the table, over dinner and coffee, with baby in tow.
Other than nights where she is too tired to go out, she is an absolute sweetie-pie. She's her own little person now. The baby food jars of food are few and far-between, because she likes to feed herself. It's so fun to watch her become the little person she is. God reveals her personality to us more and more each day. We've been blessed by her health, her sweetness, her giggles, hugs and kisses, and her love.
Sweet Ava, we can't believe you'll be a big girl soon, at a year old!
We love you so very much,
Mommy and Daddy
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