The Little Swimmer

We went to Ava's first "swim lesson" Saturday at the YMCA. They enroll babies as early as 8 months or so, for swim classes. They're more like "get used to the water" classes. The class lasted from 10-10:30, which is typically smack-dab in the middle of her morning nap. Fortunately she got up early, so we dressed her in a swim diaper, a rubberized diaper and a bathing suit before heading to the pool. All layers required. :-) (No chance of contamination with all of those layers, I'm thinkin'!)

Ava seemed to enjoy the pool, and was pretty mellow about the whole ordeal. I tried to keep moving with her in the pool, swinging her legs underwater, bouncing with her, etc. We kicked, used a "noodle", blew bubbles, swam on front and back, splashed, sang songs, entered the pool, bounced up and down, etc. She liked when we sang songs, and she started rocking-out a few times. (She shakes her head from side to side whenever she hears music). She started clapping during some songs, too. I think the 30-something parents (including myself) probably looked ridiculous swimming circles in the pool, singing our ABC's and songs about "flapjacks". All for a good cause, though...the things we do for babies.



All 10 babies were right around a year old. I was really surprised by the number of dads that came to the lesson and got in the water with their baby. I thought that was great, to see such involvement!



One little girl, named Addison, didn't like the water at all. (She is to the left of Ava in the picture where they're sitting on the side of the pool). Doug was able to stand on the "sidelines" and take pictures / video. When we watched the video later, we realized just how much little Addison didn't like the water. She was crying the entire time! Fortunately Ava seemed to just be "taking it all in", and going with the flow (literally). She looked over at Addison a few times as if she was thinking: "why are you crying?"



We also sat the babies on the side of the pool, turned them around, and had them slide into the pool on their bellies numerous times, too. This in hopes of teaching them the safe way to enter the pool.



Our subdivision doesn't have a pool (what were they thinking?). Georgia is sweltering-hot and humid in the summer, so we decided to look for a neighboring subdivision with a pool, become recreational members and be able to use the pool. We're not going on any super-extravagant trips this year, so I thought it would be nice to treat ourselves to mini-vacation(s) at the local neighborhood pool. :-) I'm hoping we can just help Ava get used to water, so she feels safe around it. I think it's so important!



Next week it's Doug's turn in the pool with Ava, where they will submerge the babies, if the parents are comfortable with it. We'll see how Ava does... She HATES to have water poured over her head in the bathtub. Hmmm.....

Splishy Splashy (and other ridiculous baby water phrases),
Shelly

It's a DAWWWWW!

While having some neighbors over for dinner the other night, I commented on how dumb I must sound to other people, in passing. Okay, reserve comments, please... Lately I'm repeating things over and over, saying everything I do loudly and clearly, in hopes that Ava's vocabulary will flourish. (i.e. - "Twenty dwarfs took turns doing handstands on the carpet..." - from the movie Bugsy). We learned yesterday that our attempts aren't futile. :-)

I was feeding Ava some cereal in her high chair. The cereal box had an image of Clifford, the Big Red Dog on the back, which Ava noticed. She lit up, pointing to the cereal box and said "Dawwww!", over and over again in her sweet little "excited" voice. It's amazing how little things like this make me the happiest person on the planet. She also says "wow" and "ball" (bahhh).

Ava points at EVERYTHING lately, and is trying so hard to talk. She's just so curious about her world right now. When we ask her to point to certain things while we read a book to her, she is able to do so some of the time. She's very selective about things lately: when she'll give kisses, when she will point to things, when she will repeat things.

She is also Daddy's girl, lately. She seems to prefer Daddy's attention over mine, and gets uber-excited when he comes home from work. I need to catch that on video sometime. Dad is "Da-da" but "Mama" isn't, yet :-) I'm sure she'll say it with meaning soon enough.

It is a wonder for us to see her learning about her world. I can't believe it's been almost a year, now, that she's been hangin' out with Mom and Dad!

With love,
Shelly

She Brings Books

Ava is a little bookworm. Whenever we let her wander for a minute, we always find her in the same spot... sitting next to our stairs / bookshelf, with a book in hand.


A few days ago, I saw that she had reached for a book. I sat a bit away from her, and asked her if she would "bring me the book" so I could read it to her. She looked at me with this confused look, at first. When I asked her again to bring the book to me, she did. I put her in my lap and read the book to her. She then wanted me to read other books to her. I'm glad she understands this now. Previously, piles of books mounted, as she frequently pulls them down from their places.

It is amazing what Ava understands. I'm trying to make more "requests" of her, to see if she can demonstrate an action after hearing something we've said to her. Just yesterday I asked her to shut the door to a cabinet. She wasn't convinced she should, but she closed the door.


She picked up something the other day that I didn't want her to eat, and I said "yuck, yuck, yuck". She tried to mimic what I was saying, which was pretty cute.


Ava loves remote controls and anything electronic. She brought a remote into our kitchen while I was getting dinner ready yesterday. When I asked if she was pushing the "button", she tried to say "button", but ended-up saying something like "ah-bum".


Lately, if we strip her down to her diaper before bed, she runs around like a wild woman. She gets her "second wind" and her little legs don't stop!

Shelly

A Quick Trip to Tennessee

Grandpa Dean and Grandma Dolly are visiting Tennessee this week. We ended-up meeting them half-way to Nashville this past Saturday. We went to O'Charley's and to a Toys 'R Us, in Chattanooga. It was a short visit, but Ava got some spur-of-the-moment Grandma and Grandpa-time, and vice-versa, for a few hours.


As you can see in these pictures, Ava got to show off her new walking skills for Grandma and Grandpa. Ava also cracks up at just about anything, these days. She thinks she is pretty funny, and cackles when you try to chase her.

Grandma and Grandpa spoiled Ava at Toys 'R Us, with a new Baby Einstein video (Baby Neptune), a bathing suit for our upcoming "swim class" in March and a pink Atlanta Braves hat (which ironically has a big "A" on the front, working double-duty for "Atlanta Braves" and for "Ava"). Thank you Grandma Dolly and Grandpa Dean! We can't wait to try out Ava's swim-legs!



About the maribou headband (and other headbands with large bows you may see on this blog)... I searched for the biggest and most ridiculously-huge bows I could get my hands on, for Ava. Thus the pictures with these fun headbands and bows. Such sassiness :-) Interestingly enough, Ava will keep these headbands on her head for quite some time.


Yesterday was warm enough for me to take Ava to the park near our house, after day care. She enjoyed toddling around in the woodchips, taking a few spills. She tried eating the woodchips on a few occasions, but I managed to get them out of her hands before they were mouth-bound...

We hope you make it a great week. We're looking forward to Spring, around these parts!

With love,
Shelly and Doug

Happy Valentine's Day!

We hope you all have a wonderful Valentine's Day today! (And Happy Birthday to Ginger!!!)

Grandma Pam came down to Georgia to visit this past weekend. We all had a great time with her. Ava seemed to warm up to her very quickly, and while in her high chair, played peek-a-boo with Grandma.

Grandma Pam came down on Wednesday night, after Ava's bedtime. Ava got to wake up and play with Grandma Pam Thursday through Monday.

Ava was in rare form on Friday night when we went out to dinner. She was cackling, swinging her feet, just being an extremely happy girl. Her latest fun trick is rocking her head back and forth while listening to music. She's been doing this for some time now. It's hilarious. She LOVES MUSIC. She has an "MP3" player that plays kids songs (sung by kids in a British accent), and switches the song while holding it. It's hysterical to hear her change the songs, as if to say "Nah, I don't like that one...What's next?" So, Friday night Ava was rocking-out, swinging her head from side-t0-side, to the music in Doug's truck.

When we sing "If you're happy and you know it, clap your hands", Ava will clap her hands during the song. She's some fun!

Ava started teething Saturday, and was miserable. She never falls asleep on me (she typically will only go to sleep in her crib), but she fell asleep next to me in bed on Saturday morning and Sunday morning. I think she is cutting lots of teeth right now, but especially her eyeteeth. She doesn't have an easy time with teething. Poor thing. Hopefully they all come in at once, and we don't have to worry about teething for a while! (I did find "Hyland's teething tablets" yesterday, which seem to work like a charm.)

Grandma Pam brought some treats to Georgia for Ava: a "princess" music box, a cute teddy bear with sunglasses and two outfits (and bunny slippers), and a doll that you zip / button / tie, etc. Ava seemed to enjoy the teddy bear, especially!




Grandma babysat Ava while Doug and I went to the annual Preston Partnership dinner on Saturday night, held at Anthony's in Buckhead. Doug and I had a great time. Talk about an eventful babysitting experience for my Mom, though! One of our neighbors knocked on the door, asking if Doug cut down any trees, a fire truck came to our neighbor's house and two neighbors then called the house. It turned-out that someone smelled gas in the neighborhood. The gas company called the fire department, who came to check the neighborhood. Another neighbor had a new driveway poured and coated it with kerosene, so the concrete wouldn't freeze overnight. Neighbors smelled this and got a little worried. So, fortunately everything turned-out okay. Sheesh!






Mom spoiled us by making oatmeal cookies, chicken nachos, sauteed cabbage and Cream of Winter soup while here with us. We didn't expect her to make these things, but really enjoyed her cooking! Even Ava ate some cabbage, carrots and some diced cantaloupe yesterday. (I think Ava really liked the cantaloupe and how it felt on her gums).







We took Ava back to the doctor Monday, because her cough hadn't cleared up entirely, after her round of antibiotics. The doctor said that she had a slight cold and that she was fine. (I just didn't want her cough to get worse, especially since she just finished the antibiotics). She was also running a fever but that was due to the teething. The doctor said she could tell Ava was "trying to be good, but she's hurting" (from her teeth). So, it was good to confirm that she's okay.




Ava got a cute outfit in the mail from Grandma and Grandpa Carey, which she is wearing today, for Valentine's Day. She got a card with fun Valentine enclosures from Grandma and Grandpa Griffith. She got a big stuffed dog from Mommy and Daddy, and seems to love it.










She is REALLY trying to talk now, and points at something if she wants it.

Well, we wish you all the happiest of Valentine's!!!

With love,
Shelly and Doug












(Smiling in between "teething" episodes)

Zoom-Zoom Carey

These are pictures I TRIED to take the other day, all one after the other.

We either have:

(A) A slow camera
(B) A really fast little girl
(C) All of the above

Ava is Ten Months Old

Ava turned 10 whole months old on the 28th!

She has been an absolute bee-charmer, lately. She is perfecting her walking techniques and thinks she is "big stuff" when she hurries away from you, "running". Now that she's mobile, life is a bit easier. She can entertain herself much more now that she can get around by herself. She still likes to get big snuggle-hugs before she ventures off to play on her own.






As you can see in these pictures, she had a little spill which resulted in a "boo-boo" on her nose. She fell next to the stove and hit her nose on the drawer. It looks much better now.











We went to the doctor last week due to her congestion and a cough. The doctor said she has a bit of sinusitis, so they prescribed an antibiotic to clear it up. We found out that Ava is 21 lbs (with clothes and a diaper on) and 28.75 inches, putting her in the 75th percentile for both height and weight. So, she has seriously caught-up with the "pack" since she was born.












She now prefers to walk instead of crawl. She now says "Da-da", "Ma-ma", and "Ba-ba". I think she knows "Da-da" means "Daddy", but she uses it to refer to other things, too. I think she uses "Ba-ba" for food or drink, indiscriminently. I'm still not sure she knows that "Ma-ma" means "Mommy". I'm sure all of that will change in the next month or so. I asked the doctor what Ava should be saying and it sounds like Ava is right on-par for the words she is using. I do think she will talk early / soon, because she shows some frustration and tries to vocalize when she needs something, looking right at myself or Doug. We're still trying to do sign language with her, in hopes that it will minimize the frustration. We haven't seen any repeated "signs" on Ava's part, but I hear when they do decide to "sign", it happens overnight.




Ava is beginning to eat more solid food. She loves peas, vegetarian provolone cheese, any vegetable as a finger food, small mandarin oranges, diced pears, banana pieces, oyster crackers, fruit puffs, Cheerios. I put a small piece of cheese on a spoon and she actually fed it to herself with the spoon. It was kind of a fluke, though, because she didn't do it again. She's very interested in feeding herself, which makes eating a very "decorative" experience for all involved. :-)

We normally give her a bath every other day but lately I'm questioning if that's often enough... Food in the hair, eyebrows, ears... you name it! I made the mistake of feeding her couscous the other night (she likes savory things). Boy was that an adventure. The stuff was EVERYWHERE!

It's touch and go with some foods; she likes them one day and the next day doesn't prefer a certain food. Ava finally decided she likes juice, too (which we mix with half water). Now to start the transition to a sippy-cup, and drink water by itself! She's never been a fan of drinking water. We'll get there. I'm also adding whole milk to her bottles occasionally, to get her used to drinking it. No allergies so far, thank goodness!

Ava loves to have her teeth brushed every morning and night. She enjoys trying to brush her own teeth and Mommy's teeth.







She really has been an absolute angel. She now sits in the car seat (forward-facing) and is very mellow on car rides. The pediatrician asked if we were facing her forward and I told her "yes" sheepishly (thinking we're not supposed to turn her around before one year old). The pediatrician said we should be facing her forward, as Ava meets the weight requirement of 20 lbs, and is too long to face backward. Ava couldn't stand facing backward, so we actually flipped the seat around at the beginning of the year. Life has been much easier since.









Another month of bliss with you in our lives, sweet little one. Daddy and I had a great time together before you were born, but you just add to the fun!

We love you, baby girl!

Mommy and Daddy