Im done!

Clearly she wants out of this chair. Im not sure she really enjoyed her Shepard's Pie lunch- thought she did pick all of the corn out of it.

What Ava does at school.

I am trying to update the layout of this page and deleted what I said before. In any event, Nikki-one of the teachers in daycare- took these fun picture of Ava getting down to business at daycare. Playing with snow, paints and bubbles! The feedback she tells me is that Ava is VERY tactile.What a cutie PIE!

What do you do with 10 inches of snow?

Go sledding!!



Check out the stop action when she gets down to the bottom. I cannot stop watching this, I am cracking up! Ava was pretty much deadpan for the whole experience except for when she gotten to the bottom and I would clap and say "yeaaa!!" Id get a big ole smile then. The hill was mobbed with all kinds of kids and families. I felt the need to purchase a sled for myself! We also made a snow angel on the way out!

The Joys

I'm not sure if its that Ava has 4 teeth busting through the top of her gums or that shes just really coming into her personality. She wants what she wants! I'm sure my parents would say that sounds very familiar! I made the mistake of taking a small tupperware tub and placing one of her balls in it. It was interesting at first, until she couldn't get it out. There may have been a small tantrum. So i took the lip off so she could get to the ball. But she wanted to put the lid back on now and couldn't do it. More of a meltdown. There was no winning on this situation, except to take away the little tupperware tub and give her another toy.

These small tantrums seem to be appearing more as she doesn't always get what she wants. Generally it involves having whoever is drinking a can of soda in the room, or drinking a cup of coffee. She also is often getting frustrated with not being able to complete tasks with her toys. That may include putting a ball in a hollow box, or not being able to back up her push car.

This morning as she was 'helping' dad with the laundry, she decided to climb int the basket along with the paci she chucked in there, the dishtowel she put in there and my vitamins which she also put in there. She was majorly frustrated in trying to get out, which she eventually did. But you can imagine she didn't try to get back in.

She also constantly testing us. We have this metal fire surround protector around the gas fireplace in the family room. She KNOWS shes not supposed to touch it, but she will sneak over there, turning ever so slightly to make sure that you are watching her. Then she touches it and looks back, OR she may reach for it looking back not touching it yet. Waiting for you to say NO. Which is a green light for 'yes yes! touch it!! and smile at them, laugh in their faces!! haha!!' Shes crafty, ill give her that. And she is A LOT smarter than i give her credit for.

Spring Break here we come!

Ava cached out right before we head out-above. This morning we went and got all of Avas paperwork done and sent in the mail to get her passport! Thats right shes going on her first Spring Break ever! I've never even been on spring break myself, I cant wait!! The best part is, is that she will have her cousins along too!! Too much fun on the sun, in the sand in the water! I cant WAIT to see how she takes it all in!! We will have to get her some crazy sunblock and bring her hats and suits, along with some shirts for beach attire as Ms Ava has some milky delicate skin, just like her dad.

The plane ride should be the best part of the whole thing. NOT. Actually, if the let her walk around a little bit, it might be ok. Supervised of course. She'll probably want to eat whatever any of the other passengers are eating and reach out to have a sample for herself. Hopefully people will thinks shes 'cute'. I imagine it will make the ride really long, or it should just fly right by!

Before our trip home we stopped by the Stroms so Ava and Liam could hang out for a little bit...or so I could ahve some of Natashas fresh bake brownies. MMmmmmmmm....

Winter sled sessions

Ava got a sweet new ride for Christmas. A red sled from Nan and Grandpa. Rich broke it out with the little snow we had on Saturday. I pulled up after being out at the gym and saw strange looking tracks all over the front yard. Then I saw it, the snowy sled over by the side of the house! how exciting! I wish I had seen her face. From her pictures she looks very serious and not quite sure of what to make of the situation. But she looks very cute, and i bet to was even cuter to see dad puling her all around the front yard!

The monkey lives!

So I pick up Ava at daycare the other day. Nikki is holding her and puts her down as i stand just inside the doorway. Ava has a big smile on her face and is practically running towards me. her arms are semi outstretched and shes making her 1 syllable noise. I was squatting there with my arms outstretched smiling as well. Would you believe that she ran right by me? Right into the Toddler room. She wants to CLIMB! They have a few steps that lead up to a platform and then a decline down the other side. I mean its really not that surprising that she wants in that room so bad to climb on stuff. It should be an interesting next few months to see how she 'deals' with being in the infant room til that one year mark. Maybe she will stop poking the dollies in the eyes and go for the infants. OR she will figure out how to drag stuff over to the door to get high enough to open it. She is doing this at home to get up on the chairs on the family room. I don't give her enough credit. I just didn't think 10 months olds could do stuff like that. But I guess shes not really 'ordinary'.

On another note, she is getting 4 teeth at once up top. No WONDER shes been crying in the middle of the night. Poor thing! I cant wait to see how silly she looks with a bunch of teeth! Not to mention all the new foods she can eat! Speaking of eating, shes been sampling girl scout cookies. And wouldn't you know, she LOVES them! I've got to buy a toothbrush! Between Rich and I, she doesn't have a fighting chance! Sweet tooth GALORE!

We also finally got her a REAL winter jacket. Shes been wearing this fleece number everyday, over her sweaters. I think Rich and I started feeling guilty when we saw all the other infants wearing snow suits. Honestly, i cant imagine she'd go for that. There would be some serious screaming involved there I think. I guess I should just keep telling myself that, eh?