Ava: 7 Months

I can't get over how grown Ava looks in this month's picture. Also, babies in shorts? Cutest thing ever.

Clothing: mostly 12m and either 6-12m or 12-18m. Still in size 3 diapers.

Eating: She's getting better and better at eating solids and is seeming to enjoy it more. We've started some "finger foods" or baby-led weaning foods like banana and avocado. She mostly mushes them around and makes a mess but she does manage to eat some too. She also loves cantaloupe in the silicone feeder. And we just started giving her crackers (well, baby rice cakes and mum mums) and she loves those as well. We've started to introduce a sippy cup (with water or juice mixed with water) but she hasn't quite got the hang of it yet. She's still nursing in the morning and evening and getting 3 bottles of breastmilk at daycare, but I think we'll need to start supplementing with formula soon as I'm having a harder and harder time pumping what she needs and the freezer stash is quickly dwindling.

Sleep: Finally sleeping through the night! Well, sort of. We had gotten into a really good rhythm where she was sleeping through the night pretty consistently, but hit a bump in the road with sickness/ear infections. I think (hope and pray) we're on the upswing again though. We do bathtime/bedtime routine at 7:00, she's asleep by 7:30 and usually wakes up around 6:00 or 6:30. Naps are still pretty inconsistent (especially at daycare) although she's now taking a longer hour to hour and a half nap most days with a shorter nap, instead of several short 30 or 45-minute naps.

Illness: She still can't shake this ear infection, so we're likely on the path to tubes. We tried our third oral antibiotic this month with no luck. We have a consult with an ENT next week, but in the meantime she's on a strong antibiotic called Rocephin to try and get her comfortable until we can get the tubes in and hopefully get her some relief. Rocephin is in shot form, and she had to get one shot a day for three days (yesterday was our last day) so that has not been fun. She still hasn't gotten her 6 month vaccinations because we haven't been able to get her well enough. Hopefully next week though.

Activity: This month she likes playing with blocks, filling and dumping out containers, and grabbing/crinkling/ripping/eating paper of any sort. And with the nice weather we've been spending a lot of time outside, which she loves. We had the sweetest Sunday afternoon just laying on a blanket in the yard playing and relaxing.

Milestones: She's really started talking and babbling this month. A few times we've sworn it sounds like she's saying her name: "a-VA!" And there have been some da-da's but I don't think they were in context (although Lee might tell you differently). She's getting better at bearing more weight on her legs and standing but still much prefers to sit, which she does like a champ. And she's finally figured out how to roll from tummy to back. She rolled for the first time months ago but it was more of an accident and she never really got the hang of it. Now she's rolling consistently from front to back and although she hasn't fully gone from back to front she's getting really close. She's nowhere near crawling (her short chunky legs won't even allow her to get on all fours yet) and our laid back baby seems pretty content right now to stay put.

And now for pictures!

Trying out her new sunnies:



Loves avocado as much as her mama:



Picking out shrubs at the farmer's market on a cold Saturday morning:



This flower is too ridiculous not to put on her head:



Meeting the Easter bunny:



Cousin love:



Helping daddy plant the garden:



Sugar wanted to join:



Fun outside:



Heading home from daycare:



We love this sweet, sweet girl so much. She's such a light in our lives and we're so thankful to have her!

Ava's First Easter

We had a wonderful Easter weekend. We were all (relatively) healthy, which is unheard of for us on a holiday. (Although I did come down with the stomach bug within hours of arriving back home Sunday night.)

There were family dinners, pedicures, an impromptu visit with the Easter Bunny at the local mall, a trip to the park, Easter sunrise service, and the cutest little girl in her smocked dress and ridiculously big bow who was thrilled with her Easter basket. Pretty much the perfect weekend.















This pic makes me laugh so hard. I don't think Ava was as mad as she looks. I think it was just sunny.





Ava's Granny (Lee's mom) is currently undergoing chemotherapy, so we wanted to be sure to get a picture of her and Ava before she lost her hair (it's since fallen out). I know this is one that we'll cherish forever. I just love it:





Hope your Easter was as wonderful as ours!