Ava's First Year

Ava turned one on Saturday. We celebrated with family and friends, and her party was everything I had hoped it would be and more. I can't wait to share pictures with you soon. But until then, a little look back at Ava's very first year of life. And what a year it's been!



P.S. - I know both of these songs are probably overdone. But they came out when Ava was first born and I used to dance her around to them in her nursery and just cry. Cry because it was so so hard and I was so so overwhelmed and so so happy all at the same time. I can't hear either without thinking of those early days. (And at least I picked the version of Ho Hey from the Nashville cast.)

Ava: 11 Months

Clothing: Still 12m and 18m. Size 3 diapers, but we'll likely go up in the next month or so.

Eating: She's eating just about anything and everything now. No more purees (except for the few left over we're trying to get rid of, and pouches once in a while because pouches = convenient). She's totally on table food at daycare, so it's nice not to have to worry about bringing in purees. Lunch and dinner are usually something like spaghetti, ravioli, turkey meat and bread, or diced chicken, and of course fruits and veggies. I can't really tell you what her favorites are because she has the same reaction to everything we put in front of her = she eats it with gusto. She also gets a morning and afternoon snack at daycare which is usually some type of cracker. 

Still drinking the same amount of formula, although we've just transitioned to all sippy cups for daytime bottles and she's doing great with that. She still gets bottles in the morning and at bedtime, and I'm perfectly fine with that for now. For some reason, the first day I started sending sippys to daycare instead of bottles seemed like a really big deal?! I usually don't get too freaked out about transitions, but this one seemed to signal "big girl" more than the others to me. I'm definitely enjoying having less bottles to wash each night though. 

Sleep: Still doing good. Usually sleeps from 7pm to 6:30am. One or two naps at daycare and two naps when she's home with us on the weekends. 

Milestones: This month was a big one for Ava. She started crawling (!), is pulling up consistently now, and finally got her first tooth! It seemed like she went from immobile to crawling/pulling up/into everything in about two weeks. No cruising yet, so I think we've still got a few months before walking, but she's definitely getting more comfortable on her feet and has started "walking" while holding onto our fingers a bit. She also got her first "incident report" at daycare. She got tripped up while crawling, hit her head on the floor and had a little bruise on her forehead. 

She started clapping while we were on vacation, but still doesn't do it a lot -- she much prefers to wave. She blows raspberries on us now instead of the other way around and gives big sloppy open-mouthed kisses. The other night I was bathing her and she paused, looked at me and leaned it for a kiss -- so sweet! And I guess we should count "uh oh" as her first word? She says it ALL the time, and in perfect context. Except now she'll be sitting in the highchair and will hold out her cup/spoon/cracker, say "uh oh" and THEN drop it on the floor. The little stinker. 

Activity: Her number one activity right now is getting into anything and everything -- rolls of toilet paper, trash cans, drawers, cords, door stopper springs, tearing all the books off the shelf, you name it. She'll actually tolerate her jumperoo again these days because she can JUMP in it like a madwoman. We discovered after several harried long car trips that she's mesmerized by Yo Gabba Gabba. (She used to be a champ at riding in the car because she'd just sleep. Now if it's not time for her to take a nap, she just whines/cries the whole time.) She watches little to no television but after an hour of screaming in the car I pulled up a Yo Gabba video on YouTube and instant silence. Win! Adding that to my arsenal for desperate times. 

A montage of standing "firsts"...

In the crib...



At the toy box...



In the tub...



Outside of the tub...



Can't leave the trash can sitting out anymore:



Or the door to the toilet open:



A visit with Easton, Brevyn and Jack:



Morning naptime:



Granny pulled an old Snuggles bear out of storage:



Reading "Honk If You Like Purple" on the way to La Grange:



Into everything:



Turban baby:



Happy to be at daycare:



Get it gurlllllll:



Hold me!



Calling to Sugar:



"See, she came to see me."



Reading "Brown Bear Brown Bear What Do You See" (our favorite):



And proof that she can crawl (this video displays Ava's "pimp crawl" which she alternates about 50/50 with regular crawling):



Ava, you've really blossomed this month, and it's so fun to see you learn something new every day. I cannot believe you'll be the big O-N-E in just a few short weeks! We love you so so very much.

Ava: 10 Months

(I'm not sure why her hair looks red in this picture. It's definitely blond, not red.)

Clothing: She's really slowed down in the growing-out-of-clothing department. She's mostly in 12 month stuff and some 18 month. She was growing so fast that I bought all 18m summer clothes, but a lot of those are still a bit big on her. Still in size 3 diapers.

Eating: She's totally on formula now, a 6-oz. bottle in the mornings, 3 5-oz. bottles during the day and a 4-oz. bottle before bed. But I'm having a harder and harder time getting her to finish her bottles, especially during the day. She's MUCH more interested in real food. Every single thing we've put in front of her she's liked. And we're doing less and less purees these days. She eats soft-cooked or canned (no salt added) veggies, all kinds of diced fruit, and various crackers and breads. This month she tried spaghetti (loved it of course) and we made her these munchkin meatballs. They're a hit and I always end up sneaking a few too! She's drinking out of a straw sippy cup now and doing pretty well. We'll try putting her milk in it soon so we can start transitioning away from bottles.

Sleep: So, so good and I'm so, so thankful. Sleeps straight through from 7pm-6:30am. Usually two naps a day, anywhere from 30 minutes to 2 hours. Although since she's learned to sit up on her own, we've had a few nights where she's sat up either right before falling asleep or during the middle of the night and doesn't know how to lay back down. She's exhausted and somewhat delirious, so I just have to go in and lay her down and she usually goes right back to sleep. (Also, see adorable picture below.)

Illness: We did pretty good here this month. She's still had a bit of congestion and daycare "kennel cough" as we call it, but that's just the norm now. We had a follow-up with the ENT about her ears that went pretty well. She still has fluid in them but they're not infected. He said since it's summer and she still has fluid, she may need tubes down the road because fall/winter are probably going to be miserable for her. But since she's sleeping so well and her hearing is still not being affected, no tubes are indicated at this point.

Activity: We got a few new toys, including this ball popping dinosaur thing that she loves. But mainly, she likes playing with anything that's NOT a toy that she's not supposed to be playing with. A hairbrush, the remote control, tupperware, shoes, you name it. 

Milestones: She's up on all fours, and I think she'll be crawling very soon. But even for a baby who can't crawl she sure can get around a lot. Scooting, rotating, reaching. This month the waving at everything has turned into pointing at everything. And she even says a "dat" with it sometimes like she's saying "what's that?" She's also learned to say "uh oh" when she drops something, although it's more like a "uh uh" instead. It's terribly cute, but the downside is it means she's non-stop dropping stuff so she can say uh oh. 

Trying so hard to crawl:



So excited about all of this paper!



Music table:



Don't even think about touching my watermelon!



See? Loves her watermelon:



Winding down with bunny:



Quick swing at the park:



First spaghetti, and pointing as well:



First morning finding her sitting up in the crib:



First taste of Pizza Villa pizza crackers!



Baby parade:



When did I have a kid old enough to sit and drink her sippy cup??



Rocking the red, white and blue:



In this one she's saying, "stop taking pictures of me right now!"



Her with her daycare buddy Vivien (they share the same birthday):



After I put her down for bed one night, she sat up in her crib. We watched her to about 10 minutes as she tried to figure out what to do and kept nodding off sitting up. Finally I went in and found her like this, dead asleep, sitting up leaning against the bars of her crib. Pitiful!



Happy 10 months Ava!

Ava: 9 Months

Eating: I nursed her morning and night right up until the nine month mark, when a stomach bug and cold really took its toll on me. I still nurse her occasionally in the morning but it's more for comfort. She's getting around 5 5-oz. bottles of formula per day. Plus three meals of solids and finger foods. This month we started stage 3 chunky purees and some chicken/turkey/pasta type dinners. We've tried hummus, cucumbers, diced pears and strawberries this month, and she liked them all. Girl loves her groceries. She's getting less and less interested in milk (I actually have to work to get her to finish a bottle, which is new for us). I think she's starting to slim down because of it, which the doctor said is totally normal at this age as they start moving more and are more distracted eaters.

Sleep: Doing good here. Still the occasional early morning wake-up, but mostly sleeping 7pm-6am. She doesn't nap well at daycare, which is frustrating. Too much going on, plus I've probably spoiled her by rocking her to sleep at home, which they don't have the luxury of doing at daycare. We can usually get two good 1.5 hr naps from her at home on the weekends, sometimes longer if she's not feeling well or is worn out from the pool or something.

Illness: This month was no bueno. She got a really bad (yeast) diaper rash, plus we were still dealing with some rash/eczema issues. Then she got a stomach bug (one evening of vomiting, followed by three days of diarrhea, which didn't help the diaper rash). Then on the heels of that was a nasty cold/virus that had her sounding like a purring kitty and barking seal all at once. Of course, that was just in time for our 9 month "well visit." I don't think we've ever been well for a well visit. Maybe one day. Thankfully, her cough is sounding a lot better and I think we've almost got the diaper rash kicked. Of course, I got the stomach bug and cough too, and they took a much worse toll on me than her (thankfully). I think we're finally on the other side now but it has been a ROUGH two weeks. So tired of being the house of sick!

Activity: She loves being out and about. Eating at restaurants, shopping, going to the pool or park. She gets bored and fussy if we stay at home too long (like her mama, much?). And I broke down and bought her some new toys at Target because we were SO OVER playing with the same old things. She likes stacking her stacking rings, shaking anything that will rattle, dumping things out, knocking things over and playing with her musical/talking toys.

Milestones: Here I am waiting for her to crawl, and she decides to pull up instead, which I had no idea she was close to. We have a storage ottoman/toy box in the living room and she decided she really needed to see what was in it. She's not pulling up regularly though because she can't crawl over to things to pull on, she has to happen to already be sitting in front of something to pull up on. And speaking of crawling, she's moving more, scooting more and will walk her hands out far enough reaching for something that she gets onto her belly, but then she gets mad because she hates being on her belly. I think she's getting closer to figuring out how to get up on all fours but still not there yet. But oh, the waving. She has learned to wave and is so proud of herself. Homegirl loves to wave. You walk into the room and she lights up and starts waving. So cute. And she's even started making "buh buh" sounds when waving bye to me at daycare in the mornings. And yes, I stand at the window for 10 minutes waving at her like an idiot.

She's really starting to get develop a little personality now and it's so much fun. Here are some pictures from her ninth month of life.

Mother's Day flowers, cards and crafts :)



No margaritas for you!



Always with the hands behind the head, even in the car seat:



A sweet daddy-daughter moment:



Just out for a little picnic:



Ava's very first Aurora Fossil Festival:



River napping is good napping:



Loves swinging at the river:



A day of fun in the sun:



Sugar and Lee sharing a towel:



Watermelon at the river:



Sick baby snuggles:



Happy girl:



Loooooves mama's glasses:



Got that hand propped up:



Her very first school picture:



Out to lunch in her watermelon outfit from Aunt Erin:



First time at the pool!