Bye bye motorcycle. See you soon!

Definitely a baby word I wish would last - Motorcycle = geeda-geeda. We have no idea how it came to be, but it's never changed. In this clip, Ava's bidding farewell to the motorcycle parked outside the Flipside.

Talking about our Labor Day BBQ playdate

Saying hi to the animals

During the past few trips to Babies-R-Us, Ava has pointed out the rhinoceros, tiger and elephant cardboard animals hanging from the ceiling. As we drove back to the store yesterday, I told her that we could see the rhinoceros etc. When we got to the store, however, they were gone. I spotted them sitting against a wall - destined for either the trash can or return mail to BRU Headquarters. After being asked by what looked like a manager-type if I needed help, I asked the fate of the cut-outs. "Why? You want them?" he replied. SURE! He moved them to the front of the store for us and we loaded the van.

Ava loves her animals and this morning bounced up and down at the gate in the kitchen to go upstairs to see the "nocenus, tigUR and edalant." Enjoy!

Spittle

(see previous post to observe the evolution of the spitting)

Library books

Freaking cutest kid ever! I could eat her up!

Now I know my ABCs

Counting to 10

Trash truck!

Eden Tickle Monster

Watch as Eden tries to tickle Ava's feet (and Ava tries to not lose her jean shorts)!

Helicopter!

During the summer, the library offers a "meet-n-greet" series where kids can go and see ambulances, firetrucks, police officers, etc. Today was the helicopter! We picked up our neighbor Melissa around 9:20 and went to the field at the high school where the helicopter was scheduled to land at 9:30.

Two hours later, we got to see the helicopter land.

Ava did really well considering she walked about for a little while at first and then was confined to her stroller. Melissa, Ava and I sat in the shade of a big truck for a while as Joe went to get gas and fetch some water. Then Joe took Ava to the van for a while, where she played in the back with all of her toys. Just when we were about to call it quits, the helicopter appeared! Ava loved seeing - and hearing - the helicopter and also the ambulances and fire trucks in the parking lot. After it landed, we made a quick getaway to lunch at the Flipside.

June part 4: Baows! (balls)

The new ball pit and 150 balls arrived! Ava had such a great time playing with Devin in his similar structure that I decided it would be fun to change out some of the larger toys in the playroom with something she could crawl around and hide in. And of course, who needs a reason for 150 balls!?

The playhut came with three structures - this one sits off by itself, housing a blanket and a teddy bear. No need to build any tents anytime soon.

People in glass houses... Should also read: grownups should crawl through ball pits as they might get stuck and need assistance being removed. Just a cautionary tale.

June part 3: Not thrilled

It was an early morning for all of us. Ava woke up at 5:30am and decided no more sleeping for her - or us. She was crabby around 8:30 and she and I left the house around 9 to make a quick stop to exchange some toys at the resource center before heading to the Little Gym. In memory of Michael Jackson, I played a little Thriller. As you can tell, she was not too thrilled.


I'm sure this early morning nap had more to do with the early wake-up than Michael's talent. One day she'll learn to appreciate the entertainment value of zombies - and she too, will thank MJ for that!

June part 2: Love me, love my crocs

June part 1

A girl and her lion.

The kid loves her books.

Reading a story to baby and teddybear before she tells them, "Naptime."

These shoes were made for walkin'

About the house

Loads of fun have been had at the new water table in the backyard. The main goal is to empty the water table of water.



Intrepid backyard explorer

"Bees!"

Ava has discovered her baby doll and makes sure baby makes it downstairs each morning.

Playing with dried beans - we're practicing scooping from one bowl to the other, but Ava prefers to move the beans by taking heaping handfuls.

What happens when you turn your back for a moment!