Nearing 6 months . . .

. . . and we are being c.r.a.b.b.y today. Ava has been fussy most of the day. She's usually pretty content playing on the floor with her toys, rolling from side to side, kicking her octopus that hangs from the blue bars, squealing with joy.

There has been little squealing today and less joy.

She's happy for a moment and then gets fussy. For a while I thought perhaps she was working on some poops. She's on baby food now so the poops are slightly different and not as frequent. While Joe and I ate lunch, Ava sat with us in her chair at the table. Then the tell-tale signs: grunting, scrunchy face, red cheeks. We have poops! Joe took her to change her diaper after we had eaten and here's what he said: "It's a little turd." Yup. Just one, small turd. No big smushy poop. Not sure if that's normal, so we'll see what transpires over the next few hours.

So, in an effort to help make her more comfortable, Ava and I headed to the pool for swim. Read: I took her bathtub downstairs, filled it with warm water and set up the "pool" in the yard, complete with bathing suit and sun hat. She has some fun splashing around in the water but not as much as she usually has at bedtime. So, back into the house for some milk and hopefully a nap.

Those are the two things that are not normal today - more naps than usual (one more this morning before lunch) and an appetite that won't quit. Ava has nursed more today in the past few hours than in a normal day. She finally went down for a nap after even more nursing. Perhaps she's going through a growth spurt, or at least gearing up for a big one!

A few things of note in her life: Ava enjoy apples and pears and finally decided that the sippy cup wasn't all evil. She's still learning the finer points of drinking from a cup, but after the bottle was deemed her mortal enemy, I decided it might be a good idea to at least try the sippy cup in the hopes of one day being able to leave the house with Joe and without Ava and allowing someone else to feed her. So far we've managed about 2 tablespoons of milk, so we're a far cry from a full meal, but baby steps . . .