Branching out

Past few days

This will be a quick entry with fast photos - taken from Joe's iPhone and emailed; much quicker than using the big camera, downloading, cropping, fixing etc.

On Tuesday we did something we'd never done before: we voted early. I'd never heard of such a thing until we received a political phone call and the lady asked if we knew about it. Seems more than 30 states allow early voting, but Virginia is not one of them. I thought it might be a scam - ie. my very important vote ends up in the big abyss of "early" votes. But apparently it is real! So, we voted. I was number 788 at our polling station. Now the big question: what shall I do with my time on November 4th while everyone else is standing in line?

Taken after voting while we were walking through the grocery store. Note the hat that actually stayed on!

Earlier in the day, we went to Lilah's house for a playdate and met a twin. Another little girl new to the group was born on the same day as Ava (but at a different hospital). After the other kiddies left, Lilah and Ava hung out for a little while, while Gillian and I chatted. Apparently Gillian believes that whenever the babies hang out, Lilah goes home and partakes in some less-than-desirable activity (you know, crawling, pulling up, etc.) So, now I need to figure out a way to spend more time with older babies so that Ava can learn more undesirable tricks to teach to Lilah!

Little buddies playing

On Wednesday we went to Wal-Mart for fun. Yeehaw! Yes, I live more in the country than I used to and no, I do not enjoy trips to Wal-Mart, but when the 5pm witching hour hits, beggars can't be choosers! So at 5pm, I packed up the baby and headed to Wal-Mart to help the economy a little.

On Thursday morning we headed to Durham to visit the folks at the Infant Cognition lab at Duke University. Ava went there when she was 6 months old and will hopefully go again in the next 6 months. After her 10 minute session, staring at various television screens that showed different dots and cartoon characters (all in the name of science), she received her second diploma. The kid is now officially more educated than both mommy and daddy. We figured the first trip earned her a baby bachelors, this trip the baby masters and if she goes for the third time, we'll have to start calling her Doctor!

Baby scientist!

One day she'll learn the value of a diploma!

Waiting for lunch at Macaroni Grill where she had a great time shredding the paper tablecloth and wanted to eat the crayons!


This morning was our weekly trip to Little Gym for some physical exercise and fun, followed by our post-LG visit to the coffee shop where we snacked and chatted with our new friends.

This weekend is stacking up to be busy, with a baby shower on Saturday and (weather permitting) a trip to the pumpkin patch on Sunday!

And then it'll be Monday and time to do it all over again!

Photo Saturday

Inspired by my friend Nikole.

All that glitters

Snacktime

What you can't see in the frame is the banana I'm enjoying as a snack. Unfortunately, I have a weird dog who loves banana and a baby who has finally gotten over the weird texture issue she had with the fruit. I pull the peel and they both come running.

Standing

No, not all on her own, but right now, this is the closest she's come to standing with the help of a little friend - the trusty toy basket.

Farewell card ending in xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-####

I suppose the time had to come. After 12 long and faithful years, after small balances and some larger, the bank decided it was time to give me a new credit card number (most likely to avoid fraud). My dear number will no long be used. I will have to memorize a whole new number and hope that it becomes a part of me as the old one did.

It is a sad day.

Welcome to the new card ending in xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-[some number]!

Wrightsville Beach, NC

This past weekend, we took a trip to Wilmington. We stayed at a boutique hotel (part hotel, part bed-n-breakfast) in the heart of the downtown district. We had a great time exploring a new place - walking around downtown, eating yummy Thai food, strolling back to the room after dinner enjoying ice-cream cones and marveling at the beautiful historic homes. On Saturday we ate at a Tex-Mex type place that was recommended to me and had the most delicious quesadilla. Afterwards we wandered around Airlie Gardens and saw a 400 year old tree. That night after dinner, we took Ava to the beach for her first ocean experience. She seemed in awe of the size of it all - looking at the water and listening to the waves. Then she laughed and had fun having her feet splash in the water and sink in the same as the waves retreated. All in all, a great weekend, our first vacation together as a family.

Outside

Future musician?

And yes, that is part of the breast-pump machine. It was clean and it kept her entertained.

Backlog

Without a computer of my own, being able to download and correct photos and then upload them and the stories to the blog has been very difficult.

So, with Joe out of town for the night, I'm staying up extra late to get some pictures up.

These are some from the past few weeks.

Ava can spend hours taking her books from her bin
and paging through them.
Our happy baby.
A sneak peek at the Hula Monkey halloween costume.
For a refresher on Hula Monkey...
Pulling a goofy face. Along with the goofy faces, come goofy noises. Today she spent the better part of her awake time practicing what can only be described as a fake laugh.
She loves pulling out all the clean bibs
and found this sock amongst the stash.