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!

Afternoon at the park

With a ham and cheese sandwich, peach smoothie, raisins & cheerios and juice packed, a quick stop at Quizno's for a tuna sub and Jersey Mike's for a meat sub of some kind, we headed to Lake Benson Park to check out their sheltered playground. Since our little walker is still learning how to use her legs, we had to keep a hand on her most of the time but that didn't stop her from climbing on the playground equipment and sliding down the slide.

Before we had our picnic dinner, Ava enjoyed watching the model airplane fly around a nearby field while chugging her juice from her new grown-up beverage holder (no more sippy cups!).

A quick drive from the park to a nearby office building with a small pond, a fountain and a gaggle of geese (two of Ava's favorite things) followed by a short walk through the woods on one of Joe's favorite bike trails.

A great Sunday that followed a great Saturday. No pictures from yesterday as I was flying solo for the main event (Ava and I went to see the fire trucks, ambulances, police cars and the tractor that were on exhibit as part of a 5K race held at the nearby firehouse). When asked what we saw yesterday, Ava will tell you, "firetruck.... ambulance.... peace car.... tractor" (with a little prompting: "Yes, a firetruck. Then what did you see?") And then she'll tell you that the tractor said, "Beep beep" (as the farmer climbed in, started driving, waved to her and hit the horn a few times). A visit to our coffee shop and then lunch with Joe. A great Saturday.

Here's to a quieter week than last week. Only two appointments - a nice change from the four I had last week. Quiet is good.

On the swing - not the biggest fan.
Climbing up the equipment: "Up, up, up."
"Ohh, that spins!"
Dale: "What happens when you go up, up, up?" Ava: "Down, down, down!" [going down backwards, the preferred method of escape]
Enjoying some juice and the airplane.

Feeding Teddy Bear

"Num num" - that's what Teddy Bear says when Ava feeds
him one of her breakfast flakes. She loves Teddy Bear.

Ava doing her crazy thing

Funny face with chocolate ice-cream.

Hanging with Daddy in the yard.

Shortly after learning to stand up by herself, Ava thought it would be fun to scale the kitchen chair.

The creature from the black lagoon.

Someone loves tubby time!

Blooming yard

Baby part 2

Looks like we're going to be doing it all over again! Baby #2 is due December 14th, mere days after Ava's second birthday. Maybe we're nuts but at least December won't be dull! And at least we'll have a toddler who'll be interested in the Christmas tree and lights and won't bother with a new baby so much. I may just leave up the decorations long term if they do the trick!

We're excited for Ava to have a little sibling to play with - she loves pointing out babies in books and magazines and greeting cards at the store. Guess she's just practicing!

So far the pregnancy is much the same as the first time around. Just some mild yuckness for a week or so, not enough to stop me from eating, just left me feeling blah for a few days. If I can have half the pregnancy I had last time, I'll have the perfect pregnancy (this means no PUPPS, no lyme disease scare, no exposure to miscarriage-causing viruses). Not too much to ask for!

Should be an interesting baby end of year - my sister is due the end of October, a good friend in VA is due the end of November and our behind-us neighbors are having a baby mid-November. At least I won't be alone this time around. Lots of pregnancy buddies!

Caught wet-handed!

Ava was pretending to scoop Indi's food into the bowl (by picking up the food bin and placing it into the bowl). So, I opened it up and let her practice scooping while I made dinner. Luckily she's past the age of putting everything into her mouth. After a while, I looked down to see she was sorting the kibble: some in the food bowl, others in the water bowl.

Sesame Street Zombie

We have a monster. One who is addicted to Sesame Street (or rather Abby, the little fairy, and Elmo [or "Eddie" as Ava calls him].) She wants to watch "Abby!" all day long. This morning she zoned out for a few minutes after breakfast. The camera's flash didn't even bother her! At least we saw signs of life after a while!

Loving Teddy Bear

It seems lion has been replaced. Teddy Bear goes to bed with Ava and travels down with her in the morning. She loves Teddy Bear.

Peek-a-book!

New yogurt face

We decided it was time to make the plunge to self-feeding during yogurt time. The result was so funny we had to skype in the grandparents so they could enjoy it also. Ava decided the best way to eat yogurt is with her fingers - and despite the mess, she actually got most of the food in her mouth.

A little over-exposed

A slight mishap with the camera captured these over-exposed but beautiful shots.

Sunday

Have purse, will travel in style.
Out on our morning walk to see the geese.

The ever-present funny face.
Budding artist.
More artist.