I have been a worried lately that Miss Ava has not cut any teeth yet. I have been trying to feed her new foods such as grapes, cherrios, and puffs but the most she can do is "gum" them and then she lets it fall out of her mouth. Every time she laughs or cries I try peaking in her mouth to see if I can see anything and all I have been able to see are her gums. She has not been fussy lately or drooling more than usual, but tonight I stuck my finger in her mouth to feel her gums and on her lower front I felt a little jagged chicklet on her left side! I am telling you that this excited me more than her crawling because I saw the progression of her trying to crawl where with her first tooth all of a sudden it was there. I feel like a proud mother right now whose child just won a gold medal and all it is a tooth but it is her first. I say this over and over again but it amazes me how fast she is growing up. Just 10 months ago she was a newborn baby and now she can smile, laugh, make out some words, clap, play with her toys, sit up, crawl, pull herself up, cruise and now she no longer has a toothless grin!
Tonight's bedtime book was I Love You Through And Through and my favorite part is the ending, "I love you through and through...yesterday, today, and tomorrow too!" Thank you God for this little girl.
Wednesday, July 25, 2012
Tuesday, July 24, 2012
Double Digits, the BIG 10!
Last week our baby girl turned 10 months old! She is no longer a baby but turning into such a sweet little girl who loves to play, laugh, and explore. Ava was first ticklish under her chin but now her favorite tickle spot is at her pelvic bone and she is starting to become ticklish under her arms and her feet. For the last couple of months Ava loves to touch everything with her one index finger and she always is touching everything with it. She can find the smallest speck of dirt on the floor and she will use her index finger to push it around.
Ava's new favorite toy is her music play table and it has different settings to keep her entertained. She is fully cruising now on her own while holding onto something and she will crawl over and pull herself up on the table and then cruise around it as she plays with the different activities. She has also started dancing and will smile and shake her body during some of the music numbers. A close second for fav toys is still her walker which is a life saver for Trav and I in the morning while we are trying to get ready. And then there is her jumperoo which is an oldie but goodie and every once in a while she will let us put her in it and she goes crazy jumping in it.
This month at daycare she was poked in the eye by her bestie, Madeline. The teacher said that Ava did cry but Ava did forgive Madeline and they are still good friends. It has been too hot to do too much outside, but the school did have them outside one afternoon to play at the outdoor water table. The teacher showed me a picture and all of the children were so adorable and Ava loved splashing her hands in the water with the other children. We finished out the last week of Ava being 9 months old with a runny nose and cough that kept Ava out of daycare for a week. Luckily she was able to spend the week with Nana getting lots of love and kisses from both Nana and Katie.
Speaking of the Swearingen's family dog, Ava can now make out the word Katie. So she has not said mama but twice but now will happily say Katie along with her favorite word in the world, dadadada.
It has been another busy traveling month for us and we made a trip to Atlanta followed by a trip to Kingsport the following weekend. For the week of the 4th of July, Uncle Christopher, Aunt Emilie, and cousins Joseph and Jacob came in for the week. Joseph loved playing with Baby Ava and thought that it was so much fun to push Ava around the house in her walker. I was told that Joseph also did a stand up comedy act for Ava that had her cackling with laughter throughout the house. We thought that Ava was a little young to enjoy fireworks so we left her at home while we watched them at the Collignon's house but I am looking forward to being able to watch them as a family one day. One the 4th we enjoyed a nice cookout at the Swearingen's and spent the rest of the week visiting with family.
We were able to spend the next two weekends at home and we went to the zoo for the first time and signed up for an annual membership so that we will be able to go over the next year, and many years to come after that. We also made it back to Cheekwood to take her 9 month photo's and finished Ava's 9 months with Trav turning 31 and also making it on the 10 o'clock news! We were out for an evening walk after bath time and was stopped by a reporter asking us to talk about the whooping cough. Ava was in her pj's and Trav and I looked like complete scrubs and did not want to be on the news but I took pity on the reporter who told me he had been looking for 2 hours to interview someone. Trav did not want to be on the news so he stood back as I was interviewed while Ava was squirming and coughing in my arms. I was too embarrassed to watch it but pulled it up online afterwards. It was as bad as I thought that it would be, but Ava looked like a cute little Gerber baby so that is all that matters.
It melts my heart how Ava recognizes who Travis and I are and it is so sweet when she will crawl over to us and put her tiny hands on our legs for us to pick her up. She is also starting to share and sometimes she will be playing with a toy and she will reach over and put it in our face for us to play with. She really loves my iPhone which is not good thing. I have not introduced her to the iPad, but I am sure that most of the apps on the iPad will turn into apps for her to play with. We still have story time every night as a family and will tuck her in together.
I am not sure where the time has gone and I cannot believe that we will be celebrating her 1st Birthday in less than two months. My wish is that she would always stay our little baby girl but even as she grows older, I know that she will always be our baby. To quote one of my favorite children's book, "I'll love you forever, I'll like you for always, As long as I'm living my baby you'll be."
Ava's new favorite toy is her music play table and it has different settings to keep her entertained. She is fully cruising now on her own while holding onto something and she will crawl over and pull herself up on the table and then cruise around it as she plays with the different activities. She has also started dancing and will smile and shake her body during some of the music numbers. A close second for fav toys is still her walker which is a life saver for Trav and I in the morning while we are trying to get ready. And then there is her jumperoo which is an oldie but goodie and every once in a while she will let us put her in it and she goes crazy jumping in it.
This month at daycare she was poked in the eye by her bestie, Madeline. The teacher said that Ava did cry but Ava did forgive Madeline and they are still good friends. It has been too hot to do too much outside, but the school did have them outside one afternoon to play at the outdoor water table. The teacher showed me a picture and all of the children were so adorable and Ava loved splashing her hands in the water with the other children. We finished out the last week of Ava being 9 months old with a runny nose and cough that kept Ava out of daycare for a week. Luckily she was able to spend the week with Nana getting lots of love and kisses from both Nana and Katie.
Speaking of the Swearingen's family dog, Ava can now make out the word Katie. So she has not said mama but twice but now will happily say Katie along with her favorite word in the world, dadadada.
It has been another busy traveling month for us and we made a trip to Atlanta followed by a trip to Kingsport the following weekend. For the week of the 4th of July, Uncle Christopher, Aunt Emilie, and cousins Joseph and Jacob came in for the week. Joseph loved playing with Baby Ava and thought that it was so much fun to push Ava around the house in her walker. I was told that Joseph also did a stand up comedy act for Ava that had her cackling with laughter throughout the house. We thought that Ava was a little young to enjoy fireworks so we left her at home while we watched them at the Collignon's house but I am looking forward to being able to watch them as a family one day. One the 4th we enjoyed a nice cookout at the Swearingen's and spent the rest of the week visiting with family.
We were able to spend the next two weekends at home and we went to the zoo for the first time and signed up for an annual membership so that we will be able to go over the next year, and many years to come after that. We also made it back to Cheekwood to take her 9 month photo's and finished Ava's 9 months with Trav turning 31 and also making it on the 10 o'clock news! We were out for an evening walk after bath time and was stopped by a reporter asking us to talk about the whooping cough. Ava was in her pj's and Trav and I looked like complete scrubs and did not want to be on the news but I took pity on the reporter who told me he had been looking for 2 hours to interview someone. Trav did not want to be on the news so he stood back as I was interviewed while Ava was squirming and coughing in my arms. I was too embarrassed to watch it but pulled it up online afterwards. It was as bad as I thought that it would be, but Ava looked like a cute little Gerber baby so that is all that matters.
It melts my heart how Ava recognizes who Travis and I are and it is so sweet when she will crawl over to us and put her tiny hands on our legs for us to pick her up. She is also starting to share and sometimes she will be playing with a toy and she will reach over and put it in our face for us to play with. She really loves my iPhone which is not good thing. I have not introduced her to the iPad, but I am sure that most of the apps on the iPad will turn into apps for her to play with. We still have story time every night as a family and will tuck her in together.
I am not sure where the time has gone and I cannot believe that we will be celebrating her 1st Birthday in less than two months. My wish is that she would always stay our little baby girl but even as she grows older, I know that she will always be our baby. To quote one of my favorite children's book, "I'll love you forever, I'll like you for always, As long as I'm living my baby you'll be."
 |
| I love the drool on her chin. |
 |
| Story time with Aunt Mandy and Mimi. |
 | |
| She always loves to drag a toy along with her while she is crawling. |
 |
| Getting some love from Uncle Chace. |
 |
| Playing with cousin Joseph |
 |
| Happy 4th! |
 |
| Playing with Aunt Alissa |
 |
| She is a Swearingen, learning to play Rook! |
 |
| Ava had her mouth opened and Scout leaned in for a kiss! |
 |
| Cousins Jacob and Joseph |
 |
| The washer and dryer provides entertainment for Ava. |
 |
| First trip to the zoo! |
 |
| Learning to drink from a sippy cup! |
 |
| Pushing boxes around also provides fun entertainment for Ava |
Monday, July 9, 2012
9 Month Stats
Ava Marie had her 9 month well visit with her pediatrician today, Dr. Long, and the verdict is she has a small head and is tall and skinny...
Head Circumference 17.5 inches, 50th percentile
Height 29 inches, 90th percentile
Weight 19.7 lbs, 60th percentile
Overall Dr. Long was very happy with Ava's development. They did ask that we cut down on the amount of banana's that we feed her (she has banana's every morning for breakfast) because it can cause constipation and he is not happy with the consistency of her bowel movements. Yes, they ask about her bowel movements and at this age they still should be smooth like peanut butter but her's are more solid and although she has several bowel movements a day, they are worried about them causing her too much strain. When you become a parent you suddenly become very concerned about bowel movements and Trav and I talk about Ava's everyday which is a big change in our relationship. We are going to change up her morning breakfast routine and only give her banana's once or twice a week which will hopefully improve the consistency of her b.m's! I will say the funny thing about Ava is that she does not hide it and makes a poop face along with sounds every time she has a b.m.
Sunday, July 8, 2012
9 Months Old
Ava turned 9 months old a couple of weeks ago and in twelve days she will already be 10 months old! We have been a busy little family and am behind on posting all of the wonderful moments that have happened in Baby Ava's life.
When Ava turned 9 months old last month, she was fully crawling on all fours and then after this, it seemed that she started hitting milestone after milestone. I feel like in a week of her crawling she learned to go from a crawling to sitting position to back to crawling. She then decided to crawl over to the entertainment center and with one try pulled herself up so that she was standing. I am not sure if we are ready for either one, especially now since I feel like I have to follow her around so that she does not hurt herself. She also had her first major meltdown with tears and all. She was playing with one of her new books and ripped the front page out. She started to go and put the torn page in her mouth when I took it away from her. She looked at me and then the tears started. I let her cry it out because I do not want her to get use to getting her way by crying.
Travis and I spent our first weekend away from Ava over Memorial Day weekend while we were at the lake and she was able to spend the weekend with Nana and Papa. We came back Sunday night so that we were able to spend Memorial Day together as a family and we had a nice day and took Ava out for her first breakfast at Frothy Monkey and then spent the day at Cheekwood looking at the new exhibit, Tree Houses.
It has been too hot outside and unfortunately our evening walks as a family that I love so much has not happened in several weeks. We have been able to take Ava to the pool a couple of times in the evening and we are trying to ease her into swimming. We started her in the baby pool and let her splash around for a while. The next time we brought her to the big pool in her new float but she enjoyed it more when we took her out and swam around with her. Each time we are working on her floating on her back and once she is comfortable with this, we will start putting her under water. She enjoys her time in the bath so much that she just views the pool as a giant bath tub.
For her daycare she is 3-0 and caught a stomach bug that was going around so she spent a couple of days at Nana's recovering. Since she has been sick on and off, we are still trying to stick to foods that she likes and I have not introduced her to anything new. I did make carrots which I had not made in at least a month, and the first bite she took she gave me an upset look. By the third bite, she gave me the vomit face and brought her shoulders up and stuck her tongue out with the carrots on it. Over the next couple of days I tried sneaking a bite in here and there but each time she gave me the gross face. I finally ended up mixing them in with sweet potato's and she finally would eat them.
I am so happy that we have found a church that we love and over the last couple of months we have been attending on a regular basis as a family. They have a great daycare and the women in the Nursery recognize Ava as soon as we drop her off and they all love her. The other morning we went to pick her up we were the first parent's to step foot into the kid's area and we heard a screaming child from the entrance. I looked at Trav and sure enough when we got to Ava's room, she was the screaming baby. She normally does really well, but the 9am service also falls during her nap time and most of the time she is fine but on this day she was really tired and did not want to go to sleep.
My Grandmother passed away in May and we had her Memorial the first week of June in Pennsylvania. I already have so many family members who still live in the Troy Area and I had a lot more family planning on coming in from out of town for the Memorial that I really wanted to be able to take Ava so that everyone could meet her. However it is a 14 hour trip that we spread out over two days and even with this, it would have been too longer for Ava to spend in the car so I decided to leave her at home. I was gone for five nights and this is the longest that I have been without seeing Ava. Travis was great with sending me daily videos of Ava waking up in the morning and I am so happy that I made the trip up. I was able to see so many family members from both my mom and dad's side of the family and there were some cousins that I had not seen in at least fifteen years. Most importantly I was able to be a part of the wonderful day with honoring my Grandmother Grace at a private graveside service. She was one of my favorite people in my life and I am so happy that so many of us were able to gather together to celebrate her life. I was able to take Ava up to Pennsylvania in the Fall to meet her Great Grandmother and I will treasure all of the moments that I had spent with my Grandmother forever.
Each day I try and not get too worked up by the little things and instead remember how blessed I am. Travis is an amazing friend, husband, and father and he is given me the life that is better than I ever imagined. I have a very supportive family that has given me so much love and love's Ava just as much. Then there is Ava Marie who is my world and my happiness. I see all of the good that God can give and I am thankful to be her Mother.
Ava's 9 month pictures were impossible to take. I kept trying to place the 9 month picture frame out of her reach but she would immediately crawl to and and knock it down. At least I have great shots of her throughout the month.
When Ava turned 9 months old last month, she was fully crawling on all fours and then after this, it seemed that she started hitting milestone after milestone. I feel like in a week of her crawling she learned to go from a crawling to sitting position to back to crawling. She then decided to crawl over to the entertainment center and with one try pulled herself up so that she was standing. I am not sure if we are ready for either one, especially now since I feel like I have to follow her around so that she does not hurt herself. She also had her first major meltdown with tears and all. She was playing with one of her new books and ripped the front page out. She started to go and put the torn page in her mouth when I took it away from her. She looked at me and then the tears started. I let her cry it out because I do not want her to get use to getting her way by crying.
Travis and I spent our first weekend away from Ava over Memorial Day weekend while we were at the lake and she was able to spend the weekend with Nana and Papa. We came back Sunday night so that we were able to spend Memorial Day together as a family and we had a nice day and took Ava out for her first breakfast at Frothy Monkey and then spent the day at Cheekwood looking at the new exhibit, Tree Houses.
It has been too hot outside and unfortunately our evening walks as a family that I love so much has not happened in several weeks. We have been able to take Ava to the pool a couple of times in the evening and we are trying to ease her into swimming. We started her in the baby pool and let her splash around for a while. The next time we brought her to the big pool in her new float but she enjoyed it more when we took her out and swam around with her. Each time we are working on her floating on her back and once she is comfortable with this, we will start putting her under water. She enjoys her time in the bath so much that she just views the pool as a giant bath tub.
For her daycare she is 3-0 and caught a stomach bug that was going around so she spent a couple of days at Nana's recovering. Since she has been sick on and off, we are still trying to stick to foods that she likes and I have not introduced her to anything new. I did make carrots which I had not made in at least a month, and the first bite she took she gave me an upset look. By the third bite, she gave me the vomit face and brought her shoulders up and stuck her tongue out with the carrots on it. Over the next couple of days I tried sneaking a bite in here and there but each time she gave me the gross face. I finally ended up mixing them in with sweet potato's and she finally would eat them.
I am so happy that we have found a church that we love and over the last couple of months we have been attending on a regular basis as a family. They have a great daycare and the women in the Nursery recognize Ava as soon as we drop her off and they all love her. The other morning we went to pick her up we were the first parent's to step foot into the kid's area and we heard a screaming child from the entrance. I looked at Trav and sure enough when we got to Ava's room, she was the screaming baby. She normally does really well, but the 9am service also falls during her nap time and most of the time she is fine but on this day she was really tired and did not want to go to sleep.
My Grandmother passed away in May and we had her Memorial the first week of June in Pennsylvania. I already have so many family members who still live in the Troy Area and I had a lot more family planning on coming in from out of town for the Memorial that I really wanted to be able to take Ava so that everyone could meet her. However it is a 14 hour trip that we spread out over two days and even with this, it would have been too longer for Ava to spend in the car so I decided to leave her at home. I was gone for five nights and this is the longest that I have been without seeing Ava. Travis was great with sending me daily videos of Ava waking up in the morning and I am so happy that I made the trip up. I was able to see so many family members from both my mom and dad's side of the family and there were some cousins that I had not seen in at least fifteen years. Most importantly I was able to be a part of the wonderful day with honoring my Grandmother Grace at a private graveside service. She was one of my favorite people in my life and I am so happy that so many of us were able to gather together to celebrate her life. I was able to take Ava up to Pennsylvania in the Fall to meet her Great Grandmother and I will treasure all of the moments that I had spent with my Grandmother forever.
Each day I try and not get too worked up by the little things and instead remember how blessed I am. Travis is an amazing friend, husband, and father and he is given me the life that is better than I ever imagined. I have a very supportive family that has given me so much love and love's Ava just as much. Then there is Ava Marie who is my world and my happiness. I see all of the good that God can give and I am thankful to be her Mother.
Ava's 9 month pictures were impossible to take. I kept trying to place the 9 month picture frame out of her reach but she would immediately crawl to and and knock it down. At least I have great shots of her throughout the month.
 |
| Tree Houses at Cheekwood |
 |
| Cousins! |
 | ||
| Most of my Mother's side of my family at Grandmother's Memorial in Forksville. The covered bridge has been there since the 1800's and my Mother went to school across the street from here. |
 |
| View of the little town I grew up in, Troy, Pennsylvania! |
 |
| I purchased some new toys for Ava, and her favorite was the bubble wrap that came in the box. |
 |
| Guilty! |
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)