Nap Time

After our walk to Starbucks, the park, and throughout the neighborhood it was time for two very special people to take a nap. Luckily, both are furnaces--so their nap was a nice and toasty one. I think Matt said that his stomach was about 300 degrees when he woke up! These are such sweet pictures, as it's a rare occasion for Ava to sleep on us anymore. She will always be a Daddy's girl.

Ice Ice Baby

With the weather steadily rising, Matt and I have come to the conclusion that Ava is getting slightly dehydrated. From our walks to the park to the high 80/low 90 degree weather, Ava just seems to be needing a little more water than what my milk is giving her (plus she only nurses about 6 times per day, so she's not getting as much fluid as she used to).

So on Tuesday, instead of feeding her bottled water from a syringe, we decided that we would try putting ice in these baby feeder gadgets that I bought Ava a few weeks ago at Babies R Us. I bought the baby feeder things for her to use when we start feeding her solids in a few weeks (I'm starting to buy the necessary 'equipment' for solid food feedings), and since we had them on hand, we figured we'd open them up and give them a try.

Well, it took Ava a few minutes to warm up to the idea of the feeder (it's got a big handle and is kind weird shaped), but once she figured out that she could put it in her mouth, she loved it. She started out biting the handle and then moved up to the ice and once the ice started to melt, she just sucked and sucked on it. The only down side to the ice was that her little hands were just about frozen solid--but she'll probably enjoy the cold hands this summer when our house is like an oven. Here's Miss Ava Bear playing with her baby feeder for the first time...

Once again, the bib says it all...

Here she is sucking away on the ice and being cute...

P.S. Thanks Julie for the bibs and Whit for the pants!

Big Kid Sofa

I bought this brown velour down sofa (and two matching chairs) for my future children when we were living in Germany last year. It ends up, the same month I bought the sofa and chairs, I got pregnant (I bought them in Luxembourg when Matt was TDY to Turkey in February 2007)...and yes, it was only a coincidence! The reason I bought the sofa and chairs is because they're smaller than the typical American sofa and chairs and because it's filled with 100% down (plus I got them for a STEAL). I thought that they would make a great addition to a playroom someday. Well, that someday has come sooner than later and I think that once Ava gets big enough, she's going to love sitting in the sofa and chairs to play with her toys, to make pretend forts, or to watch Baby Einstein DVDs. Matt still thinks the set looks like something from the 60's, but luckily the textured fabric and velour look has come back in style. I promise it looks better in person!

Here's Ava sitting in her big girl sofa while Matt and I unpack a box from our wine shipment...

Yummy Yummy Starbucks

I think Ava might be the youngest baby to ever enter a Starbucks. She wasn't even a month old when she took her first trip to the delightful beverage shop and has since then visited more Starbucks than we can count (in utero visits don't count). From multiple locations here in Vegas to those in Tennessee to the many in Colorado, Ava has definitely visited her fair share of Starbucks. Maybe she should be the face of a new Starbucks ad campaign!

What would we do without our black coffee of the day and grande, non-fat, 2.5 pump sugar-free, half-caf, extra hot, no foam vanilla latte?

Peek-A-Boo Daddy

As you know, Ava and Matt like to play in the sheets together before Ava goes to bed. It's something they do every night and that both of them look forward to and enjoy. Now that Ava's getting bigger, she can no longer be disguised in the sheets as well as she used to when she was little. She's still little, but she now takes up a lot more of the bed and a lot more of the sheets. Here are Matt and Ava playing a round of Peek-A-Boo in bed the other night. We are so blessed to have such a fun and sweet spirited baby.

I Love Green Stars

Ava loves her star stacker toy that her GG and Grandpa got her when they were here visiting in March. Of the stars that stack, the green one is her favorite (mostly because it's the smallest). When she plays with the stacker, she likes to pull the stars off and proceed to gnaw on and lick them. As you can see, the green star tends to get the most saliva collected on it, especially when she's taking a break from sitting up playing with her toys...

Silly Silly Faces

Ava is the queen of silly faces. Lately, she's been giving us these funny faces that just crack us up. Some are sweet and precious and some are punk and defiant. Her favorites are the 'lip pucker,' the 'crooked jaw,' the 'pouty lip,' the 'strained mouth' and the 'under-bite.' In these pictures, Ava's in her pram waiting patiently as I am waiting for Matt's and my smoothie at our local smoothie shop. Needless to say, we were laughing hysterically at her...

Ava's a Headbutting Princess

For some reason, Ava loves to headbutt the mirror when she sits up to look at her reflection. In addition to the flirting, she'll give a look and then just ram her head into the mirror. It's quite strange but oh so funny. The pictures don't do it justice because she exerts such a strong force when she does it! Here she is in action...

Ava's First Blow Up Pool Experience

Two weekends ago, Matt and I bought Ava a blow up pool to put in our backyard. We finally put the air into the pool on Saturday and since the weather was nice, we let Ava play in her new pool for the first time. Not only did Ava experience her new pool, she also was given new bath toys to play with in the pool (and in her tub). The toys are little sea creatures that squirt water, a pirate ducky, and some little cups that stack or clip together to form a caterpillar. Ava had so much fun sitting in her pool playing with her new bath toys for the first time.

Since we have a small patch of grass in our backyard, we decided to put the pool on it so that if Ava toppled over, she wouldn't hit her head on the hard concrete. The grass worked perfectly, as it gave the bottom of the pool a lot of give and cushioning. Ava did topple over a few times and we caught a few of her 'falls' on camera. Falling on her face kind of stunned the poor girl, as water got into her eyes and nose, but overall she was fine when she toppled over. The best topple that she had was when she fell backwards...where her head landed there was no water, so the weight of her body created a pocket where the water crept up around her torso and head. At first she didn't like it, but once the water migrated towards her head, she just layed there and rested for a while.

Oh, before I forget...for Ava's first backyard pool experience, she's wearing one of Em's old suits from last year that her Aunt Whitney sent her. It's size 3-6 months and as you can see, she's already almost outgrown the swimsuit. There is a disclaimer to her tush though. Matt and I didn't put her into her swim nappies like we have in the past. Instead, we just left her in the nappy that she had on (it was still clean). So, that's why her swim bottoms are a little tight and her tush looks droopy. I think the wet nappy weighed about 5 lbs when we took it off her! Anyhow, here are some photos and video footage of Ava's first backyard blow-up pool experience. If you haven't laughed in a while, this will surely bring a smile to your face...

I forgot to mention that Daddy put COLD water in the pool. It took her body a few minutes to adjust to the cold water (every time she's ever been in the water it has been warm).

What do you do with a scurvy pirate ducky? Arrgh...

Matt thought it would be fun to squirt Ava with her toys...

Here's Ava playing with her new toys while her Daddy squirts her with them...

Here's Ava getting squirted some more by her Daddy...



Here's Ava falling backwards in her pool...her face says everything...



After falling over, Ava decided that laying there in the sun wasn't too bad after all...

Crack kills...






Crack still kills (it was the wet nappy's fault--but it's still funny)...


Pelicans are tasty...




Here's Ava falling forward on her face. This was the final topple of the day...

Don't worry, her Daddy rescued her. Her poor eyes, nose, and nappy were full of water...