Come And Get Me...

Now that Ava Holt has learned how to pull herself to a stand in her crib, there isn't a nap or night that goes by that we aren't greeted by her sweet face when we open her door to get her out of her crib. Here are a few pictures of Ava standing up in her crib. They were taken when she first started standing up by herself in her crib at the beginning of May and then again as the standing up became a constant activity towards the end of May. It's so nice to open her door and have her smiling at you. Matt loves going and getting her out of her crib, as I know he loves seeing her face beam with excitement to see him. We're still trying to figure out how she stands up in her sleep sack though (sorry, there aren't any pictures of her standing up in her sleep sack, as she only wears it at night and the camera flash would be way too much stimulation for her at night!).

Ava being caught red handed...

This was the 3rd time we had seen Ava standing in her crib...
And, this was the LAST time she slept in her crib this high...
Fast forward two weeks...

Peek-A-Boo!
I don't think they can see me...

I'm done with my nap now...

Just checking to see if thing is sturdy or not... You probably noticed a crib bumper change from the first few pictures to the last ones. The bumper that you see in the first few pics was actually a 'make-shift' bumper that we were using until Ava's crib bedding was made. It's the bumper to a boy's Pottery Barn Kids bedding set that a friend gave to me (in the case that we had a boy) before we even got pregnant. Since I couldn't find any bedding that I liked, we decided to have Ava's made by a friend of ours. But, with Ava as active as she is, we had to put something in the crib so she wouldn't knock her head on the rails. Anyhow, we had to stop using the 'make-shift' bumper because it was not strong enough to hold itself up on the ends of the crib. Since Ava's crib doesn't have railing on the ends (the sleigh part is solid wood), the bumper would droop in the center (you can kind of see it in the 2nd and 3rd pictures). It wasn't a big deal until one night Ava woke up SCREAMING bloody murder. It was a cry we'd never heard before, so Matt and I both flew out of bed and ran to her room. Little Ava had managed to get her body underneath the bumper on one of the ends and woke up 'stuck' underneath it (envision the bumper going perpendicular to her body over her chest). She was so terrified. It scared us to death and realized that our 'make-shift' bumper was now a complete safety hazard. So, I went to PBK to look for another 'make-shift' bumper to use until Ava's was finished. It ends up that 95% of their bumpers are all like the original one we were using (thin and floppy). The PBK staff was like, "I never thought about that" in response to my safety concern with their bumpers not having the ability to be tied taught on the ends. You would think that they would make a bumper that would actually fit snugly in their cribs. Brilliant idea, right?

Anyhow, I found another bumper to use until Ava's set is completed. It was the only bumper that I could find that had at least 1-1.5 inches of padding in it (so that it's sturdy enough to not collapse in the middle). Ava seems to like it, although it took her a few naps and nights to get used to the fact that she couldn't kick her bumper down on the sides and ends to see out. So far, the new 'make-shift' bumper (#2) is working great and we haven't had any problems with Ava getting stuck underneath it. She's strong enough to move this bumper on the ends and sides, but she hasn't figured out that she can do it yet. We just pray she doesn't ever figure it out!