Naptime for Ava- 19 Weeks

Ava has begun to suck her thumb. She mainly does it when she sleeps but every now and again she will do it when sh e is hungry. I took this picture this morn ing as Ava took her morning nap in her crib. She is still sleeping in her bassinet, but I am working on transitioning Ava (and Andrea) to her crib. Ava has really found her voice the last two weeks and coos and screeches out loud a lot. We also bought Ava her high chair in preparation for cereal and solids in the upcoming weeks. She seems to like to sit in it, especially with Mommy and Daddy there to talk, laugh, and pick up her toys she throws off the tray. Grandma and Grandpa Holmes are coming up tomorrow and we will be heading to the city market and then to lunch. It is getting harder and harder for Mommy to share Ava with school just two weeks away. Mommy is already hating the idea of leaving Ava everyday. But Ava will do great in the cheering section at Mommy's softball games.

4 Months- 18 weeks old

Ava rolled over on July 13th 2010 with no cameras on. And once we got the camera out... she would not do it again. She did it with such ease when Matt was holding a toy out to her side. We have known for several weeks that she was able just not willing. But we all yelled and celebrated when she did it and I am sure the celebrating will go on until it becomes an everyday occurance. Today, we had a future falcon playdate over at our house. 6 Babies and 5 Mommies. Ava got to play with Adrian, Chloe, McKenna, Carlie, and Caylin for 2 whole hours. Yes there was the occational breakdown, but all the babies were very happy and interested in the light toys and of course the ceiling fan. It will be even more interesting when they all become mobile. Ava is now putting herself to sleep on most nights. She gets fed, cuddled, and then laid down. She will kick for a bit, find her thumb, and then is off to sleep. The last 2 nights we have put on a new sleeper for bedtime. She is now wearing size 6-9 sleepers... holy cow. I just realized we are not going to have any clothes later this year if she keeps growing at this rate. Her closet doesn't have many clothes past 9 months. We are off to get shots tomorrow (tear tear) and I am sure I will tear up whether she does or not. More to come soon!

4th of July

Ava was dressed up in her red, white , and blue colors to celebrate the 4th with family. We had family come over to our house this year to cook out and shoot off fireworks. Everybody had a good time until the rain came...just as it was time to shoot off fireworks. It took us a few days but we finally were able to shoot off the fireworks. Ava has started to suck her thumb now. We've tried to get pictures but it seems like she knows what we're up to and pulls her thumb out when we get the camera out. Pictures to come soon!

13 Weeks Old

Ava is 13 weeks old and growing like a weed. I took a sleeper out of her drawer last night, took the tags off, and squeezed it on her. I bet she will only be able to wear the sleeper 2-3 more times. She has the feet size of a 9 month old and she is now wearing outfits size 3-6 months. We had another big milestone yesterday when Ava reached out for Momma to pick her up. Nana and I cheered when she did it and our excitement startled her. I have been taking PGC continue education classes for teachers this week and I cannot wait for the weekend to come. Matt really wants to take Ava to the pool again and with temperatures in the 90's the water might be warm enough for her. We will also celebrate Father's Day on Sunday. Daddy's first official Father's Day. We had a feeling last year that we might be pregnant, but it was unconfirmed. Ava is also getting close to rolling over. She is laying on her side and reaching for toys. As soon as she gets that arm above her head she will be rolling everywhere. It's so funny that in just one week her reaching for objects has improved so much. She went from being shaky and reaching randomly and maybe getting her dangling toy to grabbing and pulling her toys hanging from her carseat handle. She is also touching and grabbing at Mommy and Daddy's face and nose. I can't believe how fast she is developing these skills. My newborn is becoming a baby!

More Hawai'i

Here's a few things we learned while in Hawai'i:



Ava has a new nickname, Keiki - pronounced kay-key, which is Hawai'ian for child.



Ava likes the sand and the ocean, maybe someday she'll be a swimmer or surfer?



Traveling long distances with Ava was a lot of work, but she did great the whole time.




A few pictures from our trip

Vacation in Hawai'i

Ava went on her first vacation this week and last. She went to Hawai'i for 8 days, GG, Papa, and Aunt Fannie also went. Ava was so good on the flights that we had, especially the 7 hour flight from Denver to Honolulu. On that flight we had the row of seats right behind first class, so we had a little extra legroom which was so convenient to lay Ava down on a blanket and let her stretch out and play.

Ava also took advantage of the in-flight entertainment

More updates about our vacation to come later this weekend!

Aloha!

11 Weeks Old

Ava went to her 8th track meet this week. I had 2 jumpers get through both long and triple jump. The best part of the day was picking out Ava's outfit she was going to wear. It was the first 80 degree day and I had 30 brand new outfits to choose from. She ended up wearing a little pink fishy outfit with a matching sun hat. The sun hat is still a little big, so it kept falling over her eyes. Papa came with us to hang out with Ava while I coached and Matt helped rake the pits. I was a little worried about the temperature being so hot but Ava was fine. We kept her out of the sun as much as possible and she hung out in her stroller most of the day. She has the most adorable cry/whine when she gets tired. It is like she is trying to say... "I am so tired, just hold me please."
We are going to Jeff City this weekend and of course Ava will make her first State Track and Field Appearance. Only 14 more years until she can compete at the meet! My last day of school is tomorrow and I could not be more happy. I am so excited to spend the next 3 months as a stay at home mom. This week is super busy and we will return only to get ready to go on vacation.
Ava has had a few milestone this past week... she now sits in her bumbo and watches tv. She was in it for over a half an hour the other night. She is also beginning to place her hand on her bottle. Matt and I keep removing it for her. She sometimes just puts it up there to try and get her hand in her mouth while drinking her bottle. She loves her hand. She will not suck her thumb or fingers, she makes a fist and sticks the whole thing in. Ava also continues to love her baths. We had to sit her baby tub in the big bathtub because she splashes so much water all over. She is getting so big so fast. Stay little, stay little, stay little!