Dancing machine

This child LOVES music and can't sit still when she hears it. Right now her favorite song is one of the most annoying songs out there. She loves that "Gangham Style" song. Sandra, I blame you for introducing her to this song! :)

I usually can't get her dancing on camera because as soon as she notices that I am filming she gets distracted by the phone and no longer will dance, but I did manage to get a little of it.

I apologize if this video is boring to others......Steve and I find it hilarious!

October/November

Besides all of the halloween fun Ava had this past month we have been busy with play dates, visitors, gymboree class, football games, and chasing Ava around the house. (crawling, not walking!)

Watching all the crazy people in the water on this very cold day. 

My good friend Kearston and her boyfriend Ryan came to visit for the weekend. We had a ton of fun and Ava loved having them around. She was so excited about it she barely slept all weekend because she didn't want to miss a thing!

Spending the afternoon by the beach. 

She is so quick these days we can't even change her clothes or diaper without her getting away. I couldn't resist getting a couple pictures of this adorable naked baby. 

Playing with her buddy Marc at Gymboree class. 

First tailgate and football game. ASU vs USC. She lasted until about half time, which is longer than I usually last at football games. Poor Steve has 2 girls to hear complain at sporting events. 

Teaching Ava the ASU symbol....even though we have already decided she is not allowed to go there! 

What to do when your child refuses to nap? Take her to gymboree and pray that it tires her out!

Practicing standing in the donut. I do have a video of this I will post, but I warn you I may be the only one who finds the video exciting. I just love watching her do new things! :) 

Ava's first Halloween....long overdue!

October was a BUSY month for us, so I have been a little neglectful with the blog, but we have a ton of pictures and updates to share. First off, Ava celebrated her first halloween! We learned that she is not a fan of dressing up (just like her mom) and is also not to fond of pumpkin patches.

We took her to the pumpkin patch (twice) and the first time was not a good experience for anyone. Ava did not like the crowds, Steve did not like the fact that we were in West Hollywood (an area he despises), and I was bummed that I didn't see any celebrities. They all go to Mr Bones' pumpkin patch and one of the only reasons I wanted to go there was to see some celeb tots, but no such luck. We went back a second time with my friends and their babies. Luckily, Ava was a lot happier and allowed us to get some very cute pictures.

On Halloween I dressed her up in her ladybug costume (that she hated) and took her to a baby event at the mall. Ava lasted about 5 minutes in her costume, but at least I was able to get a few pictures. It was about 90 degrees out that day, so I don't blame her for hating her costume.

Ava was NOT a fan of her costume! I wish I would've gotten my act together sooner....I thought of some great costumes I could of made, but by the time I thought of it halloween here. 

"Mom, what are these orange things surrounding me??"

Family picture at Mr. Bones Pumpkin Patch!! 

Second trip to the pumpkin patch was WAY more successful with her friends.

Ava with her buddies. :)

Carving pumpkins 

Grammy came for a visit the weekend before halloween. Out doing some shopping!

Walking both of her grandkids!

Not sure yet if she is happy or mad

Threw herself on the floor.....she's mad!

Costume is off, now we are happy again! 

9 months old.....

3 more months until my baby is one????? Time is flying by way to quickly! Ava is not scheduled for a checkup this month, but she did make an impromptu visit to the doctor last Friday because of a nasty cold/cough. We wanted to make sure it was nothing serious before we left for our trip to Chicago.
Luckily, all was well and she just had a minor cold. I was happy I got to weigh her and discover she now weighs 17 1/2 pounds! Growing like a weed!!

Here is what she is up to in her 9th month.....

- Sleeping 11-12 hours a night! (THANK GOD!)
- Crawling
- Rolling, scooting
- Talking up a storm (da da, ba ba, ta ta, and a lot of alien talk) She also says "hi" and "yea" (at least that is what it sounds like she is saying)
- Loving music (Gangnam Style is her favorite song right now). She stops what she is doing and starts     dancing as soon as she hears music.
- Crying when mom leaves the room (even if it is just for a second).  I know this is normal for her age, but it is NOT fun and makes it very hard to leave!
- Learning sign language. More, eat, milk, and all done are the ones we are working on for now. She responds with excitement when I do the more signal, so I think she may be starting to grasp what it means.

Here are some pictures from our 9 month photo shoot.

Can't get her to sit still!

Trying to get her to lay next to Sophie 

Distracted by something....

It just amazes me to look at this picture of her next to the Sophie doll. This was after 1 week in the NICU and below here she is next to the same doll at 9 months old. 

Still can't get a smile, but she is enjoying eating her doll.  For such a smiley girl it is impossible to get her to smile in a picture! 

We've got a crawler......

And again.............

Ava visits grammy and papa in the windy city....

Ava and I went to Chicago this past weekend for my good friend's baby shower as well as a visit to grammy and papa's new house. The weekend started off a little rocky with a very rough travel day, but quickly turned around once we finally arrived.

So here is the short version of our lovely travel day.....

We boarded the plane on time and all was going smoothly. I had timed it perfectly so that Ava would be ready to nurse and take a nap around the time of take off, but that all went down hill quickly. What was originally a 30 minute delay for minor maintenance turned into a 3 1/2 hour delay while we sat on the runway in a very hot and crowded plane. Luckily, Ava did so well! Many of the passengers commented on her excellent behavior and thought that she did better than some of the adults on the plane. After almost having to cancel the entire trip because the flight wasn't going to be taking off we finally left la at 8:15 pm (4:40 was the original departure) and arrived in Chicago at 2 am. But none of that even mattered after we got to grammy and papa's house and enjoyed a wonderful weekend together.

Ava had a lot of "firsts" this trip:
- First time seeing fall!
- First tornado (warning only)
- First time having to bundle up to go outside
- First time taking a bath in a regular bath tub
- First time meeting Bailey (cute picture of that below)


AND the biggest first of all happened right after we returned home from our Chicago weekend. AVA STARTED CRAWLING!!!!!!! It was like she knew she couldn't do it until she got home to her daddy. Within minutes of Steve and Ava playing on the floor when we returned she was crawling all over the place.

Playing while we wait and wait and wait for the plane to take off. 

Delirious and happy....This was about 1 am and we were halfway to Chicago.  

Sleeping soundly in the same crib that I slept in as a baby! 

Playing a grammy and papa's house

Ava was very curious about the rain coming down outside. 

Loving her time in the big girl bath!

Playing with grammy

Kisses from Bailey. 

Ava sees Fall and LOVES it! 

It took her a day, but she finally adjusted to the colder weather and actually started to like it.

Having a serious conversation with Papa......

Ava's version of scooting.....

She will do anything and I mean anything to get our cell phones in her hands! We decided to use that as incentive to crawl! She has been acting like she is ready to crawl for a few weeks now, but completely skipped scooting, which made us think that crawling was not going to be in the near future.  However, like always Ava has surprised us! In the last few days she started doing a crawl/scoot. As you can see in the video she uses her arms, legs, and rolling to the side to get to where she is going. We shall see what develops with her in the next few weeks.......but I have a feeling that crawling is in our near future!

View from the front......

View from the back......

Thanks Auntie Sandy for visiting me this weekend!!