First wagon ride, and a new tooth!

Ava took her first "official" wagon ride tonight!  I have pulled her around the house a few times, but never outside!  She did so good!  She stayed put the whole time and enjoyed the scenery.  Raf and I took turns pulling her with the other one of us right next to the wagon in case she decided to get crazy.

I came home for lunch today and Ava was biting me... as usual.  She likes to gnaw on Mommy.  If I have a sleeveless shirt on she gnaws on my shoulders.   If I have shorts on she gnaws on my knees. What a silly girl!  Well, today she was chewing on my knuckle and I felt something sharp!!  I had to stick my fingers in there just to make sure, and it's true!!!  Ava has cut her first tooth!!  She hasn't been fussy at all!  I've been so worried about it hurting her when the time comes, but she hasn't shown any signs of discomfort yet!

Proud Mommy!

I have so much to report about Ava!!  I don't know what it is about this past week, but she's learned a whole bunch of new tricks!  She's been mimicking us like crazy for a few weeks now.  She scrunches up her face and breathes in and out of her nose really hard.  We get a kick out of it so when she would do it we would laugh really hard.  Well, now when you scrunch up your face and do it to her she opens her mouth really big and lets out a big mocking laugh.... just like us!  It is HILARIOUS!

I think she has said her first word too!  Whenever I read her a story and we finish, I say "All Done". The other day when I said all done, she looked at me for a minute, then said "Ah Da" in the same tone!!

AND another trick.... she is walking!!  She can go from one side of her play area to the other all by herself!  I took her for a walk to the park yesterday.  She walked with me just holding my one hand. She can really control the direction she goes now!

AND for the past 5 naps (in a row) she doesn't cry anymore!!  When you walk out of the room and leave her in her crib, she plays with her stuffed bunnies for about 5 minutes and then falls asleep on top of them.  It is so sweet!  I am so happy that she has finally learned how to put herself to sleep!  I'm so proud of my little girl!  Thanks Christina for helping us help her figure it out!!

New Ava decor!

I got the letter's at Joanne's and stained them yesterday!  I've been having a really hard time trying to figure out how to organize the furniture in Ava's room!!  I think I've finally got it the way I like it! We're going to get some corner shelving for her knick knacks and stuffed animals!

Happy Father's Day!

I had to work on Father's day!  Ava woke Daddy up bright and Early at 5am!!  She must have been anxious to spend the day playing with Daddy!  After I got ready for work I came downstairs and Rafael was asleep on the floor!  Ava was so good and just played with her toys and let him nap!  Her play area is gated all around, so there is nothing bad for her to get in to in there.  I thought it was so cute, I had to take a picture!

I marinated some flank steak on Saturday night, so when I got home from work on Sunday we BBQ'd. Ava is so lucky to have Raf as her Daddy. He is so good with her! Happy Father's Day baby!

I saw these door hangers at the street fair last weekend in Puyallup.  The lady was selling them for $15 a piece!!  When I saw them, I knew I could make them... they were so simple!  The supplies only cost me $7! The fringe around the pink one is a bit overwhelming, but it is so girly so it looks cute on Ava's door!

Father's day cupcakes!

                                                        Happy Father's Day Rafael!
                              I got this idea from Martha Stewart! They turned out so cute!!
                             He even mowed the lawn while I was making them...perfect!! :)

Big girl!!

Ava is eating big girl food now!!  Last Saturday when my Mom came down to watch Ava, she told me that we should be giving Ava foods other than just pureed baby food by now.  I have been so paranoid about Ava choking because she has no teeth, so I've been putting it off.  I swallowed my fear last weekend and went to Fred Meyer and got $70 worth of chunky Ava food.  She has been doing great!  She feeds herself really well!!  She has been having mandarin oranges, peaches, ravioli, whole cheerios, cheddar cheese, cottage cheese, mango.... the list goes on!

It has been a rough few days!  Ava still isn't sleeping through the night... she never has.  Rafael and I have kinda gotten used to it, but the other day I was thinking about how nice it would be to get a full night's sleep!  I emailed my sister for advice (she is the advice queen).  She asked if Ava puts herself to sleep for naps.... ummm no.  Lol, Ava is pretty spoiled.  Every nap, we take her upstairs to our bed and lay with her until she falls asleep.  Then we carry her downstairs and put her in her crib.  At night she falls asleep in my arms in her rocking chair before I lay her down.  I guess I didn't realize that could be contributing to her not soothing herself back to sleep at night when she wakes up.  Christina suggested putting Ava in her crib awake and letting her cry for 5 minutes, then go in and let her know we are still here (but not to pick her up), then let her cry for 10 minutes, then go back in.... and keep doing that till she falls asleep.  So, it sounds easy but Ava never really cries.  When she's hungry, tired, or not feeling well she whines.  Yesterday she cried for a total of 25 minutes alone in her dark room before she fell asleep.  It was SO hard to not pick her up when I went in to her room!!!  I have never heard her cry so hard!  By the time she fell asleep I was balling.  I send Rafael a text message and told him that I was going to go cry myself to sleep now!  This morning for her nap she only cried for 5 minutes and she wasn't crying near as hard as yesterday, so hopefully it's working!!  She isn't falling asleep on her own from crying.  We go in there and lay her down again and keep our hands on her so she knows we are there and then she falls asleep.  Hopefully she will start to learn to just lay down by herself!  We will see!

Ava took 6 steps yesterday by herself!!  She kinda gave up after I posted that last video.  I think she got tired of falling on her bum.  Well, she's at it again!  When she's holding on to the couch and you step away from her and ask her to come to you she smiles so big!  She thinks it's a little game now! She knows that lots of praise and hugs come when she makes it over to Mommy from the couch!

Silly hair!

                                             I got Ava's hair into a ponytail tonight!!
                            It looks silly because it seems her longest hair is right on top!

                                               My mom got this cute little bench for Ava!
                                         We're going to sand it down and stain it this week,
                                                        but Ava had to try it on for size!

A day with Grandma and a visit from Uncle Cade!

                                Ava got to stay home and play with Grandma all day today!!
                        They had fun!  Uncle Cade came by for a visit to show off his new toy!

                                         I freaked when my Mom showed me this picture!!
                                      Then she told me that she was hiding on the other side
                                             holding on to Ava's leg so she wouldn't fall.

                                                                Uncle Cade and Ava

                              Ava got a shiny new red motorcycle too!!  So there, uncle Cade!

Busy!

It's been a week since my last post!!  We have been pretty busy.  Our neighborhood is having their annual garage sale today and tomorrow.  I was a little worried about keeping Ava contained outside while trying to sell stuff.  She did pretty good!!  I put her in her highchair and I found my old "my little ponies" in the garage.  I gave her those to play with.  She is such a little social butterfly... every time anyone would walk up she would start babbling away at them!  The garage sale started at 9:30 am and I had sold almost everything by 10:30am!!  Holy cow!!  I couldn't believe it!  It worked out so well because I was able to close up shop and put Ava down for her morning nap.  I have to work tomorrow, so my Mom is coming down to watch Ava all day.  Tomorrow will be the longest time (10 hours) that Ava has ever been without Raf or I!!  She loves her Grandma very much, so I am sure she will have a lot of fun!

Ava is doing great!  Still no teeth.  She has become quite the little cuddle monkey lately!

                                                      Helping Mommy make brownies!

Fun in the sun!

Ava isn't scared of the grass anymore!  I don't know what happened between yesterday and today that made her realize it wasn't that bad.  We played in the backyard today and she was all over the place! She even got to splash in her pool for a bit!
                                                                                                                                                                           

Update!

It was so beautiful yesterday!!  I lathered up Ava with sunscreen and we went for a long walk.  When she took her nap in the afternoon I decided to lay out in the yard and soak up some rays.  I fried my arms and shoulders!  I didn't think I got that much, but a few hours afterward I was so red!!  I think I should have put on some of Ava's sunscreen when we went for a walk.

We've had a hard time getting Ava back in to her normal groove since our trip to Cali.  She wakes up at about 3 and won't go back to bed in her crib.  She wants to get in bed with us!  She slept with us the whole time in Cali and I think she got used to it.  To top that off, the last 4 or 5 days she's gotten up at 5 or 5:30am, ready for her day!  It is light out by 4:30 am and I think it's confusing her.  We need some blackout curtains!

Ava is impossible to bathe lately!!  She's all over the place and refuses to sit down!  Silly girl.  Here are a few pics!





















         Watching the tub fill up

   















                     Check out those arms!!! Ouch!!