Well, hello there! I hope everyone is doing well! Things have been so wonderful here lately! I've been on my anesthesia rotation for the month of April, and it's a much slower pace than my usual morning-to-evening, day-to-day routine. I don't see any of my own patients, but instead I hang out with anesthesiologists and learn whatever they'll teach me! It's pretty cool, I've done quite few different kinds of intubations. I still haven't started an IV, but it's not over yet! So, anyway, it's allowed me to take a few extra breaths and feel like I actually have a little down time! No worrying about my patients, what procedure I'm doing the next day, what lab work I have to finish....it goes on and on. So, I'm just thankful for the small dental break, and I'll be refreshed and ready to get back to the grind next week. 
So, a lot is happening right now in Ava's world! She has become VERY mobile! Crawls everywhere....FAST! She dumped half of the dogs water bowl on herself the other day. She was crawling around my feet in the kitchen, and then I heard it. I looked over, and there she was...laying all soak and wet in that yucky dog slobber water with a look that said, "Mom, I'm not sure what happened, but I'm all wet." She's also started to pull herself up on the furniture. She likes to do this fun trick where she tries to only hold on with one hand...then she starts wobbling, and kurplunk! Down she goes. Sometimes she lands on her hiney, but sometimes she bonks her head and isn't very happy. I'm torn between always trying to break her fall and letting her learn how to fall to her butt so she doesn't hurt herself! She's had a few times where she's cried after falling, and there's also been times when I thought for sure she was going to wale but she just kept on truckin'! She's such a tough girl! Her teeth are still coming in strong...just those two, though. No other signs of any more teeth! Here they are!
We've started practicing waving "bye-bye" and playing "patty cake." She really liked patty cake for a while and would smile real big when I sang and clapped, but she hasn't been as impressed with it in the last 2 days. She hasn't waved yet, but I feel like she's on the verge! She LOVES, LOVES to play the ride-the-horsey game on my knee. We start slow (like the Ladies ride), then get faster (the the Gentlemen ride), and then go crazy and bump all over (the the Cowboys ride) and she waves her arms around and smiles and laughs! It's SO cute, I just totally love it. Here's a random pic of her sweet eyelashes and porcelain skin! :)
She's finally starting to be ticklish! Her best tickle spots are the bottom of her feet and under her arms. She giggles and laughs when I zerbert her armpit! I love it. She also thinks it's really funny when I say "mama mama mama" in a low, grumbly, Cookie Monster type voice over and over and bite her belly. I usually get home early on this anesthesia rotation, and I have loved having a little more time with her...I feel like I'm not missing anything...and I just love it! Here she is about to pull up to standing! PS. In my opinion, this pic looks like me when I was her age!
I forgot to put her weight and length on the 8 months post...so, she weighed 16lbs 3.5 oz at 8 months. She hasn't gained anything this last month. Since we've been increasing her solid food, she takes less milk, and if we reverse it, she takes the normal amount of milk and isn't interested in the food!! Stinker! Her pediatrician just said to try to break the meals up into smaller ones and make sure she still is having at least 3-4 wet diapers a day. I think she's getting 3 or 4, although not much more. Poop on the other hand...got plenty of that!
Here's another...I took tons like this of her crawling toward the camera with the sun setting in the back!
She does this everyday! ....crawls to the window sill and pushes up to standing (as high as she can get on the window)! She must be standing like this for at least an hour total everyday!
Here she is watching more Backyardigans.....she's particularly excited about whatever it going on! She usually watches one or two shows a day. Bad, I know!!!
I her big girl chair!!
Standing in her cute as can be outfit that Bobbi got her....with that classic Ava grin!
The up close grin! :)
Right before she got to the camera! Doesn't she look a little alien like!??! Funny! 
So, here's a link to some more pics of Ava. I really like this group of pics in particular...some of my favorites in the past while! Enjoy!!!
WOW! EIGHT months old! Crazy! Ava is getting more and more fun by the day!!! :) She's so interactive now! It's so easy to get her to smile or laugh! And she just lights up with a huge smile when Patrick or I walk in the room! How rewarding! She's now officially a turbo crawler! She is a bad girl and gets into things she's not supposed to! (Just kidding, she's perfect)! Her favorite things to go after are cords(!) and the door stopper thing that sticks out of the wall and makes a loud noise when she touches it! Right now, we just watch her and re-direct when she gets close to bad stuff. We're not really baby-proofed yet, but I guess it's about that time now! She is such a busy body and needs to be watched like a hawk! :) Her little knee pads work great! She crawls very well in them, and they prevent her little perfect knees from getting all red and sad!
She's doing such a good job eating! No problems with any food yet. So far, she's had apples, green beans, yellow squash, prunes, bananas, sweet potatoes, carrots, rice cereal, oatmeal cereal, cantaloupe, a grape popsicle, diet coke (just a sip), cranberry juice (just a sip), and most recently these little banana puff things...which she didn't really like...but we're still working on it! She wasn't too sure about the texture! Oh! And she HATES her face being wiped! Just hates it!! Now, bedtime bath is a MUST since she usually has sweet potatoes and such in her hair, stuck to her forehead, and up her nostrils!! Here she is with some prunes!
Still doesn't really show much interest in drinking from a sippy cup...although, she really wants to drink out of our cups and water bottles!
We took another trip to the swings! She just hangs out and relaxes! I am a little nervous, though, about having that porcelain skin in the sun for more than a few minutes at a time!
My view of Ava from the side...I just couldn't resist! Her head barely makes it over the top of the swing! I mean, COME ON!!
Ava crawls all over the doggies...they are very tolerant! Here she is with Catcher!
Just more of her beach pose for you! Even though she sits up on her own now, she still does this a lot when she just needs a few seconds of a rest before she's off again!
This past week was such a treat! Bobbi was here the entire week for her Spring Break from school (she works in an elementary school)! Also, Ava's Godparents, Kristin and Matthew, came for a visit for a few days as well. I love having company! Then people can see how much cuter she is in person!! :) (Can you even believe that she can be cuter than her pictures)?!?! ;) Also, HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my brother Ian who turned 25 on the 12th!!! (PS. Ian and Elizabeth will be finding out the sex of their next baby this Thursday! We can't wait! I'll keep you posted)!
Back from the beach! And how GREAT was it?!?!? We headed to Kiawah Island, SC to hang out for the weekend for the wedding in Charleston. We had such a wonderful time, and Ava just LOVED the beach! She also loved meeting all her cousins and family members that she hadn't seen yet! Everyone was so wonderful, and I had such a relaxing few days...it couldn't have been more PERFECT!! Ava did so well in the car on the way there and back! What a good girl! Here are a few (several!) beach pictures that I wanted to share! 
She sat like this all the way back from the beach! SO cute!
She discovered sand...and she likes to EAT it!! I tried to stop her at first, but then I gave up. By the end, she had is all over her face, and we had to rinse off in the bathtub when we got home!
Walking with Daddy! :)
Sweetness!
Mommy and Ava LOVING the beach!
The happy family! We want to move to the beach! ....Or at least go back to visit often!!
This was Ava's first experience with her feet in the watery sand!
Hello everyone! Just wanted to give you a quick update! Can't type much...we're being crazy people and packing for us to leave to head to Charleston tomorrow! Patrick's cousin is getting married, and we're trying to make a long weekend out of it. I've got Friday and Monday off...so, I'm REALLY excited!! So, anyway...just wanted to update you on what's going on!
Her new most favorite thing to do is eat bananas. She LOVES them! Patrick mushes half of a banana in this mesh thing (so she can't take big chunks of if all and choke), and she just goes to town on it! She even makes chewing noises while eating it! She will work on eating this of 30 minutes to get all the bananas out! Afterwards, it's pretty freaking gross....mushy, slobbery, left over bananas stuck in a little mesh thing! But it's so entertaining to watch! And I love that she loves bananas!
She's been crawling all over the place! Now, she does this little pose (Grandpa Mike calls it her beach pose!) when she wants to take a break. She can't quite push herself up to sit upright, so this is her happy medium. She does this ALL the time!
I walked around the corner to see this! Ugh! What a cute cowgirl baby! A Georgia girl at heart!
This was too sweet to pass up. Ava likes to look out the window and Salsa went right up to her and layed down. I got the video camera out after this, and Ava was playing with Salsa's face, and Salsa was licking Ava all over...the mouth, the face, the arms, the feet. She probably had left over bananas mushed into her skin!
Okay, so Ava still doesn't quite get the sippy cup. She'd much rather drink from a regular cup. But when we let her do that, it usually gets everywhere since it's too big. The next thing I know, Patrick is giving my daughter a drink out of a SHOT GLASS!!! He says it's the perfect size!
So, Ava's knees have been so red :( since she started crawling. Patrick saw an advertisement somewhere for knee pads for babies...and here they are!! Ridiculous, huh?! I mean, they're so freaking cute, yet, so over the top. BUT, it does help her knees from getting so red! This carpet is particularly rough (it's berber), and I just feel so bad! So, she wears these quite a bit...I get a kick out of it every time! :) It's alright if you want to make fun of us a little!
So, Patrick was eating a popsicle the other day, and Ava was VERY interested. So, we gave her a few tastes. Again...probably something we're not supposed to do yet...but, MAN, did she love it! Here she is with purple lips. It was a grape one!
I've been trying to get a picture of her little tooth...this one still isn't that great. But, you can click on the picture (which will make it bigger) and try to see if better. You can mostly see her lower left one the most...but the right one isn't far behind!
She's definitely on the move now. Every time we look down, she's into (or under) something new!
So, that's the update! We'll be heading out tomorrow and heading back on Monday from Charleston. Bobbi is coming back the week after since it is her spring break. A special thanks to my co-resident, Maggie, for taking care of Catcher and Salsa while we're gone. What a HUGE help!! Thanks Mags. :) 