10.5 months!!

It's just amazing to me that Ava is 10.5 months already! She is so wonderful and so much fun and amazes me daily! Or should I say DAZZLES me?! :) She has been on the go- running everywhere! All she wants to do is walk, walk, walk! She loves to walk into all the rooms in the house....and she absolutely loves my closet! If ever our bedroom door is open...that's where she'll go. She's just in awe of everything in there. She actually loves her closet too! It's so colorful, and when we open it, she just stares with her mouth open! :) Very cute. She's been doing so well since her cast has been off. We had another appointment with the foot doc this past Thursday- they said everything looks good, it's healing well, and she can get in the pool and take a regular bath!!! YAY!! Wrapping her foot for bath time really put a damper on things, so I'm glad we're back to normal! This is when her cast was still on...longing to float in the pool! I guess this was the next best thing! She continues to really love books and reading! Now, she will go pick out a book, carry it to you, and want you to read to her. Bobbi is here visiting for a while, and Ava brought her close to TEN books...one after the other! She sat there for each and every one! She's got lots of "peek-a-boo" books that have textures and flip-up pages, and she knows just where to go and what to touch for all of them. She is so smart!! :) Here she is with Patrick.
Michee came for a visit a couple weeks ago, and they did a lot of reading then too!Ava is advancing so rapidly now! Her mind is amazing and is soaking everything up! I can tell she understands so many things now! She knows when we ask her to bring us a book, she knows when we say "that's the doggy's water," and just today....my most favorite of all...I was trying to get something out of her mouth, and I said "open big" (which is what I say when I brush her teeth)....and she FREAKING OPENED HER MOUTH!!! I thought, this has got to be a fluke! But, I said it again...and there she went...AGAIN! Then I told Bobbi to get the video camera...we tried it again, and HOLY COW, she did it!!! I just couldn't believe it. Her little mind has been working for so long, and now we're really starting to tell that she's been absorbing things all along! SO awesome! I can't wait to see what's in store next!!

So, she said what sounded like possibly her first word! Well, we're not going to officially call it that yet until it gets a little clearer...but we're pretty sure she said "bubbles!" She's got a Nemo book that plays sounds and things, and one of them is the word "bubbles," and out of nowhere, she just mumbled it. And she did it over and over! So, we'll see!!

She still does the Monkey Face all the time and she's got the funniest noises to go along with it. I'm still working on getting a good one on video!
The day before her cast came off....Mommy and baby hanging out!
She spent a lot of time riding around in her car during those 8 cast days! Apparently, we're boring her here!
Didn't slow her down, though. Aunt Sarah is helping her walk here, but she did just fine on her own! Cute outfit from Michee!
Complete sweetness hanging out with her cast.

Here's Bobbi and Ava....Bobbi was washing the curtains and Ava was all over the place....so, this was the solution! Worked pretty well!Just another of Ava's faces that we completely love! What a cute little outfit too! The skirt is a little big (size 6-9 months!!), but I couldn't resist!
Daddy and Ava having fun. Ava thought this was just so great!
Her teeth continue to come! She's got two more teeth on the top that are coming in...you can see them peeking through a little here.
I'm sorry, but this is just the sweetest picture of the most perfect baby, and I had to share it with you!
She seriously is so happy. We're so lucky to have such a wonderful baby!
We've had to start barricading her from getting to the kitchen, otherwise, she makes a beeline for the dogs' food! She now tries to turn her body sideways to squeeze through and sometimes gets irritated when she can't! Although, she is pretty easily distracted with some other fun activity! We don't have baby gates yet, but we made due with some dining room chairs!
When I found out about her surgery, I ordered a few pairs of new shoes for Ava....they are SO cute! These are pink camo, but she's got a few others that are super cute too!
So cute in this sweet little dress. Since she's walking all the time, she can finally wear dresses, and they are ridiculously cute!
Grandpop Mike came for a quick visit while he was in Florida on business. It took Ava a few minutes to warm up to him, but after that, she couldn't get enough! She loved listening to him read, and he even put her down for her afternoon nap!
Ava is so perfect. I love her so much it is unreal. Everyday, being a mom gets better, and I just love my life. I am so fortunate...I have the most wonderful baby anyone could ever ask for....and she's all mine. I am one lucky mommy.

Lots of 10.5 months pictures here!

Defective PJs

She just keeps on going like it's no big deal!

CastAway

Ok, so I know this is a little late, but Ava got her cast off on Thursday morning. She did great and didn't cry one bit! What a sweet and patient little girl she is. I mean little baby....she's still my baby! (***Warning- this post has some pics that are a little graphic, so beware)!

So, anyway, here she is having it sawed off!
So, the incision is still a little tough to see clearly since the sutures are still there, and there's a little bit of a scab over part of it....so, it looks a little messy. We'll have to see how it ultimately heals. I think that I'm a little (and by "a little" I mean, "a lot") picker than the surgeon is as far as esthetics go...so, I'm sure he thinks it looks fine, but I think the tissues could have been approximated a little better. I think the bleeding the night of the surgery was due to the tissue pulling apart, but the doc who looked at it the next day said that's the way they left it....but I'm pretty sure it just pulled apart. So...anyway, it is just a foot, and the scariest part (anesthesia) is over and couldn't have gone better....so, I'm trying to have perspective! :)

Here are a few pics of it the day after the cast came off...9 days post surgery. From the front: Here's the gross view. You can tell that the bottom part of the incision looks great and the top (where the scab is) is the part I think was pulled apart a bit. It'll heal soon, but the scab is still on there today (10 days post surgery). Of course, none of this has slowed Ava down in the least! She is up and around and has been since the moment she walked through the door from getting her cast off! She is truly amazing and such a strong girl. Here's a little video of her walking, walking, walking! She's all OVER the place! She's wearing her new shoes (for the first time)! We've pretty much kept a sock on her since the cast came off in case she got interested in the sutures and wanted to pick at her toes. But she hasn't really shown much interest! Here's the video:



She has just amazed me everyday. I wish there was a more descriptive word than amazing to describe her, but that just seems to be perfect. She's as happy as ever!Plenty of Monkey Face to go around!Hope everyone is doing well, and I really appreciate everyone's concern with Ava and the trauma it caused ME! Have a good one!

PS. I have to give credit to Patrick for the creative post title!

10 months Old!

WOW! Ava is 10 months old now...CRAZY!!! She is just such a wonderful baby, and I am enjoying her more now than ever before! She seriously smiles all day long...and I am not kidding. It's so nice to come home to her after work. I walk in and pop my head around the corner, and the biggest smile you can imagine looks back at me! She's just perfect, and I love her more than everything. :)

We started brushing her teeth in the last few weeks. She really likes it (especially with the berry flavored toothpaste), and she wants to be the one to hold it. So, I'll brush them really quick (since there are only 4!) and then give it to her to practice! :)
She is becoming such an independent little girl, and she's started to let us know what she wants! She'll now cry if you take something from her that she wants (although, she's still very easily distracted)! When she's waiting in her highchair for us to prepare her meal, we put puffs out for her to snack on (just out of her reach). We have to only put one at a time in front of her or else she'll keep shoving them in her mouth until she chokes! So, when she's ready for another one, she'll bang her hand on the tray until we scoot one close enough for her to reach! I guess it's her way of communicating with us!

Here she is sitting in front of her toys in the morning. They all start off nice and neat and are all over by the end of the day! She'll pick through until she gets the exact toy she wants!
So, last weekend, I spent most of my time preparing food for Ava! It took way longer than I thought it would! In the past, I usually just make 3 or 4 foods at once to freeze, but this time I made TWELVE foods! I have to go to a special store to get organic stuff, so I just wanted to get it all at once so I don't have to go back for a while. This is everything that I made...then I had to puree it and freeze it in individual containers! Took for freaking ever!
Patrick bought Ava a new toy! A red push car! He surprised her by pushing it through the front door while Ava and I were playing in the living room. When Patrick first rolled it into the living room...a few seconds later, Ava started to cry! It scared her at first, but them we got to know the red car, and she LOVES it! Now, if you walk her over to the car like you're going to put her in it, she smiles from ear to ear. We use it to walk around the house since she's got her cast on. It was a life saver when we were trying to keep her off her feet a little. Here, Patrick is showing her that the horn honks which tickled her to pieces!
She's been making two new faces lately. One is the picture at the beginning of this post...mouth is WIDE open! She sometimes does it in place of smiling...it's just so funny....cause you'd never know her mouth could open that much! It's very cute! The other face has come to be know as "the monkey face." She does it all the time, but somehow, I haven't been able to catch it perfectly with my camera. I've got it a few times on the regular video camera, but not my little one. So, this is another face she makes, but it's not the monkey face. She brings her lower jaw forward and looks hysterical! Before her surgery (and cast), she's been going to the pool pretty regularly. Aunt Sarah bought her this floaty crab, and she has come to love Mr. Crab. I wish you could all see her in person in this thing....the camera does not do her cuteness justice!
She's got the best seat in the house on the way home from the pool! I love how she's just hangin' out and chillin' like Patrick's arms are arm rests!
She continues to love to read. You can pretty much distract her from full out crying and she'll sit right down and let you read her a book! It's so cute because she's now starting to really react- she points to stuff, touches the pages, and also wants to turn the pages. Sometimes she talks so excitedly like she's trying to tell you something. She's just so sweet! Here she is with Bobbi.
The surgery didn't alter her love of reading at all. Here she is reading with her sweet little cast. Her sweet little teeth are still growing! Her top front teeth are growing in now! Look how cute! I can actually see another one starting to poke through on her upper right side and another one (a canine) on her lower left. So, we'll see what ends up coming next! Ava is doing great after her surgery! She is walking on the little peg leg like it's nothing! I love when she walks on the kitchen floor cause you can really hear her coming with that cast! Step-Clunk-Step-Clunk-Step-Clunk. Very sweet! There is one pretty big change for Ava. The day after her surgery, she started to refuse to nurse. At first, she would only take one side, then she didn't want to nurse at night, then the next day she didn't want to nurse at all. I tried a few times just to make sure it wasn't a fluke, but it wasn't and she has weaned herself. I'm a little sad about it...it seems like it happened so fast- over 3 days. I really wanted to nurse her through her surgery, which I guess I did-just barely. I really loved nursing her, and it will be something that I miss. But I still have my Mommy-Ava time in the mornings and at bedtime. We've (I've) adjusted and she's doing great. I'm glad it was on her terms and that I didn't have to wean her against her will.

Here's a little video of her walking so well with that cast! I think she'll adjust really quickly to no cast and then she'll be running! You can also see one of her new faces at the end!

Here are LOTS of pics of Ava at 10 months! Enjoy!

Daily Ava Test

Happy Father's Day !

Happy Father's Day, Patrick! Patrick had a nice day today! During Ava's first nap, I took him to breakfast at Waffle House. I know you're supposed to actually do something with you child on Father's Day, but decided to take advantage of her nap time and a sleeping Aunt Sarah who was around in case she woke up! So, that was kinda nice. Then we just had a regular Sunday at home. Here are Patrick and Ava having some daddy-daughter time.
Ugh! SOOOO cute!
Time for presents! Patrick got a few no so exciting things from me- a grill brush he needed and some new Tervis Tumblers (which we LOVE). But from Ava- he got some really wonderful, neat thing! Last weekend, I took Ava to a place called Do Art. It's a place that has already made ceramic stuff (dishes, frames, etc) that you chose how to decorate. Well, Ava and I picked out a mug and cereal bowl for Patrick. He eats cereal almost every morning and definitely drinks many cups of coffee daily! So, we picked out glaze colors and got creative! Since it was only a few days before Ava's surgery, I knew I wanted to have her foot print on something. So, this is what we ended up with.... one side of the coffee mug:
The other side! It has both of her feet on there, but I wanted to get a good pic of that sweet, perfect extra toe. :)
Sticking with a similar idea, I decided to do her hand print in the bowl.
These marks around the rim are actually Ava's little thumb prints! SOOO cute!
Michee got Ava this shirt to wear for Father's Day- "My Daddy Rocks!" It's not a great shot, but she's on the go these days!
So, anyway, we had a nice Father's Day. Sarah made a yummy new dinner, so Patrick got a little bit of special treatment- breakfast and dinner made for him!
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Post-Surgical Update!
Ava is doing GREAT!!! It's as if nothing happened. She is WALKING on that cast like it's nothing! She does fall a bit more than usual, but she's getting better and better everyday! Today she walked clear across the living room many times from one person to another. I honestly am amazed by her everyday. She's such a tough, go-with-the-flow little baby. Here she is riding in her little car. She just loves this thing! (I know I haven't posted her 10 month update yet, but info about the little red car will be in that one! Look for that post over the next few days). See her little pink cast sticking out under her sweet zebra PJ's?!?
Here she is reading a book...."Gotta big cast on my foot? No big deal!"
Getting her balance to walk...as if there's not a huge, pink hard thing wrapped around her foot!! What a trooper!
At first, she needed a lot of help from the couch!
Bath time is quite interesting! I haven't really figured out how to keep the cast totally and completely dry. Each time, it gets a little damp at the top and toe area. It's wrapped in saran-wrap, then a grocery bag, then a ziplock bag...all with rubber bands around each part. Plus, I've shortened the bath to only a few minutes, and it still ends up damp somehow! For a few days, I didn't give her a bath, but today, I just had to bathe her. It's such a part of our bedtime routine, I really miss it! And so does she! She really enjoys her bath! So, I kinda can't wait to get that cast off...mostly so bath time can be enjoyable again!! "Hey, what's this contraption on my leg?"
She was still never bothered by this! So tolerant! I wonder if she thinks she's just got this thing on her leg from now on...and she's just got to get used to it!?!
So, we decided to sign the cast! So, here's a shot of all our well wishes! I mean, it's pretty cute!So, Ava is just doing so well. I'm so glad too, because if she was upset, I'd be really sad. Our next appointment is Thursday morning, and they'll be taking the cast off!!! I'm being realistic about how the scar/incision is going to look. I know it wasn't quite the way they left it after her surgery...so, we'll just have to see over time how it heals. Since she's really young and will be growing so much, I'm sure it'll change quite a bit in the next few years. Nevertheless, it'll be interesting to see how it looks just 8 days after surgery! Look for a 10 month old post in the next few days! Happy Father's Day to all you dads who keep up with the blog!!