Ava is 7 months!!!
Where does the time go?! It seems like not that long ago I was wearing maternity clothes and I couldn't even see my feet!
Here Ava is 7 months old 12 lbs 14 oz in a size 2 shoe.
Ava has changed so much in just the past couple of weeks.
She can now, clap her hands, wave "hi" and "bye", she has mini conversations
Ava "mmmm" Mommy "mmmmm" Ava "mm-mmm" Mommy "mm-mmm". Daddy says "Goodnight, nighty-night" Ava-cries. She can scoot on her bottom across the floor, she intentionally falls forward and scoots on her stomach, she can scoot on her back and she learned how to do continuous rolls, so she can now roll over to get where she wants to go. She pref errs to stand than sit, unfortunately she needs someone to hold her up, which gets hard. Another unfortunate thing is that she no longer gives us kisses or hugs when we ask for them. Once in a while Phil will be persist ant and Ava will eventually give in and give her daddy a kiss. Ava says "mom mom mom mom mom" Daddy says "Ava, say Da-da" Ava, "mom mom mom mom". Ava can also get her legs under herself like she is going to crawl, she will rock back and forth a couple of times then get herself on her bottom and sit. She much rather stand. She can walk around if we hold her hands or arms. She almost took off without me today! She got so excited she didn't realize I wasn't holding her yet.
I have to say that Ava is one of the most well behaved babies that I've ever known. Once we got past that 3 month mark, Ava has been truly amazing. She only cries if she falls over, hits her head, is overly tired or hungry. She does not complain. She really is amazing.
Ava is pretty content with almost anything. She can sit on the floor for a long while and play by herself. She can entertain herself with her toys, trying to figure out what they do, how they work, what their shape is all about. She also has a deep fascination with her hands and with shoes.
Last Friday, just before her 7 month mark, she had the opportunity of a lifetime. I entered a local contest and Ava won! She won a free photo session with one of the best photographers in town. They have pictures in my OBGYN office. Ava got her pictures taken. Since I took the day off from work, and the pictures were digital, the wife of the photographer (offered for me to see the pictures right after the session rather than waiting a week for the edited pictures to come out). So we went through and picked the best ones. I selected three for a picture poster and I ordered just several others. The pictures were VERY VERY VERY expensive. But they were good pictures and doubt this will turn into a routine thing so once in Ava's life she got her picture taken by a professional photographer. It was so amazing! Ava did wonderful! She was happy and smiling the whole time. She looked completely adorable.
Ava is amazing. She is an amazing part of our lives. I couldn't imagine my life with out her. She is truly amazing. She is so alert and for as young as she is she is so compassionate and full of life. She tries to groom my hair (sometimes she tends to pull a bit...) and she massages my arm. Once in a while she will snuggle with me and let me hold her close. She loves for me to hold her as I put her to sleep.
Today Ava is 8 months! She has hit so many milestones I don't know if I can name them all! I'm so proud of our little noodles! She is so awesome! Ava got two teeth! It seems like she is working on two more. 
She can sit very well on her own. She can move all over the place, although she is not yet crawling, she has found creative ways to get what she wants. She can scoot backwards, inch forwards, sit up and wiggle her butt until she moves a little. She can fall over and roll. Today, on her 8th month milestone, she really learned to crawl backwards and she found out how to sit up from the crawling position. I almost leaped for joy I was so excited! Usually if she gets frustrated on her stomach she cries until someone picks her up. This small milestone now means that I do not have to run to her rescue every minute or so! It also means that she is that much closer to getting into EVERYTHING! Ava has also tried bitter biscuits. Although they are her most favorite thing in the world, Phil is a little nervous when she eats them because she can get large chunks off and Phil gets nervous about her choking on them. If she drops her bitter biscuit she screams so loud you might think that her finger has been sliced off. She also claps her hands, waves bye bye, and knows who "mommy" and "daddy" are. She also has understanding of "num nums" which is mommy's milk, and "Ava, are you hungry?". If we say "YAY", Ava will usually clap her hands. Ava seems to understand a lot of the world around her. Ava also learned the wonderful technique of spitting and "thsp" sound, piercing her lips together like a fish, and making the "pop" sounds with her lips. She loves to walk if you hold her hands. In the past week she has picked up the pace a little bit and if she see's something she really wants she will walk fast to get to it. When I pick Ava up from Grandma and Grandpa's house she recognizes me and squeals with delight when I walk through the door. A recent event is when someone walks out of the room,she begins to cry. Only for a second or two but she still cries. Ava can still sit on the floor and entertain herself for a long while by herself. 
She is fascinated hitting blocks together or clapping her hands. She smiles and loves to show off her bottom teeth by sticking out her lower jaw in a grimace. 
Today, we went on our first 5k! My first 5k and Ava's first 5k. We went on a 5k to promote and raise money for the Crisis Call Center in Northern Nevada. It was so cold and Ava did such a good job! She sat in her stroller the whole time, in her snow suit and only hummed and buzzed her lips a few times other than that she was quite as a mouse! 
Phil and I were sick a lot this past month. Fortunately for us, I'm still breastfeeding so Ava only got whatever we had for a day or less while we were not quite as fortunate and we were on lock down in our house for almost a week or so more this month. I had pink eye which Ava and Phil were able to avoid, thank goodness! Thankfully we are on the mend and we seem to be doing much better now.
