Ten Months and Three Weeks!!!

Ava has had quite the adventure lately!

Last weekend she enjoyed a visit with her Great Grandmother and Cousin Regina. Ava enjoyed entertaining her guest by dancing and clapping, crawling, walking with her walker toy and she talked quite a bit! She enjoyed her visitors and loved being with them for 4 days!


This morning I was handing Ava her love bug toy. I said "Here's Love Bug!" I said it several times and then Ava said "Bug?" LOL

Yesterday my mom was watching Ava and she handed Ava a book and Ava said "Book".
Ava is really stuck on her "B" words. So this morning I was naming off a bunch of words that start with B. The one that Ava copied..."Boy". Awesome. Hopefully that isn't foresight for whats to come!

Ava never ceases to amaze us! She truly is amazing! I hope that I'm not just saying that because I'm her mom...but Ava truly is amazing. She is always happy. Ava now has 8 teeth officially. She is working on 9 and 10 right now. And with all the teething I've noticed a few things. There is usually one day where she is cranky. And cranky for Ava, is complaining but mostly sleeping. Teething usually involved lots of drool for a few days and she may even throw up a couple of times but other than the one day that all of that goes on, she truly is a trooper! Happy and clapping and squealing as always.

This past week Ava and I got the wonderful Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease. Not fun. I would never have known that Ava got it if I didn't get it! I noticed it because I got all these sores in my mouth. Its like having chicken pox in your mouth or 10 cold sores at once. I didn't eat for almost 4 days. I drank liquid drinks. Ava is on a bottle so I don't think it affected her quite as much. I also got a small rash on my hands, feet and calves. Ava had a really bad rash on her toes but as far as I could tell thats all she got (not sure about her mouth). Mine lasted exactly a week. Ava's foot rash has yet to clear up. But she has been wonderful through the whole thing!

Ava can roll balls back if you roll a ball to her. She can also throw it back. She learned how to get on her small push trike. She doesn't like to sit on it too long because she can't touch the ground with both feet (yes...Ava is still the size of a 7 month old). She likes picking up two toys and clapping them together. She also likes to climb stairs. She likes to race up the stairs, sit at the top and wave "bye bye".

Ava is beginning to truly understand us. When I ask her if she is all done with her milk she says "mmmmm mmmm" or if I ask her if she is hungry she says "mmmmm mmmm".
We play chase where we crawl around on the floor. This makes Ava laugh hysterically. She thinks its the funniest thing ever!

Ava is my little buddy! We hang out a lot. I enjoy my time with Ava. She is really getting attached, its fun! She loves to crawl over to me, get a hug then go back to playing. She does this a lot. Today she wanted to snuggle. Ava is not a very snuggly baby so it was fun to hold her for a little while.
I've been feeling a lot better. I wrote a blog a while back (but did not send it out for people to read. For the past 11 months I've been dealing with Post Par tum depression. I did not feel like Kelly at all. In December I really knew I had a problem when I just felt so unorganized and lost. I felt like I couldn't get a grip on anything then I got some bad news and instead of taking it in stride I imagined the worst thing possible. I sought out help immediately. Which helped for a little while. Then I'm not sure what happened, if my body chemistry changed again or what but in March I went crazy. I was moody and depressed. I was "high" and then depressed. I felt bi-polar! I then again went to the doctor. I got put on another medication. It has been 3 months. I finally feel like Kelly again! I don't feel high and low anymore. I feel stable and while things are not always stable, I feel like I can handle whatever is thrown my way. I feel like I'm a better Mommy for Ava. I feel like I'm there. I'm there for her, I am there with her and I'm not sitting around feeling overwhelmed. This is a huge accomplishment. I love my baby girl and now I feel like I can really enjoy her.

Hanging out with friends and cousins

Yesterday, I went over to my friend Beck's house (she takes care of Ava during the week). She was watching my niece and nephew overnight so I thought I'd help get them all out of the house for a little bit. Beck and I took all 6 kids to the park down the street and it was a fun opportunity to capture some pictures of the kiddos!

The big kids on the walk to the park


The babies on the walk to the park


Boys will be boys


Sisters climbing trees!


Ava and Juno in the tutu's Beck and I made for them!


Ava stood for a really long time by her-self


Cousin Juno


Ms. T


An attempt at a group shot


Luka and his sister Juno


The Marko kids!

10 months and counting!

Ava is 10 months!!! Wahoo!
She is such an amazing little girl. She is such an adventure and I love that she loves the world around her.
She enjoys when people talk to her. She will give them a waves and most of the time she will give a smile or two.
Ava now has 6 teeth that have popped through her little gums. She can eat people food! Well...Cheerios, cheese and puffs. Those are a big step up from the squishy baby food she has been used to eating for quite some time.
Ava had her follow up appointment with the second opinion doctor (we opted for the second opinion because I was concerned about Ava's weight). After all the blood tests and going over her diet...she still isn't gaining weight, at least like she should be. She has fallen off the chart even more. I was a little disheartened to say the least. But I learned something today. We have tons of modern medicine. And without modern medicine we would not be where we are today, but also with natural medicine people seem to be doing just fine as well. So, not to ignore doctors orders, but Ava is developmentally off the charts. She is smart, funny, interacts with people well. The only thing is that she is just a little small. She not bone thin...she doesn't look malnourished so I think I'm going to put my energy and efforts into something worth while. Like having fun with my daughter instead of thinking about what could possibly be wrong with her. She seems perfectly fine!
I just want to note for future reference purposes (since I do not fill out a baby book for Ava) Today Ava weighed in at 14 lbs 3 oz. She is still 26 inches long but her head grew 1 cm (not sure what it was at before I can't write it down).


As I've mentioned before Ava started going to a new babysitter. We love her! Ava still loves Grandma and Grandpa very much, which is why we want them to have a break so they will keep having her back! So Mrs B is one of the most amazing people I've met! No joke! She had three of her own kiddos but has no problems taking Ava under her wing and doing awesome things with her! Ava comes home with art projects, which go immediately on the fridge. She has taught me the art of saving money (well...we are trying....to get the saving money part down...and spending less). She also taught me how to make Tutus and helped me come up with the idea for Ava's birthday cards (yes, I was a crazy person and I made all of Ava's birthday invites be hand!!!). Ava has so much fun with Beck and watching her kids. Ava loves the interaction. She has a lot of fun.

I can't say enough how Ava loves music! Ava love loves loves music! She claps her hands and dances. If her song is purposely turned off she will scream.
Ava is a bundle of joy! She really is a blast!

My first Tutu


She is sad because she hit her head on the ground.