M&M's

..what the??? M&M's? Yes, as I sat for a second to try and decide what to name this post I looked down and realized that my silly bowl of candy has actually followed me upstairs and is now next to me as I type! Okay okay, I'm currently going through an M&M obsession. It's unreal. I don't even care for chocolate that much, so what gives? Well anyway, the minor OCD in me eats them one at a time and I use my teeth to bite off the candy shell before I let the chocolate melt in my mouth. I'm so weird. I think I might start letting you all in on my weirdness little by little so I don't scare you off. It's a lot of work being inside my mind, trust me.

As I mentioned in my last post, I have some fun new pictures of the one and only and I wanted to get them up while she takes in the first leg of her 10 hour sleep. Sounds great but when she's up after a couple hours wailing for me...for food...for whatever, it feels like I just laid my head down on the pillow and my tired body needs to get right back up again. Thankfully her second half of sleep is much longer. Speaking of sleep...I did it. I "feber-ized" Ava. Kinda. We took it realllly slow. Dr.Ferber does is it in 3 days. I'm taking about a week. Baby steps people. Ava is now sleeping in her crib for 3 naps a day and all night long in her OWN ROOM! What a big girl! PLUS, she has moved past her 45 minute mess of a nap and now does a 60-120-60 minute set of naps. I'm pausing to "knock on wood" because I feel like I have cursed myself in the past and I don't want to have a set back on what we've worked so hard on. So, stick with it Ava! I know you can do it!!! I grilled the poor pedi at her 4 mos check and I think he was right. Ava wanted a routine and I could "train" her to do whatever I wanted in 3-5 days. Sleep well Baby Ava!

Some other goodies from the pedi were that we got the green light to start Ava whenever we wanted on some cereal and veggies. So fun! He did warn that her digestive track will take some time to adjust to her new diet and the not-so-smelly diapers we are currently getting due to me nursing will make a drastic change to super, SUPER smelly. Blah. Well, it was good while it lasted. Even though Curt took off the morning to come to Ava's appointment his short stop in Canada prevented him from dealing with the nightmare that was her shots. Man, I'm still recovering. All in all Ava is growing the way she should and our Doc was feeling pretty good about what he saw. I'm psyched to start some "solids" when Curt gets back home. Of course we will video it but my track record on posting these clips has obviously been pretty crappy so I'm not sure you'll get to see it. :-)

What else...

We're beyond excited to get back on U.S. soil in a few weeks. Man-I can't wait! I took my pre-Jordan classes in preparation for Ava's baptism and I'm just so looking forward to being home with all my family and friends. It's going to be fabulous. My awesome family, wonderful friends, great food...and great SHOPPING. The economy is in the crapper so retail stores are practically GIVING things away. I have been taking some serious advantage of these amazing deals. We are also having a b-day bash for Mariel and I has we take on the big 28. Wow-28 years old!!!! Geesh...

Okay, I need to take advantage of the fact that Ava actually went to sleep at 9pm tonight and get some shut eye myself. She'll be up soon for her mid-night snack, which by the way the doctor told me she absolutely DOESN'T need due to her weight gain, but I'm a pushover still. If she wants a lil bite to eat, I'm gonna give it to her. For now at least. Like I said, baby steps....

Check out the pictures below! I will give you a little note with them to let you know what they're all about!

Well, Curt was away for a while so Ava and I shopped a bit to pass the time! "Mommy and I love to Shop!"


So Ava LOVES this chair (for an hour tops, but hey-I'll take it!) and she is desperate to grab that frog that goes up and down on the top of it. He's practically taunting her as he is just a finger tip out of reach ("you can get me, you can't get me, nah nah na nah na na!").


So close, yet so far away. I say she grabs him in the next few weeks for sure. She's growing like a weed! (I mean that in a sweet way, of course...)


She's at least got the waterfall covered. I'm pretty impressed with her efforts!


She still makes each new toy go through the ever so tough "taste test" to make sure it's worthy of her play time. If she can successful get it into her mouth, it's a keeper. I do have a couple toys that are reluctant to fit in her mouth and with that comes frustration...therefore they are tossed aside. For now, at least.


Ava is still doing well under her gym and I hope she doesn't get sick of it anytime soon. We're constantly rotating toys on that thing and she still seems to be intrigued by all the dangling objects above her head. Oh, and the more noise it makes when she shakes it, the better. Anyway, she likes to explore all ends of this thing and in order to do so she rolls and scoots her body on the mat in order to get around. She gravitates to this side, for whatever reason, and a couple times she has used the coffee table to pull herself closer to the end. Brilliant! (Man-I can already tell I'm gonna be one of those Mom's that I can't stand. Her poor teachers...)


There's that hand by the table. Clever, I must say...


Yes. She is STILL trying to escape this chair. She will hang out for like a minute or so. I wish you could hear the grunting that comes with this move. (VIDEO!!! Just upload the VIDEO!!!)


She's trying to escape and grab a toy at the same time. No luck on either attempt. Oh, and isn't it amazing how many toys out there have stood the test of time? I mean, I SWEAR that I played with this exact same toy when I was a baby. It's right up there with the plastic key ring with the keys in all the primary colors hanging on it.


Teething much? Of course she hasn't "cut" any teeth yet, but based on the amount of drool she puts out and th constant desire to "gum" anything she can, I think her little chompers are just itching to come up. Her fingers give the pacifer a run for its money and most of the time she would rather calm herself with her hand instead of the nuk. I think in the long run that might be a good thing. She's excellent at ripping the pacifier out of her mouth but is far from getting it back in without my help.


Yummy fingers!


She has some busy hands. With her growing confidence in her hands comes a strong desire to grab, well anything! She usually just throws her whole body in the direction of whatever it is she wants to touch and the days of keeping MY things within her reach are long gone. (ie: soda cans, earrings, camera, food...you get the idea) She pretty much feels that if it's within her reach it's fair game.


Well hello there baby blues! I hope they're here to stay!


So, I hated the Austin Powers movies. Too vulgar for me. Plus, he's gross in those movies. Ick. Not a fan. But, I must say that she is doing her very best "Dr. Evil" impression and it's pretty much dead on.


Ava is still doing her best to complete this back-to-belly roll, but her silly arm is getting in the way. She's doing it often enough, but in this particular picture she was about to start her fussy tantrum because she felt that gym time was over, but on her way to her belly she saw that television was on so her motive to roll instantly changed. She wanted to watch a little Entertainment Tonight! (OKAY, I was trying to catch up on my celeb gossip because I have a stack of Us Weekly on my nightstand that I haven't been able to read!)


Rolling her way to the TV. Oh well, a roll none the less.


FEET!!! PIGGYS!!! TOOTSIES!!!
Ava is just loving her toes and feet these days. She uses them in a variety of ways which includes kicking, or pushing off of me (nice...), managing to get her heel right smack in her dirty diaper when she's getting changed (my personal favorite), and climbing up her gym...just to name a few. She does grab them here and there but she's not quite long enough to hold them for too long. I'm sure this will change but for now, they're still a bit new and they're just fascinating!






She's a "smily" baby and I love it. I crave that grin and she really lays it on me when it's time for her to sleep. It's just hard to resist that lovin'!


Contrary to popular belief, Ava isn't a red head. I think the pictures tend to make her hair look like it's coming in a pretty red color but it's actually her skin, or scalp, that is covered in dry skin. It's slowly coming off and I gently exfoilate her teeny tiny head when she gets a bath but it's pretty tough to remove. The pedi said over time it kinda just takes care of itself and goes away. She's got her Dad's hair color (among many other things...) and I think she's beautiful!


PS: I am aware that this post of probably littered with errors but it's midnight and I'm exhausted. OH-and the spell check isn't working, so there. ENJOY!