Fun at the Pumpkin Patch,,,

On Saturday, we spent the rather windy day with a bunch of friends at the Pumpkin Patch in Lakefield. There were tons of activites for kids from hay rides to pumpkin painting. Despite the very windy day, the temperatures were pretty pleasant. We even managed to select a couple of pumpkins to take home from the rather "picked over" patch. Definitely something we will have to attend again when Ava is a little older. She enjoyed being outside as she always does and remained in good spirits despite not getting her nap.

Fall is Here...

This is my favorite time of year with all the beautiful colors and the weather starting to change. We have had an exceptionally nice fall this year in my opinion. Highs in the 60's and lows around freezing are perfect for me. Ava and I took a trip to the park to check out the leaves yesterday and enjoy a nice walk. Ava didn't know quite what to think of the leaves. She just sat there. It was like she forgot that she could move around and explore. Of course, we had to go to the park for her to see any leaves because we don't have any trees! It is kind of nice because Brad and I both hate to rake! Halloween will be here before we know it...

Having fun with Daddy and another tooth...

Daddy and Ava have a lot of fun these days playing around on the floor. He chases her, throws her in the air, and scares her. You name it, she loves it! Ava lights up when she hears the door slam and she knows Daddy is home. She can't wait for the "horse play" to begin.

Ava has another tooth that has just poked through on the bottom. This makes tooth #5 and I think #6 will be close behind with the one next to it on the bottom. She is doing better with the teething. She is back to sleeping through the night again which is great for everyone:))

We are enjoying watching Ava's personality evolve. It seems that she is always grinning which we hope continues. She is doing a lot more talking. She uses much more inflection in her voice, so you know when she means business and when she is excited. She has learned to wave "bye, bye" and she can also say it, but not on command yet. She also says "ball" and will go and get it if you ask her.

Ava seems to love pretty much all foods right now. She still eats a jar of baby food here and there if we are not eating at the same time, but for the most part, she eats off the table. Her favorites lately are oatmeal with bananas, spaghetti, chicken and rice hotdish, garlic bread, and squash. I also save little portions of the veggies we eat, mash them a little with a fork, and reheat them for her meals and she loves them. She is pretty easy to please so we are not complaining.

Ava is Finally Getting Teeth & We Have a Popeye Impersonater

Well, the day has arrived. At 11 months and one week, Ava is finally getting teeth. Of course, she is not getting just one, but four teeth coming in all on top. The bottom is pretty swollen so I am anticipating those to be coming soon. I had not looked for a couple of days, and Brad noticed on Saturday that she was really knawing on her toys. He took a peek and there were all these teeth coming in all at once. She is doing pretty well with the whole process. There has been some crying in the night off and on, but not terrible. She is not running a fever at all. She does have a nasty diaper rash that will not go away no matter what we try. Hopefully, that will pass.

As for the popeye picture, Ava found a new favorite toy. Grandma Chris bought dart guns for my nephews this summer when they stayed with us, and Ava found one of the darts in the toy basket. Well, needless to say, she loved it and insisted on having it stick out of her mouth for hours while she chewed on it. Eventually, we had to toss it for the choking hazard. She was not happy to have to say goodbye.

Our little monkey is everywhere! She is pulling up on everything, even on toys in the middle of the room. She is getting pretty fast at crawling too. She loves her new found skills. Each time she pulls up on a piece of furniture, she grins with delight. We are adjusting to the change of having a child that moves quickly.

We Actually Have a Lawn!

It's hard to believe, but after 10 months of living in our house, we actually have green grass! We had it seeded about a month ago. After a lot of intense watering, it finally looks like an actual lawn. Brad mowed it yesterday and that really made it look much nicer. There are a few bare spots here and there, but for the most part we are very happy with it. Hopefully, next spring it will be nice and thick, so we can do lots of mowing next summer!

Ava is 11 Months Old!

Ava turned 11 months old today. It's so hard to believe in one month we will be having our first birthday party. We will no longer have a baby at our house, but move into toddlerhood. It's so exciting to see her move through all the milestones, but bittersweet that she is not a cuddly little baby anymore. Here is the lowdown at 11 months...

Teeth: Still not a one. The only characteristic she inherited from her mommy. At least I have something...

Eating: Ava has taken a liking to people food. She still likes her baby foods, but is having a little bit of a tough time with the stage 3's we tried this week. Maybe it was the flavors, but she has not been a big fan so far. She keeps a close eye on what we are eating and we usually always give her a sampling. She loves pizza crust with a little sauce, all veggies, cheerios, and drinking from her sippy cup (just water usually). She is a disaster all the time in the high chair, but she enjoys herself. She is getting better at picking things up off her tray and about 50% of what she picks up makes it into her mouth and stays there. She still nurses 4-5 times per day, but is getting to be less all the time.

Movement: Of course, she has the crawling down pretty well although she gets a little lazy if she has to go too far to keep up with me around the house. She has pulled up to standing in the crib for the past 10 days or so, but just started pulling up on the coffeetable today. She is so proud of herself when she gets to the standing position. It is pricesless to see her grin! I have seen her take a couple of side steps in her crib, but I wouldn't say she scales along furniture yet.

Sleep: With the milestones has come some disturbances in Ava's sleep. She wakes up crying several times in the night for no apparent reason other than she lost the pacifier. She is also struggling with naps. She is not really taking an afternoon nap right now, or if she does, it is much shorter than usual. She appears to be exhausted, but will not even go to bed any earlier. I am hoping it is a phase! Time will tell...

I gave Ava a little haircut a couple of days ago. I had to trim her bangs. It won't be long and we will have to evening out the rest of it.

Ava is Crawling & Addison's 2nd Birthday Party

We traveled to Orange City to celebrate Addison's second birthday last Sunday. While Addison was opening her gifts, Ava was playing on the floor. All of the sudden, Ava started crawling. She certainly didn't crawl all the way across the room, but she crawled a little bit. By Wednesday of this week, she was crawling across the living room floor. It is amazing at how fast she seemed to catch on once she started moving. She also loves to try to pull up on things. She has not been terribly successful yet, and she'd certainly like to be doing more. These new skills seem to be affecting her sleep. She is now burdened with the need to practice her pulling up and moving skills in the crib instead of napping. Hopefully, this is a phase and she will nap well again. It will only be a matter of time before she is in to everything I am sure!