Peek!

Playing Peek-A-Boo at lunchtime.

And truly "peeking" through those chubby little fingers.

Have you heard our drama queen lately? I think that we can officially pass my title on. Notice the above picture? You'll see this image many days of the week at our house but it's a different tone. See, she'll get upset about something, start "crying" and peek through her fingers to make sure that you see how terribly distraught she is. "Boo hoo hoo hoo, can you seeeeee how sad I ammmmmm????"

A Zoo Trip!

We took a trip to the zoo on Monday for Grandma Lacey's birthday! Happy Birthday, Grandma! (I'm sorry that we didn't get a picture with you, how did we forget that??) Auntie Ellen, Will, Sarah, Seth, and Collin also met us at the Zoo so we had a fun morning. This is the first time that I got to take Ava to the zoo but it isn't her first trip. Auntie Jeni and Uncle Tod took Ava along with the rest of their nieces and nephews a few months ago. She loved racing Will and Seth down the paths of the zoo and especially loved the Children's Zoo where she got up close and personal feeding some goats. :) My enjoyment of the zoo was slightly dimmed when I was stung by a bee in the first ten minutes at the zoo. Ouch! I had no idea that a bee sting could hurt so bad or make my arm swell like it did!! As a result I spent most of my time at the zoo fending off predatory insects, sure they were all out to get me now. While running away from the bees in the African Safari with me, Seth made the interesting comment that he had "Lots of Betty's around me today!" I don't really know what he meant but it was cute and worth mentioning. :)

The Recycling Bin

Why does she want to play with the recycling? This cabinet is just sooooo exciting to Ava these last couple of weeks but who knows why? First she would just pull out the newspapers and scatter them. Then she started pulling the cans and plastic out of the bin and playing with them. Then she took the whole bin of recycling out of the drawer and started carrying it around. Now today she discovered that she can fit right in that drawer if she takes everything else out. In she went. And giggled and rocked and giggled some more. Of course I told her not to play in there but how do I not take her picture first? I'm digging through my child-proof locks to see if I have something that will work on this cabinet but I am not finding anything yet. I guess the cabinet is hers for now...

Teeth teeth teeth teeth

Incisors!! Argh!! We hate these teeth! They have been tormenting Ava for two months now and have only just appeared in the last two weeks. But there are four to work on and we're only seeing the top two! And those two are only partially out of her gums! Thank goodness for ice and tylenol! I'm not sure what these teeth bring the number two for a total in her little mouth but it is in the double digits. (It's harder to see the teeth at the back of her mouth and I value my fingers too much to stick a digit in and try to count them all.) What we know for sure is that she's got a lovely smile (and an even better growl that REALLY shows off those teeth)!

I guess Ava's baby doll is hungry this morning because I just caught Ava shoving honeycomb into her doll's mouth. :) It's rather a large mouth because it usually holds a pacifier so why not fill it with some food? "Baby" is one word that Ava says really well and she loves carrying a doll around with her or pushing it in her toy stroller. (But she also likes pushing a book or other toys around in her stroller.) She's usually very sweet with her babies and we're optimistic that she'll be a big fan of her baby brother or sister when they finally arrive. She likes to "help" whenever possible and is just super with the swiffer and broom. :) I'm hoping that she has her Grandma Theresa's "tidy" gene because she didn't inherit any tendency towards tidiness from me or Jeff. She'll also help by wiping up the floor if that's what I'm doing at the moment. Still not a big fan of the vacuum if it gets too close to her but at least she's not crying when it comes on now though she still hates the small handheld dustbuster.

The Princess and the Pea

Ava got her Peapod Travel bed in the mail on Saturday! Yay! She thinks it is the greatest addition to her daily play, even laying down in it for a nap on Saturday afternoon. We're hoping that she'll like it and sleep in it verses the Pack-n-Play because it is ALOT more portable. If it doesn't work out for her, I guess it should for her little sibling. I figure it will keep him or her safe from bugs (and Ava) when we're camping and doing other things. :) My friend Elizabeth gave me the idea because this is what she used for her son's bed when they came to visit her grandparents this summer. Isaac thought it was the greatest thing and now Ava can see why!

Chasing Ava a.k.a. Watching Malory's Soccer Game

We went to the soccer fields in Sioux Falls to watch Malory's soccer game last weekend. We got to see most of the game but since Ava didn't want to sit and didn't want to watch the game, we all spent time chasing Ava. It got much warmer than expected so the longsleeve Hawkeye's shirt Ava had on had to come off. We're getting to the end of our nice weather so it was nice to be out in the sun for a little while. Pictured with Ava today are Malory, Daddy, Bailey, Uncle Greg, and Aunt Wendy.