Michigan!

Ava and I went to Michigan at the end of July with my Mom for a family reunion. This was Ava's first plane ride and she surprisingly did really well. Then, it was time for the 6 hour car ride up to the UP. That turned into probably a 9 hour car ride. But, all things considered, she did really well!

Here is a pic of Ava meeting her cousins Mara and Ella. So cute!

With her Auntie Beanie.

With Mom.

Feeding the Ducks at Bond Lake.

At Bond Falls.

At Copper Harbor @ Lake Superior.

More Lake Superior.

I love this shot!

Ava's Trip to the Zoo

Okay, well Blogger is stupid because you have to upload the picture you want last, first. So, we start with Ava pooped out after her first trip to the zoo. We tried to keep the trip short and only go around to the exhibits where we thought she would really be interested. When we first got to the reptile area we kept pointing at the animals but she didn't really see them. Finally we got to an exhibit where there was this brown rodent running across the bottom back and forth. Finally I pointed and said "Look at Sasha (our cat)." She immediately zeroed in on it and she watched it enthralled for several minutes. I wonder if she was thinking to herself "that isn't Sasha!"

Helping Daddy with yardwork.

6 months old!

Well, our little girl is really growing up. Since hitting the 6 month mark, we have seen a lot of changes in our little girl. She is more tolerable of a lot of situations and strangers. She is more content (at times) to play by herself. She is loving eating solid foods and likes trying new combinations. She has a very obvious attachment to Mom & Dad. She will tolerate going to the grocery store in the baby carrier for an hour (this used to be tough). She is really starting to be very interested in her toys and will cry if you take one away that she is engrossed in playing with. She LOVES our cats - especially Sasha. Sasha has always been a finicky cat who really wouldn't let you pet her unless she wanted you to. Now she comes around and hangs out with Ava (but arms length away). When I hold Ava near Sasha, at time she will let Ava pet her. Ava loves it when she can stroke Sasha's fur. She will squeal and start babbling to Sasha. Every morning when Ava gets up we have to go and "find Sasha." She instantly perks up and starts looking around for Sasha. It is awesome! Perhaps we have a little veterinarian or animal advocate in the making?

Below are a couple of her 6 month pictures I took. For those of you who don't know the story behind Arnold, he was my teddy bear while growing up. Santa brough him for me when I was maybe 4 or 5? You can see in some of the pictures he is a little worn. He has been sewed up numerous times. He also has an orange burn mark on his butt from when I left him on the stove. He also used to have little crusties on his back from when I sat him on top of peanut butter toast. Let's just say that he is a little worn and is an old man. He is currently enjoying his retirement!


I love this pic. It's like she is thinking "Hey, who is this sitting beside me?"
Let's play! Hey, what's this on your butt?

Ava is getting so big!

Ava just turned 4 months old and is growing like a weed! She is rolling over and constantly trying to put her feet in her mouth. She is amazed and very curious about Sasha (as Sasha is about her) . Luckily Sasha will sit by her while she is playing on the playmat so they can both watch each other intently. Ava still loves looking at herself in the mirror. Can you blame her? :-) Bath time is also a hit. We try and do a bath every night before bed and she loves kicking and splashing.

Here she is acting just like Daddy...

Too cool!

Ava loves Dr. Seuss!

3 Months Old!

Well, Ava is growing like a weed! She is smiling at us, cooing at us, rolling over on her side (no full roll yet) and I swear she giggled at me yesterday! She is such a joy to have around and cuddle with. She loves looking at herself in the mirror - especially when Mommy is holding her. She will smile and then tuck her head under my chin and grin. She loves it when Daddy comes home as she greets him with all kinds of big smiles. Pete has this amazing ability to put her on his chest and she just falls asleep! She won't do that with me... She loves to greet us with smiles in the morning. She is now sleeping in her crib at night which is great for all 3 of us! She is sleeping a 5-7 hour stretch at night which is great for Mommy & Daddy!

We go for a follow up appt. tomorrow to the Pediatric GI regarding her dairy/soy intolerance. I am hoping for great news. I have been on a bare bones diet for 2 weeks now (mostly meat, fruit, veggies, brown rice, etc.) to try and get the remaining dairy/soy out of my system. That soy is so sneaky as I found out it was in my chewing gum and even in my lemon pepper seasoning! If there is still blood in her stool we will need to try and give her Neocate Formula. Which is a prescription formula that costs $100 every 2 days if not covered by insurance! So, please keep your fingers crossed that we don't have to go that route. I really want to continue nursing her. I will post back tomorrow with an update.