The 8 month old.

-- Her vocabulary is expanding. She can clearly say bubba, mama, dada, mmmm (while eating) and bye bye (while waving.) She's a little miss smarty-pants.

-- The girl has some crazy, frizzy hair and it drives me nuts. Most of the time she looks like she stuck her finger in a light socket and water, even gel doesn't tame it. I can't wait until it is long enough to lay down... the in between is torture.

-- We are no longer toothless! She has two bottom teeth now and it's adorable. However, she has already bit me a few times while nursing and THAT, well... that sucks.

-- She is in love with her daddy. When he gets home from work, she will try to follow him around - using her mad rolling skills and scream for him until he picks her up. He can't get enough of it. Half the time, she wants him more than me and I can tell this one is going to be a daddy's girl. She already is.

-- She has learned how to do 'rasberries' with her mouth. (I can thank Layton for this one.) If someone starts them, she will copy them and end up spitting and slobbering all over herself. It's lovely.

-- Bedtime is slowly improving [fingers crossed that saying this doesn't jinx me] and for the last few nights she has only woke up twice. Nap time is usually easy in the morning, but she fights me in the afternoon. Normally she takes a mini one at dinner time and it allows us to eat and for me to clean the kitchen before she is up again. The timing is perfect. I hope she sticks to it.

-- She has always been a busy, busy one and if rolling everywhere wasn't bad enough she has just started army crawling. Lord, help me. I figure it won't be long until she has the real crawl down. SO, I am trying to prepare my house (and me) for it.

-- I have also noticed the more and more I take her picture, the more I notice how serious she always is. Getting her to smile is a J.O.B and not an easy one. Sigh...

My monster.

Ava and her obsession with the Christmas tree is enough to drive me crazy. I can't keep the girl out from underneath it.

She is pretty lucky that she is so dang cute because it's the only thing that is saving her.

They see me rollin'.

We had our first mishap this evening since Ava has started rolling over. Layton was playing with her and left her a little too close to the edge of the bed. 

I caught her, breaking her fall. [Yep, my spidey-instincts totally kicked in when I saw her going over from across the room.] But, it did scare the crap out of all of us including Ava - who cried for forever afterwards. 

Luckily, all she got from it though were 2 red marks on her nose and myself? Oh, just a few (more) gray hairs.

Rainy day in.

We have been having full blown Oregon weather today.
The rain has been falling and the wind has been blowing all day long.
Ava and I have enjoyed looking out the window and listening to it as it slaps against the glass.
Perfect day if you ask us.

The 6 month old.

-- This girl is developing quite the personality. She is busy, stubborn and LOUD. Her high pitched squeals are quickly turning into annoying screams when she wants something. The other day she had her first full on tantrum when I stopped feeding her and for the last few days I have found myself having to tell her "no, Ava" in a stern voice over and over. (I don't ever remember having to start discipline this early with the other two.) Oy.

-- She is also becoming more mobile everyday. Not by rolling (even though she totally could) but instead by back-humping the floor. I'm not sure how else to explain it but that way. She lays one her back and bounces her butt up and down which results in moving herself from point A to point B. It's hilarious. I need to record it soon.

-- She is also sitting up better and better by herself everyday. Once she has it totally down I am throwing the damn car seat carrier away and moving her into a bigger one. One that won't break my back anymore by hauling it around everywhere. I think I hate it more than she does.

-- She has mastered eating solids. She gets breakfast, lunch and dinner now and because of this, she nurses a lot less during the day.

-- At night however, she still wants to eat every 2 to 3 hours. (of course, why not?) I am so ready for her to sleep through the night. SO. READY.

-- I have been trying to teach her how to wave. Yeah, yeah it might be a little too early but I swear this morning when I picked her up and took her to the living room? She flapped her right arm up and down when she saw Layton on the couch. Coincidence? Maybe. Genius baby? Most likely.

Hello, food.

I started Ava on solids last week.

We introduced oatmeal cereal and she took right to it. We had that for almost a week before trying bananas. Those? Not such a hit. I tried on three different occasions to get her to eat them with no success.

So, we moved on. I went for a vegetable and tried to give her peas. After about 10 minutes of trying everything including the 'airplane' sound, singing/chanting "yummy, yummy, in your tummy" as I danced the spoon around, and finally, just trying to pry her mouth open - it just wasn't happening.

I continue to give her oatmeal but as for fruits and veggies, she just doesn't seem to like them.

Big people food however? Well, she seems to be super interested in what I eat. I shared a bowl of soup with  her yesterday and the other night she kept getting highly irritated with me when I failed to feed her the sauce from a tator-tot casserole fast enough.

This girl has got me wondering if she would rather just skip the pureed and unsweetened crap and get right to the good stuff. If so, I can't really say I blame the kid.

The 5 month old.

-- We have started solids. I planned on waiting until exactly 6 months old to introduce them but she has been giving me little hints that she is ready. The other day she was nursing while I was feeding myself at the same time (I have become rather good at multi-tasking) and she actually unlatched, reached for my hand and pulled my sandwich towards her mouth. After that, I figured we would give it a shot. She gets her oatmeal cereal every morning now for breakfast. She seems to be a fan.

-- She has started throwing fits. Yes, the full on 'I-am-so-pissed-at-you-lady' tantrums. The only time she does it though is as soon as I take her out of the tub. What can I say - the girl loves her baths.

-- We have a roller. She finally rolled from back to belly last night and of course, I missed it. Layton and Grandma Karen were the lucky ones who got to witness it. This morning I saw her do it while she was playing on her mat. She is also sitting up for seconds at a time. She will stay in the position briefly and then will fall on her side or on her face depending which way she goes. For now, the adults are the only ones who can help her learn. I'm afraid the kids might not catch her in time.

-- Daddy is becoming one of her favorite people. She likes to flirt with him every evening when he comes home from work. He can't get enough of her giggles and loud squeaks of excitement. He actually said the other day that he is glad that he got the snip-snip because he almost wants another. (Boy, am I glad too.) Ha!

-- Speaking of squeaks and squealing - Ava has a new nickname for her high pitched screaches. We call her piccolo pete. Because she seriously sounds JUST like the firecracker.

-- The girl is an olympic pooper. She could win the Gold easily. Everyday, (sometimes twice) she craps up her back and down her legs. I am almost going crazy trying to figure out how to keep the shit IN her diaper. I'm beginning to think it is a losing battle.

-- She is suddenly mesmerized by the dog. She tries to grab for him if he is close to her. But, as soon as she gets ahold of him he will just lick her to death and then he gets screamed at. The other night though she was laying on the floor and he plopped down beside her and started chewing on his bone. She started to touch his head and play with his ears and he actually let her. It was the CUTEST thing. Of course my phone was on the kitchen table and I was on the couch so as soon as I got up to grab it to record it... he moved. Grr.

-- Her sleeping schedule is all sorts of screwy at the moment. It's really hit or miss lately. Most of the time it's up every 2 to 3 hours but sometimes she goes longer. Last weekend she went 11 hours. I thought that maybe the awesome-ness would continue? But nope, it hasn't.

The 4 month old.

-- Took her in today for a well check and she is 13 lbs and 25 inches long. Totally surprised me because I was thinking that she would weigh more. Her chub is deceiving I guess.

-- Somebody is teething. The poor thing is a non-stop drooler and anything that gets near her mouth is fair game. Today? It was my ear.

-- She has also started grabbing anything within reach. This means that I am constantly trying to pry my glasses and my hair out of those chubby little hands of hers.

-- The "talking" has also begun. This girl is vocal. When she is happy - she can make these high pitched sounds that can almost blow out my ear drums. Not even joking.

-- She has the rolling from tummy to back thing down. The top picture was taken seconds before she flipped. No more tummy-time for this one. When on her back she can roll to her side but hasn't figured out how to get that arm out of her way just yet.

-- She loves her siblings. Some days she can spend almost an hour just laying with them. It's the cutest thing and a nice little break for me at the same time.

-- We have her on an actual schedule now which is so nice. In bed no later than 10, and up for a feeding at 4 and 7. Not too bad if you ask me. I will take it.

-- She LOVES to watch television. Sue me, but I take advantage. Every morning after dropping off Kaylee at school she watches an episode of My Little Pony in her jumper while I get Layton ready for school. I think this is the 'Frakes gene' that was passed onto her and... well, It's awesome.

-- She is a snuggler and has attached herself to a certain teddy-bear-blanky-thing. It MUST be on her face while falling to sleep and I have a feeling this will be her best buddy for many years to come.

We just call her lizard.

Ava has suddenly started sticking her tongue out. Constantly.
I can't figure out if it's because she is teething and maybe her gums are sore? Or if she is just sick of having her picture taken.
Needless to say, it makes me laugh.

Grow hair, GROW!

Ava was born with a head full of hair. Throughout the months though, she has lost most of it. She has it long on top now, and she is almost bald everywhere else. It's pretty awful.

I have tried to put barrettes in it - but they don't really stay in. I have tried to hide it somewhat with headbands - but she isn't a fan. Soon, it will be fall and winter and I will try to cover it with cute knit hats (that of which I am already collecting) but I'm guessing she will hate those too. 

Becca has suggested that we should just do a faux hawk (because let's face it - it's perfect for that) but, she isn't a boy. Half of me wishes I could just shave it off and start fresh. Ha!

Oh, well... I guess I will deal with it and just hope it grows FAST because it is by far, the worst baby hair I have ever seen. Poor kiddo.

[BIRTH] photo-bomb.

I put Stephanie in charge to take pictures during the birth of Ava.
As crazy as this sounds, I actually forgot she did it until last week when Karen gave me the memory card.
I finally got to view them while baby napped and have these to share.
My favorites:

Daddy time.

Lee has always said that the can't stand the 'baby' stage. 

I must admit though - after looking at these? I'm not convinced. 

The sling-thingy.

The best thing ever designed for a baby. I swear.
It sure as hell beats the car seat in the shopping cart at the store, or the stroller at the mall (because technically, it's still her car seat) and let's face it, lately she HATES her car seat.
Instead, I can pack her around in this and she is happy as a clam.
And me? I can cook, clean, eat, shop... yeah, you get the idea. It's genius.

The 3 month old.

This girl of ours is getting so big and becoming more and more fun everyday. Her personality is awesome, and I can't believe how much of a little person she already is.

-- She is stubborn. She fights nap-time already and reminds me so much of another little girl of mine during these times. She has this thing she does when she doesn't want her binky. She will be in the middle of a meltdown and if you try to give her a pacifier - she will close her lips together as tight as she can so you can't get it in her mouth. Yep, she's a stinker.

-- Speaking of meltdowns, she hates her car seat - in the evenings. It's weird. If it's in the morning, or afternoon she does awesome, but if it's after 5? She will scream the entire car ride. The only thing I can figure is that she is more tired and grumpy at that time of day and just has no tolerance for it.

-- Late last month she was diagnosed with acid reflux. She was having these almost seizure like episodes where her entire body would stiffen and convulse. I was freaking out. I took her in and they examined her and said she seemed healthy to them. We started to talk about some of her behaviors such as having the hiccups all the time, drooling, sticking her tongue out constantly and being really colicky at night. They said that these were all symptoms of AR, and the spasms were most likely because of the pain she was in. They put her on medicine for it, and within 2 days - she wasn't having them anymore, plus, her colic is almost a thing of the past. I am so thankful that it wasn't something more serious. I don't think I have ever been so scared.

-- Bath time is her favorite. She actually gets excited now after I put her in and will kick and splash. It's pure cuteness.

-- The other night afterwards, I was giving her the normal baby massage and she started laughing when I got to her hands. It was such a happy moment. Of course, she hasn't done it since for anyone else to see. (So, I'm pretty sure the kids think I'm a liar.) But, I know that she will be laughing it up all the time, soon enough. That moment is one I won't forget.

-- I broke down the other day and went out to buy her barrettes and clips for her hair. Every time I would take her out in her "boy clothes" [aka: beaver attire] at least one person would say how cute my little guy was. I had to put a stop to that.

-- In last few days she has discovered that she loves to sleep with a blanket over her face. Yeah, this mama - no likey. It makes me worry that she will suffocate. I find myself turning the moniter up full blast at night with it to my ear just to make sure I can hear her breathing.


-- And it looks like her bestie, just so happens to be mine. She is in love with her "Auntie Beeca". Those girls have the best conversations and I just love to watch them interact. Ava will 'talk' with her, more than anyone else and it makes my heart so happy.