New Shoes

It is getting colder as fall is progressing and i decided that i better get Ava a pair of shoes if we are going to continue to play outside.  I made a trip to Babies R Us (always dangerous) and found the perfect pair of tennis shoes, velcro (which is Ava's new favorite) and all. 

Later that day we decided to try them out.  She was fine with wearing them and seemed comfortable.  We took dino outside and i set her up to walk down the sidewalk.  She pushed dino and was stuck!! it took a little while to figure out how to pick up her feet with the weight of her new shoes but eventually she was cruising down the block.  We had a great time

 

almost walking

for her birthday, Ava received a very cute dinosaur from her nana and poppy.  Unfortunately, dinosaurs roar and this one particularly often and without warning.  It took her a little while to warm up to it but the colorful blinking lights and songs won her over eventually. 

She has great balance and can stand easily and has been walking while holding onto furniture for quite some time but is unwilling, afraid, i don't know... to take any steps.  Today i decided we would try out the dinosaur and something clicked.  She loves it and pushed it around the house all night.  I am so proud!!

 

Here are a few other pics we have taken recently...

Best 1st Birthday Ever

Despite my busy schedule, i got super lucky and happened to post-call on Ava's birthday and had an easy night on call so i was bright and fresh to play all day :)

After naptime, we packed a lunch and headed out to have a picnic at the park.  while we munched on cheese, fruit, crackers, and other tasty snacks we enjoyed the sunshine and fed the ducks.  Ava loved them and they came really close.  Too bad Lyndsay is afraid of birds!!

 Ava was ready to feed them from her hand but compromised with placing food on the bench and letting them gather around us

 We then headed to the Zoo where we started in the aquarium.  We watched the fish and penguins swim. She was so amazed. I was not sure she was old enough to appreciate the animals but she totally got into it.

 We saw bears, tigers, flamingos, and monkeys.  So much fun!!

After the Zoo, we went downtown to Artprize, a huge art festival.  At the children's museum they had a puppet show and Ava was completely entranced.  Finally we had dinner at Olive Garden and ended with night with a mini cake all her own.  

BIRTHDAY!!!!!!

Ava is one year old! i really can't believe it.  this year has been so wonderful and amazing and beautiful and, well i could go on and on.  Ava is truly the best thing that has ever happened to me (excluding Chris) and i am so blessed to have her.  I had the weekend off before her birthday so we decided to celebrate with a party.  While doing some fall clothes shopping I found the BEST birthday dress. Ava was an angel during the party and played with some friends that came by to celebrate with us.

 It has been awhile since i entertained at the house and Lyndsay and I kinda went crazy with the preparations.  We had a great time!

 I decided on these baby cakes instead of a big one and they turned out darling.  I had so much fun decorating them and they were super tasty.

 we played, opened presents, ate some food, then played some more.  I was really nice to hang out outside of work with other mommies and babies. 



Ava got some great presents.  A tea set, a mega block car with little people

a block shapes set, and a super fun dinosaur from nana and pop-pop (see future post) 

Backlogging

The last few months have been a whirlwind of starting my third year in residency, preparing for Chris to deploy, and settling in to our new life with Lyndsay (our new nanny).  Everyone has really adjusted well.  As a now senior resident I have to take a more leadership role which has its good and bad side.  Scary, mean, demanding, and sometimes bitchy Dawn definitely comes out at times but i try to balance out with encouragement and appreciation.  So far i have gotten good evaluations from my attendings.

Ava is amazing as always.  She has completely transitioned to normal food and drinks one bottle a day (only because i want to use up my remaining formula).  She mostly drinks from a sippy cup with milk or water.  She, like cousin Sophie stands alone, says about 5 or 6 words, and is so close to walking!!!

Our new nanny Lyndsay is doing a great job and we both love her.  She makes my life so much easier which allows me to spend more time with Ava.  She is also good company for me as we have a lot in common.   While we all miss Chris, I think we are going to be ok this year.  As you can see below, Lyndsay and Ava have been having lots of fun together. 

Now that Lyndsay is with us, Ava stays home two or three days a week. We have been working on getting her on a more regular schedule and also adding in play-pen time and learning time.  They definitely get plenty of play time in too.

She's Growing!!

My little is nine months as of the 6th and she had her nine month doctor's appointment yesterday.  We always look forward to finding out if she has grown.  This appointment was especially nice because we had no shots :)

We have been working hard the last few months on Ava's eating.  She has never been a big eater and took her time adjusting to and liking solid foods.  She is now down to only three bottles a day and eats three meals a day. I think the improved eating has contributed to her new stats...

  6 months               9 months
13.5oz (5th%)           16.9 (13%)
24 3/4 in (19%)        26 1/4 in (11%)

So yes, she is still short (i can't imagine why) but she is not so scrawny anymore. Maybe someday she will catch up to cousin Sophie.  Today we tried bananas and true to Ava form, she fake choked, then really choked and ended up puking her whole dinner.  Guess We will try again tomorrow.   
                 

Starting over

As most of my previous followers know, Just after Ava was born, Google kicked me out of all of my accounts including my blog due to what must have been someone hacking my accounts.  It has taken me a long time to forgive and forget, but as Ava gets older i feel the need to start blogging again.  Today i started a new google account and will begin again the journey of our family through life. As always i am very busy and don't plan to update daily, or even weekly sometimes but when fun things happen i want to document and share.

sailing

Happy 4th!

Family updates: Chris and I celebrated our 11th anniversary and Ava just turned 9 months last week. We all had a wonderful fourth of july.  Chris is still working full time for the National Guard and i am now a 3rd year general surgery resident.  Ava continues to be a duckling at school :) Ava has her 9 month doctors appointment tomorrow and we excited to see how much she has grown.  She is quite a mini but has started chunking up a little. 

Ava has made some amazing leaps in the last week or so.  It feels like has changed so much and she is constantly doing new things.  Here are a few of her new feats...
She crawls (all over the house, mostly following me around or chasing the dogs)
She says "mama" all day long, can say dada, ba (for bottle)
She eats solid food, just started with cheerios, puffs, and some soft fruits and vegies.  She is very texture conscious and takes several tries before she likes anything.
She can pull herself up on furniture to standing (just lowered her crib yesterday)
She holds her own bottle and uses a sippy cup quite well

She has had her first time swimming and swinging on a playground

Puffs!

first graham cracker

standing up, yes that is my computer wire