Pulling up and Getting back down?

Ava has gotten really good and become more confidant at pulling herself up. However, she is still pretty nervous getting back to the seated position. Its funny, I've talked to friends and seen other kids at daycare just "let go" and let themselves fall backwards. Nope, not Ava. She carefully bends her knees, gets one hand firmly planted on the ground, and then lets the other hand go, plopping down on her butt. You can see what I mean in the pictures below.

Adventures in Food

We've been trying all sorts of table foods with Ava lately. In the past few days, she's tried (let me emphasize the word TRIED) fruit dip, wedding cupcakes, frosting, bbq sauce from little smokies, Ritz crackers, peas (the real thing, she like them better than the baby food kind), and cheese. They are also working with Ava at daycare to start taking her afternoon bottle of formula from a sippy cup. She is used to using a sippy cup, but only filled with water. They would like Ava to start eating more table foods since she is approaching her first birthday. Today at snack, she ate 4 Ritz Crackers and formula from a sippy cup. What a big girl!

First Date

Seven years ago today Darren and I had our first date. In honor of the day, I will share the story of how we met and our first date.

Our mutual friend, Wendy (Knoll) Miller kept telling me she wanted to set me up with Darren. I knew nothing about him, other than the fact that Wendy said he was cute. Finally, I got sick of her talking about it all the time that I agreed just so she wouldn't talk about it again. Right then and there, she dialed his number. I couldn't believe it! She talked me up a bit and said she wanted to set him up... he agreed (I found out later he always had friends trying to set him up, so it wasn't a big deal to him!)

Darren called me a few days later and we made plans for Sunday, August 10 for our first date. He picked me up in the afternoon and we went for a late lunch at Pepper's in Cedar Falls. After lunch we played a couple rounds of pool (I won!) and then headed to his house to go on a motorcycle ride.

After the date, I called my mom and told her I met my future husband!

Thanks, Wendy! Did you ever think you had such good match making skills?

10 months old!

Ava currently weighs 25 lbs, 9 oz. She has finally gotten her first tooth! A tiny little tooth finally popped through last Saturday, July 31. I haven't been able to get a good picture of it yet!

Ava is definitely getting faster at her crawling and has also started pulling herself up. She also loves to crawl and push toys around the house. She plays really well by herself. As we speak, she is crawling around the living room from toy to toy, "talking" to herself and being as cute as can be!

Ava usually only has 3 bottles a day now, and is eating three meals plus one or two snacks a day.

Ava is still wearing size 12 month clothing. Hopefully she doesn't have a huge growth spurt until fall, as I have only size 12 month clothes to wear until then! She is also still in size 4 diapers.

Her favorite toys these days are her new Leap Frog Activity Table, the little golf clubs Grandma Cindy brought her, her Puppy Pal, the new Tigger stuffed animal from Nana, her rocking horse, and anything that has wheels that she can push around. She still loves music and books and especially dancing!

Pull-ups!

Last week Ava pulled herself up for the first time. She was so proud. We also discovered Ava's first tooth!


Today, I put Ava in her crib to play for a few minutes while I got a few things ready before we had to leave for work/daycare. When I came back after just a few minutes to get Ava, she had pulled herself up to the side of her crib and was pulling books off the shelf next to her crib. She was also reaching over the edge, trying to pull stuff off the shelf. She is so funny.