Outside

Ava loves being outside.

Mostly, she loves eating everything outside.
Let me rephrase...she loves to TRY to eat everything outside. TRY meaning, I don't let her of course.
Leaves, grass, flowers...she isn't picky.

Our new apartment complex has a nice shaded grassy area where I take Ava and let her explore.
She will crawl all around in search of the next thing to taste.

Can you spot her teeny, tiny barely-there ponytail?
It's cute and so funny looking.

Whatever she finds, she is always willing to share.

"Want some?"

Look what I found...

She was barely 2 months old...
so small and perfect.
This little person I hardly knew but loved so much.

And now look at her.
Bigger, and still just perfect in every way.
And somehow I love her even more...which I never thought possible.

Crib standing

I peeked in during "nap time" today and found Ava doing this...

(She had been quiet, I thought she was asleep)

What the heck?

So much has happened with Ava this week.

I swear she has learned something new almost every day.

She now can crawl, pull herself up on furniture to stand, go from laying down to sitting to standing and back down again and walk along furniture and walls.

She is officially mobile.

This has brought a new adventure into our home when it comes to bed time and nap time.  

Very cute, but oh so frustrating. 

Sleep training 2.0 has officially begun.

Stats: 8 months, 1 week

Today, we went to the pediatrician for Ava's "9 month" well-baby checkup. 

Of course, she is only 8 months and 1 week, but it was the only time they had available until after we get back from Virginia.
Close enough.

Here are her stats:

Weight: 22 pounds 4 ounces (96% weight to age) (50% weight to length)

Height: 2 feet 6.25 inches (30.25 inches) (99.9%)

Head circumference: 17.5 inches (77%)

And in case you are worried Ava might grow to be 7 feet tall and be in the 99.9th percentile forever...

check out MY stats from my own 9 month appointment as a baby:

Weight: 22 pounds, 10 ounces

Height: 31 inches

It doesn't get much closer than that!

Any question that she truly is MY daughter?

Genetics: fascinating.

Thank you to my wonderful mom for recording these kinds of things!

It makes me sick to my stomach to think that her next appointment will be around her first birthday.

Her.FIRST.birthday?

........ not even going to talk about that .......

Ava the Explorer

The more mobile Ava gets, the more she gets into everything.
duh...I know
It's amazing how she finds the teeniest little speck of dust,
the tiniest leaf on the freshly-swept patio,
the smallest piece of something, somehow, somewhere that I missed.
And of course, it goes straight into her mouth.

She is definitely a curious little explorer.
Very meticulous with her findings.
She picks something up and with furrowed brow, turns it over and over in her little chubby fingers.
Examining it from every possible angle.
And then always decides it most definitely must be examined from inside her mouth.
Which has caused much drama as I lunge forward to quickly stop her.

She is never content to sit still for very long.

Watching her discover her newfound independence is the cutest and funniest thing I've seen her do.

And I will leave you with some videos of her today by the pool. 

She's getting better at crawling - 

but of course the rough cement at the pool wasn't a prime crawling spot for a beginner.

My little loud-mouth Ava. 

I LOVE that she is so "talkative." 

Daddy's girl

Have I ever mentioned that my baby loooooooves her Daddy?

Maybe a couple times?

Yeah, well add one more time to the list.

Because she does.

She really, really does. :)

And I LOVE that my baby loves her Daddy. 

Crawling

I just have to write a quick post about this so I don't forget the day it happened:

Last night Ava started crawling! 

She's still slow and a tiny bit unsure. 

But still crawling nonetheless.

It started as a bear crawl like Mowgli from the Jungle Book.

Now, it's on one foot and one knee like a push, scoot push, scoot.

With her pulling herself up on furniture and then walking along it
(Bryson says she is "walking the rails")
and now this...

I need to work extra hard at getting our moving box-infested new apartment in baby proof condition
as.soon.as.possible. 

:)

Story Time

Ava loves books.

And she definitely has a few favorites. 

She will always go to her basket of books and pull out the same one, every time. 

Lately, when I read to her, she will chuckle after every page. 

Love my bug!

Colorado trip

We had the best trip to Colorado for my brother's graduation! 

So much family, so little time!

These pictures are completely out of order, but you get the idea. :)

Asian tourists taking pictures of and with Ava at the airport. 

 Asian tourists taking pictures of and with Ava at the airport. 

 Asian tourists taking pictures of and with Ava at the airport. 

 My brother spoke at his graduation. So proud of my baby brother. :)

 Uncle Jay and baby Ava

 Cousin Kameron and Ava

 Kaitlyn, Auntie and Ava

 The tutins

 Grandma Lisa, Grandma Becky, Great-grandma Nam and Grand-grandma Granny :)

 Ava fell asleep on Auntie's shoulder. :)

This was SO cute and SO painful for Auntie after 10 minutes haha. Chunky baby!

 Ava was so curious about Papa's mustache.

Cousins

 Cousins

Cousins

 Love that belly!

Papa, Jayson, Auntie, Kaitlyn and Ava 

 Thank you Uncle Jayson for Ava's new favorite toy! Makes her Auntie Kaitlyn and Karley proud. 

 Great-Granny Lu and Ava Lu

 Uncle Jayson and Ava

 Con GRAD uation!

 Love this guy!

 Grandma Becky and Ava

 We love you Jayson, oh yes we do-oo!

 Grandma Lisa and Ava.

 Kam and man and Ava.

 Jayson at his graduation.

 He's done!

 Great Papa with Ava during the graduation...trying to keep her occupied haha. 

Thanks for the wonderful trip!