Routine?

Well, we have been hard at work trying to get Ava back on her bedtime routine, since the trip, but so far, this is what happens when I ask her where the bed is...she runs to daddy for protection against evil mommy and would rather fall asleep at his bottom than going to bed in her big nice comfy crib. What will I do with either one of them???

Back into the swing of things....

Ava missed her friends

and I think they missed her too



They apparently needed some privacy?

Daddy thought maybe Ava needed to be re-introduced to her tent...

and she did seem to enjoy it for that one night, and then a few nights later after she had not paid any attention to it and we were trying to fold it back up to put it away.

Ava enjoys getting in her rays

Oh, also another odd thing, since we've been home, Ava will not play on the slide anymore, but she is loving the swing, which used to never entertain her for more than a minute.....

...she'd let us swing her until she falls asleep! This has definitely made playdates easier for me, so I am not too concerned.

This is Daddy's new favorite biking spot destination with Ava. Ideally, we'd like to build a house up here, but something about it being a preserved historical area...blah, blah, blah....we'll see how desperate California gets when they really go bankrupt.....muhahaha!

Ava's new love for "picking flowers," which literally has becoming picking the flower and then picking it to shreds...hmmm...she's got some learning to do.....
So, this basically sums up the rest of July

....sorry for the delayed updates.....mama's been a little preoccupied.

18 month check up!

I always forget to take a picture at the doctor's office, but it is usually because Ava is so anxious when she gets in that room and I have to undress her for the weighing. She actually stresses out about that much more than the actual shots.

So here are Ava's 18 month old stats;

she weighs in at a whopping 19 pounds 4 ounces and she's nearly 31 inches tall. That puts her at 4th percentile for weight and 25th for height...not too shabby.

When we got home, she was ready to wash away all the pain of that office visit...

...as you can see, she bounces back pretty quick.

she will not have another check up until 24 months, so she will only have to go back to the pediatrician's office when the new one is born, we can only hope that we all make it there in one piece!

Going home

Ava was really going to miss this place, well at least the friends and family

We had a long week and we needed to rest of the for the plane trip, so apparently mom and baby think a like...

Ava would miss her cousins; Jack

and Nathan,

but she knew it was time to go home and she just loves those pretzels!

A SPECIAL Thank you to Grandma Joyce, Mr. Marlow, and the Dr. Chan's for hosting and entertaining us like always!
(oh, and not to forget Grandma Nguyen and the Dao sisters for holding down Ava to give her that toddler-looking hair cut, despite Daddy's objections to what, at that time, seemed so torturous and cruel, but now seems so cute and functional)

Ava learning to play nice

Ava first had to learn to play nice with the cat, before we could introduce her to Nathan, but she just ended up taking all of Clyde's toys

then we thought we'd let them parallel play, so far, so good....

before you knew it, they were kissing cousins....(special thanks to Calvin for the gorgeous photos -- we'll have to post up the rest of the photo shoot in an album)

then speaking of cousins, Jack was trying to show Ava how to build with blocks, but she is never one to sit back and listen, she'd rather "take charge," but he is so laid back, he just goes with the flow

On 4th of July, Cassie taught my baby to play the drums, and Ava learned to "share"

then we introduced Ava to another little one, this is Redding and Ava enjoyed petting, I mean playing with him too....I think all of this practicing may just pay off

and these are just too cute, (special thanks to Katrina for the lovely photo-taking), Jon is serious about teaching Ava to swim

After all of those intense swim lessons, Ava would rather just play on the side with her cup

Pool time is every day in Texas

She is swimming like a champ

and apparently she loves the backstroke

she doesn't seem to be as scared of this auntie as she was of the one that picked us up

and she loves this game that her uncle has taught cousin Jack to play with her (it's always "more")

She is enjoying Grandma's pool

we forgot the swim diaper, but Ava was so polite she would get out of the pool to tinkle -- what a smart girl! (really, she really did pee outside the pool)

"H" is for "Hi", all week her cousin Jack has been teaching her the letters of the alphabet, but she's not quite as advanced as he is, yet.....

6am to Texas

Ava did great on the plane! We must always count our blessings and thank the person that invented Benadryl....j/k....sorta

We arrived to meet our nephew for the very first time....what a cutie!

Farm Girl