Home, Sweet, Playground....

Auntie is trying to get Ava used to the slide

She is resisting a little bit

mama caught this blurry action shot

so we moved on to the swings, which she has always been quite timid of...

but we were telling her that if that other baby could do it, then she could do it.

And that's all it took...

then mama decided to try the slide again, the trick is to let her feel like she's doing it on her own

then she seems much more relaxed and she can enjoy the ride

I was trying to catch this cute picture of Ava being pulled by her Autnie, but noooooooooo...

apparently she is too cool for the camera.

Tampa - pretty, but much too warm for us

So we headed to Tampa after a long stay in Dallas and all my baby wanted to do was sleep, eat, nap, play, nap, eat, play, and nap some more.

Ava took 3 naps each day! (she must have been super tired)

Ava was just itching to get out and run around

So, we strolled down the bay and found this playground, where Ava tested out her climbing skills, scaring mama half to death.

Then, here at the airport, they had a very cool play area with all of these airplanes that the kids could play on and apparently watching this boy has motivated Ava to do some more climbing

so this is her attempt at being a rambunctious boy

she made it up though

then she'd fall and get right back up and try again

she is one tough cookie

We were having so much fun in the play area, we almost missed our flight...daddy was very worried, but we caught the flight. Then the weirdest thing happened; Ava slept for the first hour, but when she woke up, she threw up for almost 30 minutes straight. She then went back to sleep for the rest of the flight and by the time we landed in Vegas, she was back to her old self. I was chasing her all through the slots and the security people didn't have the heart to tell that adorable little girl to get out of the gambling areas. Our second leg went perfectly and boy were we glad to be home.

Special gathering at my Uncle's House

All of these pictures are courtesy of The Ly's, THANKS guys!
We had a blast!

What is in store for these babies' future?

This is a Vietnamese/Chinese tradition on a baby's 1st birthday. The choices they make here may shape their entire futures. So you just put these items into a bowl and let the children pick something. Each item has some sort of meaning.....

The brush represents art and money represents wealth, but it may be mixed in with greed, I am not sure......we'll see.

Watch out for Ava!

Ava's 1st Birthday Party

We decided to celebrate early in Texas with family and friends, it was a great time and thank you always to the hosts, Tuoc & Calvin for always putting up with our parties (and we're sorry that you ended up sick after being around all those babies)!

Ava is still learning the concept of sharing

as you can see, she hasn't quite grasped it, yet, but we are working on it

Now with Dylan, Ava is learning boundaries

it started out as a kind gesture

but somehow, somewhere something went wrong, terribly wrong

and just like that Ava was down for the count

My mom was on a secret (well maybe not so much secret, as completely blatant) mission to teach Jack to walk

but he knew better and he quickly put a stop to that shenanigans

Jack doesn't need to walk to take on Ava

but he will have to learn to eat faster if he doesn't want to see all of his food disappear

because around my house, my baby knows if there is food in front of your face, you eat it.....hahaha

maybe Jack is learning?

Happy Birthday to you,
Happy Birthday to you,
Happy Birthday, Dear Ava,
Happy Birthday to you!

Make a wish so mama can blow out the candle before you try to touch the fire

She will put her hands in anything she's not supposed to, but you put the cake in front of her to let her go at it, and nothing....so mommy had to help it along

Grandpa is feeding Ava her first piece of red velvet cake

The Gang

THANK YOU to all that showed up on such short notice and shared this special day with us!