Little Miss Social Butterfly

This past week Ava has really come out of her shell. Not that she was in a shell, but her personality is just starting to really show. A personality trait that both Josh and I have noticed is Ava is quite the social butterfly. Ava is constantly babbling to anyone who will listen. (I am excited to say she has now added “Mama” to her list of words) Ava especially gets excited whenever she sees another baby. This past week we had two little girls come to our house at separate times. They ranged in age from 18 months to 2 years. Ava was not intimated at all by the older kids. She would follow the kids around and watch everything they did. Anytime she wanted to talk to the other babies she would scream...literally! Ava hasn’t quite mastered using her quiet voice yet, but she sure knows how to use her loud voice. Anytime Ava would speak one of the little girls would run to her mom for protection, while the other one pointed and told Ava “No”. (We later found out that this is what they say to their grandma’s dog when it barks)

A few posts ago I mentioned how Ava and a little boy in Young Womens were best buds. Well here is a little update. I think Ava is quite smitten with the little cutie. During Young Womens on Sunday, Ava was never more than a few inches away from the little boy. During the whole lesson she would go to where he was, give him a hug and kiss him on the face, shoulder, back (whatever was closest). He didn’t seem to mind. But Josh has already had a talk with her about not dating until she is 16 years old.

I should of tried this sooner

Maybe this is because Ava is our first child, but we absolutely hate hearing our little princess cry. Especially when we can help it. Ava has always been a great sleeper. She started sleeping through the night at 6 weeks (she has sure spoiled us in that aspect). Up until now, we haven’t enforced a strict bedtime. Just whenever Ava falls asleep, that’s when she goes to bed. Recently she started going to sleep at 11:30, then 12 and then even 12:30 in the morning! After a few weeks, that really took a toll on both Josh and me. I love my daughter to death, but I never realized just how important alone time is to your sanity :) This past week Josh and I grudgingly decided to enforce a bedtime for Ava. After taking a bath, eating a meal, and reading a few bedtime stories, we would put Ava to bed at 9:30 even if she wasn’t asleep. Gulp! The first night she cried for 30 minutes. The second night was a little better, she cried for 10 minutes. And the past two days she hasn’t cried at all. The best part is she doesn’t even wake up any earlier in the morning, even though she is going to be 3 hours earlier. It was hard the first few days listening to our little girl cry. Especially when she would say “dada” over and over. But I must admit, it was soooo worth it!

In Young Womens each Sunday, we get to announce something good that happened this week. I already know what I’m going to say. I’ve been looking forward to it for the past 2 weeks. Josh got this past Friday off from work!!! Sadly, Josh just wanted to stay home all day and relax. But come on, I’m home everyday and wanted to get out of the house. So we compromised and decided to just be out for the morning. The weather has been fabulous this past week. Temps ranging in the high 50’s and low 60’s. So we decided it would be nice to go outside for the day. We decided to go to Mt. Diablo. A mountain (more like a puffed up hill) behind where we live. It is about 4000 ft. tall. The great thing about it was that you could drive your car all the way to the top. It was a little bit foggy, but we could make out the white topped peaks of the Sierra Nevada Mountains to the east. And then to the west we could see San Francisco and even the Golden Gate Bridge. It’s always nice getting away from the hustle and bustle of the city. The best part of the day though was eating lunch and In N Out. Mmmm...french fries :)

Look Out World

It’s amazing how much Ava has developed just since the last post. Being mobile has opened up a whole new world for Ava bug. Especially since she learned how to pull herself up on objects. Glasses, books, and phones that were once safe on the coffee table are now in danger of the slobber queen. Baby gates and outlet plug covers have become essential. Besides being miss busy body, Ava has also learned a few new tricks. She is able to say “dada” (despite my attempts otherwise), she has learned how to wave (more like swing her whole right arm widely), she gives open mouth kisses (she actually leans in and kisses our cheeks), and she strongly dislikes peas (just like her dad). Before I forget, I posted a video of Ava crawling. Check it out under the Movies link.

This past month I was released from being a Primary teacher and put in as the Young Women’s Secretary in our ward. The YW’s president has a little boy who is just about a week older than Ava. During our Sunday lesson we put our little kids down on the floor to play around. Immediately Ava crawled right over to her little boy. Anywhere he would go, she would follow. If he climbed onto the garbage can, Ava did it too. If he tried to eat the tree moss, Ava tried. If he tried touching the outlet plug, so did Ava. I think you get the picture. It was so cute watching them play together. Anytime Ava would see the little boy she would do this little squeal. The little boy even gave Ava a wet slobbery kiss on the head. I’ll keep you updated on any future developments :)