Molars galore

The other day, I noticed that Ava had gotten about 1/2 of her first molar in (top left). I called Mike immediately. Then on Monday, I decided that I would see if any other molars were coming in and boy was I in for a surprise. She has all of the other 3 coming in. That would explain the excess drooling, chewing on her fingers and playing with her ear. What a big girl she is.



This is a video of her newest thing- her tongue!

New computer

Well, we finally did it, we bought our first computer. It is actually a laptop, but it's all the same in my world. We always used Mike's work laptop and I got a computer from work that I use in the office, but nothing has been officially ours, but this very laptop that I am typing on is ours. Yay, we joined the world with the big kids!

We had some nanny interviews today. We really liked the first girl and as it turns out, if all passes on her background check and references, we will hire her. The second girl, was really quiet and I could tell that she just might not know what she wanted and sure enough she emailed us this afternoon and said it won't be a fit. That is ok with us. We want it to be a 2 way street. So if all works out, then the new girl would start in August. That is part of the reason that we bought this laptop. We are going to wing it for April and May. It is easier to get work done with Ava if I am in the same room as her. She will play by herself if I am in the room. I plan to get up early to get things done and work during naps and evenings if I have to and then just work as I can while she is awake. Mike is going to fill in when I would actually need to leave the house. I am going to try to plan it around her naps so that he can work.

We went to our weekly Gymboree class on Friday. There was a boy, Braden, that was smitten with Ava, but she wanted nothing to do with him. I guess, he just started this thing where he would turn to sit on peoples laps and he kept trying to do that to Ava. She got a little bit scared, but eventually his mom stepped in and pulled him away. He grabbed at her shirt and that was finally what did her in. She is my observer. She has to warm up to people, kids included, before she jumps in. She has to make sure all is right with you. She is that way with everything, even new toys or even food. With food, if I try to feed her, she has to put it in her hand and sometimes she will even drop it and pick it up and move it around in her hands and once she has deemed it ok, she will eat it.

She is babbling up a storm, but no official words yet. She has many "banguage" (baby language) conversations, but no words. I am hoping that it will come soon. There are a lot of grunts to what she wants. I am going to keep working with her on that. i have to not give in and keep trying to get her to say a word before I do it, like UP or DRINK etc.. In due time!

She cut her first molar. I have known one was going to come anytime now because she was extra fussy and usually had night wakings. Yesterday, I decided to brave it out and check her mouth. After being bitten, very hard I might add, I felt it and then saw it. It is about 3/4ths the way in. I guess we have 3 more to go, then we will have a meat eater!

Well, next week is our first week with no sitter, so we will see how it goes. Wish us luck as we will need it. Go figure that we are moving offices and possibly stores in this next month....and I will probably have to be helping..

13 months old and new chair and sunnies

I was out shopping at Fry's this weekend when I saw this cute chair and thought it would be perfect for Ava. As of right now, when it is snack time, she won't sit in her high chair, she will only eat it off of the kitchen chair. So when I saw this chair, I thought it would be perfect for snack time. She LOVED it as soon as I put her on it. She started kicking her feet with joy!

Here are some sunglasses that she got as a baby, but she would never wear. Well, she isn't really wearing them now, but I got her to keep them on for at least a minute or two. When we put them on, we have to clap and show extra excitement as if she is a big girl. They are a bit small for her face, but I am going to keep trying so she will start wearing them come this summer.

She turned 13 months old on Sunday. What a big girl. She is sipping out of a straw. She did it last Thursday. We moved her sippy cups to a shelf that she can get into and she was holding that cup and trying to drink from it, so I put some water in it and she drank from it as if she had been doing it forever.

We are still in the middle of the nanny/daycare process. We have a couple of interviews set up for this weekend, so keep your fingers crossed that something works out. I have to think of this in the long term as we would like to have a second baby and that baby won't get the joy of having Jaclyn (my sister) to watch her, so if things work out, we could have the nanny watch the second one too!

Everything happens for a reason!

Look at those lips!!


Outside playing...



(What mom, I am trying to read!!)

Everything happens for a reason is my new mantra. Unfortunately, the nanny that I loved accepted a position the night before we made her the official offer. I was CRUSHED! She came to our house on Wednesday night to meet Ava and I was ready to make an offer, but Mike still wanted a couple of the references to clear first. We were waiting on Big Brothers Big Sisters to confirm that she worked there and had passed the background checks with them. I did 2 background checks that came back fine, but he still had to do this to make him feel comfortable. We were just about ready to leave on Thursday morning to go over to her house and check it out and she called and said that she had accepted a position that started in May with a couple that was 6 miles from her house. We are about 25 miles. Like I said, I was crushed. When we started this process, I was already thinking that we might not find anyone "good" enough to watch Ava and that she would have to go to Daycare. I wasn't loving that idea of daycare for her age. So, when we met Cynthia, I was so excited and had accepted that she would be our nanny. So back to the drawing board we go. Cynthia has offered to help out, so Mike is going to talk to her on Monday and see if she can help for April. We have no one lined up for May, but my mom has agreed to watch Ava 3 days a week for June and July and then we have to decide what to do. Well, as it turns out, one of the girls that we originally sent a message to on the website we are using for finding a nanny (care.com) had emailed me and said that she is currently a nanny but is going back to school to get her Masters and that our schedule would be perfect for her in August. I emailed her and we are going to meet her on Sunday. I am not going to get my hopes up this time around!! It would be perfect though. So we will see. keep your fingers crossed.

What's new, well Ava is discovering space. She loves to walk in between things where it is a small space. It is cute to watch. She walks behind the highchair all the time. This morning after our walk she walked by the tree and the brick wall. She loves to run on the couch too. I know, I did this one to myself and it is a bad habit. She will cry when she wants to get up. She likes to go from one end to the other and if you are sitting in the middle of the couch, she will walk/crawl over you as if you are not even there.
We had our second class at Gymboree. I think it is good for her to be around other kids. She is still hesitant at the end when we all sit in a circle and sing. She throws a fit when i try to bounce her or make her sit on the big parachute. I think it will just take her time. She likes to observe and when she is comfortable, she will join in. She is that way with anyone. When Cynthia was here, Ava came right over to me, but as the evening went on, she was OK with her. She is my observer and very cautious at first. We go every Friday so I am hoping that she will warm up. They are opening a Great Play, which is similar, right at the end of my street, but I saw the schedule and all the classes that she could go to are either during nap time or right when she would wake up. So i will have to wait until she drops one of her naps to go there.

Daycare or a Nanny???

Well, it is official,my sister that watches Ava got a "real" job and she starts March 29th. We are really happy for her, but sad at the same time as we will lose the comfort of her watching Ava. We have had many long discussions on what to do with Ava, daycare or a nanny in our home?? We decided to look at both and decide what feels right. This weekend we joined a website called care.com and searched for nannies. We sent out many requests, but didn't get a lot of bites. We got one, so we set up an interview at the Paradise Bakery right by our house. Earlier in the day we decided to check out the Goddard school which is a daycare that just opened last June that is in the same parking lot as my office (well at least it was as we are moving offices again!) We spent an hour and a half talking to Todd, the owner, that likes to use his hands for air quotes. We got to take a tour and meet ava's potential teacher. It is very secure there which is what Mike likes most. His biggest fear is someone running off with Ava.There are pros and cons. First, because Ava would be in the Toddler room, they are down to 1 nap because most babies drop to 1 nap shortly after turning 1. Ava isn't quite there yet and we would have to start getting her ready for it.They also sleep on a mat on the floor. Good luck to that teacher! How do you keep them there?!? The ratio is 1:6 because they are full and newer and had a bigger request at the infant level. It is much cheaper than a nanny,but she wouldn't get as much 1 on 1. I just really have a hard time with that piece. She will inevitably get sick a lot in the beginning too. On the positive side, there is structure and constant learning, but who is to say she will get as much attention.
We met with the nanny on Monday night and after a small mix up on the location,we got to meet her. I really liked her. Call it womans intution if you will. She is 33 years old and his a home maker that doesn't have to work because her husband is a lawyer, but she just has a way with kids and loves to be around them. She seems very patient and caring. I think she would be a great teacher and comforter to ava. She is way more expensive then we are currently paying jaclyn and daycare, but might be worth it. I just had a good feeling about her. Mike still can't get over the feeling that with a nanny what is to stop them from taking your child. We are having her over at our house tonight to meet Ava and see their interactions and in the meantime we are calling references. She has passed the background check that we got on the website and might do one more background check as well. If she passes all the background checks then we might go this route until Ava is 2 and then put her in daycare. We did get a call last night from the Goddard school and they do have an immediate opening,but can't guarantee it if we don't pay the holding fee so we are in a time crunch. Keep your fingers crossed that we figure out what to do.

Bye-Bye Bottles!

Our cutie! I must start with a picture of Ava, always!

Anyways, I finally did it. I got rid of her bottles!!!yay!!! As you may remember from a previous post, I was working on getting her to drink from a sippy cup. I eliminated the bottles except for her morning bottle and then her evening bottle. I tried to make the middle of the day sippy cup drinking experience fun so that she would like it. I would say, "what a big girl" and go ahhhh after she drank it and sometimes she copied me. Eventually I stopped her morning bottle and gave her a sippy cup with a snack in the morning and then gave the rest of it to her with her breakfast. She got the hang of it quickly. Then just a couple of days ago, I gave her her nighttime milk in a sippy cup and she drank it. It was as if she doesn't remember the bottle. So, we can finally have our kitchen back to almost normal. For the past year and one month, we have had her bottle drying rack and a bowl for dirty bottles/sippy cups on the counter top. I am putting it all away now. I just have to find a spot to put her sippy cups in the kitchen cabinets. Below is a picture of the monstrosity that took over our kitchen...



Ava has really discovered how fun it is to get into the kitchen cabinets. Two weekends ago, Mike baby proofed a couple of them (the important ones- the knife drawer and the ones below the sink). Now, we have to do the rest. I am going to leave 1 or 2 for her to play with stuff in because she thinks it fun. She loves to get into the cupboard and pull her food out, but we have lots of canned food down there and I am afraid one will fall on her precious feet.

She is growing up so fast. She is getting so close to talking. She says hhhh when we say hot or hat or anything with an 'h'. She is saying mamamama more and I think towards a person, so not just babble. I am trying to teach her more sign language so that if she is hungry or thirsty or tired, she can communicate that better than whining and pulling my pant leg.
She rubs her hands/arms together when I say "burrrr, cold", like we make the motion when we are cold. She is so cute when doing it. I have to get video of it all, so I don't forget, because she does some of the cutest things!
I just finished reading the Baby Whisperer and am currently working on her being ok with being by herself. I guess that is a part of separation anxiety. If she is playing and I leave the room, she will sometimes cry and come follow me. Sometimes there isn't any crying, but she has to follow me and if I am trying to wash the dishes or cook, she starts the crying and pulling on my pant leg to be held. I have caught myself saying, she just wants our attention and I can't clean or cook. That just means she has me wrapped around her finger. So, as suggested by Tracy, the baby whisperer, I get down to her level and looked her in the eye and in the shortest amount of words, let her know that I am right here and I am cleaning/cooking and that we will play as soon as I am done. She may fuss a bit more to be held, but I think she is getting it. I have to resist holding her when I know it is just whining because man do they learn fast. She is getting better playing for longer periods by herself if I am in the room. Soon, I will try to move out of the room and see if she can still play. Eventually, the idea is to get her to be able to play and me be able to walk out of the room and for her to know that I will come back. Part of this is also for me having to leave to go run an errand or go into the office for a meeting especially if we lose our sitter, jaclyn..
Next will be getting rid of the paci. I read that I am keeping it for her more for me than her. I know that to be true. She doesn't need it. I am trying to only give it to her for naps, bedtime, and playtime in her crib. Soon, I will take it away from playtime in the crib, then naps, then bedtime. The paci is some of the reason that she still wakes at night crying. It doesn't happen very often and it is usually early morning hours, like 4 am or 5 am, and i run in and give it to her, lay her down, get her bunny and off to sleep she goes, or I cross my fingers hoping for that. It usually works, but I want to be able to get rid of the monitor and to not worry that every noise is cause for me running to her room. A good nights sleep is all I am asking for !!

Never eat yellow snow!

What a weekend! We went to Prescott for the weekend to celebrate my grandpa's 90th birthday! It was Sunday, so we decided to make a weekend out of it since Ava isn't really a great traveler. We left at 5 am Saturday morning. We woke Ava up from sleeping in hopes that she would be sleepy for at least the first hour. For the most part she was, but I had to read a lot of books and pull out a lot of toys for the last hour.

We got up there and I thought it might be fun to go to the Prescott zoo since it is smaller than the Phoenix zoo. First we had to stop at Prescott Brewing Company for lunch for Mike. We always go there when we go to Prescott, then it was off to the zoo. We didn't see that many animals as they were all sleeping, but we did see a few. Here is a picture..



Today, the family came over to my mom's house for my grandpa's 90th birthday celebration. Ava was a little shy at first, but warmed up a bit. Then, about 12 noon today, it started to snow. At first it was light and not sticking, but once it did, we had to take Ava outside to experience the snow for the first time. She loved it. Here are some pictures of her in the snow...

I gave her some motherly advice and told her never to eat the snow if it is yellow!!!! Everyone was there with us experiencing her first time with the snow.

Overall, it was a nice weekend. It was an interesting trip as it has been since Ava was a baby (Oct) since we have gone anywhere and of course the rules has changed. I had to make sure to have food options for her as she can't always eat what we eat. She is definitely more sensitive to where she sleeps. My mom has a crib in the room next to ours and for the most part she did great. She would cry for about 30 seconds when I would first put her down, but I waited outside of her room and she would go right to sleep, but when she woke up, she was ready to get up. There was no playing around for her. We will be going to LA for Mike's sisters wedding in July and it will be interesting to see how that goes. I think we might have to make one more weekend trip to Prescott this summer as a test. The other hard part is the drive. The drive to Prescott is about 2 hours, the drive to LA without stopping except for a couple of pee stops, is 6 hours. We might have to leave at night when we go to LA to get her to sleep. She will only sleep 30 minutes to the dot when we travel in the car right now.

Traveling with a little toddler is probably more stressful on me than her, but the world didn't end and to that, i cheers us both.