Snuggle bug

Ava has the most adorable new habit. She loves to find something soft like a blanket or stuffed animal, put it up to her face and snuggle it. Her favorites right now are her pink fleece blanket and a stuffed bunny. It's quite possibly the cutest thing I have ever seen.

Yesterday daddy was putting up a baby gate at the top of the stairs and miss Ava wanted to help out. She mostly read the directions to him, and she must of done a good job because the gate was successfully installed.

Good Ears Gone Bad

First of all, I apologize to those of you who read this blog on a regular basis for not updating more frequently. Miss Ava has kept me extremely occupied with mommy duties. She is crawling at warp speed now and exploring the house constantly. Just doing her job, really. Favorite activities include climbing up the fireplace grate (with mommy always right behind her stating "NO touch!"), crawling up to Astro and pulling his tail (Astro does not appreciate this, but seems to tolerate her for now), and turning over a basket full of daddy's cycling gear.

On the down side, Miss Ava has had a cold for the past week that turned into an ear infection. So she is now on antibiotics, but seems to be dealing with it quite well. It's only the second time she has been sick in 10 months, so really she's exceptionally healthy. Let's hope it stays that way.

Off with a bang!

Ava wanted to start the new year off right and suprised us by crawling forward. She has been crawling in reverse for a couple of months but now learned how to shift into forward. She spent an hour or so on New Year's day chasing a little ball across the floor and squealing. She has also started pulling herself up onto things, especially mommy and daddy. But I think her favorite new accomplishment is using her pincer grasp to pick up those cheerios!

Christmas Elf

Ava's 1st Christmas came and went and what an adventure it was. The little elf spent several days opening presents although the big hit was the wrapping paper and ribbons. She was very spoiled with many gifts and lots of attention from grandparents. Mommy and Daddy are already looking forward to next year's Christmas and a visit from Santa.