Almost 16 Months!!!

Okay so this post is not co-operating so the pictures are just going to be scattered throughout and not placed well. My impatience won. :/

Ava looking for Daddy to come home.

Ava and her letters! And Ava and Mommy.

The Silly Face makes a come-back. :)

Golfing!! Way to go Stephen :)

Ava blowing kisses from her perch in the rocking chair.

At the driving range.

Silly little girl!!!

Here are a few photos we wanted to share from August. Most of them are of Ava, as I have been trying to be better about taking photos of her. Jen Henley asked me the other day about where to get a book to record baby's firsts and as I answered I realized that we have been incredibly negligent in recording most of Ava's first, so I'm trying with pictures and one of these days I'll sit down and remember/record all of her firsts.

Look at how big!!!!

This past weekend was orientation, for which both Stephen and I had to work. "Long days" is pretty much the summation of the whole thing. Fortunately for Stephen, he had Saturday off, so he went golfing with his brother Bryan who's here for orientation, and my Dad and brother TJ who came in with my Mom to watch Ava while we both worked.

Classes started today and while Stephen is breathing easy as this is his first semester after graduation, I'm waiting impatiently for the bookstore to get my book in so I can start reading for my Directed Study course on Human Development. I'm taking the course in addition to assistant teaching at the Montessori school that opens later this month. Ava will also be attending the school, so it's an exciting opportunity for both of us.

Ava is doing more exciting things everyday: now she can open all the drawers in the kitchen which means that now our utencils are no longer safe, along with the innocent oven mitts, none of whom expected the sad abuse they are now receiving. The chairs are also no longer safe in our house, as Ava has figured out how to climb into/out of them. The first accomplishment was the glider which is now downstairs, and this keeps her occupied for quite a long time. Mommy was reluctant to remove her from her new toy, because though it proved to be a falling hazard, she was so happy to get up into the chair and rock and sometimes even sit for a bit and watch some tv.

Two steps forward, one step back.

She also now has a mouth full of teeth. It seemed as though the top two and bottom four came in and then there was a pause and suddenly every other tooth in her head popped through. Other than that, she's walking and running all over, absolutely fearless. We've found that while she loves putting a purse on her shoulder, she also does not cry if she falls down and scrapes her legs. There is nothing she does not want to go see or know about. And while this can be incredibly tiring....INCREDIBLY tiring and trying, it is also great to see someone so full of life and desire to know. She's working on her words, actually sits and reads books with me now.

We did also find out a few weeks ago that Ava has a peanut allergy. Neither Stephen nor I have a peanut allergy so we don't know much about what causes it or much about the allergy itself. The doctor had us take Ava to get blood drawn for the test which was torture in and of itself. We made it through that and then heard that she has a level 5 (of 6 levels) allergy. This requires us to have and carry an epipen with us at all times. The doctor did say that children can grow out of this allergy and that he wants to test her again in two to three years to see if it has changed at all. We hope that it will go away, though we're not sure that she really has the allergy that bad to begin with. Time will tell.