Incubation

For some unknown reason, I have failed to mention on this blog that there is currently a baby girl incubating in my womb. Well, I know the reason...it's my old friend "laziness". If this is any indication of how neglectful I will be at documenting baby number two's life, then I need to repent.

I kept a fairly faithful journal of my pregnancy woes when I was pregnant with Ava. All I did was gripe and bemoan my suffering. Maybe that's another reason why I haven't said anything about this pregnancy. I only wanted to exude motherly love this time around, and not constantly complain about morning sickness and other pregnancy ailments. And believe me, I got 'em! But right now things are looking pretty good. I am already 23 weeks along! I'm not too large...YET, although the other night after pigging out on fondue I started sporting the beginning stages of a waddle.We are so excited about this new addition to our family. I want to make it clear that silence on this blog does not equal lack of excitement. It is merely an exhibition of my lack of commitment to this blog, which really is a shame.

I don't think Ava fully grasps that there will be a baby sister to steal her limelight in a little while, but she is able to point out "baby sister in mommy's tummy". Now I have two girls kicking me (one in the womb) and the other in my bed at night. I'm really exaggerating about Ava kicking me at night since she is actually sleeping well these days, but the tide may turn!

Here is my 23rd week of unsexyness in its full glory

Little Miss Sassy

Ava is a really sweet cuddly girl and just a ton of fun to be around. But she's started picking up some interesting sayings. Of course I can only blame myself, since she is around me all day long. Her new sassy sayings:

"I hate it (pronounced "hain it")"

"Be quiet, mommy"

"Don't touch me hair"

"Go away!"

"Crazy mommy" (I think David taught her this one)

"Listen to me!"

She says some really funny things like:

"How's it going? Great!"

"I like it. Yummy ginger" (she doesn't like ginger and laughs hysterically when she says this)

"I'm hiding!" (she says this when she is pooping and wants to be left alone to do her business in the closet or behind the curtain)

"Come here, Canka!" (we don't know who Canka is and we usually hear her shouting this when she is in her crib)

If we say something that she thinks is incorrect she'll be sure to correct us by saying "No, no, no, no, no, it's _____". She likes to crack jokes like say "A cat says yee-yaw. Oh sorry, mommy, a donkey says yee-yaw".

Here are pictures of the hooligan after drinking chocolate milk. She loves to stare at her milk mustache in the mirror.

Quick Pics

Bowling a strike with Daddy

Ava had the most fun handing out candy

Ava & Chase pallin' around at the ward Trunk or Treat

Ava was a cat for Hallowe'en

Ava 'hanging' around at MyGym

2 year old photo session!

It was high time that we took some good pictures of Ava. So of course that means someone else had to do it...my friend Lindsay is an awesome photographer and took some adorable pictures of Ava. Here are just a few that I like. Ava wore three different outfits and she did really well at the photoshoot. It was so fun to watch Ava pose! She looked so grown up. She followed Lindsay around like a puppy dog. Check out Lindsay's website at http://harttohartdigital.blogspot.com/

2 year old joys and blues

Ava is still a lightweight at less then 22 pounds. At least she's getting taller and is a little over 34 inches.

Something terrible has happened with Ava's sleep habits. I was just bragging about her sleeping so well less than a month ago and now here we are back in sucky sleep land. She takes horrible naps now and has already started sleep delaying tactics by saying "tummy hurts", "more books", "give me sippy cup", or "want some oatmeal". Ava makes requests for lullabies by saying "Mary had" (Mary had a little lamb) and "Papa" ("Hush little baby"). One can only sing all 8 verses of "Mary had a little lamb" so many times before one wants to fling oneself down the stairs. Once she's asleep, whoever is putting her to bed has to creep out and pray that she doesn't hear us. But that girl has some crazy good hearing.

We've re-entered the world of co-sleeping since Ava wakes up in the middle of the night and wants to snuggle with mommy and daddy. No one, including Ava, really sleeps well in this arrangement. Ava shouts out random words in the middle of the night ("No!", "Ants!", "Armpit"!) so I can only imagine what she is dreaming about. Although I must admit it is quite sweet to watch her sleep in the morning. She looks so beautiful and angelic. Also, when David leaves for work before 7am, she usually makes sure daddy gives her a proper goodbye by saying "give me kiss" even though her eyes are half-closed. Usually I hope Ava will stay asleep until 8am, but sometimes she'll start giving me kisses and pull my hair while she waits for me to get my tush out of bed.

Ava has a very cute little personality and likes to giggle. She is still kind of shy but once she warms up to someone, she gets a little obsessive with that person. She loves My Gym and wants to go there all the time, especially to see "Manda", who works there. She likes to say rhymes likes "Panda Manda" all day long. She says some other really sweet/funny/weird things:

"Don't be cry, mommy, be happy, mommy." I like to fake cry in front of her so that she'll listen better. That tactic will probably backfire on me soon. When I pretend to be mad at her and turn away from her, she always tries to turn my head back to face her and says, "No, no, mommy."

"Let me see armpit. Other one". She is always requesting that I raise my arms. Don't ask me why.

"Come on, stinky." She said this to me the other day when she wanted to go downstairs.

"I love you, TV". The TV gets a hug and kiss too.

When David is at work and I ask her where daddy is, she always says "mall". She must know something I don't.

Ava loves to watch music videos on the computer and her favorite videos are "Hey, Mickey" (Toni Basil), "Shake It" (Metro Station) and "Boom boom pow". We'll have to put up a video of her dancing to one of these songs.

Happy Birthday, Ava!

Ava turned 2 on September 5, and we threw a little party for her the day before. I thought Ava turning 2 was such a momentous occasion that it was definitely time for a party (no party last year). We had it at Monkey Joe's, which is pretty much a warehouse of inflatable slides, and where children run themselves ragged. About 9 of her little buddies showed up. Unfortunately I didn't get pictures of everyone playing, which I am bummed about. I think the party went very well and hoped everyone who attended had a blast! We are so appreciative of the support everyone showed and for the presents! I don't think Ava really understood what was going on exactly, but when everyone sang "Happy Birthday" to her, she seemed to enjoy that. It was a special moment.

Ava's Elmo cake. No, I didn't make it...I didn't want to shame Ava with anything I would make

                                           Jaws of pure fun

                                           Ava couldn't stop smiling

                                   Her buddy Gavin agreed to pose before running off to play

                                    Heather and Bailey...even Bailey got to go down the slides

                            Marijo and Quincy. Quincy wasn't interested in the food...just the slides!

                               Michelle and Chase showing us what pure happiness looks like

                                      Come on Khari! Their friendship has really blossomed

                                      Kate waving her arms like she just don't care

                             Pizza, juice, cake and ice cream...the four food groups of a toddler

                                       Ava sharing her birthday seat with mommy

                             Ava was proud of her Elmo cake. She kept saying "want some Elmo cake"

 

              I had this ridiculous idea of sending Ava and Chase down the slide by themselves. Ava's arm looks like it's about to be ripped out of the socket. She was quite upset...so was daddy.

                                    Ava loved climbing around by herself

 
                                     Her special glasses that she got from Monkey Joe's-she loved them

Funny language

Ava has a funny way of saying lots of words. She gets a little lazy with her pronunciation. I'm hoping these funny pronunciations aren't too permanent. Here is a dictionary of Ava's language:

 strawbaba: strawberry

api: octopus

 ah nu (she has said "I wa you" but gets lazy I guess): I love you

babysuit: bathing suit

kowawa: koala

bluebaby: blueberry

crocodukudu: crocodile

Bashu: butterfly

isee: elephant

Shodo: cereal

zippy: zebra

gotch: dog

BDD:DVD

wayu: raspberry

dadu: downstairs

make you: thank you

badup: balloon

She's finally putting two or three words together and just getting a lot more vocal. Some of the sweetest things she says is ""Bless You" whenever we sneeze, or "Sorry, mommy" when she knows she is in trouble. Sometimes she'll whisper "I wa you" (I love you) in our ears if she feels like telling secrets or randomly say "give me kiss". She melts our hearts!

 One day she randomly said her ABCs from A through K. I was very surprised since she just did it out of the blue. But the miracle of all miracles right now is that I can put her down in her crib, say good night and walk away! No more sitting on the floor and singing countless lullabies and trying to hone my ninja skills when I sneak out without making a peep.  This works for nap time too. This is just a huge deal! I don't want to go anywhere and leave our home for a night for fear of messing this up. 

Block Island!

We headed up to Rhode Island for a Smock family reunion in mid July. The weather was gorgeous except for one rainy day. It was kind of fun to be cooped up that day and play games.

 You have to take a ferry (our ferry took almost 2 hours from Newport).  I don't think Block Island is over commercialized, and it's the type of place where there is something for everyone. David and I actually got to go biking once, and that was very challenging for wimpy me. The trails are beautiful and looking out for poison ivy is always an adventure. David got to go swimming in the lake quite a few times and loved it. I really enjoyed roasting the hot dogs and making the s'mores on the beach. 

Ava loved being with all of her cousins and still lists some of them off these days. There really is nothing like being around family! It always makes us sad to think about not having family nearby.

There was an episode of Ava running around butt naked all over the beach and she put on quite a show. Wish I had pics because her cute little buns were just too adorable!!! 

Ava and mommy at the tip of the island by the North Light House

Apparently it was a windy day...

Why settle for 1 bag of chips when you can have 50?

Another generation of pasty white legs :)

Watching the cousins catch clams at Andy's Way.

Ava finding Uncle Dan's 'stache quite amusing

Just a couple of FOBs (Fresh Off the Boat) 

Hanging out at the cool kid's house-we felt very priviledged to stay at the famous Jens Risom A-frame house

Nothing like wind blowing through those golden locks

Hello Block Island

Taking a stroll in Newport

Mom better think twice about taking any of these fries

Creepy Eyes strikes again!

Waiting for our ride at the hotel

On the ferry back to Newport

Cheeky girl

Ava's new thing is lifting up her butt cheek to let out a toot while she is sitting down. Where did she pick that up from? It's the cutest thing. She does it so nonchalantly, like she was born to do it. She also likes to announce that she just tooted by saying "Toot!" and giggling.

Ava is 21 months old!

My little baby is 21 months old! Ava sure is a sassy little thing. She's a mommy's girl but wants to be independent too.

Her favorite activities are:
-watching Signing Time videos. She flaps her arms around when she wants to watch it (she's trying to do the sign for "play)
-having lots of books read to her. She's constantly saying "Read! Read!"
-Playing with my tummy fat. She really likes lifting up my shirt and squishing my tummy fat (lucky for her there's plenty of it). She likes to finish her fat fondling session by blowing raspberries on my tummy. This happens at least 5 times a day. She doesn't like to play with David's tummy because it is hairy, or as she describes it "Yucky".
-Being tickled by Daddy and waiting by the door when Daddy comes home for work.



Her new favorite foods are:

-"Man Tou" (Chinese bread)
-soup
-sushi
-noodles from Trader Joe's. She's always trying to steal mine!



Ava's still not too much of a talker. She doesn't put more than two words together really, but she's picked up a few more words recently: Toot, Touch, Wall, Okay (a pig also says "okay"), Read, Cuppa or coop for book, yucky, Hand, Owl, Toy, Boy, Elbow, Ernie, Oscar “occo”, Opi for open, In, Dora, Whoa, and Whoa Joe, Ah Gong (my dad), Ah Yi, "Hua" Chinese for “flower”, Turtle, Shu Shu, Beep beep, "Yu" Chinese for fish, Bunny (she says buddy), Amen (she says amee), Happy, Unnies (for undies), Fork (she says "fook"), car, Monkey, Sticky, Cow, Hold, Sit (sounds like swear word), Peas, Clock, Grape, star



End of the boob era: Ava hasn't been breastfed in almost a week! She'll ask for "he mi mi" at random times during the day but I try to distract her. This is hopefully the end of a long and bittersweet love affair.



Here are some pictures of her around 21 months:

This was the most pitiful day of Ava's life. She had a fever, couldn't fall asleep for a nap, and just cried all day. It was a sad day for all.

Strutting around in mommy's red shoes. She walks better in them than I do!

Nothing like pushing a stroller in mommy's boots.

She likes to ride her "horsey"

Sunglasses on her head. She's a cool little chick.