Hard to believe my little munchkin is already 9 months old!!! Only 3 more months till her 1st birthday! Gotta start the planning soon. :) Each and every day that I get to spend with Ava is such a gift. I realize just how fortunate I am to be able to stay home with her and I never want to take that for granted. She is my best buddy and we love to play and smile with one another. She has even started cuddling again and if I could freeze time at the moment I would. I always shut my eyes and just "savor" the moment and think to myself I never want to forget what this feels like. Ava is growing up fast and developmentally this has been her biggest month. Here are the highlights:
*Weighs 16 lbs. 11 1/2 ou. (10-25%) Not a huge weight gain but the dr. said this is normal now that she is so active.
*28 inches long (50-75%)
*Head size 17 1/2 inches (75%)
Ava has become an expert at pulling herself up to standing and has even stood on her own for a few seconds without holding on to anything. I have a feeling walking is right around the corner. From the picture you can also see that she enjoys watching cartoons now. They dont hold her attention for long but it is so cute to watch her stare at the screen.
I think I might have been giving her puffs to eat while watching cartoons.
I just recently started giving Ava more finger foods that she can eat on her own. It makes meal time a lot longer (and messier) but I think she enjoys feeding herself. Here she is eating cheese.
I broke out the tupperware recently when we were both in the kitchen and just like all kids she loves it. Definitely keeps her occupied for awhile so I can get some things done in the kitchen.
Ava is picking up speed with her crawling! Just as I expected this crawling phase has kept me on my toes. I can't take her out of my sight for a minute. She is always drawn to the things that I don't want her to go to like the basket of dog toys, the fireplace, the buttons on the dvd, the barestools, etc...Her and I are exhausted at the end of the day! Here she is showing off her crawling and standing skills.
Ava has also started waving hello or goodbye. She doesn't wave all the time but when she does it it is always at the appropriate time. She kind of twirls her wrist when she does it which makes it even more cute! Mikey happened to be filming when we were saying goodbye to Jenny and Bekah recently so this is the only video I have of her waving. It is kind of dark and Jenny and I had no idea we were being filmed (thought he was just taking a picture) but he did capture a very sweet moment between all of us girls. Also on the video is a clip of Ava playing with her basket of toys. She has learned how to tip it towards her to get more toys out and she has a ball playing with them.
Ava has been teething again over the last two weeks so I think those two front teeth are just about to make their appearance. I keep singing to her "All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth". Maybe by then we will have more teeth. We shall see. She is a good teether, only waking up briefly at night with hand in her mouth and a little drooling, but I will be glad when they come in so they stop bothering her.
I don't want to jinx it but the last few weeks she has napped so much better. I was a little worried there for awhile because not only were her naps short but for about a week she was refusing her second nap of the day even though she was tired. We are back on track now and her naps are getting a little longer. I have learned that this may all change next week but for now I am enjoying having a well rested baby and a little more mommy time during the day.
Happy 9 months old sweet girl!! You continue to amaze me and every day that passes my love for you grows stronger and stronger.
My dad wasn't able to be here on Christmas day but he came up a few days before and stayed with us. I couldn't have asked for a better visit with him. 
She loves her Papa
As soon as it started snowing on Christmas Eve I threw a jacket on Ava and went outside to get a quick picture. 
Ava met her Great Uncle Mark who flew all the way from Minnesota
And she met her 2nd cousin Dani
We played Apples to Apples and Wii
Is Santa here yet?
No, but my daddy is!
adorable
The Vaughan family is always full of fun so part of our Christmas tradition is to draw names and go shopping for the tackiest Christmas gifts we can find. Kinda like White Elephant but you can't trade your gift. We all crammed into our cars and drove through the snow to the Dollar Tree...in our PJ's. Funny how no one in the store found it unusual that we were all walking around in our pajamas.
Dani, Mark, Kassandra, Granny Jean
Ava was so tired by this point but she did great the whole day.
Let it Snow Let it Snow Let it Snow
Most of the gang
I wonder what Aunt Alli got me?? We have to wait till morning.
Uncle Matt gave Ava The Night Before Christmas
