Weekend at Gigi and B-Pop's

Another post from Dad! Woohoo! Get excited readers!!

Last weekend, August 20th through 22nd, Kristen had a girls' weekend with several of her old college roomates. They rented a house on Lake Conroe, and since that is in the Houston area, it seemed like a good opportunity for me, Ava, and Macy to drop Kristen off in Conroe, then continue on to Beaumont to see Gigi and B-Pop! Ava was greeted with some new toys, a table set up in the kitchen for a coloring area, a pool float, and most of all a very excited Gigi and B-Pop! We were also able to wish Uncle Jim a happy birthday. Unfortunately, we didn't get any pictures with them but I enjoyed meeting Jenny and getting to spend some time talking with Jim on the back patio after everyone else had gone to bed. Good times had by all!

Here are some pictures from the weekend...

B-Pop, Ava, and Gigi

Everyone knows that Gigi is quite the chef, so Ava got to enjoy a sampling of several different gourmet treats at nearly every meal. Ava got to try meatballs, "Flipsides" (half pretzel, half cracker), bacon, and all kinds of other delicious goodies!

Shortly after we first arrived, Ava began playing between and behind the window shutters. She was giggling at herself as she played peek-a-boo with us, which of course made us laugh.


She couldn't get enough of the peek-a-boo through the blinds, but also of note should be the pink motorcycle/car thing (which she scooted around on quite a bit) and all of the bandaids on her legs. None of the bandaids were there because she had boo-boos, she just loved it when we kept sticking the Sesame Street bandaids that Gigi bought on her - just like stickers!


More peek-a-boo

Another hit at Gigi's and B-Pop's are the kitty cats. Ava loves the kitty cat. Fortunately, Emily the cat likes to be chased so Ava and Macy had a big time chasing the kitty around. Emily is a brave cat to put up with all of the hijinx that Ava and Big Mace dished out.

B-Pop and Ava doing some drawing and coloring. B-Pop drew a very special kind of duck for Ava, one that I am sure Gigi kept for the scrapbook.

Color time. One of my favorite things to do with Ava Marie. Sitting at this table brought back some fun memories because Jim and I used to play at it when we were little. Of course, we usually used it to shoot "tweeties" at each other (tightly folded paper projectiles, of sorts) on a regular basis, but nostalgic nonetheless.

Probably some early morning playtime after Ava and Macy had breakfast.

Ava and Emily playing.

Ava loves kitties.

Ava doesn't get a chance to go up and down stairs very often, so this was another fun activity for her. She is great at going up them but needs a little help going back down.

Gigi took Ava for a nature walk through the backyard where they picked flowers and Ava played in the dirt. She spent some time in the pool too and is quite the outdoors girl.

Gigi and Ava checking out the flower harvest

Macy is a waterdog. Swimming has to be her favorite thing to do, other than eating.

Big Mace in action

When Ben and I got back from playing a quick round of golf, Ava was multi-tasking with Gigi nearby in the kitchen. Gigi wins the double-gold star award for the afternoon she had: after finishing up lunch with Ava, she had some friends stop by, had to clean up a reportedly monolithic barf by Big Mace, then have storytime with Ava and lay her down for her afternoon nap. Way to Go Gigi!

Ava enjoyed her first ice cream cone ever at Gigi and B-Pop's! Notice that Ava doesn't quite know what the ice cream cone is, but Macy sure does - snout pointing straight towards the sky.

Hmmm...what is this thing?

Gigi helping Ava have her first taste of the ice cream cone. The ice cream was Blue Bell's Blackberry Cobbler, and is tremendous.

Once she got the hang of it, she decided that ice cream cones were her new favorite.

On Saturday, we all went to Build-a-Bear at the mall and let Ava choose which stuffed animal she wanted. After several minutes of pointing and grunting, she chose the world-famous "Hello Kitty". She had a great time watching it get stuffed and getting an outfit for it.

There was a toy golf set, so of course Dada had to teach Ava how to swing the club.

Side note:

While it is rather self-implicating, I must at least make mention of the Big Bird Balloon Incident.

After Build-a-Bear, we went to the grocery store to pick up some food to make dinner that night. Ava immediately spotted the Big Bird Balloons at the cash registers and motioned for me to let Gigi hold her (this girl is smart), likely knowing that odds were better that Gigi would procure aforementioned balloon than the odds that Dad would. Well, Gigi bought Ava the balloon, which she played with nonstop in the truck on the way home. Once we arrived home, I clipped the balloon to my shirt and then lifted Ava out of her carseat. At some point during this transaction, the balloon broke loose of the clip and by the time we noticed what had happened, the balloon was halfway to Galveston. Sorry Ava!

Thanks Gigi and B-Pop for a great weekend!!

Sneak Peak

At Ava's Halloween costume!

I think she is going to be the cutest little kitty cat I have ever seen!

Playdate with Ms. Leakhena & Amy

On Wednesday we invited over Ms. Leakhena and our new friends Amy, Reese, and Riley for a playdate. It had been awhile since we last saw each other at Leakhena's house earlier this summer. This woman will always be someone very dear to my heart and it is so important for me to keep in touch with her. I knew Ava recognized Mrs. Khena when she walked up to the door but she was acting very shy, a new phase we are going through. She soon warmed up to her and had a fun time giggling and playing with her and Amy's twin girls Reese and Riley.

Mrs. Khena and her three cuties- Riley, Ava, and Reese. These girls have come a long way since thier torticollis days thanks to this special lady!


Can you tell someone was getting a little jealous of Mrs. Khena's attention??

She had fun bouncing on Mrs. Khena's knees

and getting tickles



Thanks Amy, R & R, and Leakhena for coming to play with us!! We loved seeing you all!

Wordless Wednesday

17 Months

Dear Ava,

Today, August 20th, you are seventeen months old! I used to wonder why parents would express their children’s age in number of months up until they are 2 years old or so, but now it makes perfect sense. During each month that passes, you discover new things about yourself and have many “firsts”. Not to mention, you are growing so quickly that every few days or so I genuinely believe that you have gotten bigger. Looking back at pictures and videos from when you were a newborn, or anywhere in between, brings back precious memories and reminds me of how quickly you are growing up.

What things have made this month special? Well, anything you do is special, which makes it easy to write this letter. I am always amazed at how rapidly you progress with each month that goes by and can’t help but wonder what you are thinking sometimes. Here are a few things that you have done this month:

• You climb on everything. Each thing you scale evokes a different response from your Dada. For example, if you climb on the ottoman and sit on it while pointing the remote control towards the television, Dada thinks that’s cute. Climbing on Macy for a pony ride? Dada thinks that’s funny. When you attempt to scale your high chair because you are hungry and want us to feed you, Dada moves so quickly that he becomes a blur flying across the kitchen to prevent you from falling on your noggin. Mommy has mentioned this in the past, but you truly are fearless and have a great desire to explore.

• You have the sweetest singing voice in the world. I try as often as possible to get you to sing, even if it means that I have to sing the Wonder Pets or Praise Baby songs over and again because you like to sing to it. There is something about your soft voice and how hard you try to sing along that makes it so great. I love it.

• You have just started calling out my name, saying “DAAAAA” loudly if you are trying to get my attention and to get me to come see what you are doing. I love it because I feel like you really want to show me things that you do or discover, which is always fun for me.

• You got to go camping with us this year and had such a great time. Your mommy and I were pretty anxious going tent camping at the end of July with you for the first time but you did tremendously. You enjoyed exploring the campsite, playing with the rocks, throwing rocks for Macy, smearing river clay on my face, and trying to swim. You allow me to do “Dad-like” things, which is very special to me because I want to be the one to teach you how to do things and sometimes allow you to figure things out on your own. Holding you in the river while you tried to kick your feet was a first, because you had never really tried to swim before.

• This month you have also been bringing me books more often and sitting in my lap while I read them to you. Reading to you is one of my favorite things for many reasons, but most of all I just like spending that time with you and knowing that you really enjoy it. Sometimes you grab my hand and make me point to things that you like on the pages of the book; butterflies, kitty cats, and bugs are some of your favorites.

I also love that you try and make us laugh more and more each month. You play peek-a-boo with us a lot and do things that you know are silly. You have so much personality and you are so playful. We play a lot in the front yard and I try to point out things to teach you new words. You know what “tree”, “bush”, “flag”, and “grass” are and will point to them if I ask you where they are. You love to climb stairs and are getting better at coming down stairs on your own, but still need a hand to hold for support. You are a great car traveler and the music that is most likely to get you to fall asleep in the car right now is anything by Norah Jones. Your hair is getting longer and no matter how hard I try, I am not very good at using hair clips and bows to keep it out of your eyes.

Ava Marie, you are such a joy to have as a daughter and I love everything we do together! I love catching a little peek at what the world looks like behind your eyes as you discover the world around you. I couldn’t love you any more than I already do and feel so blessed to be your father.

Love, Dada

Thankful Thursday

I could be slaving away in a classroom right now getting ready for another long school year but instead

I am playing with sidewalk chalk in my pj's with Ava

I am so thankful for my new job of being a stay at home mommy to this precious girl and I am so thankful for her sweet daddy for working so hard to make that happen.

Such a girl

Lately Ava has been interested in lots of girlie things such as

Mommy's shoes, although I would hardly call tennis shoes girly.

Sunglasses

necklaces and bracelets and shiny black shoes that she loves to wear around the house even though they are too big for her.

and this is the face Miss Priss gave me when I told her to show me her necklaces and say cheese. Ava Marie, you make me laugh so much little girl! My days are never boring with you around!