6 months old?! What??!

Baby girl, I think that in every post I have said that this has been the best month yet - and I am not about to mess with things.
Ava, this has been our most fun month with you yet. I can not imagine having a more sassy, more fun, more spunky little girl than you. You have us laughing all day long with your antics, and your zest. You don't do anything in a chill kind of way, you do it all with a sassy smile, a funny look, or the perfectly created "scream."
You are starting to find your Mommy and Daddy to be quite funny, and we are having to work far less hard to make you laugh or smile. You are also so much more willing to smile or giggle for the rest of our family, and even for strangers. You think it is hilarious when your Daddy claps his hands together, you laugh every time. You love it when I rub my hands together, lathering up your shampoo when you are in the tub. And when your Mommy rocks you back and forth, saying "tick tock, tick tock," even if you were a little grumpy beforehand, I know you will smile when I say those words. You think it is funny when your Mommy yawns, and especially funny if I make noises when I yawn. You like it so much that you have started to fake yawn with your mouth open, making noises just like your Mommy does when she yawns. For the first couple of days we thought that maybe you were getting tired, with all of the yawning that you were doing, but then we realized they weren't real, and when we smiled at you when you were doing it, you would smile right back, as if knowing that we were on to you. It is not new, but we think you are going to like windy days and convertibles, because you think it is the funniest thing when we blow your hair back with a big gust of our breath, or even when your Daddy uses the blowdryer to dry your hair.

Darling girl, I am quite sure that as much as you love your Mommy and Daddy, you would consider Sawyer to be your best friend. Even more surprising, I would consider you to be his best friend, and it takes a lot for this kitty to warm up to people. Sometimes we wonder if he ever thinks about where you came from, and when you are going to go away - but it seems like he may have grown impatient with wondering and decided to just like you instead. When you were nursing, he would come and lay on my lap, right behind you, so that when we took a break to burp you, you would see him first, and smile. Maybe he knew it would make you happy for a moment, as your food was temporarily taken away. When you are jumping in your jolly jumper, sometimes he likes to lie right at your feet, so that you are jumping on his tail. He doesn't even mind. Sometimes, when he must feel like you are up for an extra thrill, he walks around you, bashing into you slightly so that you swing a little in your jumper. You think that he is the best kitty when he does this, and you scream and yell at him, in a good way.

Sweet baby girl, you have made a few friends this month. You have gone swimming and had playdates at your friend Kyah's house, with her mom Jenni. You have got to hang out with some of the kids from your Mommy's prenatal class. I think that you particularily liked your friend Chase, and you found his hand very quickly, just as you do your cousin Austen. You let Elizabeth (Bruce and Trina's daughter) touch your face and tickle your belly, and you even laughed a little. Robbie was such a little gentlemen and made sure that you always had toys to play with or a soother to suck on.
You are spending a lot of time with your cousin Austen, you probably have 2-3 "dates" a week. You two even went to a movie together, with your Moms and Dads, we went to see 42, and learn how Austen got his very special middle name. And when it was reaaalllly hot out this month, we took our first trip down to the ocean with your friend Jacob and your cousin Austen. You played in the grass, and although the sand was too hot for you to sit on, you sat in it on a blanket. And when you got tired, your Mommy walked you down to the water and you fell right asleep. I think you will love being by the water just as much as your Mommy does.

Ava, your Mommy thinks (and your Daddy hopes) that you are going to be a rough and tumble kind of girl. That you are going to like getting dirty, and tackling the boys. You love to climb up your Mom and Dad, and suck on our shoulders, and yell and scream in happiness. We hope that you like to do things like jump in the puddles, and roll down hills, and learn to throw a football and baseball, and shoot a basketball. But we also hope that you love to dance and sing, and read books. Your Mommy and Daddy dance with you before every nap, and I hope that you learn to love music like your Mommy and Daddy do.

Darling girl, you turned 5 months old and I think you decided that you needed more sleep. You used to wake up once in the night to eat, and it was at about 2:30. Then you pushed it back by a half an hour, and a half an hour more, and so on and so on. You are now going to bed at about 7:15pm and waking up to eat at about 6 am. We think you are working on having a meal at 6 and then going back to sleep again, but we can't be sure just yet. We are sure lucky that you like to sleep so long, and that you let your Mommy and Daddy sleep so soundly! You used to have 3-4 naps a day, ranging from 45 minutes to an hour. But when you were about 5.5 months old you started to have one long nap, from about an hour and 30 minutes to 2 hours in lenth. You like your one morning nap and a couple more short naps before your bedtime. You are figuring it out!
Your mommy and daddy always have a couple of dances with you before you lay down to sleep, and you have started to lay your head on our shoulders when you are ready to fall asleep. It is my most favourite feeling so far, your head on my shoulder and your hand on my neck. Bliss.

Ava, the weekend of April 12-14th we went out to Chilliwack, so that we could all go to the AESS basketball reunion that your Uncle Jason,Grampa, Mom, and Auntie Carrie were playing in. Your Mom grew up in a gymnasium and it is kind of like a second home to me. On Friday night we stayed at the gym for the late game, keeping you up past your bedtime! On Saturday, you came to watch Mommy play basketball at 11 in the morning, and by the end of the day, you had spent about 8 hours in the gym! You did so great, cuddling with people you did not know very well, and watching basketball. We were so proud of you, and so proud to share our love of the gym and basketball with you.

Sweet Ava, that weekend, on April 14th, you woke up on Sunday and nursed, as usual, but then refused to nurse all day. You would scream, and when I would move positions, you would scream louder; you were quite distraught. This had never happened before and your Mom was upset that maybe you were deciding not to nurse anymore, out of nowhere. That evening when we were back at our home, your Mommy was giving you a bath and felt your gums, only to find that you had a tooth popped right through! One of your bottom middle teeth had made an appearance, and only 4 days later, the tooth right beside it popped through! Miss Ava, you refused to nurse for an entire week, which led to the end of you nursing, but that was the only symptom, you grew those teeth in, no problem! We were so excited to get you a toothbrush and start brushing!

Sweet girl, when you were about 4.5- 5 months old, you went through about a two week phase where you were "making strange" with everyone but your Mom and Dad. You didn't want anyone else to hold you, even when we were right there beside you. At this time, you also didn't like riding in the carseat or the stroller. This phase of yours seemed to end almost overnight, when you were nearly 6 months old, and you were back to your same happy, snuggly self. Thank goodness!

Ava Irene, you learned to roll over from your back to your stomach this month. You love to do it when we put a toy just out of your reach. We will flop you back over onto your back, only for you to roll right back over onto your tummy. You are very determined. You even learned how to roll onto your cousin Austen's arm and take his toy! Your Mommy was not ready or prepared for what this rolling over meant, and when she was changing you on your change table, she walked to the closet to get a new bag of wipes and heard a thud on the floor, where my sweet baby girl had rolled herself off of the change table. You layed there stunned for a second, then started to cry. You cried for only a few minutes, but then you went right to sleep for a nap on your Mommy's chest. I panicked and called your Gramma and your Daddy, but it turned out that you were just fine, and you woke up from your nap as though nothing had happened. Your Mommy definitely learned her lesson.

Our big girl, you are sure growing up! This month you have grown so much that we are starting to put you in your stroller without your carseat. You are so quiet and focused on all of the things that you are now able to see when sitting up front. You don't like to sleep while you are in your new big-girl stroller, in case you miss something. This month you also began eating! For about two weeks you have been eating mashed banana, and you LOVE it. You are learning to keep the bigger pieces in your mouth and to mash them with your gums. We also started giving you rice cereal, and you get so worked up and excited that we just can't wait to give you your next bite! We are feeding you twice a day right now, once in the morning, and once at night.

Ava Irene, you get more spunky and fun every day. You make us laugh like we would have never guessed a baby could make a person laugh. Your Daddy and I are bursting with love for you and can't wait to see what tomorrow brings. We love you darling.