Natalie & Poppy Visit over Father's Day Weekend

Jameson was so happy that Penelope came to visit. He loved having another playmate and it gave us a little look into how sweet it will be when Ava is a bit more interactive.  Over their 5-day stay, we got to spend a good amount of time just relaxing as well as getting to head out on walks, visit Old Town and travel down to Boulder.

Loving on both girls (and this is totally without prompting - so cute!).

Penelope introduced them to her favorite show, Doc McStuffins (an old favorite of cousin Emily's too).

Penelope can't wait to get her own chair - she loved this one (and good thing Jameson loves Penelope!)

 Rob awesomely agreed to watch Jameson and Penelope so that Natalie and I (and Ava) could head down to Boulder for the day.  We had such a great sister day :)  Despite returning far later into the evening then we planned, Rob survived and the kids had a blast here at home. 

Super happy from our fun girls' day in Boulder.

Happy Father's Day, Daddy!!!!  As we did last year, we headed out to O'dells Brewery :)  Still a fun outing to celebrate with daddy, but not as relaxing this year with three kids (compared to the one, Jameson, last year)!

Ava's first father's day :)

Natalie and I had a lot of fun at the pool with all three kids.  It was Penelope's second pool experience and she loved it.  Ava tapped out a little earlier that these two, but Aunt Natalie had no problem staying in the water with them!

When Penelope wasn't putting things in her own mouth, she was making sure Ava wasn't missing out!  Good thing Ava didn't have any teeth yet.

Ava 9 Months

At her wellness check-up shortly after turning 9 months, the doctor noted that since Ava was already walking heel to toe (holding the doctor's hands) and demonstrating enough strength, that she'd be walking with the push walker in no time - and she did within a few days later!  Sweet Ava is walking at 9 months (with support), a milestone she reached just before crawling.  At her appointment, she weighed 15 pounds (5%tile) and measured 28 inches long (65%tile). 

9 month loves: 1) being up on her feet - can pull herself up on things and cruise around, walk, and even wants to crawl on her feet. 2) dancing and moving her body, she'll nod her head as soon as the music starts. 3) baths - she gets really excited for her time in the tub, or visibly disappointed when realizing it's a bath for Jameson and not her  4) anything Jameson is playing with that she "shouldn't" play with - Jameson is mostly helpful in taking those things away from her ("not a baby toy Ava").  5) her pacifier!  She loves her pacifier.  She doesn't suck on it all day, but definitely does to soothe at naptime and bedtime.

When my parents visited they noticed Ava's tendency to open her mouth when excited, happy or smiling...reminding them of me as a little girl and still true up to today.

No teeth in this picture, but a few days before turning 10 months old she cut her first tooth (middle bottom).  Its pair cut a few days after that.  She was definitely uncomfortable, not sleeping as well for a couple nights, crying more often, needing more rest and developing a runny nose.

More about her at 9 months:  She still isn't making many sounds aside from giggles, "hi", "yaya" and growling noises.  Unfortunately, I think that Jameson (because he finds it fun and funny) reinforces all of the grumbling-like noises she makes.  We're working with him on him trying to "teach" Ava new sounds and words.  She continues to be a great sleeper.  She goes down around 6:30/7pm and sleeps until 6:30-8am.  She'll nap well at other people's homes, in pack-and-plays, etc (we feel pretty lucky about that!).  She takes two naps a day (9/10am for a couple of hours and then 2/3pm for 1-2 hours).  She's also a big eater - loves more and more solids and wants whatever you're eating. Her hair is getting longer (still thin) and still seems to have a mix of different colors in it, so we're waiting to learn what color it will ultimately be.

This is her modified bear crawl.  The doctor at her 9mo appointment also told us not to expect her to crawl a traditional crawl and that that is totally OK.  She expected Ava to go on hands and feet, but as you can sort of see Ava puts her left knee down and then drags it while her right leg does all the work.

Ava's modified bear crawl.

Ava walking with the walker.

Early Summer Fun

Happy to be living right across the street from the pool and super happy that both kids love the water!!!

J trying on daddy's sunglasses for size.

Jameson and I escaped to the park for a Saturday morning mother-son date while Rob got some things done at home.  He loved this rope obstacle course at a park close to home.

Coloring with sidewalk chalk while trying to get some outside time during Ava's nap.

A trip to the zoo in early June.  Jameson and his friend, Evan, discussing how "big" that tiger is.  They are so cute and Jameson really looks up to Evan.  At different random times Jameson will make comparisons of himself to Evan, for example "I'm fast just like Evan".

Boys will be boys, right?!?!  Inside the fish/reptile house at the zoo, Jameson was leaning against the waist-high rail in front of an aquarium display and somersaulted over it!  I was within a foot of him and saw it all in slow motion, but was carrying Ava in my arms.  He continued to hold on to the bar the whole way through, even at the end when his forehead hit the rocks he was standing on.  My friend (who was with her own two kids) rushed over and grabbed Ava and I helped Jameson off.  He was screaming!!!!  Other children in the building were covering their ears as we rushed to the bathroom to wipe off blood (heads bleed a lot!) and assess what the injury was.  After some first aid assistance from Zoo staff, we headed off to find ice cream.  This precious smile....post ice cream :)

Stopping to smell some ... lavender.

A rainy morning art craft.

We have so much fun in the car together.  We headed out this Saturday morning for some ground coffee to bring back home.  Jameson kept saying that he wanted to "jam" and asked for "fast" music, which means a fast beat but also loud (he loves the song "Uptown Funk" and will sing the "whoo" part).  Anytime we head out of the house without Ava, he will observe and say "No Ava" and seem pretty excited about the 1:1 time. 

Later that same Saturday after selling off some items in our neighborhood yard sale (to make some room in the garage after emptying our basement out last summer for the refinish), we had Jameson try riding his new bike.

Ava...his captive audience.

Love those toes!!!!!!

A balance bike.  Go Jameson!

Cruising around the park.

A much needed break from all that peddling, I mean balancing (so exhausting!).

Our little monkey.

I snatched this photo with my phone one evening after feeding Ava before bed.  She just fell and stayed asleep in my arms.  Sweetness.

And a little early summer fun for Rob and I, too.  He strung the lights on the balcony and we've started to enjoy the beautiful evening weather after the kids go to sleep.

Birthday Week!

June 3rd...daddy's birthday!  We had a blast making this cake - all at the request of Jameson :)

We had fun celebrating with Rob all day.  Here we met up with him for a lunch out at a new local spot.  Despite his office being just a 2 min bike ride from the house, we rarely meet up at lunch time so this was quite the treat.

Shouldn't the birthday kisses be going the other direction?!?!  Well, maybe not - she is irresistible :)

Sushi take-out for a yummy birthday dinner.  I surprised him with sake "bombs".

What are sake "bombs" you ask?

Some good fist pounding knocked the precariously perched sake off the chopsticks and into the beer.  Sploosh!

Happy birthday mommy!!!  Recycled cake worked out great with the sneaky addition of "Mom +" in the corner.  Later Rob and I enjoyed a fun date night out in Old Town with tapas and flights of wine :)

Earlier on my birthday the kids and I met up with friends for birthday coffee and a trip to the Gardens on Spring Creek.  We had a really fun time exploring their hands-on kids' play area - next time we'll have to actually walk around the entire gardens and not just the "Children's Garden".

If the Three Little Bears invited Jameson over for dinner, he'd comfortably pull a seat right up to the table.