Happy 11 Month Birthday!

Happy 11 month old birthday, Ava Rose!!  Today you woke up with a snotty nose and have been trying to get over a nasty cold that I think you picked up from last week's birthday party at Holiday Park.  This afternoon, the three of us went to the grocery store after lunch and you are currently taking a nap (hopefully a LONG nap).   I can't believe that in ONE more month you are going to be a year old!  I am so excited to celebrate your birthday.  Your invitations went out earlier this week and I am already getting a few RSVPs.  While I am totally super overly excited for your birthday, I am also a little sad:(  I honestly don't know where the time has gone.  It literally feels like you are still my little newborn baby.  Ok, so I know that you don't use a paci anymore, you don't use bottles anymore, you walk, you talk, you point, laugh, screech and even dance, but didn't you get the memo?? You are STILL my itty bitty wittle newborn baby waby boo boo!  No, you didn't get that??  :(

A few months ago I was reading through some "mom" articles and one of the women wrote something that really stuck with me, "The days are slow, but the years are fast".  If there was one parental truth in this world, THAT would be it.  I can't believe how slowly some of the days have seemed to me in the past year.  Especially when you were younger.  I remember staring at this tiny little creature that could do absolutely nothing but look around and flail, and you weren't even very good at doing that.  So maybe you really couldn't do anything but sleep and sleep and sleep and occasionally you'd eat.  But whatever.  I remember staying up with you all hours of the night when you couldn't sleep, staying up with you all hours of the day, just staring at you, wondering if I was supposed to be doing something for you, with you, to you, I didn't know??  And not everything was sweet and cuddly, there were long hours of sheer boredom punctuated by moments of sheer terror.  As you have become more of your own little person, the days move by a little bit more methodically.  Your habits and your schedule are a bit more predictable...I know that you will throw your food to the dogs when you are full.  I know that you will scream and holler when I change your clothes.  I know that you are great at finding the one thing in the room that I don't want you to find, and that when you are tired you will run to me and start giving me hugs, pushing your little face into my arms and rubbing your snotty nose all over my sleeves (:I LOVE these cuddle sessions:).  I am able to watch you learn new things on your own, watch you get into trouble on your own, and be amazed at the labile (flammable) little person that you are becoming! 

You are so smart and yet so frustrating at times, but I would imagine that one frustration is just a phase that will soon be replaced by another frustration that will be just another phase.  And the days can be so long and move so slowly that I sit and wonder how in the world I will survive the next hour.  But I survive the hour, the day, and the next day.  And ironically, when I look back at it all, I can't believe how quickly it has gone.  You've changed so much in just a year, growing from a tiny baby into a little girl that is sweet and funny and smart!  We love you SOOO MUCH!!!  And just so that you have all your facts straight, you might be growing up, but you will always be our itty bitty wittle newborn baby waby boo boo!

Camping With a 10 Month Old...Never Again.

Let's start this post off right by saying, I hate camping.  I hate bugs, dirt, grass, trees, public restrooms, public showers, wild animals and most people.  While I enjoy scenic views and pretty pictures of nature, I don't want to be IN nature.  The few times I have camped have been exhausting.  The only thing I do like about camping is the campfire.  In which case, I say put a fire pit in a backyard and enjoy nature 10 feet from your warm and cozy electrically furnished home.

So, when the idea was brought up, I thought, YEY!?!  Let's take our baby on a camping trip with Roger's family over Labor Day weekend!  There will be cabins, smores, and loads of family fun!  Right?  I had no idea if I would survive.  In fact, I thought I might die.  Sooooo...let's just say it started out great!  We were up at 4am to make the LOOOONG arduous trip up to Fort Wayne, where we would unload our dogs on some family members, and then continue on up to camp...afterall, we wanted to get there early enough to partake in the family fun.  It became a 5 hour car ride.  Did I mention we were up at 4 am?

We get to the camp, just in time for Roger to cook everyone's breakfast.  Ooook, it was kind of a good time, Ava was eating like a champ and afterwards she enjoyed walking around in the woods, picking up mulch, leaves, falling over in the mud.  A while later, the family played some basketball, Ava fell asleep and afterwards we all headed to the waterfront, which was a good time, while Ava was asleep.  But boy when she woke up, and we tried to put her in the cold lake water, all hell broke loose.  She screamed and screamed and screamed and so I carried her away under some shade and we sat there for a while so that she could get settled down.  What followed was a blur and frankly, it was such a long day with such randomness it's best to summarize events with a running list of actions that I would like to call "Camping Nonsense". 

Ava crying, listening to a movie in a cabin, hearing my name on repeat, screaming babies, some interrupted naptime, a falling out of the bed, some more screaming babies, a trip for ice cream with a little bit of gossip, being yelled at by a gas station attendant, Ava walking around basketball courts, screaming in the showers, dark clouds, rain, rain, and more rain, dinner drama, Roger starting a fire, Roger cooking dinner, Eric slipping on stairs, Ava screaming her head off, swallowing a bug.  Bed.

In the morning, I refused to get up, even when I could hear everybody else roaming around outside.  I really just wanted to go home.  You see, the thing about being a mom is that I work on compromise, flexibility, and patience everyday, but I thrive on predictability and a set schedule.  Yes, my baby will be crabby in a new environment without a set schedule.  That is obvious.  What is not so obvious is that I need the familiar environment and set schedule MORE than Ava, and that without it, I pretty much hate the world.  I barely slept the whole night and was exhausted, my arms and back were sore from the bedding, I kept listening for Ava in the middle of the night and so now that it was morning, the last thing I wanted to do was be awake.

When I got out of bed, my vision was blurry, I briefly wondered if I was suffering from stress-induced blindness, but then realized that would be stupid because we needed to pack up our stuff and I didn't have the time or the energy to go blind.  I knew that after breakfast, we would be leaving, so I pulled myself out of bed and wandered outside.  Roger cooked breakfast, I ate my breakfast, and then we promptly packed up our stuff, and by promptly I mean that it took us over two hours to figure out where the hell all of our stuff was and how we were going to fit it all back into our SUV while Ava screamed because she wanted to walk around with her push-walker.  As we pulled out of the camp, I exclaimed, "Hmm, that was a good time!"  Roger replied, "Yeah! I had fun!"  I turned to him and said very matter-of-factly "We are never doing that again."  Roger, "Nope." 

Video of Ava Walking

Cute video of Ava walking, taken from Roger's phone:) Sorry for the sidewaysness!

Walking some more...caught on video!

We took Ava to the mall yesterday so that she could run around for a little while in the play area after returning a Halloween costume to Old Navy. And yes siree...she took right to walking around! We even caught a brief part of it on camera. When Roger gets home from work, I'll post the video! She did such a good job! And it was the furthest that Roger has ever seen her walk! I could tell that he was so proud of her! It is SO exciting to see your baby do something new! However, this morning...she's right back to crawling around. What a stinker! She totally knows how to walk, she just would rather crawl right now:) That's okay, I don't know what I'd do with a walker right now anyways!!!