Baby Love

Ava loves me.

Now, I know this is not a new development. Right after I had her, after she finally stopped screaming, she looked up and locked eyes with me. I can't help but believe that after hearing my voice for months, she realized that there was something very familiar about me. I think that she loved me then in that totally dependent kind of way. She has always smiled when she sees me and snuggled up next to me when I fed her. Even so, I think I assumed that behind those smiles she was thinking one thing: "food lady."

Lately, though, that love seems more emotional in its nature. She seems genuinely attached to me. Since she has generally been waking in the six o'clock hour, Daniel has had the privilege of going in to get her up in the morning. He tells me that every morning, as soon as he gets her out of the crib, she starts looking around for me, arching her little body to peer around. When she finally sees me she squeals and virtually leaps out of his arms. Yesterday night, when we were sitting on the bed, she threw her arms and her body toward me as if to give me a hug. Tonight, while being passed around at a party, she made it very clear that she wanted MOM.

It feels good to be loved. Sometimes I need to be reminded that she does love me because I get lost in the every day stuff. It reminds me that I'm probably not as bad of a parent as I feel like sometimes.

Forward Motion

Your daddy said yesterday that maybe 7 months wasn't such a significant milestone. After all, six months is the magical age. It marked half a year with you. Now that I think of it, this might be more significant to us than to you. You're a baby. You don't read calendars.

Plenty of moms told me that six months is when things start to settle down. And they have in some respects. You are getting so much more independent. But this makes you both less of a handful and more of one. You are so much more willing to go to sleep on your own (though you still don't like to be left alone) and you sleep for longer stretches. You sleep through the night unless I put you down too late. You are generally a happy girl. But you are into everything.

This month has held a lot of change for you. You're eating solid food now, and though you aren't usually enthusiastic about new foods the first time you encounter them, you're coming around. By far, your biggest developmental strides have been in your strength and mobility. You've been rolling for a few months, but in the past week you've discovered how to get to a sitting position all by yourself, how to push on your hands and knees, and how to rock back and forth in this position. You are trying figure out how to move your legs forward without plopping down on your belly. Even when you do, you commando crawl after whatever it was you were chasing. Sometimes I find you in a push up position, toes pressed hard against the ground, head down, grunting. You are fearless. I love that.

But this fearlessness has consequences. You fall. I suppose that's just part of growing up and learning. But when you do fall, I am there. I can't always catch you, but I comfort you when you do. It's painful for both of us. I'm sure it always will be. I want you to know until I die I will be here to comfort you.

I'm a bit nostalgic for the time when you curled up and went to sleep on my chest. But it is wonderful to see you move forward. This stage is so exciting, and I can tell that you are enjoying your freedom thoroughly. We'll keep moving forward, sometimes creeping, sometimes running. Each new stage will be a joy. I look forward to watching you blossom into a young woman, and being there to encourage you when that process gives you bruises and broken hearts. I love watching you grow, little one. Happy seven months.

Two of a Kind

I've been sick the past few days, so I decided to make myself some chicken noodle soup. I was looking online to see what sort of spices people use in their soups, and it seemed every recipe called for fresh thyme. I didn't have any fresh herbs, so I improvised and used some dry spices.

Over dinner, I was apologizing to Daniel if the soup was less than perfect. "Every recipe called for fresh thyme."

"You should have gone to Times," he replied.

"I didn't have time..."I replied, then realizing that he was setting me up, continued: "to go to Times for thyme."

Goobers.

Play Date

Ava and Ellie had another play date yesterday. They have definitely taken notice of each other before, but this time they really interacted. And by interact, I mean tried to roll over one another, suck on each other's fingers, and poke each other in the eye. Annie and I had to play referee to keep them from hurting each other. They are both bruisers.

Doesn't this picture look like I caught them wrestling when they weren't supposed to be? "We're not rough-housing, Mom. We luuuuv each other."

All Fours

This is the only picture I've been able to snap of Ava up on her hands and knees. Typically, I try to catch her and she lowers her belly back to the floor and smiles at me. Such a ham.

Foodie

Ava's current likes and dislikes:

Yummy: MILK, Sweet Potatoes, Rubber slippers, dirty sweat socks, plastic toys, the trash can, the chair leg, orchid petals, other people's fingers, board books, sand, dirt, grass, phone chargers, and other various items she finds within her reach.

Yucky: Apples, pears.

Obviously, she is not very discriminating except when it comes to fruit. I think it took me a while (like most of my childhood) to like fruit, too. There is a home video of me at age 2, my mom trying to get me to eat some fruit, me pointing at the refrigerator and screaming because I knew that it held macaroni and cheese. I reminded Daniel of this, and he said that we wouldn't introduce her to my favorite food until she was at least 5. She seems to be enough like me that this is probably a necessary measure.

Popp Art

Bezerkeley

As most of you know, we went to Berkeley, California last weekend to check out a job opportunity for Daniel. We arrived Thursday night, in time for his interview on Friday morning.

Ava and I dropped Daniel off for his interview, then headed back to the hotel for a short nap. When she woke up, we headed into town for some lunch. Before I could find a place to stop, I realized that she had fallen asleep in her carseat. I decided to do some exploring. I pointed our rental car uphill and started weaving my way through Berkeley's windy neighborhood streets. It was really beautiful. Lots of trees, plenty of fall color. After a while, I decided to head back downhill. I didn't have a map, so I had a little trouble finding my way back to Berkeley, but I made it. I parked and headed into a little cafe for lunch.

Two ladies ran the cafe, and the spokesman of the two came up to me and said, "We were talking and we decided that your baby is really cute, and we wondered if we could have her." I politely told them that I was rather attached, but thanks for the offer. I sat and devoured my lunch. It was already after 2.

We poked around town a little longer, and both headed back to the hotel for a nap. When we awoke, we went to pick up Daniel. We headed to a little pizza joint, The Cheeseboard, on the recommendation of one of Annie's friends. It's a little employee-owned cooperative where they make one kind of pizza a day, sponsor live jazz music, and where the customers sit on the median to eat their pizza. We joined them, with Ava in the carseat, and Daniel still in his dress shirt and suit slacks. If it wasn't obvious we were outsiders before, it was now. But we had fun.

Afterwards, we went in search of someplace to have some tea and talk. There was a little tea garden off the road, with a little fountain flowing outside. We were thinking about going in, but it looked more like a restaurant than a place to sit and drink tea, so we sat outside wondering if there was a Starbucks in this town. Not likely. Berkeley seemed to be all about the indie shop. After a couple of minutes, a woman approached us and told us that we should go in and have some tea. It gives off negative ions, which, it turns out, are really good for the baby. "The fountain gives off negative ions too. Out there on the street, there is too much going on. Lots of positive ions, which are really bad for you. Very FRENETIC. It's peaceful back here. You should get her a little fountain for her nursery." I thanked her for the advice, and silently thanked her for confirming all my negative stereotypes about Berkeleyites.

Daniel and I did eventually make it back to the cafe where I ate lunch. The same waitress fawned over Ava again, and we discussed his interview. It went really well.

On Saturday, Daniel and I drove around the area some more trying to get a feel for it. We went into San Fransisco, then crossed The Golden Gate Bridge on our way to Muir Woods.

Muir Woods was wonderful. There is something about 200 foot tall redwoods that will clear your head. Ava leaned back in the moby the whole time and just stared at the sky. Daniel watched the reflection of the trees in her eyes. It was beautiful.
We drove back into San Fransisco and ate at The Crab House at Fisherman's Wharf. It was amazing. I love crab.

We got up the next morning at 10 'til 5 to catch our flight. No problems getting to the airport, or through security. By the way, if you ever want to get anything through security that you shouldn't have, take a really cute baby along. All of the TSA agents were falling all over themselves, making faces at her and admiring her eyes and hair and cheeks. In fact, that was the theme of the trip. Ava Charms.

That's pretty much it. If you're still reading this, you're to be commended. We still don't know if California is what God has for us in this next season. We are both very excited for this opportunity, and we covet your prayers as we consider it.

It Starts....

All of a sudden, Ava is mobile. She can get pretty much wherever she wants. She has been rolling around the house for a month or so now, but just recently, she has begun rotating and scooting backwards. I used to be able to leave her looking contentedly up at her baby gym, but lately, as soon as I turn my back, she is into something she shouldn't be. I have recently found her chewing on the leg of one of our chairs and this morning I found her under the futon.

We have been packing and unpacking for the past few days, which has meant a lot of items have been strewn about the floor. She still loves to grab things and put them in her mouth, so it has gone something like this: She sees a shoe, and goes for it. I move the shoe, she goes for Daniel's tie. I move the tie, and she goes for the bag of dirty diapers sitting on the floor. And so on. She must think I'm the least fun mom ever for taking away all of her toys.

She's been pushing up off her belly for a week or two now. She looked like she was doing a female push up. Just this weekend, she was able to get up on all fours with her knees under her and start rocking back and forth. She was also trying to move one leg forward, but having a little harder time with that. I think she may be crawling around soon, but time will tell. She seems to be enjoying herself. At any rate, baby proofing must begin in earnest.

O-Ma-Ba

Ava can officially say her m's, which means she has been saying mama. Sometimes it's "mamamama" and sometimes its an enthusiastic "mammm," but no matter how she says it, it's beautiful to hear. I am, of course, in a beautiful fantasy if I believe that she actually knows these noises refer to me. Most often, her little m's are interspersed with b's. It goes "mamamababababawaba." Or something like that. Daniel won't let me declare victory, which is fair. He says it sounds like she is trying to say the name of our next president. She just has a few of the syllables backwards.