October 2011

The family spent most of October wondering when the baby was going to come. October 29 came and went without an arrival, but we are certain we will have a reasonably sized addition to the family very soon.

Today in Ava

While reading a book:

Ava: What's this spider's name?
Brian: I don't know. Maybe Momma knows.
Ava: Momma, what's this spider's name?
Helen: Um...Spindy Spider.
Ava: That's a good name for this spider. Good call, Momma.

Big Sis in Training

As we get closer to baby #2's arrival, a number of people have been inquiring about Ava's level of understanding about what lies ahead.  She talks about her new baby brother pretty much constantly and tells everybody interesting facts about him. Here's a brief summary of what seem to be her baby talking points:

• The baby is in Helen's belly and will be coming out soon
• He has no teeth 
• He has a penis
• He can't walk, talk or do anything much at all
• She will be in charge of diaper changes
• She will also hold the baby and feed the baby a bottle
• She will need to teach the baby how to walk
• He is her baby brother and she is going to be a big sister
• The baby will start out nursing, then will drink from a bottle, and then eat "yucky baby food"
• The baby will be born in hospital and she will go on a field trip to Nana and Grandad's house.  Then she will visit him.
• The baby will cry. The baby might stop crying if you put him on your shoulder, put him in a swing, bounce him on a ball, or put him in a vibrating chair. It is best to try all techniques in quick succession.
• When the baby spits up, you run and find a cloth diaper and vigorously rub it against the baby's face.

Ava isn't taking her big sister duties lightly.

September 2011

September marked the beginning of the college football season for Ava.  Last year's horrible season taught Ava to say, "Oh no!" whenever she saw football on TV. This season she's recognized a change in the football mood around the house and has taken to cheering throughout the games. Her take on the sport: "Those men are going to run and when they fall down I say, 'Yay!'" which I guess does kind of sum it up.

Ava's non-football-viewing time was spent preparing for the baby. There's a lot of stuff for her to practice and the latest is wearing "Baby Katie" in a sling while pushing "Calf" (a doll, not a baby cow) in the stroller. For a new mom, she's getting out quite a lot. Just today she took the kids to the "country," the zoo, and the park, all of which are located somewhere between our dining room and our living room. With around three weeks left, we're hoping to dedicate a little more practice time to diapering as we would really, really like to outsource that.

Ava's School Picture

This year's picture is so angelic, it's almost hard for us to imagine that 30 seconds prior to this photo and 30 seconds following, she was most likely screaming, "MOVE BACK, FRIEND! I NEED SPACE!" to some innocent kid in the play yard.