Busy, Busy, Busy...

Haven't been able to keep up the last few days. The holidays are in full force and there's just no time to summarize the craziness at the end of the day.

Thursday night, I took Ava shopping so I could get the essential food items for our family gatherings. We also went to Target to get a gift card for our daycare provider. It was a rainy night and unfortunately, the rain didn't stop until early this morning. If it were cold enough, we probably could have had 2 feet of snow.

On Friday, Joe picked up Ava at daycare and once again we found out Ava did not nap at all. Twice in one week! I sure hope those teeth pop in soon. We had planned on visiting Aunt Lisa, Uncle Tony and Ava's cousins' Ashley and Troy who arrived from Cleveland, but decided between the nasty rain and lack of a nap, we'd stay home. Ava was in bed by 6:30pm and asleep by 7pm.

Today was a busy day for sure. Ava (and both Joe and I) were up by 6:15am. We hung out this morning listening to Christmas music while I attempted to clean the house and bake cookies. Ava took over a two hour nap and I baked about 7-8 dozen cookies during that time. Whew! After her nap, Joe took Ava to visit her Great Grandmother Rose. She was so happy to see Ava. Daddy said Ava warmed up to her but was a bit shy around Grandma's friends at her apartment.

This evening, Grandma Mary, Dick, Aunt Jenny, Uncle Brett and Ava's cousin Tayler visited. We had a mexican fiesta, including chicken tacos, beef enchiladas and plenty of margaritas to go around. We all opened presents after dinner and enjoyed watching Ava open her Giggle Elmo chair. She was a bit weirded out when she sat down and Elmo began to giggle and the chair began to vibrate. She kept turning around to look at Elmo's face. It was so cute! She also got a cute outfit and a fun Little People activity game from Jenny, Brett, Tayler and her Uncle Phil, Aunt Tammy and cousins' Madison and Connor (in Arizona).

We had a wonderful evening but we are all so sleepy! The next few days will be busy and fun filled. I hope I get a chance to post more pictures soon...

Halfway through the week!!!

We had a pretty good day today. Ava slept until just a few minutes before 7am. This was fantastic considering she was asleep by 6:30pm last night due to the lack of a nap yesterday. We were out the door by 9am and headed to Wal-Mart and Sam's Club for one last minute gift and a few food items to make during this weekend's gatherings. Ava seemed very tired on our way home, but perked up when we got inside. She had a snack before her nap and took almost an hour to fall asleep. Fortunately, she napped for 3 hours!!!

Ava hung out with daddy for a couple of hours tonight while I met some friends for dinner and got another last minute gift at the mall. The mall was an all out crazyfest. They even had people directing traffic in the parking lot. It was a scary sight and I'm happy to report I will not need to return there until AFTER Christmas.

Joe cleaned out one of our closets yesterday (thanks honey) and found two items Ava has gotten attached to. The first item is his old Simon game. 1982 called and they want their game back!!! He also found his old cell phone and Ava is in heaven. She has it all the time. The rubber antenna is actually working as a teether right now as she chews the heck out of it. It's so cute how she walks around the house *talking* to people. She crossed the line of obsession and took it to bed with her tonight.

No Sleep Til Bedtime???

It may not be Brooklyn folks, but it's damn close. I picked Ava up from daycare this afternoon and was shocked (and a bit miffed) to hear she did not take a nap! No sleep. Nada. Zip. Zilch. Miss Ruth said she tried to put her down a few times but all she did was sing. She said she likes to sing. Does this mean she's not going to play softball???
Although she was very crabby this evening, she spent a few minutes pleasing both mommy and daddy and earned the *cutest baby award* while eating her chocolate pudding. She's in love with that stuff. Who isn't? It's chocolate! She decided the pudding, bananas and oranges were enough to get her through the night. She passed on the hot dog and cheese.
We opted for an early bath and she was in bed and asleep by 6:30pm. Murphy's Law states she'll be up very early on my day off tomorrow. Maybe, just this once, the law can be broken???

Our little gymnast...

Ava had a good day today. She had a two hour nap at daycare but apparently took more than an hour to fall asleep. Two of the kids were out sick so I'm crossing my fingers that Ava does not catch anything, especially this close to Christmas. I thought I saw the first signs of a runny nose tonight and my paranoia has set in...

She had a good dinner tonight at home and was adventurous enough to try some fish sticks... with ketcup! I must admit, fish sticks normally don't satisfy the *fish* craving for me, but the ones I got from Trader Joe's were actually really fish!!! We also tried some potato pancakes but she was less interested and opted for the applesauce and cubed cheese.

She was very active tonight, circling the house several times getting chased or being the chaser. She also started *tumbling* and would almost fall into a handstand position from her ride-on toy. She was quite proud of herself and was sure to get our attention when she performed. Gee, I wonder where she got that from?

Pee Pee on the Potty!

I'ts been a few days since I've posted. Obviously the most exciting news is Ava's little squirt in the potty, but we'll get to that in a little bit.

She's been doing great these last few days. I have a feeling her molars are coming in... We gave her Tylenol on Thursday night as she was quite whiny and was putting her fingers in her mouth alot. We also let her chew on the teethers (she calls them "ice") and they seemed to help out. I found her a new bath towel at Target and she had a fun time wearing it around the house.

On Friday, I had a couple of friends over to play some games. Ava enjoyed their visit until her bedtime, but she was very shy. She refused to say their names until I was changing her diaper on Saturday morning... talk about delayed!

Saturday night, Joe and I went out on a date so Grampa Tony and Nanny Vicki babysat. Apparantly, she had them in stiches all night long. Nanny said Ava kept saying, "Hi Nanny, Hi Bumpa" over and over again. She didn't eat much dinner for them and took awhile to fall asleep. She tangled Nanny into her web of a bedtime routine. She had to fall asleep with her blankie, "moony", baby and 2 paci's!

The best news of the weekend happened approximately at 6pm tonight. Ava occasionally sits on her potty when I'm in the restroom. Tonight she went in there to sit on it so I took of her diaper and told her to go. She did! Just a little squirt but she did it. It was pretty funny, because I think the little squirt freaked her out. She was facinated with it in the potty and had to touch it to be sure it was "wet". I'm sure we have a long road ahead of us with the training but at least she has some idea of what the potty is used for.

We have a busy week ahead of us before Christmas arrives. A few last minute gifts to buy and a menu to create for Joe's mom's visit on Saturday night. We're also excited about my sister and her family arriving this coming Friday. We have so many things planned!!!

Picasso in training

Ava and I had another fun girl's day out on my day off. We were at the Bayshore Town Center by 9am. It was alot colder this morning than the weatherman said (go figure), so I was fortunate we had some extra blankets in the car to cover Ava in the stroller. I was able to get another Christmas gift and picked up a fun pair of slipper flip flops for myself at Aeropostale. The store employee wanted to remind me of all the great sales... I had to remind her I probably wouldn't fit in any of their clothes (just the shoes)! We also visited Trader Joe's and got some delicious food. I had to admit my severe disappointment when I realized they were out of their Joe Joe's... Oreo-like cookies with a peppermint/vanilla center. I had planned on getting several boxes to give at all of the holiday gatherings.

We also had lunch at Applebee's and Ava was well behaved. She even ate a fair amount of her grilled cheese sandwhich even after she loaded up on snacks while I shopped.

Once home, she took a great nap and woke up just before daddy got home. We played outside this afternoon as it got steadily warmer as the day progressed. It was just cool enough to still require a winter coat, but it felt great. For the first time, Ava actually enjoyed the snow and played in it... all of the three square feet left on our front lawn!

She also enjoyed coloring today and was making some beautiful pictures for us. We started off with crayons and she thoroughly enjoyed taking most out the box. She taste-tested a few a realized they weren't too yummy. Then we moved on to washable markers... she hasn't figured out how to *hold* the marker and grabs it at the tip. This created a mess on her hands and eventually on her mouth as she had to lick her hands!

Smile for mommy!

This is her new smile! I'm trying to get her to *look* at me when I take a picture but she always seems to run away. Tonight daddy and I got her to smile and she showed us all of her pearly whites...

She had a great day at daycare and came home looking like Pigpen. Apparently, they played outside today... the warm temps (47 degrees) with tons of melting snow creating a decent amount of mud in Miss Ruth's yard. She had to assure me it was not poop on the pair of pants she sent home in a bag. Good thing, because if it was, the bag would have gone straight to the trash. Instead, the pants are currently soaking in some Oxyclean.

Ava had a fun night at home entertaining us and reading through several of her books. She checked out the tree for awhile but kept the investigation to a minimum.

Tomorrow is my day off so we'll attempt to get more Christmas shopping done and hopefully make a stop at Trader Joe's. I think it's now my second favorite store (behind Target)!

Monday, Monday...

... and not too much to report about. Ava had a good day at daycare and took a 2 1/4 hour nap while there. She also tried some tator tot beef casserole for lunch which she apparantly had no objections about.

Once home, she entertained daddy and I by climbing in and out of her toy chest a hundred times. As soon as she'd get in, she'd yell "out" or "help" until one of us rescued her. Sure enough, as soon as we got her out, she went back in. She aslo practiced her "no touch" speech as she'd walk up to the tree and touch most of the lights.

She had some leftover mac n cheese for dinner along with a hot dog and oranges. She had some mini muffins and part of my cookie for a bedtime snack. She was like a vulture how she attacked me to get at the cookie. I couldn't even scold her I was laughing so hard.

Successful shopping day...

Ava and I had a busy day shopping. We went to Target, Best Buy, Wal-Mart and Big Lots. I was able to cross three more people off my loooooooooong list! Ava doesn't know it, but the Cabbage Patch Doll she was kissing and begging to take out of the box at Big Lots will be under the tree on Christmas morning. I have searched high and low for a cute one and I think I found it. Daddy doesn't find them cute at all, but that's okay. Her name is Fiona Harley...

Ava did a great job eating today. She had two scrambled eggs (with ketchup) and a piece of french toast for breakfast. For lunch, she had the deluxe mac-n-cheese (w/ the shells) and green beans. I didn't think she'd be too hungry for dinner with all the cat cookies (from Trader Joe's) she scarfed down today. I was wrong... she had a yogurt, oranges, oatmeal and fish crackers.

She made us laugh today... she knows she's not allowed to touch the Christmas tree so she goes up close to it and yells "NO TOUCH!" She kept yelling it over and over and I kept thinking, oh my god, is that all I say to her? I think so.

15 more days...

Baking Chirstmas cookies

We spent most of the day at Nanny's baking Christmas cookies. Auntie Ree joined us and we baked Peanut Butter Blossoms, Turtle Bars, Chocolate Italian Cookies and another type of bar with graham crackers, chocolate chips and some really sweet frosting. Of course, Nanny let Ava sample some of the frosting.

Ava spent most of her time playing with Grandpa while us girls baked the cookies. She took less than a two hour nap and fell asleep without her paci!!! I actually forgot to pack it and Grandpa ran to Walgreen's after about 1/2 hour of her talking in her crib. She was asleep by the time he returned but I realized the main reason she took so long to fall asleep was because of the mess in her diaper. I attempted to put her down tonight without a paci thinking maybe she'd be okay. Wrong! We'll have to try again some other time.

Uncle Brian and Ava's cousins, Dominic and Soleil, joined us after we finished baking cookies. The kids hung out and played for a bit before we all headed back to our homes.

We had an overall fun day, except for the fact that daddy was on call and worked ALL day long. We missed him. Hopefully we get a chance to hang out tomorrow.

TGIF!!!

We finally made it! What a long week...

Ava woke up this morning and immediately began pointing to all of her pictures in her room. She'd point out daddy in every one and kept yelling "DADDY"! I finally fetched a framed picture for her. She just stared and smiled at daddy. Maybe she didn't see me standing next to him? Anyway, it was cute so I had to grab the camera.

Ava had a good day at daycare and spent a few hours with daddy this evening while I enjoyed a fish fry out with some friends. Daddy said she was a bit picky with her food and had some of each of the following... peanut butter and jelly sandwich, turkey, cheese, banana and applesauce.

She also seemed to enjoy Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer for a few minutes, but I'm positive she didn't enjoy it as much as daddy did! We even got shushed during one part.

We're off to bake cookies at Nanny's tomorrow and will get to see Uncle Brian, Auntie Ree and Ava's cousins, Soleil and Dominic. Peanut Butter Blossoms in da house!

St. Nick came!

Ava and I were both ready to start our Chirstmas shopping early on my day off today and were on the road by 8am. Unfortunately, both Toys R Us and Sears did not open until 9am. We spent the extra time mall-walking with the *white hairs* (as daddy calls them)! Everyone waved and stopped to say hi as we hung out waiting to get into Sears. I found a few items but made one purchase... for myself! By the time we got to Toys R Us, Ava was done with shopping, so I hurried and got a few gifts; at least we were able to cross two more kids off the list.

Ava seemed to be feeling better today and had a pretty good appetite and took a two hour nap. Once daddy got home, Ava checked out her stocking to see what St. Nick brought. She got a new book and two bottles for her baby. She was quite fond of the bottles!

Nanny and Grandpa Tony visited tonight and had dinner with us. I made tilapia, pasta and steamed broccoli and we had a store bought carrot cake for dessert. The cake sure wasn't anything to write home about. Guess that's for the better so I wont be forced to eat anymore of it.

Sill a bit under the weather

The princess is still not 100%. For the second day in a row, Miss Ruth (our daycare provider) has reported that Ava was crabby. Today, she said she was bumping into things. Ear infection? Who knows. Seems her tummy is not feeling good so we're continuing with a bland diet and limited dairy. She continues to whine VERY often and doesn't want to be consoled by anyone but me. Fun.

We set up the Christmas tree tonight with high hopes for a photo op. I think we did okay in the few seconds that we had. It's pretty obvious I have to remove alot of the ornamnets I've put on and I didn't even cover the entire tree. We had planned to see Santa tomorrow but with her stranger anxiety and clinginess to me right now, it's not happenin'. In the words of every Cleveland Brown fan... there's always next year!

Maybe it's the teeth...

Who knows, but whatever it is, please pass quickly! The clinginess is at an all time high. She'll fret about the littlest things and grab hold of my legs, bury her head and cry her eyes out. 99% of the time she cannot be consoled by daddy which makes it quite difficult for me to get anything done and it hurts daddy's feelings :(

I dropped her off at daycare today and for the first time ever, she cried so hard when I was leaving. She kept running back to me and it broke my heart. I wanted to cry with her... She only slept an hour there today and Miss Ruth even admitted Ava was crabby. She normally reports that she was an angel.

I think the stomach issues have past but I'm wondering if this is all related to something. She won't let me check her mouth for anymore teeth. I jsut have a feeling... she did go to bed by 7pm but that's because she's been up since 12:30pm.

On a happier note, only 21 more days til Christmas!!!

Lazy Sunday...

It was a very lazy day as the princess was not feeling so well. After her 2:45am wake up, she went back to sleep a little after 4am and woke up just before 8am. We followed the BRAT diet for the most part, so her meals consisted of applesauce, cheerios, crackers, bananas and chicken rice soup for dinner.

She seems to be feeling much better and was quite the daredevil today. She is climbing on everything... the kitchen chairs, her "play wall", her shopping cart and the stairs. She stayed inside all day due to the flu and the fact that it was a brisk 18 degrees today, not including the wind chill. Brrr!

She took just over a 2 hour nap today and went down for the night about 7pm.

It was another big football day at the Passante household. Unfortunately, the Packers played like a JV team against the Jets. It was a sorry site. On a positive note, the Browns went into OT and upset the KC Chiefs! Woohoo!

Saturday, shopping, sickies...

The day started off fine. Ava has really taking a liking to her shopping cart and likes to climb in it any chance she gets. Once in awhile, daddy will give her a ride in it which makes her want to climb into it that much more. Today was such a day...

Ava and I went to the mall in an attempt to find some Christmas gifts. I was successful in finding part of one gift and we left just as the shoppers were coming out in full force. We went to Target before dinner and were successful with a few more gifts, until we found out Aunt Lisa got a duplicate of one of ours. Oops. No biggy.

Throughout the day, Ava didn't seem to have much of an appetite and had some minor tummy troubles. She went to bed around 7:30pm but woke up crying around 2:45am. When I came in the room, she pointed to the mattress; I flipped on the light and realized she had puked. Yuck! Daddy and I cleaned her up and changed the sheets and she was back to sleep around 4am. Poor baby. She had some Pedialyte this morning and seems back to her old self. We hope so!

It's a blizzard out there!

10 inches and then some!!!

We woke up to blizzard conditions outside... very poor visibility with non-stop snowfall until about 12pm. I decided I would have to work from home today so I dropped Ava off at daycare. After driving just 6 blocks on our short journey to Miss Ruth's house, I realized I made the dumbest choice to get in the car and drive. It was horrible. Before leaving, I got Ava fully dressed in her coat, snow pants and boots. She was not pleased. She was even less pleased when I took her outside and tried to take pictures.

She had a great day with Miss Ruth... she was spoiled because she was the only one there! Joe picked her up on his way home from work. I put all of her winter gear on and out we went again. This time, she was a bit more happy because our neighbor's dog was out frolicking in the snow. Tomorrow we may pull out the sled and go for a walk.

She had a fun night playing indoors with daddy. We started watching Polar Express but she has proven once again that the TV is not interesting... she was done with it after 5 minutes! Dinner was a few pieces of cheese, green beans and oranges. She wanted to get out of the high chair shortly after I put her in it... some toy must have caught her eye.

Can you believe it's December 1st already????