We're baaa-aack!

I cannot believe that it's been THREE (!) months since the last post...eek! Happy Labor Day, Halloween, Thanksgiving, but thankfully NOT Christmas. I'm completely to blame and offer my most sincere apology for all those waiting for updates and pictures. SORRY! I don't know how three months has passed us by so quickly, but there has been just SO much going on. Can you believe it's already December with 2010 just around the corner! Given my lack of attention to the blog, at least I can say I caught up before the end of the year, right? ;)

Well, what have we been up to these past few absent months, you ask? To start, Ava transitioned with lightening fast speed from from the awkward floor humping crawl to a crazy fast crawler that can: pivot, sit up completely (kind of unnerving to watch since I envision her head just smacking the ground...), kneel, and pull herself up to standing. All this in just a month (September)! Sitting down to type on the computer or check email is now a distant memory. She is movin' and groovin' and keeping up with her is exhausting!

In addition to crawling at super sonic speed, she has also been standing up on her own since early October (Kent's mom got to see Ava stand for the first time during her trip here to Oregon). Come December, she has already taken several steps on her own and is a little godzilla around any household objects (read: magnet to anything fragile, glass, pointy, or dangerous for that matter).

This change in development also means that Ava has moved up a couple notches in the pecking order in our house. It is now Ava, Mocha, and then Oliver...! Since she can not only crawl after Mocha and Oliver, but pull their hair, she is the boss. Mocha doesn't mind her quick movements and crazy antics, but poor Oliver...

And of course, she's been teething. In September she had no teeth. October, she had two little teeny weeny bottom teeth. Then, all of a sudden in early November, voila - TWO TOP FRONT TEETH! All this change in such a short time is a daily reminder of how quickly she is growing up. One day she's this potato lying helpless in the crib and now she's a drooling, babbling, PERSON.

Our little girl also filled my heart with joy when she signed back to me for the first time a month or so ago (October, just two days after Kent's mom left). I've been diligently signing to Ava since she was a couple months old, but the moment she signed back just made me melt. She did the sign for 'more' when I was feeding her a snack and I just about DIED. I caught it on video, so I'll have to post that soon. Besides 'more', she can also sign for 'milk' now...!

And rest assure, the signing is not hindering her speech; she's been saying 'mama' for the past month or so! She's really found her voice recently and I feel like that's all she likes to say all day long. Loudly, repetitively, and persistently...MAMAMAMAMA!! It's so cute I can't help but smile and feel my heart skip a beat, but when it's at 3am through the baby monitor, I can honestly say we're ready for word #2.

Since I'm short on time (again) and Ava just woke up from her nap, I'm going to post the mother load of pictures either tonight or tomorrow (PROMISE!). Sit tight, check in before the weekend and thanks for your patience. It's good to be back!