(All of these pictures and videos are mixed in time lines from the end of Dec until mid Feb.)
It seems we've spent a lot of time with Ava in her high chair lately, and that is a great place to take pictures. She has recently refused to take much of anything on a spoon, but is doing a good job of feeding herself little chunks of things. She's a bit pickier than her sister was at this age (Rachel ate EVERYTHING and wouldn't stop), but it's really fun to watch her check out new things.
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| 7.5 months old! |
Ava is a great sitter. She can move to her tummy (not very gracefully, yet) from sitting. On her tummy, she can roll around, get on to hands and knees, rock on all fours, and push herself around a little bit. She's trying to crawl but usually just pushes herself backwards and gets frustrated at this point. She loves to play in her exersaucer and bounce around, bat at things, bob her head up and down, suck her thumb, suck her Mommy's hair, pinch other people's skin/face.
She can click, squeal, squeak, say 'da da da da' and 'ga ga ga ga' and 'ba ba ba ba' and 'um-ga' and 'ma ma ma ma'.
The last two weeks, Ava has been a little fussier and hasn't stuck to her eating/napping/sleeping schedule quite the same. We keep wondering if that first tooth is going to make an appearance, but nothing just yet.
Her eyes are amazingly blue still and her sleep schedule is generally quite awesome still. It's less motivating to leave the house these days for several factors. One is that we've had lots of snow and cold weather. Two is that Ava sleeps well in her crib. Three is that Rachel is generally happy to play inside at home. It's so different than when Rachel was little and wouldn't sleep in her crib, so I took her out all the time in a car seat/backpack/stroller and she slept en route and I got out.
On a good day, her sched looks like this:
6:45am - Rachel wakes her up. Nurse.
7:30am - high chair solid food breakfast.
9:00am - nap
10:30am - nurse
11:30am - high chair solids
12:30pm - nap
2:30pm - nurse, change
3pm - highchair solids
4pm - get fussy and tired, optional short third nap, optional nurse
5pm - highchair solids
6:30pm - nurse and go to sleep, usually sleeping through for 12 hours.
So she's nursing 4-5 times per day and eating solids 3-4 times per day. It seems all we do is eat, clean up, eat again, sleep, wake up, eat again! She must be an Oliver!
She's growing up very fast and it's tough. I'm sad when she grows out of cute outfits and I put them in a box for someone else. I see newborns now and they seem so tiny. I'm sad sometimes when she only nurses for 10 minutes and she's done.
When Rachel was an infant, and I had to nurse her every night as part of the bedtime routine, I felt trapped. Rachel also had inconsistent nights and I was up with her a lot more and she nursed a lot more often for a lot longer time frame. With Ava, nursing seems like such a luxury. I sit still and cuddle my sweetie. I play on my phone. I rock in the chair. I don't have to get up and do other things. Jason often goes through Rachel's hectic bedtime routine and tries to settle her down while I enjoy the peace and sweetness of nursing Ava. I don't feel trapped at all. I feel blessed and I don't want that to stop. I don't even mind getting up at night to nurse when Ava is fussy in the night.
It's not that Rachel and Ava are so different. It's probably just the normal differences between a first and second child. I was so excited for Rachel to grow up and get to the next thing. With Ava, I'm trying so hard to cherish these precious moments because life is so busy and they are disappearing so fast.
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