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Pictures that move. (Grades are mine, then Josh's) [updated: 2.2.06] |
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Thursday, June 28, 2007 Two times a third of the way to a year. There haven't been a ton of big changes since last month, at least not the kind that are easily defined (other parents I'm sure will get how you can notice your child changing and growing, even if you can't pinpoint the exact things that have changed). She got her second tooth, of course, and can now get up on her hands and knees in a snap. She seems to get frustrated sometimes because she can't quite figure out how move once she's in that position; we're trying to show her what to do, but I don't know whether that will actually help or if it's something she just has to figure out on her own. It can't be too far off, though. She went to her first movie at the drive-in (hooray for a theater you can actually take a baby to!) and got to sit in the front seat -- which she'd of course never done before -- for Shrek the Third, and slept nicely through Blades of Glory. We may go again tomorrow for Pirates Whatever Number This One Is and Ocean's Whatever Number This One Is (and, no, you don't want to know how late a night that would be). We haven't taken her height or weight recently, but I was noticing the other day that her legs look so long compared to the short stubby little things they used to be. Seems like she might have her daddy's not-short gene. All the better to be a member of the Iowa State women's basketball team. ;-) She loves playing with anything long and skinny: drawstrings, shoelaces, cords (yeah, that one we try to keep away from her as much as possible), skinny straps on Mommy's or her own shirts (she especially likes the elasticity of those and has figured out that she can snap them :-P). We let her play with some things like that with limits and supervision, and she just seems fascinated by them. She also loves touching glasses of cold beverages (I don't know if it's the cold or the feel of the glass or both), and if even the teeniest bit of food gets dropped on her high chair tray, she will immediately get her fingers in it. She's very observant, that one. And like all 8-month-olds, she's just plain interested in anything and everything, and if she has a choice between one of her toys or something of Mommy's and Daddy's, she'll almost always go for the "big people" things (remotes, the laptop, magazines). Yesterday she was enthralled by the towel ring in the bathroom (It's smooth! It's shiny! It's perfect for grabbing!). And darned if she hasn't figured out how to reach under the couches and pull things out -- sometimes things we didn't even know were there.  she's figured out that she can make noise (notice how i don't call it music :-P) on her toy xylophone by banging the mallet (usually not the right part of it) or some other toy on the bars (yet another thing to put on the list of things we should try to get video of)  "who says i have to play with my toys conventionally, mother?"  or maybe we should set our sights on the isu gymnastics team instead :-) (Incidentally, I have a bunch of Ava videos I'd like to get posted, but they have to be edited first and I don't know how to use the software at this point. So Josh's long work hours have been keeping us from getting those done for a while, but we'll hopefully get at least a couple of them done and posted within the next couple days.) 4:32 PM || I want to be a comment. Post me! Saturday, June 23, 2007 Whining. Josh is at work -- yes, at 9:30 on a Saturday night, which completely blows, by the way, both for me and especially for him -- because he has a crapload of stuff to do. I have an infected tear duct (and beet red, constantly watering and itching eye) for which I'm on a nasty-strong antibiotic whose side effects can include nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, headaches, stomach pain, joint pain, yeast infection, fatigue, insomnia, depression and confusion. (Two days and I've had the pleasure of a couple of the side effects but none of the actual getting better yet. And if it doesn't work I might have to undergo some sort of scary minor surgical procedure, oh goody.) Ava is teething and kind of fussy in general as a result. So Josh is all stressed out about work, I'm all stressed out about my eye, Ava's all stressed out about her gums, and we're all stressed out about each other's stuff, because that's the way it works. So I felt like doing a little fussing of my own. Wah. 9:32 PM || I want to be a comment. Post me! Tuesday, June 19, 2007 Newies. Random Ava pictures, all from the past week (except for the first one, which is from about a month ago).  have i mentioned that close-ups are awesome (and, in some cases, pretty funny)?  she's definitely paying more attention (and not always trying to eat the books, which certainly helps)  i call this one, "almost..."  yes, that is what you think it is 10:07 PM || I want to be a comment. Post me! Thursday, June 14, 2007 Oldies. So I realized I had some pictures from late March that I had gotten ready to post but never had. So here they are, from Ava's first playground experience (there conveniently happens to be one only about a block from our house).  she didn't seem terribly impressed with the swings, but she did hold on  um, whee?  this is what's known as a controlled slide  really, who among us can resist pushing a button as big as our head? While Josh was in Chicago for a business trip this week Ava and I went to a different park and she tried out a baby swing, which she really seemed to like. We'll have to do that with Daddy so he can hear her happy noises (and maybe we can get some pictures or even video, though I make no promises). 11:14 PM || I want to be a comment. Post me! Sunday, June 10, 2007 Eight days away from two years away from 30. If anyone is in need of birthday ideas, a few things I would like:
Thursday, June 7, 2007 Decancelfication! Decancelfication! A few weeks ago I booed several decisions that were announced at the television networks' upfront presentations, and now I have the immense pleasure of being able to at least partially de-boo a couple of them. First off, "The Thick of It", the "Arrested Development" people/Christopher Guest people mash-up comedy pilot that ABC rejected is apparently garnering interest from the likes of NBC. And HBO. And Showtime. No deals yet, but this is good news nonetheless. You know, just so long as it doesn't go the way of the whole "AD" fourth season debacle. Second off, "Jericho" lives! Sort of! You may recall my rant over the show's undeserved cancellation at the hands of CBS, but darned if they haven't done gone and changed their minds. Due to what was apparently a ginormous fan outcry (and some very organized campaigning -- holy crap, that stuff actually can work!), the network is giving the show a second chance with an order of seven episodes for sometime midseason, with the possibility for more if the ratings improve. Consider my jaw officially dropped. 4:32 PM || I want to be a comment. Post me! Wednesday, June 6, 2007 I never did a seven-month update, did I? This was a big month for Ava. She got her first tooth. She added two states (Missouri and Kansas) to her roster, bringing her total to four. She encountered her first kitties. She tried her first squash, green beans, sweet potatoes, applesauce, and bananas, and has taken fairly well to all of them; she seems to like squash (go figure) and bananas best, and actually seems to care for the applesauce the least, often making a puckery face like it's too tart for her and not wanting to eat very much at once. She had puffies (like Cheerios except they dissolve faster for babies) for the first time, grabbing one and managing (sometimes after a while) to get it in her mouth, though she's kind of gagged on them a bit, so it'll be a little while yet before she's eating them with any regularity. She went disc golfing for the first time in her jogging stroller. She learned a fun new game with a kickball (separate entry on that shortly). She's really taken a liking to sticking out her tongue. And she's getting ever closer to that whole crawling thing, scooting and rolling her way around the room. Daddy put her up on her hands and knees the other day and she rocked back and forth a bit before tipping over. She's very good at getting all the way up on her hands OR up on her knees with her butt up in the air, she just hasn't figured out how to put them together and do both at the same time. I'd say any day now.  the obligatory awesome close-up  how anyone can sleep up on their knees i'll never know  she looks so old to me in this picture 4:59 PM || I want to be a comment. Post me! |
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Disc-shaped music. [updated: 2.2.06] |