Milestones

Ava passed a few milestones in the last week:

1) she laughed (yeah!);

2) she sat up with the assistance of her Bebe Pod (as seen below);

3) she grabbed a "small" object, a.k.a. Ducky her favorite toy (oh, and then she tried to eat his nose); and

4) she rolled over as of this morning!!

Every day she seems to learn more and surprise us with something new. This must be one of the ways children steal your heart!

You can see that she's also stolen the Puggles hearts...

More swimming...

Here's Ava with her Cousin (or Tita, we're not sure of the correct terminology) Paloma.

And with her Cousin/Tito Tiago on his short visit between teaching English in South America and the Peace Corps (wow!).

Some "Forte" Girls.

Is that Ava riding a horse... or a Puggle?

Oh, the curse of unruly hair!! (I wonder who she got that from?)

Giggles with Tito Hugh.

Were they having a staredown?

Ava enjoys Concerts in the Park, as you can see.

Two of my very best friends have little ones of their own... so fun!

Bunny Slips make Ava "Sassy Just Like Mommy"

Until next time...

Two Months!

I have vowed to take pictures and a short video of Ava every month for at least the first year. Of course, as you can see we take much more than pictures every month, but the idea here is to take them in the same place on her monthly birthdays (if that's what you can call them) to see her progression. She already changed SO, SO much from one month old (sniff, sniff)!

Getting excited...

Oh, very excited!

I don't even know what to say about this one.

The Beach, etc.

Ava had her first trip to the beach recently. Even though it was far to cold to get in the water (we just went down for a picnic dinner), she seemed to really take to it, which is a requirement for being half-Forte.

She even scaled the stairs back up from Table Rock! (Just kidding.)

Other than the waves and sand, Ava's other new favorites are napping in her swing borrowed from her friend Lilly Bell, and ceiling fans. They are, I would argue, the most economical and exciting type of giant mobil (who needs a mini one in a crib?). Jeff and my Dad recently installed one over our bed and Ava wakes up every morning and looks up with amazement as if to say, "Oh my gosh, that is the most amazing thing I've ever seen. When did we get it!?!" You have to love the wonder of children!

She also likes helping me around the house. Don't worry, I didn't leave her like this for too long...

She has smiles, smiles, smiles and gets so excited when you talk to her.

Here is a wide-eyed picture taken watching fireworks on the 4th. In years past, we've bombed down the two mile hill from our house to the Mission Viejo lake on beach cruisers and then watched the show over the water. Needless to say, this year that was hardly practical, so we decided to bomb it with strollers instead! Ava and her friend Lilly enjoyed the ride!!

Some would say that this flower is too big, but Ava prefers a bit of drama. Jeff keeps saying that he's not sure bows and headbands all the time are good, but us girls know you have to learn young to suffer for beauty... just wait until she has to break in a pair of heals! :)