Ava is 6 months old!

Wow! 6 months already! Time does fly. *sniff, sniff* My baby's growing up.

We've had a very busy week! Ava's Grandma Tarver came to stay with us last weekend and help us out as I had managed to hurt my back somehow or another. She and I trained Ava for some serious power shopping so Ava's pretty much all stocked up for the winter in terms of clothes.

Ava's second tooth came thru on Sunday- I know, second tooth!!! We're starting to get the hang of what she's like when a tooth's coming in. Usually she's so pleasant that when she gets crabby and it's not one of the usual things like a wet diaper or she's tired that it pretty much narrows it down to teething. She's all about putting everything in her mouth these days, to explore textures as well as alleviate some pain. Ava's not great at holding things in her mouth for long though so we're not quite ready for the almighty cold teething rings. We'll get there in due time. No rush. :)
Wednesday, Ava and I went and her first formal portraits done for Jeremy's birthday. When I can scan them into a bigger format after they come in the mail I'll try to post them larger. They are sooo cute! She didn't know what to think about it for a while but the feather duster brought out some big smiles. She was really just fascinated with the sounds the photographer made.

So, Thursday was Jeremy's big day-his 31st birthday- and he requested a super chocolaty cake which Ava and I surprised him with at work. We also got him some Carharrt's for all the work he does around the house as well as the portraits mentioned above. It was a beautiful day and we finished it all off with dinner at Gaby's.

Friday was Ava's big six month day. We basically spent the day cuddling and playing. She's getting so funny! She's ticklish and has the best little laugh. She curls into you as she laughs or when she's tired as well. She also yells when she's playing and we've taken to calling her our "little pterodactyl." Other interesting things that I love: she's fascinated when I brush my hair; she reaches for my plate and nearly tips it over every time we go out to eat; other children are amazing to her (especially her cousin Bo!); when her Daddy comes home from work it brings out some of the biggest smiles.

Next up, pears and apples, we'll let you know how that goes!

October Randomness

So as of the last Monday in October, Ava was about three ounces shy of 18 pounds, which puts her in the 75th percentile for weight. A lady at one of the stores we were shopping at said "Girrrl, what you been eatin'?" Ha,ha. "All breastmilk," I replied. She's still not keen on fruits or rice cereal but our pediatrician said that's just fine and informed us that her son who's one month older than Ava was pretty much the same way until one day they just couldn't feed him fast enough. Ava's also 27 inches long now, which puts her in the 90th percentile for height! Wonder who she gets that from??? Because of her size, a lot of folks are surprised when I tell them she's just 6 months old. Well, she's very healthy and sleeping well and we couldn't be more blessed.

Developmentally Ava's been doing lots of exciting activities lately. She's sitting up longer and longer unaided. She rolls over but then gets stuck on her tummy which makes her VERY upset, especially at night when she's trying to go to bed so we have to go in and "save" her a lot right now. I'll be glad when she gets the full roll mastered just for that reason but then we'll be all the closer to crawling?! She can stop on a dime in her Johnny Jump-Up and swing around to see who's talking in one room or watch the cat dart from room to room. It's making her legs so strong! Her fine motor skills with her hands just keep getting better and better and one of her favorite toys lately is her taggie blanket from her Aunt Randi. It was funny I peeked at her in her crib and saw her playing with the tag on her little soft monkey doll's bum rather than the monkey itself and that's when I knew she was ready for her taggie blanket.



Here's Ava's friend Miles who came to visit with his Mom Krystal. Jeremy was rather pleased she doesn't have a big interest in boys yet. Miles is so friendly though and he was excited to meet her while she was more interested in sticking his hand in her mouth and chewing on it with her teeth! That's right- we've got two teeth now!
Just a couple other random pics- the biggest slug you've ever seen as compared to a nickel. All together now- eewww!!! All the rain we've been having must be like gatorade to them because we've seen quite a few of these giganto nasties lately.

And here's Pica scoping out Ava's new Britax carseat. She sat in it for hours when it was first brought in. "Aahh, finally the throne I deserve!" She was a bit disappointed when she found out it wasn't in fact hers.

Ava and her Cousin Bo

Ava has a new hero. His name is Bo. He's Ava's cousin and lives here in Watkinsville with my sister and her husband.

Here's Ava mesmerized by her cousin Bo's dancing. Pretty much everything he does is fascinating to her. And I love the way Bo gets excited when "Baby Ava" comes over to play.


Who needs pants? (Bo's pants slumped down and then just fell off while we were visiting--too cute)

Johnny Jump Up Time!

Is it really half way thru October already? I've been very negligent with blogging lately. Life's just crazy sometimes. Here are the updates in Tarverville.

I (Gail) hurt my back two weeks ago doing Lord knows what and suffered spasms which made me feel like I had whiplash. Luckily, I had a routine appointment scheduled two days after already so the doctor hooked me up with a muscle relaxer safe for breastfeeding and Jeremy's friend from work who is a masseuse came over and worked on my back a little while our babies hung out together. Suffice to say, I have had to seriously limit picking up the baby to breastfeeding and that's led to our newest adventures with the grandparents!

The day after the doctor visit Ava and I headed over to Atlanta to stay with Nana Phyllis and Grandpa Don. The girls went shopping and we found a steal on a very cute Halloween costume for Ava which you'll just have to find out about after the holiday rolls around. Nana whipped out the Johnny Jump Up which Ava had never used before but now has become her new favorite toy and morning exercise routine. Her legs are getting so strong already from it!



Here's Ava trying it out for the first time.



and after two mornings of perfecting her form.

Wrapping up September

Wow, September flew by and so did our little girl's fifth month. 5 months old already and an incisor is erupting on her bottom gum. She starting to be more cuddly and expressive which we love! She's ticklish too and we adore her laugh!
Here are some random pictures from of late. Enjoy.
Ava and I went for a walk to see if the river was flooded after all the rain and we discovered that the very old chimney on "Engagement Hill" had fallen down.

We had another bout of thunderstorms Friday night and when we woke up Saturday morning I discovered Fisher wearing some new apparel...
"But Mom, I thought the swing would protect me..."
"Thanks for saving me Dad!"

Graceland- Memphis, TN

Here's pics from Ava's biggest road trip yet with Momma and Nana. She was such a good sport! Here she is in the morning after her first night staying in a hotel.



Here she is watching cable TV for the first time that her Nana put on for her- The Disney Channel!

Here we are in front of the gates, a scene reproduced from my Mom's visit with me 30 years ago!

Graceland proper.

It's on the National Register of Historic Places.


A wall in the trophy room highlighting Elvis' start at Sun Studios there in Memphis.


The Jungle Room!

The TV room.


Mom and her buddies.




Elvis' plane the Lisa Marie- pretty snazzy!

Ava being all sophisticated in our hotel suite.

Look at this sweetpea! Her first outlet mall shopping trip!

STARI--Southern Tick-Associated Rash Illness

Poor Ava got her very first tick bite about 3 weeks ago! Since we had just recently dealt with Jeremy's bout of what we thought was Lyme Disease, we were especially attentive to Ava's tick bite, and it was a very good thing too. The tick that bit her was a baby seed tick which really couldn't have been much bigger than the period at the end of this sentence. We think she picked it up from just sitting out on the porch a couple hours before and it was probably carried up there by one of the dogs. We took the trip to Douglas a couple days after the bite and it really just didn't seem to be healing up like a normal tick bite, which is exactly what happened with Jeremy's bite. The day after Labor Day we took Ava in to see her fantastic pediatrician and she was wise to say "Well since it has a rash, I'd rather ere on the safe side and go ahead and start her on antibiotics." The very next day Ava and I set out for our trip to Graceland with Nana Phyllis and her friends. The day after the rash was becoming a definite bullseye. I called the pediatrician and actually emailed her a pic with my iPhone on the road and she decided we should up the dose and lengthen the duration. Whew, I was so scared it was going to be rough on her like Jeremy, but it seems we caught it early enough to prevent any really bad effects.

As a follow up, the day after we came home from Memphis, I took our dog B.B. to the vet. He and I had a discussion and he swore that of all the dogs he ever tested for Lyme Disease, only one who regularly traveled to Connecticut ever had it. This prompted me to do some research and I found out that the CDC has classified a southern form of Lyme Disease with the anagram STARI- Southern Tick-Associated Rash Illness. Its side effects are milder than the northern version but it also can develop the signature bullseye rash. It's the same genus as Lyme Disease but a different species and carried by a different tick- the lonestar tick (a deer and dog favoror with a penchant for people when it can) This tick only has a white dot on its back when it's an adult. Just thought all my southern friends should especially be aware that this exists. I'm not really sure why they don't publicize it more.