Bub’s Bug, Car’s Crap, Ava’s Awesome

Bub caught another playground bug… a stomach and throat sickness. He’s such a trooper when he is sick and really keeps his sense of humor through the mucus and misery. He sounds like he’s a two-pack a day man when he talks now… which is really weird to hear when he says very 21-month-old things like “Bye-bye fow-fow!” (interpretation: “bye-bye, fountain.”) (He’s chummy with the neighborhood fountain.) Here’s a milestone that rarely gets reported – Bub now knows how to blow his nose! Credit the 30-day runny nose for this one, plus Tim’s excellent instruction. Goodbye, booger vacuum!

Here bub is working on his tan in healthier days...


The Saturn has been in the shop since Tuesday, and they still don’t know what exactly is wrong with it. At this point we are expecting a snarky diagnosis such as “Well here’s your problem right here…you bought a Saturn.” The issue is related to the hybrid system. Of course Saturn is no longer in business and GM apparently sold all the repair manuals at the estate sale…and so no one can figure out what is going on. It’s like the mechanics are Dr. Zoidberg and assuring us they are experts in working on humans, but then asking us to stick out our proboscis and say “aaah”.


(simulated mechanic, actual mechanic may vary)

Everything is covered under warranty, but it’s a pain hauling the kids around in a dinky wee little Chevy sedan. So we are thinking about trading in the Saturn for something bigger and with less always-in-the-shop-like qualities.

Ava’s doing super awesome. She’s sleeping in three hour stretches at night now, and prefers to be awake more in the day. When she is awake she spends a lot of time oscillating between happy:


and bewildered:



I put her down last night and about two hours later I saw she was flailing and (quietly) fussing on the monitor. So I went into her room and looked down at her in the crib – when she saw me, she gave the biggest smile and then went back to sleep. I immediately ODed from the cute and was only revived from the yar-induced coma when Cow hacked up a hairball on our carpet. Thanks, Cow, that was some fast thinking.

We’ve Got Pudge

As the area’s number one milk producer, I recently noticed a sharp increase in demand from my top customer. The Marketing and Research department confirmed my suspicions. The average weight of our customer base has increased by 10.77% in the past two weeks. Today’s hefty local milk consumer requires more milk than ever before.

This is my frustratingly cutesy way to say that Ava now weighs 9 lbs!! Not only is Ava getting bigger, she is also getting stronger. Check out these mad holding-up-her-head skills.




Never mind her strong neck, check out those cheeks! (Resist the urge to reach out and pinch your screen… coochie-cooing your electronics almost never ends well.)

Sorry about the bizarre angle and extreeeeme close-up of the above picture. She was up on my shoulder when I took the pic. Yeah, so if you thought my photography was craptacular before, let me assure you that my one-handed photography is even craptacular-er. I expect I’ll regain use of both my hands in about 6 to 12 months, at which time I’ll issue a new excuse for poor photography.

Tim’s sister and brother-in-law visited last weekend. In addition to poor photography skills, I also now have extremely poor hostess skills. I was absent for a good portion of their visit due to my responsibilities as a food source for Ava. You don’t realize how much of the day is spent half-naked until you have company. I expect I’ll experience less partial nudity in about 12 – 13 months, at which time I’ll issue a new excuse for my seemingly anti-social behavior. Ava enjoyed being in her Aunt Rachel’s arms while I enjoyed taking this rare two-handed picture:



Ava now gives me a big smile when I smile at her. So this is how I spend a good portion of my days – smiling like a crazy person at a six-week-old baby. I don’t care if I look/act/am crazy. I could literally explode from the dangerously high levels of yar she emits.



Then I look up and see this guy:


And my “literal” explosion becomes an actual explosion… neither of which are real explosions. Ironically, however, my abuse and misuse of the word “literal” literally makes a Grammar Goody-Goody explode.



(Angry Grammar Goody-Goody)




Nothing like ending a blog entry with a bang. And I literally mean that figuratively.

Ava as...

One baby, 3 minutes, 6 impressions.

The girl's got talent.

Enjoy.


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Ava as Popeye




Ava as Rosie the Riveter




Ava as adorable big-eyed ceramic apple thingy.




Ava as Frodo Baggins




Ava as someone who was just called down to be the next contestant on The Price is Right




Ava as James Carville



Ava is loved…

I Like My Doctors Nerdy

Ava just had her one-month appointment. I HEART this pediatrician. I’m so glad that we left Alexander’s original pediatrician. We dumped her when Alexander was around a year old but we should have done it sooner. We should have done after we found out she used to be a veterinarian and clearly preferred her canine patients, or after the eighth time she sternly called us “people” (as in, “you gotta clean his armpits, people” after discovering a speck of lint in his pit. Baby skin = lint magnet, people!!!) The new pediatrician actually seems to like children and their parents… plus she is totally a nerd’s dream pediatrician. She showed me 6, yes SIX graphs. I nearly fainted from data bliss..

There are three measurements they take at every appointment in the first year -- weight, length, and head circumference. Each is plotted on it’s own graph with various comparison percentiles graphed out to a full year. Normally, you get three graphs – one for each of the three measurements. Since Ava came early, however, I get to have three bonus graphs that compare her to other babies born three weeks early. Sweeeeeeeet. For example. Ava is now 8 lb, 2 oz which is 25th percentile for all babies, but 50th percentile on the 37 week “preemie” chart.

The pediatrician and I shared a nice nerdly moment comparing and projecting the data out to ridiculous conclusions. My enthusiasm for the moment was magnified due to the fact that I hadn’t gotten out of the house in days.

Anyhoo… Ava’s doing great. She’s 8 lbs 2 oz, 21 inches long, and has a 14 inch head. Using the preemie chart that’s 50th percentile for weight, 75-90th for length, and 50th for head size.

Here’s a picture of her as I type:


And this picture is proof that she is getting a little squish on her thighs:



Speaking of pictures… Alexander is still very much into art. It’s his favorite activity, and it holds his attention longer than anything that is not Elmo. He likes to announce what he is drawing as he goes. Like, he hollers “blue!” when he grabs the blue crayon. While his vocabulary has gotten pretty big, 90% of it can only be understood by a select few (usually me, Tim, grandma, and of course bubby himself). His latest masterpiece is called “Greh and Ha-ah with Cirsles and Dahts” . For the bubby-impaired, this translates to “Green and Yellow with Circles and Dots”. It’s a Yarsterpeice!!! (That’s “ridiculously adorable masterpiece” for the Our Dumb Blog-impaired).





And when he’s not doing art, he almost always looks like this (happy and in motion):



Tim is not only an excellent father and husband… with a few minor adjustments he transforms into a comfortable mattress:




So life here is pretty good.


ps - she is laughing in her sleep in the above picture - one of her first acts of yar at 6 days old, and it just keeps getting louder and cuter.