Life's Little Souvenirs: March 2013

Avalyn got to experience her first aquarium visit at the North Carolina Aquarium at Pine Knoll Shores! I was so excited to finally be able to take her! Over our Christmas leave I really wanted to stop in Atlanta and take her to the aquarium, but we were short on time due to certain circumstances and to be quite frank, I don't think she was ready.

Our little nugget stayed awake and alert the entire time we were there! In fact, she was so fascinated by the fish that she just stared at them in awe. She loved watching the fish move and swim around and she did not know what to think when we would put her close the the glass. I wish I could have known what she was thinking as she stared at these magnificent creatures that were more than three times her size.

The best part about the entire day was watching her and Brian together; he does not get to spend nearly as much time with her since our arrival here at Camp Lejeune. I think that they both enjoyed the time together...I sure did!

After the aquarium we stopped at the beach and walked a little bit just so I could get my dose of the Atlantic. I am beyond in love with the ocean and I think that Ava may enjoy it as much as I do. She seems to like watching the waves roll in and watching the birds and appears to be curious about the sound of the water.

The beach and the water are so much different than what we are used to down in Florida! The water was more of a blue-green and the sand was so much darker and softer. It amazes me how different every beach is despite them all sharing the same ocean.

I can't wait until the days get warmer so we can actually physically introduce the ocean to Ava and her little curious mind. I think she will enjoy the different textures and things one gets to experience from sitting on the beach. Soon!!

And with that I leave you all with a couple of videos from our little family day...

Enjoying our time on the beach.

Playing with her jelly fish friend from the aquarium.

On February 16th, our darling little Ava turned SIX MONTHS OLD!

Age: six months, nine days.

Weight: 12 pounds, 9 ounces

Height: 25 inches

It is still very difficult to believe that our little Ava Bug is half way to turning one year old. She has come so very far since her early arrival and every day that passes she continues to amaze us with her strength and determination.

Avalyn is continuing to roll from her belly to her back and tries to roll from her back to her belly; it is pretty funny when she gets frustrated with herself when she can't quite get her arm in the position needed to complete her roll. She is still sitting with assistance but is trying very hard to sit up on her own. It cracks me up when she is trying to sit up! It looks (and sounds) like she is doing a baby sit up and she gets so into it. She is able to stand with our assistance and she loves standing and playing in her exersaucer; she did actually stand on her own for about five seconds! She is talking more and more everyday and she loves yelling at her toys. And just recently she started trying to roll from her back to her belly.

Such amazing progress from six months ago!

We have been adventuring into the wonderful world of solid foods and so far we have learned that Avalyn loves her fruits and absolutely hates green beans! She does not seem to mind other veggies; in fact she seems to enjoy sweet potatoes, carrots, and mixed veggies. I just recently purchased a Baby Bullet and will be trying it out soon! I really like the idea of making her baby food for various reasons and I am pretty excited to give it a whirl.

At Ava's last doctor's appointment we learned that little miss is weighing in at 12 pounds, 9 ounces and is 25 inches long...that is OVER two feet! OMG?!

Needless to say, our visit was pretty interesting...

Brian was not able to attend so I called a cab and my mom and I took Ava on her first cab ride. I was extremely nervous about taking her in a cab particularly because I get nervous when she is in a car where Brian is not driving. But our cab driver was amazing and very nice and was not an insane driver and Ava even slept the entire trip to the office!

Once arriving, we had a bit of a mix up while checking in due to the notorious Felda/Selda mix up; I have no idea why but every time we have to give our name over the phone the "F" suddenly sounds like an "S". But every thing worked out and our name was found and the check in process began.

After mountains of paper work and a twenty minute wait; which resulted in everyone cooing over Ava and me trying not to watch the movie Tangled while filling out her paperwork, we were called back.

I really love Ava's new doctor! He did a thorough examination and answered all of my questions plus gave me numerous tips for those simple matters that no one ever thinks about.

He told me that he wants to keep her on her Enfamil Enfacare 22 calorie (for premature babies) for another few months to help her pack on some more weight; she really needs those extra calories! I stressed my concerns about this because her formula is causing her to become extremely constipated and he told me to start giving her one to two ounces of undiluted (baby) prune juice every day to help with the problem. So far it seems to be really helping! He also told me that she can continue on the stage one baby foods and she can start having water whenever I feel is needed. He also told me that she can have a sippee cup too! Ooh boy! Talk about your mind being blown! I can't believe that my baby is growing up to the point that she is now allowed a sippee!

Little miss was given her six month shots at the appointment and as always, it broke my heart to hear her crying, but she handled it wonderfully. She cried a little and then snuggled into my shoulder and was fine. Such a little trooper! We were not given the RSV shot and because the season is coming to an end, we may not ever need to get one again! I hated taking her every month for a shot...poor thing...has been getting shots every month since she was two months old! We may finally be catching a break!

Her doctor wants to see her back in a month for a weight check and to make sure that she is catching up like she should be; he was very impressed with her development thus far and that makes me one happy mommy!

We also have an appointment scheduled for her six month eye exam/check up; during Ava's stay in the NICU she had to have bi-weekly eye exams to check the development of her blood vessels in her eyes. We were given the clear when she was about three months old that her blood vessels were fully developed and looked great. Now that six months have gone by since her birth, she needs to be checked again and I am a little nervous considering the last eye exam she had her eyes were dilated and I had to sit and watch the eye doctor pry her eye open, hold it open with a clamp-like utensil, and then move her eye around with a little metal poker all while his assistant held her down. It was definitely one of the worst experiences as a mommy and I hope I don't have to sit through that again.

So because turning six months old is such a huge milestone for us, Brian and I decided to throw Ava a little "half" birthday party. It was just the three of us and we got Ava a few gifts and wrapped them and then had cupcakes. Nothing too extravagant, but it was fun and gave us all a break from moving.

Ava was not quite sure what to think about us singing "Happy Half Birthday" to her, but she loved opening her gifts! I was pretty impressed with how well she grabbed the paper and attempted to tear it; much better than the last time she tried opening gifts at Christmas time.

After dinner Brian and I let Ava smash a cupcake. I know, you are all probably thinking, "A cupcake at six months old?! Are you insane??!". Perhaps? No, no, I thought it would be cute and fun to let her give it a trial run before she turns one. She did not have a clue what to do with it and mostly squished it between her toes. She had some help from Daddy and once she put her hand up to her mouth for a taste, we took the cupcake away and wiped her clean.

So there you have it! Avalyn is six months old, almost seven months and we are loving watching her grow every day! In fact, every day is a new adventure with her and I am completely in love with this being a mommy thing.

Just a few of our favorite six month highlights: