To the pool

Memorial day is the perfect time to head to the pool. Ava was again a little uncertain at first but she was walking out into the water by the end. The pool has a beach walkin which is great for adjusting to the water. Note to self: Remember to bring the camera next time.

House cleaning

Today was not very exciting.....we had a nice quiet family day at home. Ava and Mommy made pancakes for breakfast. Then while Ava took her morning nap Daddy and Mommy cleaned the living room, kitchen, and dining room. Ava was very giggly today!

Up the stairs and to the ZOO!

There was a chance of rain today but we decided to risk it and head to the National Zoo, a chance of rain is better than 90 degrees and humid. As Mommy was packing up Ava decided she wanted to help and headed up the stairs.

Up until this point she would just stand at the bottom but today up she went. Daddy followed her up and she made it all the was to the top!
We headed out to the zoo. It only took about 20 minutes to get there, Ava took a quick nap on the way and about 10 minutes to find a parking spot on a side street. As we park David Wheeler, one of Mommy's work friends happened to walk past. He lives about a block from where we park but it was just complete luck that he was walking down the street where we parked.




Ava loved the zoo and looking at all of the people. Her favorite animals were the Apes and the Armadillo. This trip is one of the great things about living in DC. A great family day absolutely FREE!

Bertucci's

Tonight we had a belated 2nd anniversary celebration with our biggest accomplishment of the year, Ava, in toe. She was very excited to help Mommy and Daddy celebrate and enjoyed the fresh rolls..even more than Daddy.

Ava's first ponytail

When Mommy walked into Nadia's today to pick up Ava she was even more adorable than usual. Her hair clip had gone missing during her nap so Nadia put her hair in a ponytail. It stuck up perfectly from the top of her head and bounces when she dances.


One of Grandma Heckman's favorite stories about Mommy as a child is her love of the tupperware cabinet. Today while Mommy was cooking dinner Ava took her first search through the tupperware carefully extracting each piece and then taking a seat to rest :)

Feeding herself

A few weeks ago Ava finally starting feeding herself chunks of food even though she still doesn't have any teeth. After being away for a couple of days without a highchair we had wanted to show the Grandma's she didn't forget how. The best part of the video is her super smile to Daddy talking in the background :)

We are still smiling

Ava woke up at 6am ate and went back to sleep until 7:30. We got up and played with Claire and saw her excellent tumbling routine video. Randy made everyone waffles for breakfast. It was the perfect end to our stay in Houston. Claire was sad I had to leave and we will miss Claire-bear. We hope she comes to visit us in DC :) We headed back to Adriana and Alejandro's to quickly repack and then to the airport. Thank you everyone for making our first major trip as a family a great success. We are very lucky to have such wonderful friends. And yes in the end we are still all smiling!

A beautiful day for a wedding

Ava slept until almost 8am and was back down for her morning nap 45 minutes later. We knew it was going to be a great day. After nap time we headed out to run some errands including getting Daddy and new belt, Mommy accidentally packed Jason's belt from when he came to visit a few months ago, and a new tie. After successful errands we headed back to Adriana and Alejandro's for an afternoon nap and the flyers playoff game. A successful 2 hour nap and the flyers ahead 2-0! It was time to head to Claire's. Cathy and Randy, Claire's Mom and Dad, graciously offered to watch Ava while Mommy and Daddy went to the wedding. Mommy spent many nights watching Claire while she lived in Houston so it was the perfect choice. They built a beautiful new house since we saw them last in December and it is FABULOUS! They even have a salt water pool in the back yard so Ava took her first swim. Mommy and Daddy headed to the wedding at 6:30pm and Ava was out like a light by 7:15pm. She is such a good baby and Cathy and Randy were amazing with her. Thank you so much for taking such great care of our little girl! The wedding was beautiful. Samara looked amazing and we had a wonderful time. We were excited to have to celebrate this great day with friends.

Children's Museum and Cocktail party!

Ava had a terrible first night in Houston. She went to bed easily but woke up when Mommy and Daddy went to bed and had a very hard time falling asleep. I had hoped to relive my graduate school experience of Friday morning lab meeting but being up all night with the baby meant no lab meeting for Mommy. Ava finally fell asleep at 7:40am...the goal was to get back on schedule. Ava slept until 10:45...woohoo we were getting there! We headed out to brunch at the buffalo grill. Ava and Mommy had delicious pancakes. After brunch we decided to go to the Children's Museum of Houston, to the Tot Spot. Mommy forgot the camera but it was a great opportunity to use the camera on my new iphone. The pictures were much better than I expected.



Friday night Adriana and Alejandro invited people over to visit with us and meet Ava. They started to arrive around 7:30pm. Ava danced with Alejandro while we got everything ready. I was a little nervous about her staying up late but we decided to go with the flow. We met Kevin, a new postdoc in the Rosen lab who interviewed while I was there in Houston, and his wife Emily. Matt and Ashley came as well as Jeff and Eric. We were so excited to see everyone and glad they made time to stop by and visit with us. Ava was amazing. She was completely delirious by 10:30pm laughing when you would just look at her funny. She got a quick bath and was off to bed. We spent the rest of the night visiting with friends. Thank you Adriana and Alejandro for having this great party for us.

Ava's second flight

Today we woke up very early (5am) is get ready for our 8:20am flight out of BWI to Houston. Ava had a big smile from the time she woke up. We made it easily through checking in and security. We got some breakfast and played while we waited for our flight.


Adriana came and picked us up at the airport. We went to Adriana and Alejandro's to settle in. They have big mirrors in their dining room which Ava loved!


Ava went to bed around 7 and Mommy and Daddy had dinner and some wine with Adriana and Alejandro. Yummy!

Sunday Errands

Today Mommy, Ava, Grandma Heckman, and Aunt Alexandra went shopping after we had breakfast. We got Ava bathing suits to match her summer hats and some new hair bows. Ava has been wearing the same bows since she was 3 months old and they became necessary to keep her hair out of her eyes. We have lost some and a few have started to break. We got the same kind along with a pack of 2 red bows Ava can wear with her Phillies outfits - Go Phils! In honor of Maggie's turtle cake we took a picture with this turtle outside of Plow and Hearth. Ava was way to interested in the shiny turtle to get a great picture but here they are.

Maggie and Chis's Wedding

Today Mommy and Daddy drove to Delaware for Cousin Maggie and Chris's wedding. The ceremony was a traditional catholic ceremony with a very dynamic homily. Maggie looked amazing. We then headed to the reception at the Deerfield Country Club. The reception of beautiful. Maggie has a pet turtle so the cake has a turtle base. Maggie and Chris live in South Carolina so they did a traditional South Carolina shag for their first dance. We had a great time.

Ava had a great time at home with Grandma Heckman and Aunt Alexandra. They ran some errands to get supplies for a project Alexandra has for school and went out to dinner at the Washingtonian Center. There was a live band playing that Ava really enjoyed!

After dinner playtime with Daddy

Ava loves her after dinner playtime with Daddy. I am not quite sure that fliping her upside down is the best idea but she seems to like it.

A few weeks ago Mommy bought Ava a push toy and we have been working on having Ava walk behind it an d push. She has been a little wary because it moves faster than she would like. Today she took a few steps for the first time!

9 month check-up

Ava had her 9 month well baby visit today. When were at the doctor last Monday with the stomach virus Ava weighed 16lbs 7oz fully clothed. Today she was 15lbs 15.5oz. She is in the 6th percentile. Hopefully she will jump back up after being sick but the doctor says she is a perfectly healthy petite little girl. She has grown 2 inches since her 6 month appointment putting her in the 65th percentile but her head is still very little, 16.5 inches in circumference (4th percentile). She is still wearing newborn hats. Ava has hit all of her developmental milestones and most of the ones for the 9 to 12 month stage. All except Mama - no mama sounds yet, she is still all about the dada!

I'll get you!

I am not sure whether Ava is getting the puppy or she thinks the puppy is getting her but she is having a great time :)

Lots of love for Mommy

Ava has been a Mommy's girl lately, following Mommy around, giving me big kisses and lots of cuddle. It makes Daddy a little sad but I sure it will go through stages and she will be all about Daddy soon enough.

9 months already

We can't believe it has been a full 9 months. We love everything about our amazing little girl.

Happy Mother's Day

Daddy and Ava made Mommy breakfast while she got to go back to sleep for a little while. The pancakes and bacon were delicious, Daddy did a great job. Ava thought so to! Ava ate her pancakes all by herself picking the pieces up with her thumb and forefinger. Ava took a good morning nap and when she got up she cuddled with Daddy on the couch. Best part of Mother's Day: Spending it with my 2 loves!

Daddy's turn to take a sick day

Yusef's was still not doing great so we opted to keep Ava home again on Friday. Mommy had a Division working group meeting so she had to go but Daddy took a sick day to stay home with Ava. They had a great day playing and reading books. Ava drank 4 full bottles, the firsttime since being sick. She took a 2 hour morning nap which made Daddy very happy.

Mommy works from home

Although Ava was better Yusef's fever spiked again so Nadia had to take him to the doctor again. Ava got to spend the day at home with Mommy while she worked. Ava was very good taking 2 long naps actually letting Mommy get some work done. Ava was WAY excited about her day at home with Mommy!

Daddy's teaching skills

Ava was back a daycare today. She is feeling much better and Mommy was very happy to go back to work. Today Daddy thought it would be fun to teach Ava how to pull the sides off of the foam mat instead of just the corners. Ava learned much quicker this time and was doing it herself within the hour.

Not in the clear

Ava woke up last night around 11pm. She has just been very fussy at night. She got sick all over Mommy, not in the clear! We cleaned her up and settled her back down. The night was very restless. Today Ava was fussy but no spit up. Ava has pears for lunch and couscous and kiwi for dinner. Yesterday Daddy showed Ava how to take apart the floor mat. Today Ava pulled the corner off and was chewing on it. How quickly babies learn! Mommy is keeping her fingers crossed we are over the hump.

To the doctor we go

Since Ava has been sick for 3 days and Yusef had such a high fever and pneumonia we decided to call the doctor this morning and have her checked out. Ava's lungs were clear. Dr. Hirsch said it was probably a virus and we just had to wait it out. As long as she was still happy for short amount of time then there was nothing to be worried about. Mommy managed to get Ava to eat some pears, which she kept down. Just a little bit of spit up after dinner...not too bad. Hopefully one more day and we are in the clear.

NOT Sunday Funday :(

So today Ava woke up with a fever of 101 some tylenol (not the recalled lot) and a luke warm bath and it was back down to 98. Although Mommy still got thrown up on twice and Mommy still felt like death from throwing up herself the night before. It is amazing that Ava was still smiling and playful after the morning she had although for only short periods, she just wanted to cuddle with Mommy.

New toys

Sorry about the lack of posts this week it has been a rough one. On Tuesday Mommy and Ava drove to Hummelstown for a funeral. Grandma Heckman's best friend jean lost her husband to a heart attack. Another man gone to early - it made Mommy miss her Daddy. Wednesday it was back to the grind. Thursday Ava didn't eat very well - none of her lunch and only half of her yogurt and just a little bit at dinner, although her temperament seemed just fine, playing and happy as usual. On Friday morning when Ava woke up she was orange, she has had carrots for dinner the night before. Apparently she had gotten sick overnight but it hadn't really phased her, again her temperament was fine, happy and playful so Ava went to Nadia's as usual. When we got there we found out that Benjamin had gone home early the day before because he had gotten sick and Yusef was up all night complaining of a stomach ache. Mommy got a call around 11 because Nadia had made Yusef a doctor's appointment, luckily Daddy had already decided he would pickup Ava early when he was done with his meetings. Ava had spit up after she had some of her yogurt and had only had 1 bottle but was napping normally. Daddy got Ava to drink another bottle and take an afternoon nap before going to pickup Mommy. We got some dinner on the way home and Ava had a third bottle. The doctor said Yusef probably had a stomach bug and to just keep him hydrated so we are doing the same for Ava. The nice thing about a small daycare is hopefully they all get something at relatively the same time instead of having things passed back and forth. Saturday Ava still wasn't keeping solids down in the morning but she was nursing well. Mommy and Ava went to a yard sale to get some new toys for at Nadia's since Ava no longer wants to play with her play mat or the exosaucer. Ava loved the new toys! Ava and Mommy also went to Costco. Ava loves to ride in the cart and watch all the people. At costco we got some string cheese, Ava's favorite, and she managed to keep that down. For dinner Ava had some kiwi, hopefully we are almost passed this.