Ava building upon her incredible dancing skills....

This is video footage of Ava making herself dizzy to the tunes of The Beastie Boys while brushing her teeth!

The girl is multi-talented!!!!!!!

Halloween: It's Not Just October 31st Anymore

We had a lot of fun on Halloween. It felt like the dress-up celebrations lasted like a week; gone are the days of my childhood when Halloween was literally just October 31st. Ava was a fairy. She usually referred to the wings as butterfly wings, so we called her the butterfly fairy. I'm glad I didn't get her one of those heavy fleece costumes, because it was in the 80s that day.

We went to a special event at the aquarium with some friends, Sarah and Gabe. Ava loved seeing all the fishes and other animals, the kids in costumes, and of course, getting candy. Well, let me qualify that by explaining that she still didn't get what was happening when people actually handed out the candy, but when she realized that she had some in her bag, she was thrilled.

We also went to a Halloween party for my mom's group at my friend Alexis' house. It was really fun. I'd say Ava's favorite parts were dancing to the music, eating candy and going to see the horses across the street.

They had a really cute photo booth set up at the party, and these pics were taken by Lauren Wolf.

Baby, Preschool and Other News

I don't think this will come as a surprise to anyone reading this blog, but I don't think I've actually mentioned on here yet that we are having a baby. I'm due on Feb 1st, so I'm about halfway along now. This pregnancy has been really different than the first. I think being preoccupied with a toddler running around has made it go by a lot faster. Ava seems to have taken to the idea of the baby. She often kisses my belly and talks about the baby. When we ask her whether it will be a brother or a sister, she always answers "sister." However, when we ask if she thinks it will be a boy or a girl, she answers differently depending on the day.

Ava started preschool this year. She goes two days a week, Mondays and Wednesdays. We decided to start her a little earlier than we'd originally planned. It would help with my work schedule (I recently started teaching two classes), and she is very social and seems to enjoy playing with other kids.

We did a trial run with her backpack the weekend before school started.

Leaving for school on the first day, Ava insisted on carrying my purse.

On the first day of school, while we waited in line to drop her off at her room, a lot of kids were crying and holding on to their parents. When it was her turn, Ava ran right in the room toward the toys without looking back. I was a little sad to watch my baby run off independently, but I was also proud, and it felt like it validated our decision to go ahead and send her to preschool.

Ava Turns 18 Months, Plus What We've Been Up To

This summer is flying by so fast. I think I always feel that way every year; perhaps it is psychological from being a kid and feeling like summer breaks were never long enough. One thing is for sure -- it has been HOT here. We have had countless days when we didn't even want to leave the house between the hours of 10 am and 6 pm.

For Memorial Day weekend, we went to the mountains to visit family. We had a great time visiting with my parents, both sisters, bros-in-law and all the kids. Ava always seems like she is in her element when she is around her cousins. Here are some pics of Ava with her Nonni, Ava and Lucy, and Olive and Elijah.

In other news, we are trying to get our house ready to put on the market. It's been almost three years since we bought it, and the time has come to find something bigger. We're in the process of renovating and repairing it. With Ben off for the summer, he has time to put his DIY skills to work. :) The goal is to have it on the market by sometime in August.

When our schedules permit, we're trying to take advantage of Ben's time off to do things together. We recently visited Lewis Farm to pick blackberries.

We are getting ready for the annual Gorman family vacation to Lake Lure. We can't wait to see everyone, watch the cousins play, and enjoy some relaxation by the lake and pool. We'll post pics and an update when we get back.

Springtime in Photographs

Dancing Queen

Since Ava took her first steps about three weeks ago, she continued with the same pattern of walking a little here or there, mostly when prompted by us. Then about a week ago, she got up and took off across the room, and she hasn't looked back since. She walks (waddles) all over the house, and it's sometimes hard to keep up with her!

Ava loves music and often starts dancing as soon as she hears it. This morning Ben caught her dancing to Jane's Addiction. Here's a video of dancing Ava.

These Boots Were Made for Walkin'

The big news in Avaland is that she took her first steps this past week. It happened on St. Patrick's Day, so we like to think she was celebrating being one-quarter Irish (my grandmother on my Dad's side was off the boat). She has a walker that she has used to walk around the house for a couple months now. When she first started using it, we had to stand closely behind her helping her hold on to it. Then she could maneuver it mostly by herself, only needing help with turning it to navigate corners and doorways. Then she had it down pat and really just needed us to make sure she didn't crash.

Well, on the day in question, Ben challenged her by placing the walker a couple steps away and seeing what she would do. Determined to reach it, she took two steps solo from him to the walker. We then kept challenging her in the same way, cheering her on each time she took a couple steps. She only likes for us to do this a few times before she tires of it, but we've made it part of the daily routine to keep challenging her. Here's a video of her first steps.