Halloween Kick Off

Last night Grandma & Grandpa P took us to the country club for the annual Halloween party. There was a hayride, a haunted house, a pumpkin patch and much more.

Grandma loves her little dalmation.

Grandpa taking Ava on a stroll through the pumpkin patch.

Two EXTREMELY nervous fathers holding onto their daughters on the hayride. Liv went as a pig and wore her pig head the whole time. Win.

Megan and I ate s'mores (we may have had to push some little kids out of the way to get to the s'mores station) and ran after Ava and Liv picking up pieces of Halloween costumes. A shoe here, a hoof there...

The pumpkins are mine, all mine! Liv did, in fact, take multiple pumpkins home. Who can resist the sweet little piggy?

After a clothes change (to keep the costumes in good shape for the big day) and some dinner, we took off. It was the perfect way to begin Halloween week.

Check ya later! 

"Put a taco in his hand"

One of my favorite moments in Naples came when we were leaving the beach one night. As we were on our way up to catch the tram, a group of "older" people were sitting and watching the sunset at the restaurant. Ava was wearing this get-up (plus her tutu):

Cute, elderly ladies: "Oh, how adorable!"

Old Man, speaking in a Sam Spade voice: "Put a taco in his hand and take a picture".

Nice old lady (in an admonishing tone): "Thats a girl!"

Old Man: "Well it's wearing blue, isn't it?"

Indeed old man, indeed. I love you, my little sombrero-wearing son.



10 Months

Post-vacation, Ava is back to her busy life. This past weekend she hosted her grandparents, her aunt, her great-aunt and several friends.



Sam and Ellie came down from Wisconsin to play. Just watching all the action wore Grandpa P out.

But Ava was able to rouse him by poking him in the cheek with her pigtails.

She helped Grandpa E cheer on the Illini to no avail. Nice play calling, Zook.

Great Auntie Shirley is visiting this week from Worcester, so Ava has been showing her around Chicago.

"Wait a minute...that toy is mine. And that ball, and that foam mat. And that book..."

"What's is this 'sharing' you speak of?"

Ava had a blast with her Aunt Alexis, who says she's going to teach Ava to dance the "real" way. I guess she doesn't qualify Daddy's excellent "Cake Mixer" move as dancing.

In the midst of it all Ava turned ten months old. A quick look at some of her milestones:

Most-Used Words: Mama, Dada, uh-oh, ni-ni (for night-night) and, about 72 times a day, "WOW". This is used for anything from a diaper change to a plane ride.

Fave Foods: Turkey, chicken meatballs, blueberries, pears, squash and yogurt.

Favorite books: Anything by Matthew Van Fleet. Mostly, she likes tearing the heads off the moving animals.

Super Powers: Turning the page of a book when prompted, repeating things we say, growing super adorable pigtails.

Ava has also begun to develop a little bit of a 'tude. Shocking, I know. The battle of wills has begun.

Attitude? Moi?

You'd better take that back Mommy.

Beach Baby

For my (almost) 30th birthday, Ava took me to Naples for a long weekend getaway.

She brought her best friend Liv (and Liv in turn brought her parents) with us.

Ava discovered a new delicacy: sand.

"You'll be seeing that sand later Mom. Muah hahaha".

Liv taught Ava to build sandcastles.

And Ava taught us all how to wear tutus to the beach.

She wore herself out crawling after us.

And also took some time for quiet reflection.

When she wasn't sunning herself at the beach, Ava ate some frog legs while lounging in the pool.

But Ava took the tram rides to the beach very seriously and held on tight....

Because the pathway is lined with gators. Seriously.