Visiting family and sick girls

Pictures with cousins and a few others because they are cute.

Well it has been a busy two weeks. I have concentrated on replying to individual e-mails instead of writing in the blog - sorry. We have also spent our free time visiting with family and friends. Now that Tet (the lunar New Year - a major holiday in Vietnam) is over families are starting to travel to Vietnam again and I wanted to make sure to touch base with a few people before they traveled.

Daycare is going wonderfully. Ava sits up on her own now - although we still put a pillow and soft items around her just in case. We thought we were moving forward with stage one foods but yesterday she broke out with hives so now we need to figure out why... Nothing seems to come to mind quickly. Yesterday Kurt experienced his first day as a husband to a sick wife and child. Since I was sick he got Ava ready for day care and took her in only to find she had hives. The day care provider encouraged him to make a pediatricians appointment so he called the doctor while he was there. He bundled Ava up to go back outside in the 0 degree weather and found that he had left his lights on and the truck would not start. He took Ava back inside, found someone to help jump his car, quickly came home to pick up our new insurance card with Ava's name on it and arrived late at the doctor. The doctor confirmed Ava had hives, also could not identify why and sent him home with the advice Kurt knew he was going to receive. I had called in sick at work due to my cold/sore throat. So, after Kurt returned home from the doctor and went into work I had my first chance to take care of a sick baby when all I really wanted to do was curl up and go to bed. Fortunately Ava is a good natured baby and was willing to play with me quietly until Daddy came home. Kurt is an amazing Dad and husband!

When we get home from work at night we follow a pretty standard routine. Play, eat, change clothes, bathe, eat again and fall asleep. Ava is still sleeping 10-12 hours a night - we know that we are very lucky. She is starting to hold her self up standing when leaning on things, holding small items, sitting on her own, reaching for things, very clearly letting us know when she does not want to do something, and still loves lights and sounds. We have also started putting her in bed at night and letting her fall asleep on her own - it was much easier than we ever anticipated.

From Ava: Last weekend Grandma Belva, Aunt Lynette and cousin Emily spent the night at our house. We also went to a baby shower for Daddy's cousin Mary - Mom gave Mary some of the 0-3 month clothes I have grown out of. On Sunday we had brunch at Byran, Abby, and Owen's house. I was good about sitting in the highchair so Owen shared his toys with me. The weekend before we went to Cazenovia and Chittenango to meet my cousins Austin, Alex, Jacki, Nick and Becca and of course my Aunts and Uncles too. Becca is no longer the baby of the family so she gave me several of her 6-9 months clothes because I am almost that big and she also gave me some of her really cool little girl toys. I also got to spend some time with Papa Phil -he makes me laugh and think hard about his stories.