Annnnnnnd.... She's Crawling!

Here's Baby Girl crawling at 5 1/2 months:

Mommy Fails

I forgot to add in Ava's 5 month post that she got her first cold. It was the saddest thing and all my fault. I went to the gym twice last week after a [very] long hiatus. I [stupidly] put her in the gym child care for the first time, all while thinking to myself Wouldn't it be just horrible if she got sick from her first child care experience, just in time for Cabo? Yes. Yes it would. Here she is at Chrissi & Adam's wedding all rosy-cheeked, chaff-nosed and all together lethargic...

Heartbreaking. On Sunday evening Mark and I just sat in our dark hotel room with the curtains drawn. I held Ava as her eyes seeped and she tried to sleep with her first stuffy nose and got teary-eyed myself. I prayed that God would restore her back to health and thanked Him that a common cold is what I get to worry about while other mothers are holding their infant's hands through surgeries and cancer and other horrible, heartbreaking things. She ended up sleeping 17[!] hours that night, 4pm-9am. And woke up a new baby. Yay! Then Mark and I got it. I'm fine now but watching him wake up after only four hours of sleep in between shifts to go in again, sick, makes me feel so bad for getting my family sick. I know she's going to catch colds. Therefore we're going to catch colds. But it still makes me sad and feel responsible. If you're wondering; no, the yoga class, steam room, and uniterrupted shower; while enjoyable, were not worth it.

The next "mommy fail" was actually kind of funny. I'm not a proponent of "cry it out" when my baby is in her crib crying hysterically, but I am all for allowing her to "fuss it out" or what my good friend Becky calls "sort it out." The night before last, Ava had been asleep for about four hours when I heard her start to fuss through the baby monitor. I was enjoying a much-deserved Magnum bar and glass of chardonnay and it only lasted about two minutes before she went back to sleep and it was quiet again so I didn't go in to check on her. About an hour later I'm heading up to bed and think I should check on her, but the door is creaky and I don't want to risk waking her up so I wash my face and brush my teeth instead. As I walk by her room again I think, I should really check on her. And this is what I saw...

Doh!

I've found myself praying for grace more often in my five months of being a mother than in any other time in my life.

5 Month Stats

Ava is 5 months! October & November have been really fun months so far. She had a blast celebrating Halloween at the pumpkin patch, Mariners Harvest Carnival and trick-or-treating in the neighborhood. She was our little "San Francisco treat" for a few days when we flew up there for Mark to attend ACEP (American College of Emergency Physicians). It was a fun mix of family & friend time! She even took her first jaunt out of the country! We went to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico to celebrate Chrissi & Adam's wedding. This little socialite has already been to three weddings in her first five months of life!

A baby chick for Halloween

...a very good one.

Taking a 'lil snooze at the pumpkin patch

In SF, that's Alcatraz in the background

Trick-or-Treat!

In Cabo for Chrissi & Adam's wedding. Mom officiated the ceremony!

Ava, at 5 months you are...

• Still in size 2 diapers
• Wearing some 3-6 month clothes, but mostly 6 month clothes
• Intently watching us eat. You even do this little chewing motion with your mouth. You are SO interested in food. You try to grab food off our plates and you try to move our entire plates closer to you when you sit in our laps. We're waiting until 6 months to give you solids, perfect timing for Thanksgiving! I have a feeling you're going to LOVE real food. 
• You know your name and respond to it. You know to smile for photos too and can be quite the little ham!
• You have tricks! I was tickling you the other day, and then scratched you by accident. You stopped laughing and started crying. I stopped immediately, made a sad face and started saying sorry over and over again. You thought it was funny and laughed, which got a response from me and now we play this little game where you trick me into thinking you're hurt when I'm tickling you. It's so cute. 
• You've decided that nursing is our sacred time and if anyone talks while you're eating you unlatch and give them the stink eye, even me. 
• Starting to sit up unattended for a few seconds

• Discovered tupperware today

And you're in love.

• You're thisclose to crawling.

You get up on all fours and rock a couple of times...

Or do whatever this is...

And then collapse and take a break

5 Month Photo Shoot