Happy Halloween!

Our little ladybug is having a fabulous Halloween week! Some highlights have been winning third prize in the Holyoke Canoe Club's costume contest on Friday night and eating 3 (yes, 3!) cupcakes at Sara and Dan's party yesterday. Mommy will take her to an afternoon potluck party on Halloween day and then we'll do a little trick or treating later on with Mumsie.









Sunday's party and Halloween Parade

Ava's birthday weekend

Ava's 1st birthday was really special. Poppy and GiGi came from Baltimore, and Aunt Lisa and Uncle Philip came from Florida. They spent the whole weekend with Ava and she absolutely loved it. Jeanne and Amy and Joanie came from New Paltz and Grammy Jo and Granddad drove from Vermont for the big celebration. Red and Jean came as well, and the party was on! It was a lovely day and Ava is a lucky girl to have so many people in her life who love her.


Ava checking out her birthday cake.

Playing with GiGi

Serving up some play food to Aunt Lisa in the toy kitchen.

Happy Birthday, Ava!

Hard to believe, but our little girl is one today. The year has flown. Mommy took Ava to the park today, then to the Cup and Top for coffee (for Mommy) and a little birthday cookie for Ava. Now that her Mum is home we're off for a little celebration dinner in town. Ava's birthday celebration will be on Saturday with some of our family coming in from out of town. So, wooo hooo, she gets to celebrate all week!

Ava and Mr. Dog

Katie and Kath and Emma gave Mr. Dog to Ava when she was only a few months old. Within a short time Mr. Dog became Ava's "must have" for napping. He soon graduated to going pretty much everywhere with her - no matter what Ava is doing, Mr. Dog is always within reach. He is with her for every nap, every car ride and every stroller ride. She carries him everywhere and if her arms are full, well she just carries him in her mouth (clever girl!). She is grief-stricken when he goes into the wash and has an absolute party when he makes it from the dryer back into her arms again. God help us if we ever lose him. Whenever we go anywhere, we have to do a Mr. Dog check before our departure.

Hanging out under the high chair

Brooklyn Rocks!

Our weekend in Brooklyn was great! Ava had a fabulous time trying out all the playgrounds, eating in restaurants, playing in the park, and lots and lots of people and dog watching. Our girl loves the action!

Thanks for the t-shirt, Auntie Steph!

Ava- 11 months

Provincetown in September

Our friends generously gave us their cottage in Provincetown for the weekend, so we took Ava on her first Cape trip. We had a wonderful time. We walked around town and did lots of people watching. Ava met all kinds of dogs and lots of other little kids and babies. We took her out on the pier to see the boats and the seagulls. She loved the beach, as always, and took a good taste of the Cape Cod sand- of course!

Provincetown Harbour


Ava and Mumsie enjoyed some serious reading over breakfast in town....


and got some snuggling in.


There was tons of sand to play with.


Fun with Mommy on the beach


Ava in the Seagrass

Redhead

Ava Sleeps

More Summer pics

Ava and Joanie playing on the bed

Pictures from our late summer trip to Fire Island, NY

Ava - 10 months

This is one of the few photos we have been able to capture of Ava being still. She is constantly on the move- crawling, reaching, grabbing, climbing! Climbing the steps is her all-time favorite, although has also made attempts to climb into the dishwasher and the fridge.

Ava and Mommy go swimming

It's been a hot summer here in New England and Ava has enjoyed plenty of time in the water.

Mischief

Eat a Cheerio, dump the Cheerios.... this game never gets old!

Ava and friends

Ava had a terrific time last weekend. Amy and Jeanne and Joanie spent the weekend with us and the girls had lots of play time together. On Saturday we had a visit from Suzie and Chief and their two little ones, Charlie and Rhys. Joanie, Ava, and Charlie had some pool time in the backyard. Big fun!


Ava and her beloved Joanie


Pool time also includes a chewing on toys contest


Charlie wins!

Ava - 9 months

Happy, happy, happy, joyful baby.

Going Up

Ava enjoys an ice-pop on a hot summer day

Ava - 8 months

8 months already! Ava is doing all kinds of new stuff and amuses us all the time with her new discoveries. She is still a social butterfly and likes nothing better than to visit with people, especially when they are her size! The biggest milestone this month was learning to crawl. She has not only learned to crawl, she's figured out how to pull herself up on the coffee table and thinks it's hilarous! The moms are scrambling to childproof the house. We'll post pics of crawling soon- meanwhile, here are some recent shots.