Año uno...

... (as opposed to ano uno)

1st Birthday Cake, originally uploaded by Ava's Antics.

Ava is one year old and we've had the parties to prove it. This weekend we threw two parties, one for family and one for friends. (Note to self: There will only be one birthday party per child per year in the future. Any more and we may just pass out from exhaustion.)

Late in the day on Saturday (at the family party) Ava started to want to be held and would cuddle with her head against our chests. As endearing as this is, for the last 9 months it has been a sign of bad things to come. Later that night she started to have a low-grade fever and seemed to be uncomfortable swallowing. This necessitates a little background info.

Ten days ago Doni was experiencing muscle aches, fatigue, and a sore throat to write home about. She saw the doctor, tested "strongly positive" for strep throat, and got on some antibiotics. As I was symptomatic and Doni and I have been known to touch lips once in a while, I saw our doctor the next day and was started on antibiotics on the assumption that I had the same thing.

How strange that on Saturday, after Doni and I had both been on antibiotics for more than a week, Ava would start to have symptoms indicative of a sore throat. Today it has progressed to the point that, even with alternating Tylenol and Motrin every two hours, Ava still is so uncomfortable that she is drooling rather than swallowing and has only had one hour of her normal 4 hours of daytime napping.

We toyed with the idea of canceling today's "friends" party, but decided that it was only going to be two hours long and it would be difficult to contact everyone to notify them about it. Fortunately, for most of the party, Ava appeared much more comfortable and in good spirits.

Ava has an appointment with her doctor tomorrow for a pre-scheduled "Well Baby Check-up". Doni has already made preparations to take tomorrow off of work as a sick day. With these next steps already taken care of, we're left with only questions:

1. How will Ava sleep tonight (if at all)?,
2. Does she have strep throat?, and
   
3. Will the next 17 years goes as fast as the first?
   

Swift Kick to the Face

Saddle up babe!, originally uploaded by Ava's Antics.

Often when we're in a place where we're unable to lay Ava down despite her being clearly tired and acting out, I'll try to lay her down in my arms with her head in the crook of my left elbow and her bottom in the crook of my right. I'll walk her around trying to get her to succumb to her unknown need for unconsciousness.

Now, Ava seems to think that when I hold her like this, it is the perfect opportunity for her to mess with my face. She is at arm's reach to:

1. Pick my nose,
2. Stick her fingers in my mouth (yes, unfortunately, usually in that order),
   
3. Wave her pacifier in front of my face,
   
4. Hit me with it,
   
5. Try to put it in my mouth, and
   
6. Kick me in the face with her trusty left foot.

She finds all of this highly entertaining.

Recently Ava and I were in the nursery of a church while Doni was attending a wedding shower in her home town. Picking up on her grumpy clues, I picked her up and tried to get her to fall asleep using my time-honored technique. It was kind of bright in the nursery, so I decided to go out into the hallway so I could be away from the windows in semi-darkness. She begins her usual routine of disfiguring my face. However, she soon finds another source of entertainment. "What is that.. that.. that," you ask? You guessed it... an echo. She starts babbling and promptly escalates to singing and joyful yells. Over the next five or so minutes she has the time of her life experimenting with her newly discovered "skill". Needless to say, we didn't get a minute of sleep that afternoon.

12 Month Pictures

Our little mermaid, originally uploaded by Ava's Antics.

Ava's 12 month pictures are available for viewing online at Collages.net . Go to "View Event" and enter User Name: "Ava Nicole" and Password: "9068". Also, there are pictures that we have taken uploaded for viewing at Flickr.

Smiles

My vote for cutest picture this month, originally uploaded by Ava's Antics.

Eureka! I have found the secret to getting Ava to smile for the camera. No more ridiculous noises and stretched faces. In fact, its actually fairly simple. I'm surprised it didn't occur to me earlier.

As Ava has been getting faster and faster at crawling, we have been occasionally chasing her. She thinks this is hilarious and squeals like the runt of a pig litter. She hasn't quite figured out that in these cases she would be expected to crawl away FASTER. Currently she turns around, laughs, and waits for the inevitable attack of affection. Let's hope she is never chased by a wild animal....

My new, sure-fire technique is so simple its humorous when you compare it to my previous attempts. I get out the camera and Ava goes through her recent routine of putting on a stone-cold stare. I focus the camera and say..... "I'M GONNA GET YOU!!!" Like a reflex, she breaks out in a toothy grin that melts your heart every time. Victory is mine!

Sic 'em!

Sic 'em!, originally uploaded by Ava's Antics.

Ava attacks her stuffed animals with voracious hugs that would squeeze the life from them if they had any. Watch out.... She's crazy!!!

Photo Frustrations

Safety Helmet, originally uploaded by Ava's Antics.

Here goes our little girl deciding to change a little more again. Ava had always been a big smiler whenever the camera gets out. Granted, I haven't been uploading too many pictures lately to prove that, but there should be ample evidence from the pictures already online. It used to be that I'd get out the camera and the cheesy grins would seemingly pour out of her. Here we thought she would be the youngest person to ever grace the cover of Vogue magazine. That girl can pose! Apparently she no longer wants to share her sheer joy for life with an electronic device.

This hasn't been a problem because through time, effort, and unlimited exposures I am still able to catch an occasional smirk. I think of it like hunting. You may spend a whole day waiting for the right shot, but when you get it there's nothing more satisfying.

However, when we go to get Ava's one-year old pictures we don't have the same luxuries. I introduce you to "last Friday". Doni had the day off last Friday because her Spring Break is this week. I didn't have the same luxury of having Friday off OR having a Spring Break this year (something I'm still pretty tore up about). But I digress... Doni got Ava all gussied up in her Easter dress, took an outfit change, and bought a baby-sized birthday cake for the shoot. Unfortunately, its hard to get the big cheesy smiles that we're used to if we don't have a willing participant. Round 1 went to Ava.

I was luckily able to leave the hospital early that day and go with Doni and Ava for the reattempt that afternoon after Ava was able to get a nap. We took the dress shots and the outdoor shots. We took the eating-the-cake shots and the Spring cutesy outfit shots. I tried everything in my repertoire to get her to crack and we thankfully came away with some smiling shots. We also got a lot of great non-smiling shots, which I'm excited to see how they turn out.

FYI: Ava's photographer's website is at www.carpenterpd.com. See if you can spot Ava's picture on there.