Little Miss Independent

 

Ava decided it was time to start feeding herself last night. Being the kind of mom that just goes with the flow, I just let her get after it.

And of course, the sweet baby in the tub afterward!!!

Ava's Favorite Hangout

"Hey, do you see Ava?"
"She's under the bar stool."

She just hangs out under the bar stool. Sometimes for 10 or 20 minutes, which is hours in toddler time! I don't know what it is about the bar stool, but she loves it. Oh, and don't even try to load the dishwasher when Ava is any where near. She beelines it over to help. Maybe she is going to be our little kitchen helper when she gets bigger. A Martha Stewart in the making?

 

Here Comes Santa Claus...

Santa was good to everybody this year. It was wild as usual. We all had such a great time with the family. Ethan's favorite toy he got this year was his razor scooter (or suiter in Ethan talk). Ava's favorite toy was her vSmile walker, even though I think she did have more fun with her box. Ava also got her very first Juicy suit from her favorite Aunt Becka.

Whitson-Morgan Christmas Party

The annual Whitson-Morgan Christmas Party just gets funner every year. The look on Ethan's face when we call Santa in is just the most precious thing! This year Ethan told Santa he wanted a Lego city garage. Thank goodness Santa found the last Lego city garage at Wal-Mart! ;) Ava had a little different experience with Santa. She wasn't quite sure what to think about that funny looking man with the white beard. We managed to get one photo with Santa before she started crying, but I think the look on her face thoroughly explains how she felt.

Update...

Well, so much has happened since I last blogged. Ava is crawling everywhere and keeping us on our toes constantly! She is all over the place. She has also started pulling up and recently started letting go and just standing there all by herself. It won't be long before she is running all over the house! It seems like she just decided she had places to go so she just popped up and crawled off. Ethan has continued to be the world's greatest big brother. Ava loves playing with Bubby. If he is anywhere near she wants to be right next to him. Ethan is starting to get a little flustered though because Ava is trying to steal his trains and trucks when he is playing. I'm starting to think I need to take back the doll I got her for Christmas and get her a truck!

How Stinkin' Cute Is This?

Here is Ava in her Christmas tutu. Every girl has a Christmas tutu, right? By the way, check out those brand new bottom teeth!

My Little Ladybug

Halloween didn't go quite as planned this year. This was the first year Ethan knew what he wanted to be and wow was he adamant. There was no persuading him. I always like to stick with the classics like indian, fighter pilot, pirate. So we went to the costume shop to pick out what my sweet little baby boy wanted to be for Halloween and what does he see as soon as we walk in the door? The most plastic looking transformer costume I have ever seen. I tried hard for a policeman costume but Ethan was having none of it. So, Optimus Prime it is.

Nana and Poppy came up to go trick or treating with us and to see Ava in her first Halloween costume. Everything was going great until about 10:00 Halloween morning. Ethan started telling us he didn't feel good and then by about 1:00 he was down for the count. My little transformer came down with the H1N1 flu. Poppy was ready to run for the hills, but there was no way Nana was going to be leaving her little man in his time of need. Needless to say, Halloween was cancelled at the Dickerson house.

Chris managed to get in contact with our good doctor friend who called in life saving tamiflu. Poppy went on a mission to find an open pharmacy and saved the day. That night was rough, but Nana never left Ethan's side and by the next morning he was already on his way to recovery.

Even though we missed out on trick or treating, we couldn't let Ava's first Halloween go by without at least a picture of the cutest little ladybug ever!