Deep conversations about the color red, doggie sightings out the front window, and the ongoing adventures of the Little People in the accident-prone school bus -- these are just a few of Scott's new stay-at-home activities during his first week at home without Anne.
Anne headed back to work on Monday, and Scott wept. Seriously, though, Ava did remarkably well during Anne's absence the first day, although when Anne returned at day's end, Ava was thrilled. Ava had been playing across the kitchen when the door opened. Ava stood up and ran toward the door with her arms flapping. She squealed in delight. She hugged Mom's legs and played with Anne the rest of the evening.
Anne and Scott are both adjusting to their new schedules. Anne wakes up early (in the middle of the night?) each day to get ready before Ava rises at the uncompromising hour of 6 a.m. Anne spends the morning playing and feeding her before she heads into the void. Meanwhile, Scott stumbles into the shower and shakes out the cobwebs before the handoff. The routine is working well already, especially the Scott sleeping a little longer bit, and Ava loves the extra time with MaMa.
During the week, Scott planned a few activities outside the house, such as meeting MaMa for lunch (and a brief stint at Trader Joe's), visiting Best Buy (Ava didn't seem to really know what to think of that place), running a few errands, and visiting Joy and baby Ethan and the greyhounds. "Dogs, Ava. Doggies. See. Doggies. Wuff wuff! Doggies.Yeah. Doggies. Wuff." Ava thinks, "I know, Dad. I see them. Compared to me, they're the size of automobiles." Ava makes her own "wuff" when we mention "dogs." She accomplishes this with her lips closed, and it sounds like a high-pitched "hmmm hmmm."
Anne and Scott are continually amazed at how much progress their wee one makes each day and week. We have been using "baby signs" as much as possible, as we heard early on that this was a good way to promote early language skills. It really works! Ava is already doing signs for bird, all done (our own version), dog, ball, elephant, lights, more, cup, hat, eat, puffs (we made that one up), milk and fish. Really, when you think about it, what else does a person need to know these days? Her most remarkable "language" accomplishment this week occurred when she was sitting on DaDa's lap after Ava's morning nap. DaDa was drinking tea he brought home from China. Ava combined the symbol for milk with the symbol for cup, meaning, "DaDa, I would really like some milk in my sippy cup." Indeed, this is what she wanted, and this has become a regular routine. All she had to do was ask! The book is called Baby Signs, and it has been a great resource for us.
Ava is also walking around freely without limitations. She loves to play with her crazy, whacky ball popper thingy, which is LOUD, but FUN! Ava has learned to activate the device by pressing on the cartoon-like plunger. The balls spit all over the place and she enjoys walking around to gather them up to reload the device.
Mom and Dad have also taught Ava how to throw away her own diapers. We both find this to be pretty hilarious, and it's quite a sight to see Ava happily walking along with a diaper bag dangling and excited to throw it away in the trash. It's so cute, and we get to do this 53 times a day.
That's it for now! We hope you enjoy the pictures.
Anne headed back to work on Monday, and Scott wept. Seriously, though, Ava did remarkably well during Anne's absence the first day, although when Anne returned at day's end, Ava was thrilled. Ava had been playing across the kitchen when the door opened. Ava stood up and ran toward the door with her arms flapping. She squealed in delight. She hugged Mom's legs and played with Anne the rest of the evening.
Anne and Scott are both adjusting to their new schedules. Anne wakes up early (in the middle of the night?) each day to get ready before Ava rises at the uncompromising hour of 6 a.m. Anne spends the morning playing and feeding her before she heads into the void. Meanwhile, Scott stumbles into the shower and shakes out the cobwebs before the handoff. The routine is working well already, especially the Scott sleeping a little longer bit, and Ava loves the extra time with MaMa.
During the week, Scott planned a few activities outside the house, such as meeting MaMa for lunch (and a brief stint at Trader Joe's), visiting Best Buy (Ava didn't seem to really know what to think of that place), running a few errands, and visiting Joy and baby Ethan and the greyhounds. "Dogs, Ava. Doggies. See. Doggies. Wuff wuff! Doggies.Yeah. Doggies. Wuff." Ava thinks, "I know, Dad. I see them. Compared to me, they're the size of automobiles." Ava makes her own "wuff" when we mention "dogs." She accomplishes this with her lips closed, and it sounds like a high-pitched "hmmm hmmm."
Anne and Scott are continually amazed at how much progress their wee one makes each day and week. We have been using "baby signs" as much as possible, as we heard early on that this was a good way to promote early language skills. It really works! Ava is already doing signs for bird, all done (our own version), dog, ball, elephant, lights, more, cup, hat, eat, puffs (we made that one up), milk and fish. Really, when you think about it, what else does a person need to know these days? Her most remarkable "language" accomplishment this week occurred when she was sitting on DaDa's lap after Ava's morning nap. DaDa was drinking tea he brought home from China. Ava combined the symbol for milk with the symbol for cup, meaning, "DaDa, I would really like some milk in my sippy cup." Indeed, this is what she wanted, and this has become a regular routine. All she had to do was ask! The book is called Baby Signs, and it has been a great resource for us.
Ava is also walking around freely without limitations. She loves to play with her crazy, whacky ball popper thingy, which is LOUD, but FUN! Ava has learned to activate the device by pressing on the cartoon-like plunger. The balls spit all over the place and she enjoys walking around to gather them up to reload the device.
Mom and Dad have also taught Ava how to throw away her own diapers. We both find this to be pretty hilarious, and it's quite a sight to see Ava happily walking along with a diaper bag dangling and excited to throw it away in the trash. It's so cute, and we get to do this 53 times a day.
That's it for now! We hope you enjoy the pictures.
Posts
Scott and Anne journeyed to China in September, 2006 to adopt their daughter, Ava. Relive their experiences through their 
2 comments:
Scott-you are the man. You have a gift. I love the updates on your family.
Laredos for lunch some day?
Matt
Thanks again for all the great photos and updates from the bloggin' Bogens! That photo of Ava calmly but intensely stacking the rings is very Ava-esque. The shot of her munching on something is also very cute, but I can't quite tell if it's food or her sock.
See you soon,
Mike
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