9 Months Old

This wrinkled nose face is one I see hourly it seems. We have called it her concentration face, but then a stranger thought she had done something stinky. I think she does it because we laugh and because she can. Can you see her two bottom teeth? And, yes, I know she looks very much like her Daddy.

Ava is 9 months old and at her check up yesterday weighed in at 17 pounds, 9 ounces and measured 27.5 inches long. She loves oatmeal cereal with fruit, all fruit, chicken, feeding herself cheerios, and we're working on our green veggies. Her doc gave us the all clear on eating most anything (sans choking hazards, of course). She also mentioned to be careful what we say around her because she will repeat it down the road out of no where. I almost had her call Brent to tell him that... She is crawling at F1 speeds and stops only to pull up on something she finds interesting.

We spent the last week in New Mexico at the family cabin (7 adults and one bathroom - fun, right?) near Eagle Nest (between Angel Fire and Red River), and Ava was a peach the entire trip. She trooped on with us 2 days in the car there and back, as well as a day trip to Taos (about an hour and a half each way). I thought we took more pictures than we apparently did, so I'll work on getting some from my mom and Brent's aunt. One thing we did see - just about 12 miles west of Taos is the Rio Grande Gorge.

650 feet to the river from the bridge

Brent had to crawl, yes, crawl to the railing to snap this picture. I offered to take it, but he insisted, saying he'd do it. When I asked why since he is deathly afraid of heights, he said, "Because it's cool..." Good logic.

The picture does not do this justice - it's beautiful and breathtaking (literally when you look over the rail because it is so far to the water).