Life with Ava

I think everybody already knows how I feel about TV viewing for toddlers, right? I don't think I've been shy on expressing my opinion on that. I'm pretty firm in my belief that TV is not good for little ones so Ava has truly watched only a very few minutes of TV here and there. Our house rule for TV in the evenings is that it isn't on as long as she's in the room which means, with few exceptions, that it stays off until she goes to bed. We spend that time together as a family - eating dinner, reading, and playing before the bedtime routine starts. We do have a few signing DVDs that she's watched a handful of times. Like maybe 3 or 4 times max. I think those are fine - in moderation and with one of us with her while she's watching so we can reinforce the signs.

What she does get to watch occasionally is YouTube. She loves to see other 'babies' so she's a regular viewer of Abby, Sophie, and the Salsa Twins. We also have one or two Muppets/Sesame Street song videos that we watch with her.

But now I think we've created a YouTube monster…

Do y'all remember the Mah Na Mah Na song from the Muppets? She LOVES this and it's so freakin' cute when she sings along that we'll let her watch it over and over again just to marvel at the cuteness as she warbles mahnamahna, with brow furrowed and concentrating furiously to ensure she sings at the right time. So much for the limited viewing time, I guess. (Joking! - she only gets to watch it about 540 times per day.)

Here she is trying to entice Dad into joining her for yet another screening of vintage Muppets:

And here she is totally entranced:

And one more where she was right in the middle of hands waving wildly in the air and chortling with laughter at the same video she's seen 90 billion times already. I think if she had a lighter she'd surely have it in the air by this point.

I'm pretty much okay with this because, hey, it's the Muppets - you know, good clean fun and all that.

But then, while in search of random trivia because I'm weird like that, I discovered that the Mahnamahna song has a somewhat seedy history. Apparently the song was originally part of the soundtrack for an Italian soft.core por.nography movie which was a pseudo-documentary film about wild sexu.al activity and other such behaviors in Sweden. Who would ever have guessed that this cute little song got its start by accompanying a  se.x scene set in a sauna?

Hmmm - never thought I would use some of the words in the above paragraph while talking about a video we let Ava watch at the ripe old age of 19 months…

I think this has got to be one of the best sounds on earth!

This video was shot in April '08. We'd been home just shy of 3 months and Ava was 12 months old.

And yes, we'll still do almost anything to hear her laugh. Talk in a falsetto ala Bee Gees, act like a complete and total moron, tickle her until your fingers nearly fall off (she loves it and will ask you for more if you stop), whatever it takes we'll do it. Tough job, eh?

You will need to have Quicktime installed to view the video.

Ava recently had her first 'school' photos taken. There were individual pictures done, as well as a group photograph of all the kids and teachers in her class. I only bought the group shot because she was, shall we say, clearly less than thrilled in her solo shots. As soon as I saw them I knew she was completely pissed off because she had that look. I can't imagine the photographer had a whole lot of time to even attempt to get a smile because I know from experience that look usually immediately precedes a whole lot of ticked off toddler.

The group shot (for her) wasn't much better but I had to buy it anyway. One of my favorite childhood photos is from my 3rd grade class picture. I'll try to scan and post it (maybe tomorrow) - it's soooooo classic 70's.

So this little beauty cost me $11.25 and I think it was worth every penny. I love the fact that the little boy standing on the left is clearly being held in a death grip by the grimacing smiling teacher, that there was obviously a planned scheme by at least 3 of the front row kids to coordinate the hand in mouth routine, and that the little boy who has a huge crush* on Ava was not allowed to annoy sit by her (he's the one on the far right sitting on the floor).

*Seriously, when we walk into her classroom every single morning he starts yelling her name and always wants to hug her. He came running at her with arms open wide one day a week or so ago and as she spotted him barreling toward her calling her name she shot him a horrified look and took off running in the other direction. It was hysterical and cracked us all up. I just hope she keeps doing that 'til she's at least 25.

Ava was 9 months and 3 weeks old when she was placed in our arms and became part of our family forever.

She's now been with us (today!) for 9 months and 3 weeks.

I know it's not a traditional milestone (at least for the non-adoptive parents out there) but it's a big one for us nonetheless.

P.S. Made it to St. Louis safe and sound. It was an easy flight with no problems. Ava had a rough-ish morning and was very, very clingy before I left. I'm sure she was aware of my anxieties and reacting to those. She only had a short nap at daycare today so J said she went down okay - a few cries but nothing major. Hopefully she stays asleep for the whole night…

P.P.S Mailed the fee and policy agreements to CCAI this morning with the first big check. Now, on to the homestudy…

Updated to add:

P.P.P.S. Not so much on the sleeping all night. J called and she's been awake and sobbing for about an hour. Talk about major parental guilt. I so wish I were home right now…

We had to run some errands today. Ava was raring to go and made sure we had keys and water at the ready as she was waiting by the front door.

As you can see, she was happy as a clam to be in the car heading out to some unknown but sure to be exciting adventure (like grocery shopping).

She did so well in the grocery store ($200 for groceries - what's up with that?!?) that we stopped by a nearby park to let her run around a bit.

It was already dusk when we got there.

So we knew we'd only have a few minutes before it got dark and cold with the wind blowing in off the water. Not to mention that Ava had already had a busy day and tired herself out pretty quickly.

As the sun began to set…

we decided it was time to head home. The problem was, however, that Ava didn't exactly agree that it was time to leave.

She was obviously not thrilled with the idea of home or dinner or bath or bedtime. The situation was rapidly deteriorating into a full on meltdown.

Until, that is, J handed her a (toy) phone.

And then all was well in the world once more.

See, I told you a phone can stop even the worst tantrum dead in its tracks. And that is why we have about 300 toy phones and will willingly, nay eagerly even, hand her either of our cell phones if necessary.

Oh yeah, and I'm not so worried about her calling Satan or his minions anymore because hell froze over today. What, you might ask, brought on that strange phenomenon? I bought a country music CD. 'Nuf said.