Oh-Bla-Di

Weeks ago now, we visited the Shark Reef exhibit at Mandalay Bay.  For those of you unfamiliar with Vegas, Mandalay is a big, shiny gold hotel that you can see from the highway.  We pointed out where we were going to Ava and she helped us navigate to it.  Mandalay is also close to Matt’s office, so anytime we’re down there, she asks if we’re going to see the fish.  

Ava loved the exhibit and let the way through the whole thing.  She had a great time exploring and we were happy just to go at her pace.  Can’t wait to take her to a big zoo and maybe Sea World…all that wildlife would really rock her world!

Checking out the sharks with Daddy

She was nervous about this piece of glass over the tank at first, but found a way to explore safely.

BIG starfish!

These tanks were cool, but getting close to the glass warped how the world looked. Ava was nervous to get to close...I think she was afraid to fall in.

Say cheese!

She kissed the glass for this lizard. Gross, but pretty cute.

All in all, Ava had a great time visiting the fish and sharks.  We worked on being brave on this trip.  The word “scared” has become a big part of her vocabulary lately, especially since she went to see the dinosaurs at the the Las Vegas Natural History Museum.  So, we talk a lot about how it’s ok to be careful, but we still should try things and check them out…maybe they’re not so scary after all.  I’d say she caught on to the idea when she started kissing lizards!

It’s so much easier to believe you’re going to have a baby when you see its little face on the ultrasound picture.  Even with the every-expanding belly and all the other symptoms, I have a hard time in the early months with really believing it’s a baby and not just a very large tumor.

So, imagine my delight to be able to share this photo of Doozy, taken with the ultrasound today.  By the way, Dos wasn’t sticking as a nickname for this kid.  But, we call Ava “Whoozy” all the time and Doozy is the perfect blend of the two.  I think we’ve finally found a nickname for this kiddo.

Doozy was quite a wiggler during the ultrasound and was also talking – even stuck his or her tongue out at the camera!  I have a feeling that this kid is going to fit into our  family just fine.    20 more weeks until we get to meet our Doozy!

When Matt uploaded his post about his and Ava’s visit to the museum last week, we had a good chuckle about her dancing skills in the African hut.  Our girl has always had a really great sense of rhythm, if not the best moves on the block.  After seeing the newest video, though, Matt’s folks were kind enough to send us a throwback video to point out that Ava’s dancing really hasn’t evolved all that much over time.

At the time this video was shot, Matt was TDY to SOS at Maxwell AFB, we’d been in our new house in Vegas for less than two months, and Ava and I were just getting through each day.  While Matt was gone, Ava learned to push herself up to sitting, to crawl, and began dancing up a storm.  Reliving those days with this video really put a smile on my face today.  Ava was a fun baby and is becoming a fun, terrific kid.  I’m so looking forward to seeing her become a big sister and teach her dance moves to Dos!

So, here she is.  Ava dancing to the theme music from Grey’s Anatomy at six months old.

On Sunday, Sally left for Chicago to attend the NASPA conference. Ever since Sally’s departure, Ava has been informing everyone she meets, “That my Daddy; Mommy go ‘cago.” On Tuesday, Ava and I both skipped work and school to spend some Daddy-Daughter time together. Initially, we had considered a short hike at Lake Mead followed by a picnic, but the weather ruled that out. The weather (rain, wind, and temperatures in the low 40s) would have made picnicking at Lake Mead with a toddler more of a survival exercise than a fun outing at the park. So we turned to the Internet and discovered that Las Vegas has a Natural History Museum. (Think: Small Still-life Zoo.) The Las Vegas Natural History Museum is not glamorous, but it’s the perfect place to go with a two-year-old on a Tuesday morning. The place was nearly deserted so Ava could look at any exhibit as long as she wanted. Ava really liked the still-life giraffe and fireflies, but her favorite was the marine exhibit. The exhibit featured several small aquariums of real, live fish. One of the tanks had a “spider” [translated: lobster] just like the ones at grocery store. Ava’s favorite exhibit, however, was the “bucket-o-koi.” The exhibit consisted of a large garden tub from your local home improvement store full of koi kept company by a small turtle.

The museum also had a few exhibits that Ava was not too sure about. The Dinosaur Room featured a Triceratops which grunted and moved it’s head back and forth, and a T-Rex that produced a psyche-shredding roar when prompted by a red button. Ava’s first reaction to the sight was, “Wooo” followed by, “eeeh…want go back car.” I think my favorite, however, was the human exhibit.  In this exhibit you could go and watch a small human dance in a hut.  (Make sure to turn your volume up so you can hear the dance mix in the background.)

Ava loves Rebel sports.  Saturday before last, we took Ava to watch a Lady Rebels Basketball game.  All morning long the next Saturday, Ava talked about how we were going to, “go see Rebels.”  So we took Ava to see the last home game for the UNLV Men’s Basketball Team; the Rebels emerged victorious over Wyoming.