Halloween Photos

As promised, here are some photos from our Halloween. We waited until the last minute to carve our pumpkin. With the 70 degree weather we were able to carve it on our deck. Ava sampled the innards while Daddy carved a scary face. Of course, we had to torture the poor baby and put her in a costume. Here she is as a Bunny! She wasn't so sure at first but she warmed up to the idea.

Mike's spooky Jack-O-Lantern:
While we answered the door for the Trick-or-Treaters, Ava treated us to some hilarity. She's started making this very silly face. Check out the video for one goofy baby.

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween, everyone! Here's a photo of Ava's first halloween a year ago. My how she's changed! Below is a photo from this morning; she's wearing a pumpkin hat. She can say "Pumpkin", "Kitty", and "Meow" so this outfit is pretty entertaining when she wears it! Her version of the words sound like "Puhka", "Kkk-kkk" and "Mao" but we get the idea.
We'll be posting more photos of her in costume (if she's agreeable) later tonight or tomorrow. I hope you all have a spooktacular Halloween with many treats and no tricks!

Our night at the Obama Rally

Wow. What a night! We went to the rally at about 7:00pm and Obama wasn't supposed to take the stage until 9:30pm. The line was already wrapped around a good chunk of campus before almost encircling itself. We had walked from University Garage following the line past Memorial Union thinking the end of the line was somewhere down by Brady Commons. Wrong. The line continued around Rollins then back up College Ave and then back to University Street right were we had parked the car. Along the whole path there were a few vendors selling Obama buttons, T-Shirts, etc. It seemed like almost everyone had some sort of Obama paraphernalia on them.

After waiting an hour and a half we finally made our way into the south quad where the stage was located. Unfortunately there is a hill crest right in the middle that blocked the view of the stage and by the time we got there all of the prime real estate had been taken. So they had a giant video screen that was hoisted up in the air by a fork lift so we (and half the crowd) got to see the speech from there. So I'm sure if we were at home and watching CNN we would have had a better view, but it was really great to be in the middle of such an electrified crowd with all the cheers and waving campaign signs and knowing the candidate was only 100 yards or so away. Anyway, I'm posting pictures and videos below if you want to see them. I apologize, many of them are blurry because I was walking and the low light.

Obama Rally in Columbia, MO tonight

We are going to see Obama tonight. He's holding a rally here on campus. It should be very interesting! I hope to post some pics tomorrow.

SHE LET GO!!!!!!

So tonight before Ava went to bed she was pushing her little walker with one hand when suddenly, completely out of the blue, she let go and walked into the kitchen! I yelled at Mike to get the camera and here's what followed:

Too funny...

The SNL skit from last night...

On the phone...

How scary is this? Ava picked up my cell phone and held it up to her head. She then gestured wildly and chatted up a storm.

Tempting...very tempting...

I think there's a spot on my bumper for this... :)

Ava's eyes are...

brown! For all of those voting, thanks for your contribution. A majority of you picked brown and you were right. Although mommy will argue there is some blue around the edges still...and since I'm (partially) colorblind, I will defer to her :)

Sweet Baby Girl

Chestnut Roast

Today we hit the road to enjoy one of the many festivals around the area. This weekend was the Chestnut Roast in New Franklin. We all (including my sisters) loaded up in the car and headed out:

"Chestnuts Ho!"
As soon as we arrived we all had our first taste of the roasted chestnuts. The results were mixed. I liked them. They sort of tasted like a slightly undercooked baked potato. In addition to the chestnuts there were pecans, almonds, walnuts, cheese, and both wine and beer from around Missouri. I was really impressed with this event. So many times all the festivals run together and the theme appears an exuse to bring in the same funnel cake truck, hot dog vendor, kettle corn stand, etc. This event, while missing my beloved kettle corn, had a very unique character! Speaking of characters...

Bah Dat?

I haven't caught it on tape yet but Ava's new favorite phrase is "Bah Dat?" or "What's That?" (or so we think). She literally starts asking that the moment I lift her out of her crib in the morning. She points all around her room. When we pick her up at day care she starts pointing to everything in the room and asking us "Bah Dat"? We're doing a ton of identification!

Oh, and she's also nailed the answer to "what does the doggy say"? "Oof-oof". It's pretty cute. I don't even notice that the neighbor dog is barking until I hear Ava say "oof".

More falling

Dapper Daddy

We've just returned home after attending a wedding over the weekend. Mike was a groomsman. Here he is walking little Ava around after the ceremony.

After a long ride home Ava was REALLY pumped to finally get back in her own house. I snapped this photo just seconds after we walked in the door and set Ava down. We were cracking up because when we set her on the floor she started squealing and clapping. I guess she'd been missing her house and her toys.

Ava Goes Bananas!

Remember that little ditty that goes something like this:

Pick bananas, pick, pick bananas
Peel bananas, peel, peel bananas
Smash bananas, smash, smash bananas
Eat bananas, eat, eat bananas
Go bananas, go, go bananas?

Well Ava's nailed the "Go Bananas" part.

Corn Maze

The weather wasn't quite fall-like but we ventured out to the Shryock Corn Maze with hope of ushering in the season. We didn't feel like the hot apple cider or hot chocolate they were serving but the ice cream and a cold bottle of water would have hit the spot!

The theme of this year's maze is "Race for the White House".

Introducing future President Barbaro:

Looking good!

Bath time wasn't an option for Ava tonight. It was required. We've learned that in a pinch pureed green beans can be used in place of hair mousse for excellent holding power.

12-Month Well-Baby (with a big head)

Height - 28.5 inches (60th Percentile)
Weight - 21.0 lbs (50th Percentile)
Head Circumference - 47cm (92nd Percentile)

Ava talked her way out of shots today but had her finger pricked for lead. She did not care for that procedure one bit! The consolation gift of 4 princess stickers hardly made up for the trauma.