The Veldmans: And she's off

As of this evening I would say that Ava is officially a "walker". Today she's spent more time walking than crawling. She's been getting better all week, but yesterday and today and really took off. She's pretty quick too. So quick that Nate turned around to put something away, and by the time that he looked back she had made it to the stairs and ended up falling down a couple of them. Not a big deal since it was the stairs by our bedroom (there are only 4 steps, and the landing is carpeted), but a good lesson learned that she needs to be watched very closely.

We started our weekend on Thursday afternoon. Ava and I both had much needed haircuts. I got my hair chopped off, and Ava can now see without trying to look out from underneath a bunch of hair. We didn't go to her normal kiddy salon, instead we went to the same place that I got my hair cut. Ava did such a good job (as did the stylist who was very quick and so very sweet). After our haircuts Grandma V, Ava, and I headed to the cabin (Daddy rode up with Boppa later). Ava no longer likes to sit for long periods of time which can make these road trips a bit trying. We ended up stopping along the way and Grandma sat in the back and fed Ava an early dinner. She ate a whole 6 inch flat bread sub. It's a good thing she's starting to walk. She's going to need to be doing a lot of it to ward off childhood obesity.

Friday morning Grandma & Boppa took Ava & Daddy out for breakfast while I went for a bike ride. Then Ava took a trip to Brainerd with Daddy & Boppa. Ava took in all the attention that she got at the hardware store, as she was the best dressed in the place. Meanwhile Grandma & I enjoyed our quiet time and went window shopping in Nisswa. Friday afternoon was spent outside doing a lot of swinging and stroller rides.

We had beautiful weather Saturday. The sun was shining, the temperature was perfect, and there was low humidity. We went for a walk, did more swinging, blew bubbles, went for a boat ride, and Ava hung out on the deck making sure that every last flower or twig was picked up and thrown off the side of the deck. She would find anything that she could, pick it up, and then walk over to the edge of the deck and throw it over.

Today we headed home, which was fine since the weather was dreary and muggy. Ava was exhausted and so ready to go. She kept saying, "nigh night, nigh night" as we were packing up. She was asleep before we were even 3 miles from the cabin. Unfortunately she only slept for an hour of the trip (it's a 2 1/2 hour trip home). It was nice to get home at a descent time, as we had laundry to do and made a trip to the grocery store.

We hope that you had nice weather this weekend and were able to get out and enjoy it as well. Wishing you all a wonderful week ahead!