Aven at One Year
At one, Aven clocks in at 28.5 inches tall and 17 pounds, 13 ounces. So, while she's still a peanut (and smaller than Rory at the same age), she's jumped to a slightly higher percentile given how good of an eater she has become. They call Aven "Miss Smilely". While she is not yet walking (any day now), she is very vocal (perhaps thanks to those new ear tubes), with a vocabulary of pseudo-words ... Dada (Daddy), Ma (Mommy), Ro (Rory), boo (book), bah (bottle), dat (that, accompanied with a finger point).
Big Sister
Rory is blossoming into a lovely, inquisitive, empathetic young lady. She enjoys dresses, ballet, baking, and playing all sorts of pretend games.
Rory also enjoys board games, soccer, swimming, wrestling with Daddy, and running at fast as she can as often as she can!
Rory is also silly, silly, silly! She loves to make her little sister giggle, and she loves to light up a room with her jokes and dances.
Sisters, Part 5
Hugs!
Tackle Mommy!
Aven's Birth, Retold
As Aven's first birthday was approaching last weekend, I found myself revisiting old blog postings, and I was terribly distraught to find that I had never posted the story of Aven's birth. Now, I had described it via e-mail to friends and family, but here is the story retold for the blog (with pictures of Aven at one year old):
On Friday evening, we welcomed Aven Elizabeth O'Hara into our lives. Aven is very healthy, and she has made the rest of her family very happy (especially Rory; she is a proud big sister). Aven weighed 5 pounds, 15 ounces at birth (a pound lighter than Rory), and she arrived a few days early, much to the surprise of her parents.
In fact, at 6 p.m., Tim was mowing the lawn and Sarah and Rory were enjoying "happy hour" with friends. At 7 p.m., Sarah announced that she was having (what she claimed were) "false alarm" contractions. At 8 p.m., Tim's sister and brother-in-law arrived as babysitters "just to be safe". At 8:30 p.m., Sarah begrudgingly acknowledged that "these contractions might be the real deal". At 8:45 p.m., we left for the hospital. At 9:00 p.m., we arrived at the hospital. At 9:15, we learned that the hospital was totally packed (it was a full moon), and that Sarah would be placed in the "fishbowl", an alcove off the main hallway of the Labor & Delivery unit. And at 9:55 p.m., Aven was born. (And, yes, the very swift onset of labor meant that Sarah delivered Aven without the benefit of pain-relieving drugs, which was not as Sarah had planned.)
Sarah is doing fabulously well for a woman who has passed through hell and back. Tim is happy to be far away from the hospital (despite his return trip on Sunday evening, just hours after Aven was discharged, to see Rory get 6 stiches in her leg; she took a fall running in the backyard.) Aven is a sleeping and eating machine. And Pippin (our manly cat) is trying to ignore the fact that the household balance of power has shifted to the decidedly feminine, with girls now outnumbering boys.
"Aven" (pronounced "Ay-vin") is a rare gem of a name found in many different languages and cultures. It is an anglicized version of an Irish name that means "fair radiance". In ancient Hebrew, the name means many things, including "mischief". The name appears in Confederate South, Old French, Middle English, and in gypsy culture (check out the Gypsy Kings song "Aven Aven").
Snacks with Friends
On Sunday, Rory enjoyed a play date with Carter, complete with an alfresco snack on the back patio.
Meanwhile, Aven showed Carter's little sister Julia the right way to enjoy a snack!
Zoo Reflections
On Saturday, we ventured into the National Zoo for the first time this season. Both kids enjoyed gawking at the animals and eating a picnic lunch. The black "howler monkeys" put on quite a show for Rory and Aven, perhaps that's why Aven has been so vocal herself this weekend!
Our favorite animal was the meerkat, who took a liking to Aven, standing at attention when she was approach the glass.
Rory found this anteater quite amusing.
And Aven tried to mimic the sounds of the cow that we encountered at the petting part of the zoo.
At one, Aven clocks in at 28.5 inches tall and 17 pounds, 13 ounces. So, while she's still a peanut (and smaller than Rory at the same age), she's jumped to a slightly higher percentile given how good of an eater she has become. They call Aven "Miss Smilely". While she is not yet walking (any day now), she is very vocal (perhaps thanks to those new ear tubes), with a vocabulary of pseudo-words ... Dada (Daddy), Ma (Mommy), Ro (Rory), boo (book), bah (bottle), dat (that, accompanied with a finger point).
