If you've been checking out our Summer photo gallery, you know that we're a busy family these days.  Ava finished her regular preschool year on June 6, we took our annual Cape May trip at the end of June, have spent weekends with my family, attended a bridal shower in Columbus and between all of the packing, unpacking, cleaning, feeding, playing, bathing, organizing, I've barely had time to think.  July was supposed to be my vacation month - I think I've gone to bed more tired this month than the rest of the year!   Bobby has accomplished two big projects so far this summer: building the girls' swingset and reorganizing the garage and utility room (which involved building shelves).  We still have a lot to do, but thanks to global warming, our summer will last well into September, maybe even October! (hey, last year, it was nearly 90 at Oglebayfest during the first weekend in October...).

Ava also just wrapped up her summer preschool program (July 14-25) and she had a great time.  She was assigned to the same classroom, but her teacher was "Miss Patrice" who was a regular sub during the school year.  Ava apparently liked her already, as she rattled off something about, "Miss Patrice feeds lunch to you with noodles and chicken and broccoli and milk...".  Tina (one of Ava's aides at school) said that Ava jumped "right in" on day 1 and it seemed that the 6 week break from the school routine didn't phase her.  She continues to shine in Circle Time, raising her hand to answer every question about every word, sound and letter imaginable.  One skill that Ava has developed (which I am particularly impressed with, of course...) is being able to identify what letter a word begins with.  She can do this with any word, I swear.  And, for future bragging to all of Ava's friends about what a genius she was at age 3, I present the following:
Sound Isolation - Awareness of Beginning, Middle and Ending Sounds (age 6)
Identifies beginning, middle, and ending sounds in words. For example, "What is the beginning sound in neck?" "What is the ending sound in jog? "What sound do you hear in the middle of kitten?"

Yes, that's right - Ava has mastered beginning sound isolation.  And it's not because her hearing is "5 times as good as ours" - that's actually a myth.  It's basically because she is smart, she cares about words and sounds way more than the average 3 year old and she does, in fact, use her sense of hearing more efficiently than the average toddler.  Oh yeah, and she has two teachers as parents. 

Other recent Ava accomplishments include teaching herself "The Itsy, Bitsy Spider" on the piano (she has also made up several songs to this tune) and she has had major breakthroughs in self-feeding.  I've been working on a simple reward system that involves Ava taking a series "scoops and stabs" of food and then getting to play with a special basket of musical toys (hello, Dollar General!) that is reserved only for mealtime.  Erin, her feeding therapist, is doing the same thing and boy does it work!  Ava has also started picking up, popping in and chewing pieces of banana.  This is huge, as she can now sit in her booster and feed herself an entire snack of banana, grahm crackers and milk - while I clean the kitchen or feed Lucie.  It's wonderful to see her gaining more independence. 

Meanwhile, Lucie is nearly 8 months old and growing entirely too fast for me.  Her little life has gone by so quickly; one day, she has no teeth, the next day, she has 2 popping through.  Suddenly, she's sitting up, eating cereal, knawing on biter biscuits, holding her bottle, scooting over in bed to snuggle me, babbling, and going nuts in the Jumparoo.  Lucie's life is like Ava's in fast-forward, which I kind of expected.  It's ok, I like it this way.  Lucie's progress has helped to heal my heart.  I watch her shifting toys from one chubby hand to the next, watch her reach for Ava, see her snuggle Daddy or chew on her paci and I am so happy that she's here.  She has brightened our lives.  She has turned Ava into a big sister.  If you haven't watched the new video, "Ava and Lucie playing," please do.  I am always amazed at how Ava tunes into Lucie via sound and how much Lucie wants to imitate Ava's actions.  It's awesome that Ava even cares about Lucie, as I know many other sighted older siblings who could care less about what their baby brother or sister is doing.  We strive to teach Ava to take pride in being a "sissie" and having one. 

Lucie is basically in the lunging forward stage - she wants to move toward her toys, but hasn't quite developed those leg and abdominal muscles to crawl yet.  She still has the greatest smile ever and is an affectionate and happy baby.  I still love her sleeping next to me.  Even though she is still a baby, I already miss the precious times gone by.  Is this why women keep having babies?