Just Peachy

It's been a long time since I've posted...sorry! We still have internet at home so I have no excuse, other than the normal business. Summer camp has ended, I am still suffering the effects of what I hope will be my last cold for a very long time. I have gotten sick a total of 3 times this summer, and thank the gods that Ava didn't get sick once. She had a little bit of a stuffy nose at one point, but that was it. I must admit that on Friday, the last day of camp, I was a little sad to see some of the kids go, I grew to really like some of them. Then there were others that I couldn't wait to see go. And of course the kids were behaving as though it were the last day of school so by the end of the day I was really happy summer was over. I will miss some of the counselors too, they were a lot of fun. So now I will be working in the babysitting room at the Y. I chose that over after-school care because I can bring Ava with me and the hours are a bit better for our schedules. Plus it's a lot less stress. I am also thinking about looking for a full-time job. As much as I loathe the idea of going back to work and putting Ava in daycare, the simple fact is that we cannot afford this much longer. The financial strain puts so much stress on us, and it is a constant effort to keep up with everything. It will be so hard to put her in daycare now, but will it ever be easy? I don't think so. But I do know that we cannot afford to be in debt, and that is where we're headed. Our house has been very neglected since I've been out of work, and it's starting to really bug me. Plus with that pipe leak, we need some dough. I think we are going to see if homeowner's insurance will pay for new cabinets since ours got wet and I am so afraid of mold growing, especially with Ava in the house. Anyway, I've gotten way off topic and this has really nothing to do with Ava.
She is taking her nap now, and I am so happy that we have a baby who goes to sleep so easily. She keeps herself on a really good schedule, and all we have to do is put her in the crib. I'm sure that now that I've said that she will change it all up on us, but for now it is great. My boss at the Y, Jason, has a daughter named Faith that is 1 week older than Ava, and we got to meet her on Friday night. Faith is already sitting up on her own, has 2 teeth, and is eating cookies! Of course this freaked Brent out since he is worried about Ava falling behind, but I assured him it was nothing to be worried about. As long as the doctor isn't worried, I'm not worried. We get a baby newsletter about every other month, and in this month's I read an article titled "Not So Fast, Mister." It described how when your baby is little, you want him to grow up. Then when he does, you wish he was little again. One line that stuck out in my mind was "The problem with all this growing up is, once you push your baby into the next step there's no turning back." The other night as I was feeding Ava in her room, she was squirming around and holding the bottle all by herself, and I just thought wow, she is so big, how much longer will I be able to hold her this way? Soon I won't need to hold her to feed her at all, she'll just do it herself. It will be exciting for her to start crawling and standing up, but I am in no rush.
We put Ava in a high chair at the restaurant, her first time being in a high chair, and she did okay. Sometimes she would kinda start to slouch, but she held herself up pretty good. When I brought her over to meet Faith, Ava just stared at her with the funniest look on her face. Faith was really happy and vocal and started waving her hands and banging the table. Faith has been in daycare since she was 2 months old, to Ava this is all new. Faith has also been sick many, many times and has had so many ear infections she might have to have tubes put in. That is one of my reasons for not putting Ava in day care yet. A sick baby is an unhappy baby and I don't want her to be unhappy. In the babysitting room at the Y, at first I was so worried about germs when I brought Ava in. I would wipe down the toys, put a blanket over everything to try to keep her from touching, and try to keep the other kids from touching her. Now, I have pretty much given up on that. I still try to be careful, but I've accepted the fact that I can't keep her in a bubble, and she will get germs and she will get sick one day. I could drive myself crazy trying to keep her away from stuff.
I'd better go, I have to update my resume before Ava wakes up. I will probably post some pictures tonight.