Two BIG things

One:

The bottle is officially GONE!

For a good two weeks, Ava had been chewing through nipples like crazy. On Friday, as Adam was leaving to go to work and drop her off, she bit a huge chunk out of her nipple and then proceeded to turn her bottle upside-down. The contents of her bottle was all over herself, carseat and car. Adam was beyond himself and called me frustrated. After a beautiful venting session, we made the hard decision together to have Ava throw her bottle away. When she got

to grandma's house, she said, 'bye, bye nana (bottle)' and threw it away! She hasn't gone back since. We thought we would have a hard time putting her to sleep without it, but she's been falling asleep quite easily with the help of a bedtime story. But the best thing about her not needing a bottle is that.....

Two:

She's been sleeping through the NIGHT!

Her Pediatrician has told us at EVERY SINGLE visit since her 12 month check up, that if we get Ava to give up the bottle, she will sleep through the night. We didn't believe in the magic of this statement until now. It's a miracle, ever since we've given up the bottle, she has slept through the night. Unfortunately, Adam and I haven't been able to sleep through the night yet. We still wake up thinking that we need to give her her 'nana'. It's like we are learning how to enjoy a full night's rest all over again.

It's amazing, she's growing into such a sweet child. It's no secret that parenting Ava is a challenge for us. She is a very smart, determined, strong-willed child and we love it and in a selfish way, hate it. She is learning how to communicate with us better and therefore, we are learning how to be better parents for her. We are so happy together. I love my family so much and am so thankful for a such a patient, hard-working and unconditionally loving husband and a inspiring, fun, spunky daughter.