Growing Up

Ava interacts so much with her environment now. She will turn her head towards the person speaking in a room, or she will gaze around looking for me while I stand at the pulpit at church. I absolutely love to find her looking at me from across the room, then smiling when our eyes meet.
When she is lying on the ground, I like to put my face close to hers so she can reach me with her little hands. She likes to grab my nose or chin and can get a surprising good, strong grip on the skin on my neck.

She does pretty good in different surrounds with groups of people. There are times, though, when she needs to adapt before going to someone other than us. I felt bad one evening while meeting my family at a restaurant in College Station because Ava cried and cried when she saw my mom. We also have learned to maintain low volumes of sound when together with others. This last weekend we hosted the 2nd Annual Kennedy Reunion and we upset her a number of times when laughing at funny stories or her goofy Granddad.