Check that smile now, baby!

The sweet, gummy smile that Ava has spent months charming us all with is about to be a thing of the past. No, she has not suddenly decided to become one of those brooding artist types, sporting a frown and a black onesie. She is however, finally getting some teeth! Ok, so just the one tooth, but experience has led me to believe there will be more. I'll post pictures when the little pearly white gets big enough for its film debut.

I should have suspected we were close to a first tooth since Ava is currently chewing on anything and everything. Toys, books, her sleeve, me. Anything that is, as long as it's not food related. I occasionally try to sneak something into her hand that isn't pureed, and she just closes her mouth and gives me her "I'm not falling for that" face. Here she is lifting up the living room rug so she can stuff her Biter Biscuit under it.

Ava adores being read to, so I picked up a couple new books for her when we were at the mall yesterday. Her current faves have furry animal pictures that she can "pet", and today she seemed to have a particular love connection with a panda bear. She kept leaning in to give him her patented open-mouthed kisses. I tried desperately to get it on film, but she's seems to be a Smooch and Scram kind of gal, so I never was quick enough to catch it. This was snapped just a second too late, but you get the idea.

The love between a baby and her panda bear; don't you wish everything in life was this sweet?