Happy 2nd Birthday Ava!

Happy Birthday to Aya! Mommy and Daddy can't believe that 2 years have flown by already. Ava's real birthday is tomorrow. I took off work two weeks ago to celebrate and what a day it will be tomorrow. It is suppose to reach 75 degrees! I am still not sure what we are going to do, it depends on how windy it is going to be, but we are going to have some fun for sure! Yesterday we celebrated her birthday with the family. The theme was "Signing Time". We had sign language cards as decoration, the Happy Birthday to you Video was playing in the background, and I even had the art teacher create a Hopkins the Frog on her cake. Ava looked so grown up in her flowery party dress and pink jeweled flats. Nana even did her hair for Ava... She looked beautiful! She did so good considering that she doesn't see everyone all that often. She could not wait to open her gifts and she said thank you to each person after we told her who the gift was from. She was really looking for them to tell them, not blindly saying thanks. She got tired around 4:00 and got a bad case of the giggles. Everyone who was still there had some much fun interacting with her and her giggles. After everyone left, it was time for nap time. After a quick nap, she was ready to head out to eat with Uncle Bubby, Aunt Felicia and Lisa, Aunt Fannie, Brian, GG, and Nana and Papa. We went to Senor Tequila's and Ava even got to wear the birthday sombrero. What a great party day. How is it possible my little baby will be 2 tomorrow?

22 1/2 months

I can't believe I have not written on here in over 2 months. Ava is getting so big. We are seeing glimpses of the "terrible twos" roll out every once in a while. She tells you what she wants and when she wants it. Girl is getting a little bossy. haha. "No Mommy, sit here." "No Mommy, I don't like that." It's amazing that just a year ago I had a baby just learning to walk that could only say about 5 words. Time is just flying by.

I am busy getting ideas together for Ava's 2nd birthday which is about 5 weeks away. I think we are going to have a Signing Time Theme... who would've thought. She still loves her signing videos and DVDs. But she is also getting interested in other videos. (thank goodness) She really likes the movies Rio and Lion King. In the morning, she really likes to watch Chuggington and Mickey Mouse Club.

Ava is still going to dance class on Tuesday nights and now it's even more fun to go because we get to see Aunt Fannie while we are there since she teaches upstairs at the same time. She is getting so good at all the dances and last week she even did the balance beam all by herself. I was amazed. My little baby is now a toddler. She runs, jumps, climbs, and dances all over the place. Oh, and I can't forget to mention that we are potty-trained now. Well... for the most part. Accidents still happen but they are usually around naptime. She is doing amazing. Pretty crazy how I cannot even remember what Matt and I did before her. Now we play babies, get our hair done, paint, play with magnets, dance, and play outside. We are definitely the cool parents right now lol. I am the luckiest girl alive. One precious angel and one amazing husband.

20 Months Old

Ava has gone potty on her potty chair 5 times now. We did really well and went once every night for 5 nights in a row. However the last 5 nights she has not wanted to even sit and try. I once again want to thank baby signing time for thier great products. Just in time for potty training, they have released a new Potty Time Video with apps to download on your phone. The app charts progress with stickers on a virtual chart and Rachel calls you to congratulate the potty successes and motivate you with a call if you have an accident. Love it and more importantly... so does Ava. The video came in the mail on Saturday so we have already watched it about 10 times.

I fell off the steps at school yesterday and I hurt my little toe on one foot and sprained my ankle on the other foot. Ahhh yes so graceful. So I went and got a air cast to wear and when I came home in it Ava totally freaked out. She started crying and saying off even though I was trying to explain to her that it was ok and it was just a boo boo. Once I took it off she calmed down. This morning Ava saw the brace on the floor and once again started to get upset and walked in a huge circle around it to avoid it. Nana also told me today that Ava got her foot caught in her pant leg after she got her diaper changed and Nana said something about "oh no is your foot ok"? Well that set her off again and she welled up and started to cry saying "Momma has hurt foot". Sooo sweet and sympathetic. Breaks my heart. God I just love her so much... how did I get so lucky?

20 months old

Ava will be 20 months this weekend. I cannot believe how much she is learning, repeating, and trying. She is going to be quite the little dare devil. We got her front tooth fixed last month and it looks wonderful. It looks so natural too. Ava loves to stand on top of stools, furniture, etc. She makes me so nervous. I just want to protect those teeth!

Ava is still obcessed with her Signing Time videos and CDs. Everyone in the family now has a CD in their car for her and we only watch the videos 3-4 times a day. haha. Good thing they are educational. She is also doing a great job of singing along with the songs. It is so cute when she holds notes and nods her head along with the music.

Our biggest complaint about Ava is that she is not a big eater. She is so picky about what she eats and she'll eat a few bites and then say she is done. Don't even try to argue with her because her plate or bowl will end up on the floor. But when she finds something she really likes... look out. She will clean her plate. She loves pancakes from "Donalds" and ice cream from "Happy's" (Wendy's). She has been a big fan of Cinnamon Toast Crunch the last week. But nothing compares to her mutt. She must have her milk several times a day.

On Halloween Ava was a MU cheerleader. We went to Nana's and had pizza and played with Chase and Chloe before we went out trick-or-treating. We went around Nana's cul-de-sac and then went back to our house to hit up a few neighbors. Ava was getting really good at grabbing her own candy! She had a blast but got really grumpy about 8:00. So it was off to bed. I think seh had a great time though. Now it's time to get ready for Thanksgiving and Christmas.

18 Months Old

Wow it is getting harder and harder to remember to write on here. Life is busier than ever. Ava is off and running, jumping, playing, hiding, etc. I am finishing up softball season and the school year is off to a great start. At her 18th month well visit we weighed 23 lbs and were 25% for weight and 75% for height. The doctor said she was cognitively at the age of a 2.5 year old becasue her language is so extensive. We can count to 10, can say our ABC's, recognize all the letters in written form and in sign language, sing several songs, and string together sentences at least 4-5 words long. Pretty amazing when last year at this time we were working on our second tooth and sitting up.

Last week about 2 days after we went to the doctor you developed a fever and then the next day you broke our in blisters. I assume you got the Hand Foot and Mouth Disease Virus at the doctor's office. Then you passed it on to poor Chloe. It was a rough week.

In August Ava knocked off part of her front tooth. We are getting that fixed at the dentist tomorrow. Mommy is pretty nervous since they havge to put her under anestesia. But the whole procedure is suppose to take about 20 minutes so we should be out the door in about an hour. I will be dreading it the whole time.

Halloween is just around the corner and we are busy trying to be creative in finding a costume for Ava. Maybe a cowgirl, maybe a witch, etc. We went to Carolyn's Pumpkin Patch again this year. You loved the goats and the pumpkins. I can't wait to carve your pumpkin this year.

Ava's favorite things are Baby Signing Time (in DVD and CD form), babies, beads, cookies from the softball girls, playing outside with chalk, mowing the lawn with your lawn mower, putting on fake make-up, going to the neighborhood playground, trying to dress yourself, getting wipes to clean, seeing Toe-E aka Chloe, marching around the house, and singing songs. She loves bath time and going to softball games to see Mommy coach. If you hang around us you will hear her say Hold You Momma, and Baby Signing Times Please, Hi Tace (Grace), and Out Please.

July 2011- 16 Months Old

Ava continues to grow and develop in front of our eyes. She is singing, dancing, talking, repeating, and climbing. She has her own opinions for movies, clothes, shoes, and food. She loves to read herself books, steal plastic knives and throw them away, climb on the fireplace, look at herself in a mirror, go shopping, look for diggers and towers, and hunt for rocks.

We have been on a huge Barney kick all summer. She loves to dance to the songs and has even started to sing some of the words. Mommy sings the the Barney song several times a day along with Patty Cake. Ava likes for us to stop singing so she can fill in the words. She is a giggle machine who loves for Dada to tickle her.

Ava has been going to dance class at Miss Dianna's the past several weeks. She does a lot of watching and standing, but she is getting better and doing a little more every week. She does really well with kicks, marching, and the shaker egg dance. She also likes the tumbling part of class when they get to walk on the balance beam, jump on a trampoline, and do a backward somersault. Mommy has been working at school this past week so Nana and Aunt Fannie are going to take her to class this week. Ava is one of the best dressed in the class in her ballet skirt and ballet shoes. So precious!

Her vocabulary is just exploding right now and she is beginning to put 2-3 words together. She will say "Shhh baby alseep." "Sit right here" "Sit in chair" My favorite things she is saying right now is "Hold you Momma" when she wants me to pick her up. I also love the way she says strawberries " Straw-barbies" and Apples "Ah-pulls"

Ava loves to spend time with everyone in the family, but she seems to be especially close with Papa. She loves when he comes over to play and babysit. If he puts her to bed, she will wake up the next morning and ask about him. So cute! I will ask her, "What do you want to do today Ava?" and she will say "Papa?"

The summer is coming to a close in about 3 weeks and I will have to go back to work and begin softball. It will be hard for me to give up all this play time with Ava, but it will also be very hard for her. She has gone through a serious Mama-Phase this summer. She will hardly go to anyone else. I am enjoying every minute of this phase! School will be starting before we know it : (

Spring 2011- 14 months old

Ava is a ham. Plain and simple. She might have a promising career as an actress with her personality. She acts all shy at first but hang around 15 minutes and she will begin to put on a show for you. She will probably steal your keys and cell phone while performing so watch out! She can figure out how to unlock most cells phones which amazes me. She loves to unlock mine to see the pictures of her. She sometimes even makes phone calls, sends texts, and changes the language. Haha.

We went outside this morning to watch Gracie go potty and looked up in the sky and said "mooooon" and sure enough there it was. I love this age! She is soaking up everything and it seems that once we tell her or show her something she picks it up. She is really starting to say and repeat words. She still loves her baby signing time videos but Barney is becoming pretty popular too. Mommy and Ava sang our first song together last week. It's the "Hat" song from the Barney video. I will sing it until we get to the word "hat" and she will say it. She is so proud of herself when we get done. Always smiling and clapping for herself.

Ava went to her first track meet of the year since we have had such poopy weather this year. It was 80 degrees and sunny. She hung out at the pit with me and watched my athletes jump. I even put her in the sand for a bit. She was less than impressed. She was doing her track starts when we said Ready, Set, Go. It was a great day and Brynn and Videl qualified for State which is this weekend in Jeff City.

This weekend we are also going to go hang out at Vince and Vida's (neighbors) and have a memorial weekend BBQ. That is Saturday night and on Sunday we might go out to Fitz's house on Lake Winnebago to go out on the lake. I am still debating on whether I should take Ava or not. I bought her a life jacket, but I will still be pretty nervous. Either way, this should be a great weekend and I only have 1 1/2 days left of school after this weekend!