A letter to Ava on your 2nd Birthday

Dear Ava, my two-year-old-baby-girl,

Your second year of life has flown by, something of which seems to describe you perfectly....flying. You are so busy with everything going on around you, flying from one thing to the next that our days are always filled.

There is nothing like watching my daughter learn and grow right before my eyes. We are so lucky to spend the time together that we do. I will always, always treasure it because in no time, you'll be flying to and from other things in your life and I won't always be there to see ::tear::.

Some of your interests during your second year include:

-shapes: you love to sort, name, point, draw (cirlces), etc. Everything about shapes you love.

-counting: you showed an interest in counting very early and love to count objects. You also are starting to count in Spanish.

-animals: you love reading, seeing, touching, talking, telling stories all about animals. You knew animal sounds before you could even talk. We had an Old McDonald (or EIO, as you call it) birthday party for your 2nd birthday because you love animals so much.

-food: always was an interest and continues to remain an interest. YUM!

-music: when you hear music, your little body doesn't stay still. You love to dance and sing along as well.

-pretending: you love to pretend to cook, clean, put on make-up, have teaparties, etc. You are so clever when it comes to make-believe that I often find myself amazed at what you're doing.

During the days, we do things like go to the park, music class, gymnastics, picnics, playgroup, the bookstore, chik-fil-a, the duck pond, and the pet store. We are such buddies and best friends!

There is nothing like hearing you say something for the first time that you weren't just repeating. Of course you've heard us say these things, but when you said them to me, in context, without any prompting, I melted.

Some of my favorite sayings of yours include:

1. "Go for it, sister!"

2. "Let's talk."

3. "How's it goin?"

4. "Let's Hang Out."

5. "What doin?"

6. "I love (nuv) you"

My favorite things about this year:

1. Learning to talk, especially in sentences.

2. Having a tea party with you, daddy, and your animal friends.

3. Watching you shake your booty.

4. Taking bubble baths.

5. When you give random hugs and kisses.

6. Your jumping that is non-stop.

Oh, how much we've gone through together. You are just amazing, amazing Ava. I look forward to all the years and all the firsts that we still have to go through together.

Happy 2nd Birthday!!

I love you,

Mommy