Her Many Emotions

Ava really enjoys reading about and talking about feelings, or emotions. She has many faces for these feelings and here are a few.

Happy face.

Silly face.

Sad face. Look at that lower lip.

Scared face. She can hardly keep a straight face on this one when she "shakes" it gets her tickled.

Shy face. She'll look away and cover her eyes.

Wordless Wednesday: The "Forward" Roll

A Natural-born Scientist

Aren't they so naturally creative and exploratory? It's amazing!

A few weeks ago, Ava and I went out to play in what was left of our thunderstorms and rain. I let her play by the street because that was where the puddles were and the best location to splash around. Of course, when cars came by we had to move up on the sidewalk. Safety note aside, I had to take pictures and just loved watching her play.

She is totally in her element when she can be outside and free to explore. She must pick everything up and investigate or do a little experiment with it, as you'll see. Also, her little imagination goes wild when she's outside. Here she is practicing, what else, jumping. Mommy had to bite her tongue when she got up on the curb in her new boots (we all know new shoes = uncertain coordination) and just let her try. Sure enough she landed on her feet.

The clothes slowly started coming off, no doubt.

Here she is "swimming like a sea turtle".

Then she became mesmorized by taking objects and letting them go and watching the force of the water carry them downstream to the drain.

She found a flower.

And a stick. And then tried a rock, not pictured, but it wouldn't budge.

She waves bye-bye to them as they float down the drain.

Jumping and splashing.

Off with the boots, she needed to feel, really FEEL the water. "Brrr, it's cold" she said.

When you see the finger point and the serious look, you know she is telling you something very serious and you better listen up.

Didn't I say that she needed to FEEL the water?

Taking it all in.

Little Feetsies.

On our way home.

3rd Annual Bluebonnet Pictures

We braved the chilly wind and found a little patch of Bluebonnets, roadside, to snap some quick pics. I love how these pics totally capture her personality.

Letting the wind blow her arms, it was THAT strong!

Running through the bluebonnets, though "high stepping", in an attempt to follow mommy's directions of "be gentle with the flowers". That worked.
Giving us her best smile.

Okay, enough smiling.

Austin Fair and Rodeo

On a whim, we went to the final day of the Austin Fair and Rodeo last weekend. We had no expectations other than to walk around, eat some good food, and pet some animals. However, our little girl is brave, brave, brave. Standing at almost 35 inches tall, one inch short of the minimum to ride, she was aloud onto her first ride. I truly did not think she was going to ride all by herself. Well, she had a thing or two to teach me. Not only did she ride, and all by herself, but she wanted more and more and more and more.

Here is Ava on her first ride. READY!

SET!

GO! Check out that smile!
This next ladybug ride series are my faves b/c you can see how fast these "little" rides were and how much she was enjoying them.

Next, were the boats.

Then, the carousel, or "merry go round"

Lastly, the airplanes, which were WILD! She went up and down and around and around. She told daddy, "I not scared" one minute and the next, "All done" while it was still going.

When it was time to say goodbye, well, you can see how that went over.

Until next year, little girl.

This was just one part of our Rodeo experience. I will update the animal pictures later.

Sink Helper

Thanks to Charlotte and Carissa for this idea, it is now one of Ava's favorite afternoon activities while helping mommy clean up the kitchen. She loves it in there. Thanks girls!

We love Gymnastics!

Thanks to Keri who recommended her friend, Kim, for gymnastics. Every Wednesday we attend gymnastics at Kim's Gym.

Ava loves to jump and run and bounce and hang and crawl. It's no suprise that it's a great outlet for Ava, as physical as she is, so it was a no-brainer for us to start gymnastics. If she could hang out and do it all on her own, all day, she would. I was a little thrown back at first because she is so not into the group participation part of it. This shouldn't be a surprise though, because just like her mommy, she likes to stand back and watch, all on her own time and will come when she's ready.

Which reminds me of something else...what a person she is! It's moments like these, where she makes her own choices based on her feelings and emotions, that shows me who she is and what makes her comfortable. I can't (and won't) very well make her do things (like group participation--she stands back in music class a lot also) that don't make her comfortable and don't really matter in the grand scheme of things at 2 years old. She has that personality where if she doesn't like something, she'll let me know. What can I say? She marches to the beat of a different drum. It just makes me realize what an independent little girl I have. She just responds amazingly to making her own choices.

Anyway, attending organized extra-curricular activities and seeing pictures such as these totally remind me of who she is, so spirited and determined, serious and hard-working. All while maintaining a silly side.

So here she is jumping. This girl has been jumping for such a long time that, as you can see, her feet come up to almost higher than the bar. She loves to jump. Everywhere.
Here is Ava hanging out on the bars.

A look of detremination as she conquers the balance beam.

Running to step on the "bubbles"

Doing the high balance beam with Keri.

All ready for stamps, this is a highlight of each session.

Walking out with Mia. They MUST hold hands. Again, Kim's Gym is such a fantastic place that truly nurtures and facilitates the children's interests and abilities, providing an outlet for us (both moms and kids) who need it.