Practicing her "balleting"

Ava starts dance, or "ballet-ing" as she has called it, soon and she is so excited! She'll be taking a morning class with some of her friends, so it will be a great experience for all, I'm sure.

Happy Half Birthday My Love!

Happy TWO and a HALF Birthday my sweet baby girl! How nearly 3 years has flown by this quickly is way beyond me, but I've cherished every bit of time that I get to spend with you.

You are not only "cute" and "adorable" (as you tell us), but you are smart, witty, sassy, independent, vocal, kind, inventive, and truly one-of-a-kind, my love. I love you more than anything in this whole world!

Here are some updates on you at 2 and half years old:

Favorite Things:
1. Special Treats
2. Singing songs all by yourself (mommy and daddy are instructed not to sing)
3. Pretending

Least Favorite Things:
1. Beards
2. Sour Things (lemons, pickles, etc.)
3. Clowns

Sleep:
You have "rest time" everyday starting at about 12:30-1:00. It's up to you whether or not you nap. You are definitely more self-aware of what your body needs and you only miss a nap about once a week. On the days you nap, your bedtime is about 8:00. If you don't nap, bedtime is about 7:00. You wake at about 7:30 in the morning.

Favorite Songs:
1. Lullabye and Goodnight
2. This Old Man
3. The Wheels on the Bus

Favorite Shows:
1. Diego
2. Curious George
3. Wonder Pets

Favorite "Healthy" Foods:
1. Homemade Popcorn
2. Tomatoes
3. Cheese

Favorite "Special Treats":
1. Target Cookies
2. Chocolate Cake
3. Chocolate Milk

Favorite Breakfast foods:
1. "Opa-meal"(Oatmeal)
2. Cereal
3. Strawberry, banana, yogurt smoothie

Favorite Lunch foods:
1. Mac n Cheese
2. Turkey Sandwich
3. Almond Butter Sandwich
4. Chicken nuggets

Favorite Dinner foods (if any):
1. Chicken Rice soup
2. Pasta
3. Tacos

Favorite Activities:
1. Dancing
2. Arts and Crafts
3. Sorting things

My Favorite Ava "Quotes":
1. "I'm not talking right now."
2. "I love you to the crescent moon and back."
3. "I'm just resting my eyes for one minute."

Here are some pictures we took after we made your half-birthday cake. You are SUCH a great helper! Yummy!

Wordless Wednesday: Fresh Flowers From Neighbors

How neat it was to wake up to fresh flowers on our doorstep from our neighbors. We love them!

Creative Cat

One of her many uses for sentence strips.....skateboarding (I think she meant skiing, tee hee) Got daddy on board.

Green Goop!

The coolest was seeing Ava realize that yellow + blue made green. Can't show all of the pics because as you can imagine, we had a nakey baby covered head to toe in green shaving cream.

Oh, the things they say.

The fam was in the car on our way home from lunch, when we stopped at a red light. Ava looks out her window and says:

"Who is collectin' money this time?"

Yes, pan-handlers are on every corner here.

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Another day the family was in the car, on our way home and daddy says that we are going home to Boo and Goose's (our cats) house.

Ava says:

"Nooooo, daddy, it's not boo and goose's home, it's mommy and daddy and ava's home."

You're right, sister.

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Ava decided that she needed a new watch as part of her school supplies. In the car, we discussed what a big girl watch it was and how important it was to take care of it. When we got home she found the instruction manual.

"I read the directions. Okay, it says that we need to be very gentle and be safe"

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Yesterday when I was leaning over to wish Aves sweet dreams at night night time, typical, serious Ava softly stroked my hair and asked me, "What is hair made of?"

I have GOT to start brushing up on my replies, as this left me a bit dumb-founded. I didn't realize they got so smart so soon.

A Picture of Mommy

What I love about Ava at 2 years, 5 months

(almost 2 1/2 years old...eeeeek!)

1. I love hearing words like "recognize", "regular" and "adorable" in her sentences.

2. I love her imagination. I know I've said it before, but her imagination just keeps getting more incredible day by day. She has us acting out books and stories, assigning roles for mommy and daddy. Last night daddy was the big hungry bear and Ava and mommy were the little mice eating the big juicy strawberry. All under the direction of Miss Aves.

3. I love her memory. She is remembering things that took place almost a year ago. These are not events that we've even so much as talked about. The other day she found a picture of her friend Mia in a ball pit. She said, "You member when we were at Elmo's house? We didn't like Elmo." Um, yes I do. The picture was taken at an event at My Gym when we took Mia and they had a larger than life-size Elmo come out and the girls flipped (not in a good way). Anyway, I don't know how she remembered that, as we haven't talked about it.

4. I love that she insists on a hug after we give her kisses.

5. I love her personality. It can be a little frustrating when the ornery side emerges, but she has such a mind of her own and I'm trying to do my part to facilitate that. I know she'll use that same instigating personality trait to do great things.

6. I love her hair. It's still blonde and getting longer and can now be styled into true ponytails. I've been waiting a very long time for this.

7. I love how much she loves to cook. She literally helps me every day with cooking something. It has become a personal challenge to find a way to incorporate her help into something I'm doing because she gets so much joy out of it.

8. I love her independence. If she needs a spoon, she knows where to go. If she needs to use the potty, she knows where to go. She doesn't have to ask, she can just do it herself. Something she initiated.

9. I love listening to her say a prayer. "Dear God, thank you for mommies, daddies, big boys, girls, pillows and toys", she'll say. When we lay together at night we talk about what we are thankful for and she incorporates that into prayer. It's really neat.

10. I love that one day she wants to be a ballerina when she gets older and the next she wants to be a kitty cat.

Happy 60th Birthday Grandma!

Last weekend, we pulled off a true surprise on Grandma! She was 100% surprised as Meg, Jill and Gretch along with their families and grandma's closest friends were there to greet her at the Petroleum Club in downtown Tulsa. She was so unsuspecting and the look on her face says it all.

Ava even kept the secret, mostly because I would not let her talk to grandma the week before we went to Tulsa. You see, every Saturday after we eat at our favorite deli, it is routine for Ava to ask to call Grandma when we leave. I don't know what started it, but it makes her think of grandma. Only the week before I couldn't call her because I knew Aves would accidentally say something.

Here are a few pictures from Grandma's surprise 60th Birthday Party!Mom with her 3 girls. Three sisters.The guys.

The gals.

The cake.

The song.

A truly appreciative grandma and her grandchildren. Happy 60th today, mom! We love you!!!

Kohl's Cares for Kids

Who doesn't love to get personal mail? Ava is no exception. She loves to check the mail and see mail for her, like her Highlights Magazines or Animal Baby Magazines. The other day we checked the mail and she received a letter from Grandma. Grandma is very good at getting books for the girls (Ava and her cousins) so we were excited to read the following message:

"Dear Ava, Please ask your mom to take you to Kohl's to buy books and pick out a stuffed animal to go with them. Love, Grandma".

Ava could hardly wait! We just HAD to go after nap time, she did remind me, and she picked out three books (great non-fiction/animal reads) and a gorilla to go with them.

We love the program that Kohl's has set up. It's a win-win for everyone. They feature books from popular children's authors for $5 each and 100% of their profits are donated to support health and educational opportunities for children nationwide. We have a collection of books from Dr. Seuss to Steve Jenkins, from Jane Yolen to H.A. Rey.

So thank you grandma! We had a fun little outing to buy some new books.

Oh. Em. Gee.

So I spoke too soon about her always sleeping in her new bed. This is how I found her during naptime yesterday. Do you see that tornado of a room? And how about those sweet arm bands she put on to sleep in.

Oh. Em. Gee.

A Little Alone Time

And a lot of imagination!

I had to go into Ava's room the other night to check on her as I could still hear her up. I knew to expect a tornado of sorts because she is going hog-wild with this new big girl bed freedom that she has.

I gently moved the step-stool away from the center of the room and Aves immediately yelled, (with a winter hat on no doubt) "Nooooo, that's my stage (tage, as she says)!" I look around and see all of her animals and baby dolls sitting around as if they are watching. "I am the teacher and my animals are watching me". LOL!!

Mommy likes this new transition also because it really gives Ava an outlet to independently play and take her imagination to a whole new level. I can remember playing in my bed as a little girl too.

It's Official...

Ava is sleeping in her Big Girl Bed! Last night was night 3 of the official transition and she actually slept in her bed all night long.

There is a little backstory.

About a week ago on Sunday, mommy had a plan, I decided that we should at least *try* to convert Ava's crib into a big girl bed using the rails we purchased when we bought the crib. Aves has been mentioning sleeping in a big girl bed, though never insisted, but was aware that she was still in a crib and would go to a big girl bed eventually, for awhile now.

So Ryan and I assembled it, only putting on one rail (so easy) and Ava was so, so excited; jumping up and down on her bed. That night, it was a little rough. Although using the word rough is a little misleading, because bedtime in general (big girl bed or not) is rough in our house. It only took a handful of times to show her to stay in her room. She is allowed to get up, as long as she is in her room, but she cannot come out and have free reign all over the house. We explained that to her, for her own safety, and she seemed alright with it. So, that took about 45 minutes. Not bad. Seriously, not bad at all for us.

She never made it into her bed and slept on the floor, or the rocker, until about 1:00 am or so and called me to come in. I went in there and ended up sleeping on her floor with her. Thank goodness I have many a friend whose child has gone through this (re: sleeping on the floor) so I knew that it was "normal" or "expected".

The next night was a lot tougher and I flat out asked her what she wanted....crib or big girl bed. When she answered crib, I was not shocked, and was in fact prepared, and we just turned her bed around so the crib rails were out and not against the wall. Perfect. It was all in my plan.

Now we have no reason to push the transition, so that is why I didn't want it to be traumatic. She wanted the crib, she can surely have it. But, I also know my independent little girl.

Putting a formula together.....

Having the exposure to such freedom at your finger tips (+) an emergent free thinker (+) the ability to do what you please within the confines of your own bedroom (-) it all being taken away = a little girl who undoubtedly will want to sleep in a big girl bed on her own terms....and soon!

It took about 2 nights of no big girl bed and on Thursday night, Ava told us that she wanted to sleep in her big girl bed. We had a serious heart-to-heart about the "rules" and not being able to turn the bed back into a crib again. She agreed.

So the transition was complete. I am happy to report that she now sleeps in her bed, not on the floor or the rocker, and she couldn't be happier. Bedtime in general is still not as easy as "goodnight, we love you", but it hasn't been lately, and she knows that she stays in her room and doesn't abuse her priviledge (so far, I'm not saying it won't happen).

And what an ADORABLE little bed it is! We will be putting up the other rail soon.

An Inquiring Mind

So this must be the age when they start to understand more and want to know more. Everything is a question, though not just "why?" (lol, Jill), but she's come up with some insightful ones. Lemme think.....

- "Where does chocolate milk come from?"

- "What is water?"

- "What does that song mean?" (re: Twinkle Twinkle, she had to dissect the whole song and "talk about it")

- "What are you talking about?" (we get this all the time during adult discussions and I have to filter/simplify it for her)

I know there are more that just baffle me on a regular basis, so I'll have to come back and update.

Bedtime Convos Part II

Ava: "Uh-oh, somebody left the light on outside" her response to it still being light outside at bedtime.

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Mommy: "Ava, I lov-"

Ava: "Shhh, it's quiet time, mommy"

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Love this girl!

Wordless Wednesday: Rockstar Princess!

Wait....is it December already?

Apparently someone dresses like it is. Ava has been insisting on wearing her polar bear fleece jammies to bed. One morning we decided to eat breakfast on the front porch and it made me laugh that she was eating oatmeal in her winter jammies when the temperature was probably no less than 90 degrees at that point.

When it comes to preparing breakfast, she is such a big girl! She can get cereal and pour it into a bowl all by herself (though not neatly or anything) and this particular morning, she decided she wanted raisins and poured them into her own ginormous bowl.

Bedtime Conversations

Tonights bedtime conversations made for a funny blog post!

Mommy ::singing:: "....may all children, may all people everywhere, live in peace, sweet peace, peaceful minds, peaceful hearts, peace on Earth (music together people, are you feeling me?)"

Ava: "We read about peace. 'Member at the library (storytime last week)"

Mommy: "Uh-huh" though really had no idea what she was talking about.

Ava: "Member Ms. Kristen read two books about peace. We made a spoon with a pea that had two eyes."

Mommy: "Oh! Yes, you're right, we read about PEAS!"

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Ava: "Let's name all the stars" (points to the ceiling at the stars from her star turtle).

Mommy: "Okay. You start"

Ava: "That one is Audrey. There's Connor. 'Member Audrey and Connor from Tennessee?" (Ava's 2nd Cousins)

Mommy: "Yes, I sure do."

Ava: "And that one is Grandma. 'Member Grandma from Tennessee and my birthday party?"

Mommy: ::giggles:: "Yes, I sure do remember Grandma".

A Little Girl and Her Red Hat

Just an early morning impromptu photo shoot of my little girl wearing mommy's red hat.

All About Food

As I was looking through some pictures this past month or so, I saw a common theme....FOOD! For the most part, Ava is still a pretty good eater. However, some days she doesn't eat a whole bunch or insist that she doesn't like something that she really does like. It is definitely hit or miss. I will say that she is pretty good about at least trying new foods and if she doesn't like it, she won't eat it.

Here are a few new foods she has recently tried.

Mommy's Mango/Strawberry/Banana Pops = HIT!

White Coconut Snow Cone at the Zilker Zephyr = HIT!

Homemade Egg Rolls brought to us by our neighbors = MISS! That's okay, mommy and daddy ate them all.

Grateful for Grandma!

Thanks Grandma for Ava's birthday present. Yes, her birthday was in March, but mommy couldn't make up her mind on what to get the girl who has everything and Aunt Jill suggested an easel. Ava utilizes all activities on it: painting, chalkboard, AND dry erase board.

We love it grandma, thank you so very much.

Fun with Pasta!

This was a great activity for Ava to do while I was cooking one day. I just made some holes in the pasta box and gave her some noodles. She put them in the holes one a time and would pour them out and start all over. Simple, but fun.

Ava's Perfect Shirt

Grandma saw this shirt and thought of Ava. It couldn't be more perfect! Just wanted to show her how cute it looks on Aves. Thanks Mom!