She's just tu-tu good!

After insisting on putting on her tu-tu, Aves wanted to shoot some hoops. I found this basketball goal and ball on clearance at Target for $3.74! What a steal! I don't know if all Target's are doing it, but ours had shelves and shelves of toys marked 50% off of the already sale price. I heard an employee say they were re-stocking the shelves again next week w/ even more toys w/ prices slashed.

Anyway, I digress.

I love that my little girl is very sporty too!


Nothin but net!
Mommy, why did you pull my tu-tu up to my belly button? I kind of look silly.

Cheesy Smiles

Here is Ava's way of smiling when we say "Cheese". She really says "Cheese" and squints her eyes and well, smiles, I guess.

Wordless Wednesday: The Art of Dressing One's Self

On multiple occasions

Let the hording begin

Aves loves to sort, move, arrange items with whatever "container" is around. I should have known better when I gave her a snack of Cheddar Bunnies and she gobbled them up really fast, which is not unlike her. Or so I thought.

As I went to put on my shoes to go check the mail, I came across this.

Silly rabbit.

Maybe she was saving them for later.

Paint the Toddler

What started out as a harmless activity of painting on paper, turned into an exciting game of paint on body. We had fun, nonetheless, and nothing a quick bath couldn't solve.

Easy enough.

She loved using the paint brushes so much that she had to double-fist them. Starting to experiment with face painting.Hmmmm, it's much more fun this way.Cheese! Don't I look beautiful?

Oh, but we're not done yet. The painting of the body.Showing off the final masterpiece.

Back for More Splash Park Fun!

Ava just can't get enough of the Brushy Creek Splash Park, so we went again this morning. It is hilarious to watch her running around as if she is the same age/size as all the other kids. She was by far the littlest one out there at one point, and we had 3 moms come up to us just amazed at how fearless and outgoing she was. I added a video clip of her running around having a great time.

11 Things I Love About My 16-Month Old

I'm should try to do this every month in order to document her latest happenings.

Here goes.

1. I love how she hears the music without words to "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" and knows what it is and does her hand movements along with it.

2. I love that she slides around on her tummy in the bathtub, it reminds me of when I was little.

3. I love how she says "Whoa!" just like Joey f/ "Blossom" (an 80's Television sitcom reference) when she drops something.

4. I love how she sucks her lips, like she has done since she was a newborn, when she gets sleepy.

5. I love how she searches for and finds an edge on her blankie to "Twiddle" (Bowles if you read this, that word is for you.)

6. I love how she pretends a maracca is a microphone and sings into it "Na Na Na Na".

7. I love that she has a "guilty face" and is already into mischief.

8. I love how independant and secure she is. It makes for a lot easier transition when we try new things, see new people, and go to new places. I hope and hope and hope that particular character trait stays with her throughout her teens and her life.

9. I love how she can pretty much communicate anything she needs or wants whether through sign, language, or just our way of communicating.

10. I love how she shakes her head yes or no in response to a question having put a lot of thought into her answers.

11. I swore I wouldn't add another, so I'm now changing the top to 11 things. I love that a miracle just happened and that she wanted and needed me to rock and sing her to sleep. Or at least a sleepy daze. She and I just discovered that having her arm tickled just about seals the deal for a visit from Mr. Sandman.

Wordless Wednesday: Blowing Bubbles

Sprinkler Park Playdate Fun!

We started our playdate at the Champions Park Dinosaur Digging Pit. Ava, along with her friends, H and P, had fun digging in the sand.

Once it got hot, we went over to the Sprinkler Park where the girls had a BLAST!

Finally.....RAIN!

How sad that the pictures aren't of us out playing in the rain. We did go as far as to stand on the front porch and marvel at the downpour, but we had to save the playing outside b/c it was almost naptime. Can you tell, look at those tired eyes.

Happy 4th of July!

We decided to take Ava to see fireworks this year and it was great! She LOVED seeing them and was not scared or cranky at all. She was up WELL past her bedtime, but I'm all for that when it comes to special occasions. Here are some pics from our evening at the Pflugerville Pfireworks Pfestival! (Cute, huh?)

Washing my hands like a big girl.

Counting to 10

Ava has learned to count to 10, well, sort of. It's totally assisted and not actual counting of objects, but she likes to say the numbers. You can really hear 2, 3, 5, 6, and 8. It's a game we play in the car and I got it on video.

I don't know how I'm going to ever get her on video again. All she wants to do is get behind the screen and watch what is going on, so once again, this is more of an audio video.

A Friday Girl's Trip to Chick-Fil-A

Mommy: "Ava, do you want to go to Chick-Fil-A for a Fun Friday lunch?"

Ava: ::nodding head yes:: "bawk, bawk, bawk"

Mommy: "Oh, you must have heard chicken in there, good job!" ::secretly hoping she is not associating a real chicken w/ the chicken that we eat::

Meanwhile, Mommy and Ava are sitting down at their table enjoying some nuggets and fruit.

Mommy: "Ava, would you like some more chicken?"

Ava: ::nods head yes:: "bawk, bawk, bawk" ::signs please::

Mommy: ::giggles to herself as she realizes Ava's just practicing the sound for chicken when she here's the word, no correlation.....yet:: "There you go".

Cranky Baby

This is what happens when naps are cut short. Note the spray painted, glitter, heart leotard worn by Ava in this picture. We had been to gymnastics. If you know me at all, you know that this particular piece is NOT my taste, but when they are on clearance (gee, wonder why?) for $3.00 and that is the only size and only leotard that fits a 16 month-old, you have to get it. We also purchased a Disney fairy princess leotard as well. Again, so not my style or preference. But my toddler needed a leotard for gymnastics b/c everyone else has one. Ryan wouldn't let her be the only kid not wearing one. I guess I agree.

A Future Sorority Girl?

I had to share this pic of my best friend's little girl, Katelin, who will be 3 in October. She is already posing like a little sorority girl, something her mom and I have down pat!

For the Love of Music

We've been going to music now for a year, since Ava was 4 months old.

I can't tell you how much Ava enjoys and benefits f/ music. Also, she's made some friends for life.

Playing with bouncy balls
Thinking about strumming the guitar
Ava with her lovely music teacher, Ms. Vanessa
Ava doing her own thing and wanting those balls to come out again. She just looks like such a little girl in this picture, telling us all about it.

10 things I love about my 15-month old

I'm borrowing this from a blog I read, spunkytoes.blogpot.com, and I thought it was a good way to chronicle what Ava is doing right now. Afterall, that is why I write a blog, to "log" about our lives.

So.....

1. I love how she dances whenever she hears music. And I mean, this girl can DANCE. If you know her daddy, this comes as no surprise.

2. I love the way she looks for affirmation when she does something successfully. It is a grand celebration when she stacks blocks or pats the kitty "gentle".

3. I love how she loves the water. Setting up the pool outside or going to swim playdates, she is always the first one in and the child splashing around and being silly.

4. I love how she waves her hand over her nose when we say "Shooo weee, stinky".

5. I love how she uses her "special night-night toy", the torquoise blue seahorse w/ a glowing tummy, to soothe herself to sleep.

6. I love how she reinacts her falls to show us exactly what happened and to make sure we see how traumatic it was for her by saying over and over again "Oh no, are you okay?"

7. I love how she signs "please" for everything she wants instead of signing "more".

8. I love her Fran Drescher laugh that is so contagious it makes a perfect stranger stop dead in their tracks and laugh along.

9. I still love to watch her sleep and snuggle and suck on her blankie.

10. I love the way she says "hop" for anything that is hot w/ such a serious face and blows on it.

(11.) I can't help it, I thought of another. I love the way she pretends to eat her food that she has been "cooking" and stirring. Then, she shares it with each of her friends: Elmo, the baby, the kitty, whoever is around. To let us know how good it is, she makes a slurping noise while they eat followed by an "mmmmm".

To the best daddy in the world!

Happy (belated) Father's Day!

You are so compassionate, animated, loyal, silly, and loving. All things that Ava will always treasure and appreciate.

Thank you for being such a great Daddy!

Here is our day at Gattiland

Riding the carousel = FUN!Daddy teaching Ava how to Dance, Dance Revolution!

The Queen and her Throne

I made a purchase yesterday that made me a little sad. I bought Ava's first big girl potty. I'm so not ready for this.

I DO NOT want to start the potty-training process, and most likely, I won't yet. But, I had to play into her curiousities about the potty. She has been going to it when we talk about going "pee pee" and "poo poo". She is kind of obsessed w/ our toilet.

So, I decided to take the first step and just get her the potty to get used to it and feel a sense of ownership for the potty. Last night, when daddy came home, we made a big production about "Ava's new potty" and showed it to her. She took it all apart and put things in it for awhile. According to what I've read, that is just fine. We want her to just get acclimated to it and feel comfortable with it. She even helped me decorate it with stickers. She loves having the kitty cats watch over her. Who wouldn't??? Weird.

We have no intention of starting potty training just out of pure laziness. I don't mind diapers and I don't want to have to deal with accidents and having to pull over to find a bathroom just yet. The child is only 15 months old. Whew!