Sitting With Santa THIS Year

Don't laugh too hard. Despite the over-exaggarated smiles on Ryan's and my faces, it was a rough experience. Although not one that was super surprising. You see, we had tried to see Santa earlier this month at our friend's Carissa and Charlotte's friend's French Litigation Museum and Ava was having NONE of him. I didn't push it because I knew I wanted to try again.

We hyped him up.... talked, sang, watched, listened, everything SANTA for the past month. She was never thrilled about seeing him since her first encounter, but she would talk about sitting on his lap. Well, the moment she saw him, she clung to daddy and said "door". Mommy tried to show her how friendly Santa is by sitting on his lap herself. Santa insisted Daddy come over as well and well, there you have it. What was supposed to be a peaceful Ava sitting on Santa's lap with awe and glee, turned out to be a family portrait with Mommy and Daddy smiling as happy as can be and a VERY upset little girl.

Oh Well, there's always next year.

Wordless Wednesday: One Year Ago

A girl and her kitty cat

Ava likes to jump in the crib when she sees "Boo" (Eli, we just call him boo) in there and it aggravates him so much. As it should! It's not his crib, but since he has done no harm as of yet (won't last too much longer, I'm sure it's coming) so it's no big deal. In fact, Ava LOVES to see him in it and says "Silly, Booooooo".

Boo looks WAY too comfortable.

Ava covered him up with BB's and gave him baby dolls. She's walking a thin line. Ope, all done! Boos says, "I'm out". Ohhhh, but Boo, I love you, "mmmmmhuah". Hugs and Kisses.

A cute story

Well, we've been sick over here for the past week and still can't shake it. Hopefully we are nearing the end soon.

A few nights ago, Ava woke up 3 times in a matter of a couple of hours, so when settled her into bed with us. She had a slight fever and we all know the best medicine for being sick is to sleep with mommy and daddy.

So we're laying there and she's on her tummy all huddled up and I notice that she is ever-so-slightly rocking back and forth. (I do this still to this day). But she was singing along with it. It took me a second to hear what she was singing but it was obviously a song she knows from music class. It's a song to that you sing in rounds and we pretend we are on a boat or canoe b/c the song talks about paddles. In class we move back and forth like in a boat and use our paddles. So she is laying there going back and forth singing "dip, dip and swing" "dip, dip and swing", which is one of the rounds of the song. It was so cute and random! We don't listen to that one much (it's not one of my personal faves and since I'm the dj in the car, well, it only comes on every once in awhile).

But she was singing and singing until I joined in with the other round and there we were, rowing in bed in the middle of the night.

She then woke up singing her ABC's. She is all about singing, this girl.

10 things I LOVE about Ava at 21 months

Oh my, she is just delicious this month, such a little girl!

1. I love when she grabs her purse or bag and steers her grocery cart to the grocery store (or so she pretends). "Bye-bye" she calls out, "get eggs."

2. I love her pretend play. I think I've written about it before but it is getting much more imaginative and cute! Anything from cooking, setting up, and eating an entire fake meal with me, complete with "yummm, yummm, gooooood broccoli".

3. I love her sense of humor! Oh my goodness, it makes me laugh out loud. The other day she was eating a rice cake and a chunk of it got stuck on her top lip. She saw herself in the oven door's reflection and said, "ho, ho, ho".

4. I love her opinions. I was lying on the couch the other day with a blanket and this clearly was not something I should have been doing according to her. "No tired" she exclaimed, as she pulled the blanket off of me.

5. I love her sense of adventure. My oh my, she is a brave one. The way she fully JUMPS on the bed with no fear, meanwhile Ryan and I are about to have a heart attack, or the way she jumps off the couch head first into a pile of pillows. We fully expect to visit the emergency room here shortly.

6. I love that she is starting to take note of things that are sweet. She saw some baby animals in a book the other day and said, "Awwww".

7. I love her understanding of some emotions. She is starting to understand when she feels happy, sad, angry, silly and excited. What was it the other day? I can't remember what made her excited, but she literally bounced up and down and told me "Ava excited!"

8. I love that she sings songs with me. We were walking out of the store the other day and I was just casually singing "You are My Sunshine" as we walked through the parking lot and low and behold, she was singing right along with me! We sang it again for daddy that night. Some other favorites are "Twinkle, Twinkle", "ABC's", "I Love You (Barney)" and "Happy and You Know It".

9. I love it when she talks in 3rd person. It might not be gramatically correct or something that bugs other parents (b/c Elmo does it) but it is developmental and I LOVE it! Her current trademark is "Ava do it!"

10. I love when we do something during the day that obviously makes an impact on her and she says "Daddy all about it". She wants to tell Daddy all about what happened. It's mostly when she rides the horses (mini carousel) at the grocery store or when we go to the park. She can't wait for daddy to get home so she can tell him all about.

I love that it took me no time at all to compile this list because there are so many wonderful that I love about Ava right now and always.

Wordless Wednesday: Getting ready for Santa!

We are thankful for cousins and friends!

A letter from Ava:

Dear (little) family and friends,

As my mommy scrolled through my pictures in my 21st month, she realized what a HUGE part of my life you all are. I am so so lucky to be surrounded by cousins and friends who are all little like me. We all learn so much from each other. Even if I teach you to throw a sippy or I learn how to yell (Mimi and Aves tricks they've 'taught' each other) we are constantly learning. Afterall, isn't that what this whole toddler experience is all about? You are teaching me to learn boundaries and how to have social skills. What an AMAZING opportunity that is!

Thank you for being a very important part of my life. I will forever be impacted by you being my friend.

I love you all so much (you should hear when I tell my mommy and daddy all about you!)

Love,

Ava

Aves and Mimi- share a bond like no other!

Hannah- She and Ava share a lot of the same personality characteristics, food being one of them and Colin- Happy 2nd birthday, look at those curls! Ava and Paisley, est. 2006- our mommies went through pregnancy together. Miss Charlotte-she built this tower all on her own! It was taller than her! She teaches us all how to be a lady.

Price, Colin, and Ava- Aves loves to hang with these two boys.

Ava's Dear Cousins, Abigail and Maddy- She still can't stop talking about the beach vacation and how much fun she had! Since Abigail's the oldest, Ava learns a lot from her.

And baby cousin Emery, Ava loves to love on her.

Having an impromptu playdate with Mimi and Abby.

Making new friends with Madison and Austin, we had so much fun that day!

Meeting her 2nd Cousins, Austin and Bailey- since they live in Japan, Ava has so much to learn from these two.

"It's Pawty Time"

So I'm sitting at the computer doing whatever it is that I do on the computer and Ava comes up to me saying three little words that I could make out but didn't really compute.

"It's Pawty Time" she kept saying.

I thought maybe she was ready to go in the big girl potty again and said "Yay, it's potty time!". She was not having that for an interpretation of what she was saying! "PAWTY time" she insisted. It was clear that I was not understanding her and so I said "Show me".


She takes me to the hallway and we go around the corner and there sitting in the hallway, she set up three little "plates" and some cups and "food" for us to have a PARTY! Oh my goodness, I melted. So cute that she was ready to party with daddy and I. Ahem, remember the tea party? This must have been connected to that. So we sat and we ate and we drank and we had a PAWTY! Woo-hoo!

We bit the bullet

And took Ava to get her first haircut. Eeek! This was so big for both of us because we fought it for as long as we could. We have waited a LONG time for this hair and to cut it seemed so wrong. However, as you will see from the pictures, it turned out adorable!! Or so we think. It is such a difference in our eyes, though others may not see it, but Ryan especially was so excited about it and went on and on about what a difference it made.

As you'll see, Ava did a great job, almost eerily good. She was so still. I think she was just unsure of what was going on and wanted the lollipop so badly.

Here she is before with whispies and uneven hair all over the place.See what I mean? She was so still. She looks so serious. During the haircut (which lasted all of 3 minutes, lol).

And after. Look at that little bob! So cute!

The lollipop made it all worth it!Her official "First Haircut Certificate"Some pieces of her little baby hair. The final product.

Thankful for....

Creative Expression.... ....at appropriate times.

In this instance, however, the couch was used as a drawing board.

So not appropriate.

Thankful Photo: Day 3

I am most certainly thankful for books. Books have helped me learn so much, specifically, and most importantly about parenting and children (both my own and students). I probably got a little too much information because I read books on both ends of the spectrum when it comes to parenting, but nonetheless, it's useful information.

Since books mean so much to us, today we decided to buy a book for 2 children in need this Christmas. We go to the bookstore every Wednesday anyway, so it just needed to happen. We've been doing something holiday/christmas related on our "Countdown to Christmas" and this was today's event. We sure hope that these books will bring as much joy and adventure to these children's lives as books have brought to ours.

Thankful Photo #2

Yesterday was the love of my life, today....

The light of my life.

A Photo a Day to show my thanks

I saw this on a blog, I don't remember which, and she took a picture a day to show what she is thankful for. I can't promise I'll POST one everyday, but I'll do my best.

Today's thanks goes to....

Ryan! The best husband and daddy in the world. We are so thankful for you and all that you do for our family.

Obsessions

There is a word we use a lot around here....

OBSESSED!

Ava is obsessed with this or Ava is obsessed with that. I've said it a lot here on my blog as well. So how perfect that I was "tagged" by Kelly with listing my obsessions (and I'll add Miss Ava's as well).

Ava's latest Obsessions, at 21 months old:

1. Playdough- she loves pulling off little pieces of it and putting it in one container after another. I have to watch her though, because she'll pop a piece in her mouth every once in awhile. YUCK! Mommy is not up for making the homemade kind right now.

2. Animals- she loves watching the Baby Einstein Animals DVD (in the car, I'm embarrassed to admit that I use it as blackmail every once in awhile). She also loves puzzles, songs, and books all about animals. Specifically, good ole "Old McDonald Had a Farm".

3. Dinosaurs- she loves her books, How Do Dinasaurs Say Goodnight and How Do Dinosaurs Eat Their Food, as well as playing with her stuffed animal dinosaurs and giving them kisses and hugs.

4. FOOD- real or fake, she is OBSESSED with food. Luckily, she'll eat "good" stuff too, but once she has something "special", she'll want more and more. The fake food that she plays with in her kitchen is a staple in our house.

5. Blankies- also known as her "bee-bee's" must be with her when she is in the car and in her crib or else we hear all about it.

Mommies obsessions:

1. Ava- let's be honest, I've devoted a whole blog to my girl, I have to be just a little bit obsessed.

2. Peppermint Mocha Twist from Starbucks- a special treat I get a few times a month.

3. Taking pictures- Let's face it, I've had a camera around my neck for more than 21 months now.

4. Christmas music- I have it playing on my TV right now and have 95.5 set on my radio in the car.

5. Blogging- Although I've slacked recently, I love updating and catching up on others blogs.

There. Now that I've been tagged, I'll tag the following to tell us about your obesessions:

Cindy (Sean's mommy), Jenny (Acadia's mommy), Stacie (Hudson's mommy), Anna (Maddy and Austin's mommy), and Misha (Austin and Bailey's mommy). Good luck girls!

Me and My Peeps

As most of the regulars who read my blog know, I have a new venture going on in my life, Me and My Peeps children's board books.

My friend and MAMP partner, Keri and I, officially launched a business a few months ago called Me and My Peeps board books. Our customers create their own book on our website by uploading pictures. Then you can choose from text that we have provided or you can write your own story to accompany your pictures of your child. We put together the board books and approximately 10 days later, your child can sit and read a book all about themselves!

We have gotten a TREMENDOUS response just by sending out an email and officially opening up our website, www.meandmypeepsbooks.com

I had to blog about some posts and write-ups we have received.

From Totsnob.com

"A friend of mine sent me the link to these make-your-own board books and I have become obsessed over the last few days trying to write my own book for my two tots. The Me And My Peeps board books are fully customizable with picture AND text. If you are not so inclined, there are templates available - you just provide the pictures. I began by just trying to personalize the text in the templates and somehow I ventured into trying to write prose in rhyme. I did come up with a few that were pretty good: "The doctors told us you were a boy, and then you arrived and we jumped for joy!"; "You love to sing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, And daddy plays along on his guitar"; and "Taking a nap on daddy's head, Is so much nicer than any bed". You can see how fun this is! And we all know how tots love to look at pictures of themselves. You can make books with family members who are far away so your tots don't forget them or make it educational with objects and vocabulary that is important to you. If I can muster up more inspiration, I would love to make these as gifts! Start making your own at Me and My Peeps, $27.95 plus $5 for shipping."

From notimeforflashcards.com In their holiday gift showcase, MAMP made their Baby's First Christmas "Must Haves"

"Kids love to look at themselves, so why not learn something at the same time? Me and My Peeps Books are personalized board books using your own photos. You can choose from a wide variety of themes, the one pictured is all about body parts, so cute!"

We are so grateful for everyone who has supported us and hope you continue to help us get our name out there. If you have a blog, we would sincerely appreciate any MAMP name recognition and marketing. Obviously, word of mouth is priceless and very much needed.

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

What is Ava up to?

I just thought it would be good to jot down some things going on in Ava's life right now, as it can change so quickly.
Mornings:
Ava usually wakes up around 7:00ish a.m.
Then, she must watch elmo's world.

She must eat breakfast in the living room and not in the high chair, this is the only meal that she insists on not eating in the high chair.

We brush our teeth together. She has figured out how to turn her electric toothbrush off and on and thinks it's the coolest thing ever. Oh, and she gets to use a dab of mommy and daddy's toothpaste.

Special Events:
She gets a special treat of having daddy work from home on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

We are still doing Heartsong Music Together class on Tuesdays.

Some other activities we like to do are go to the park, to the duck pond, go to Target, go to Jungle Java, or Ready Set Play, visit our friends, do arts and crafts at home, go to the library, go to Barnes and Noble bookstore, or just play outside.

Every other Friday, Ava and mommy have a girl's lunch at Chick-fil-A and play on the indoor playscape. Ava's favorite meal there is the 4 piece nugget kid's meal with fruit and some of mommy's fries, and plain milk.

Favorite foods:
pineapple, granola cereal w/ milk, grapes, fruitabu's (smooshed strawberry fruit), turkey, cheese, mushrooms, soybeans, kiwi, veggie booty, annies graham cracker bunnies (hop hop's), chicken (bok, bok), chicken rice soup, black beans, chips and guacamole, and Amy's bean and cheese burritos. And who are we kidding, she LOVES anything sweet, just like her mommy and daddy. We enjoy our family trips to Sonic every once in awhile to get ice cream. She's obsessed.

I have found that with Ava, I can't really say she "doesn't eat this" or "she LOVES this" because it totally changes depending on the day, her mood, the brand, the taste, etc. For example, at first she didn't like pizza. But since she eats what we eat, we would continue to offer it and just let it be up to her if she ate it, no big deal. YUM, for now, she loves it, especially Amy's black olive and mushroom pizza. She doesn't even know that it's healthy pizza either, hehe. She pretty much will eat anything. However, she adamently said "no, don't like" to cucumbers the other day. She's also very iffy on beef. She'll eat turkey and chicken, but not beef.

Favorite Children's Songs:
The Wheels on the Bus
Where is Thumbkin?
Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star
The ABC's
Old McDonald had a Farm
Anything Music Together, but especially "Open and Shut", "Shoo Fly" and "My Bonnie"

Favorite Books:
Silly Sally ,Ava loves to anticipate what animal Sally picks up on her way to town.
No, David , she likes to see what silly things David does that he is not supposed to be doing.
How do Dinosaurs Say Goodnight? , Ava is in love with Dinsaurs right now, and this has great rhythm and illustrations.

Interests:
Like I said, dinosaurs
Rocks
Nature and the outdoors
Collecting items and putting them in one container to another container (cheerios, playing cards, felt pieces, cookie cutters, etc.)
Felt board
Pretend food and grocery shopping
Elmo's World
Blues Clues
Other children, especially older ones like her cousin Abigail. She and her friend Mia actually play together now and get along really well.
Playgroup with all of her friends. She loves playing in a group setting now.
Playdough

My Latest Favorite Ava Stories:
1. Ava was playing with her MegaBlocks and picked one up to pretend like it was a camera. She holds it up to her eye and points it at me, "Cheeeeeese", she says. "Cheeeeeeeese", I say back. She then looks down at the camera to 'see' the picture she has taken (like we would do w/ a digital camera) and goes on to say "Good One!". I about died! She said it with such exclamation! I had no idea I said that when I took pictures, but then realized it later when I was taking pictures of her.

2. We were at music class and all of sudden Ava looks at me and says "potty". I'm embarrassed to admit that I take it with a grain of salt and only take her to the potty b/c I don't want to discourage her telling me IF she really had to go. We aren't potty training, but I do it anyways. So we get stripped down and she sits there. Grabs the toilet paper, wipes, and is just having an all-around fun time. Triple that fun when Mia walks in and talks to her while she's sitting there. I kept asking, "Are you all done?". "No". It was just too much fun and the silliest sight to see those girls in. Oh, and of course she never pottied.

3. I've said in several posts, but the way this girl shakes her booty is HILARIOUS!

Nighttime:
After taking a bath, Ava must play chase with Daddy. He has to carry the towel and act like he's going to get her. She loves this game.

Once things have settled, we put on jammies and all three of us go in and get ready for bed. We read three books and then turn off the lights. We turn on her star turtle and tell "tory's". I love sitting in her room with her at this time. She is so sweet and cuddly and wants us to lay on the floor with her and rub her arm. She has to have her "bee-bee's" and her favorite animals in her crib (giraffe, penguin, lollie, babies, and elmo). She drinks the rest of her milk, brushes her teeth and then has water. We put her in the crib, though she won't lay down, and tell her we love her and sweet dreams.

She often falls asleep between 7:00 and 8:00 depending on her nap.

That's about all I've got for now. I love this age and all the stories and quirks that accompany it.

Wordless Wednesday: First Pigtails!

TEA PARTY Tuesday!

Last week, we decided to have our own tea party. You might think that tea party's are meant for expensive tea sets and foo-foo food, but you haven't been to a tea party at our house.

Here is what our invite would have said:

It's a TEA PARTY!

Who: All favorite animals including giraffe, penguin, and two doggies. Of course, mommy and daddy are invited as well.

What: A makeshift TEA PARTY including any plastic plates and cups in Ava's personal cupboard.

When: Right now, why not?

Where: Smack dab in the middle of the living room rug. It was extra special to have a blanket spread out over the snack mat.

Why: Just because. Do we really need a reason?

Food will be served in a Muffin Tin, including: grapes, soy beans, kiwi, turkey and cheese. Tea will be served to your liking because it's only what you can imagine. If you take sugar, if you like plain; if you like hot, if you like cold, so be it. It's whatever you want.

Please come adorned in your favorite hat and jewelry and the hostess, Miss Ava, will be glad to serve you.

Molars, Molars, Molars

So it's fair to say that whenever my child (and other children whose moms I've talked to) isn't acting quite like the angel that I'm used to (wink, wink) or does something so unlike her, we can blame it on teething, right?

Well, fortunately (and unfortunately) we've made it past all 16 teeth as Ava teeths very fast from getting the tooth, to it breaking through all the way until she has a whole tooth takes a matter of weeks....seriously.

So when Ava started showing all the signs of teething a few MONTHS ago, I just didn't think it was possible that she could be getting her TWO YEAR molars already. I googled, I read, I asked. I came to the conclusion that yes, it is in fact possible, as there is no way to explain teeth. As with almost anything, it just depends on the child and is different from one child to the next.

Well, I'm happy to say (I'll explain why I'm HAPPY that she is getting these teeth) that she FINALLY cut her first bottom two-year molar this month, 20 months old. She has been drooling, cranky (see, that's where you can blame teeth), gnawing on her fingers and her naps are 'hit or miss'. All the signs that point to teething. I tried to tell Ryan this a few months ago and he casually dismissed it and said "You always say it's teething".

Not ALWAYS, but when you have these signs, you can't argue with the fact that some teeth are a coming.

That's why I'm happy to say that Ava is getting her two year molars. Eventhough it is pretty rough on all of us, I'm happy that I could say to Ryan, "I told you so".

Sorry, Aves, mommy will bask in her glory of being right, yet again, at the expense of your teething pain. Here's to hoping they all come on through as effortlessly and painlessly as possible.

"Eat moon pizza"

Tonight as we were taking a family walk to the neighborhood playground, we were talking about what was for dinner. The conversation is as follows:

Daddy: "Ava, guess what we're having for dinner tonight?"

Ava: silent, thinking

Daddy: "PIZZA!"

Ava: "PIZZA! Ava eat."

Mommy: "Yum, I can't wait to eat pizza!"

Ava: "Mommy eat".

Mommy: "Yes, mommy is going to eat pizza."

Ava: "Daddy eat" pause "Ava eat"

Daddy: "Yes, we are all going to eat pizza."

Ava: attempting to make a sentence and continuing her observance that everyone is going to eat pizza says, "Eat moon pizza".

Mommy: "Well, I don't know if the moon is going to eat pizza, but we can offer it". LOL!