If you give a toddler some paint

(Reads like the book, If you Give a Pig a Pancake)

If you give a toddler some paint,

She'll probably dabble in it enough to peak her curiousity.


She'll create a masterpiece of "Stars and Stripes", but...

That won't be the only masterpiece that is created. She'll insist that she "just wants to make a mess" and do a little more body painting.

And as an onlooker you have the choice to ruin the harmless fun or let her explore her world and create new colors and areas to paint. Besides, who could resist a face like this?

So, once you've created such masterpieces and your toddler looks similar to Barney the dinosaur, covered head to toe in purple, a color of which she figured out on her own through mixing, you have to decide the best way to clean up.

So you let her enjoy a little sink-time fun. At first she'll want to wash some dishes.

And then she'll want to make you some "sweet tea".

Finally, if you give a toddler some paint, she'll want to do it again. Only this time, she'll want to paint her hair with a paintbrush and water.

And if you give her a paintbrush and water, she'll have just as much fun.

Wordless Wednesday: Cousins baking Cookies

First Shiner

Caused by a plastic baby doll. =(

First Movie Night

Watching the movie Cars lasted all of 11 minutes. We had a chill night one Saturday and Ava was so excited to go to the movie store to pick out her first official movie! We made a pallet on the floor, popped popcorn, and ate sweets until Aves got bored with the movie. I thought for sure it would have held her attention, but not this one.

She did, however, love the music to the movie and everytime a song would come on, she grabbed her tutu and danced!

Going to the Doctor

I had to go to the doctor for my annual the other day and was telling Ava that while I was gone, she would stay over with Aunt Jill, Abigail and Emery. Here is our conversation:

Mommy: "Mommy has to go to the doctor today and you are going to stay with Aunt Jill for a few hours."

Ava: "Are you sick?"

Mommy: "No, I'm not sick, it's just so the doctor can check me out and make sure that everything is fine with my body."

Ava: "What are you going to take?"

Mommy: "Hmmm, I don't know. What should I take?"

Ava: "Your blood pressure and your heart beat."

First Baseball Game

For Father's Day 2009, we hung out, went swimming and went to Ava's first AAA Baseball game. She had such a great time running around, riding the pony, playing on the playscape, jumping in the bounce house, eating all the junk food, and cheering for the team. She would yell, "Everybody stand up!", and when mommy didn't stand, she said, "I need you to be a good listener to Ava, please".

Oh, and a scary story. Ava and daddy went to go walk around for a bit. Mommy was sitting and people watching on our blanket in the shade, not really paying attention to the game, when someone shouted, "HEAD'S UP!". I look up and see the game ball coming RIGHT towards me. I dive to the other side of the blanket and cover my head. The ball ends up hitting the guy behind me in the leg. Good thing Ava wasn't around and good thing my head didn't get between the ball the the guys leg, which it would have if I hadn't of moved. Yikes!

We had such a great evening and have decided that we definitely need to frequent more games.

So much to love about DADDY!

Happy belated Father's Day Daddy!

We are so lucky to have YOU!

Here's why....

1. It is YOU that reminds mommy to put Ava's toothpaste on her grocery list.

2. It is YOU that plays hide and seek time after time after time and evokes a true, deep, laughter from Ava that is rarely heard.

3. It is YOU that prepares for an outing by making sure Ava has her water and other needed items.

4. It is YOU that makes up silly words, stories and songs that captures and develops Ava's imagination.

5. It is YOU that knows Ava's schedule so well that if mommy is running late, she is sure to get a call.

6. It is YOU that wants the best for Ava in everything.

7. It is YOU that always goes back in to give Ava that extra hug and kiss she requests before going night night.

8. It is YOU that will sit and draw with Ava while she "does her business".

9. It is YOU that goes with mommy to take Ava to dance class and grins ear to ear watching her on the screen.

10. It is YOU that gives her so much love that she will always, always know how much she is loved and adored.

Thank you for being such a GREAT daddy!

We love you!

So much to love at 2 years, 3 months

1. I love hearing words like "privacy", "coopepate" (cooperate), and "observation" come out of your mouth.

2. I love how far you can remember things and how you are able to recall past events with specifics such as what we ate, what we talked about, or who was there. You'll say "You 'member when ......".

3. I LOVE your imagination. It blows us away. Whether you are pretending to hatch out of an egg, eating cupcakes, or swimming like a sea turtle, you keep us astonished at what you'll pretend next.

4. I love your love/hate relationship with Boo (the cat). You two mostly love one another, Boo having to be in your room every morning when you wake up and every afternoon when you wake from nap, but sometimes you two are on each other's last nerve.

5. I love when you find something interesting and you insist that you "need to talk about it". For example, you like hearing the story of Josh's laptop being stolen by someone it didn't belong to, or how our hearts beat and pump blood throughout our bodies, or when someone is sick or sad or happy, you always want to know more.

6. I love what a big girl you are and just go potty all by yourself. I'll say "Ava, where are you?" and you'll say "I just goin' pee-pee, mommy" whilst sitting on the potty. You wear big girl panties during the day, even when we go out and about. Pull-ups are still on at nap and night.

7. I love little word quirks that you have and will soon outgrow, I'm sure. When saying words with blends (sm, tr, sk, st, etc.), you say "I mell (smell) somepin" or "I just pretendin' I aseep (asleep)"

8. I love how you want to rescue a roly-poly who is turned upside down on the ground. "Mommy! The roly-poly needs help!"

9. I love when you dance. We went to your first dance class this week and daddy and I sat in the waiting room watching you on the tv and you did so well with listening to Miss Yolanda and following directions. We were so proud! Also, when you hear any music, your little hips start to move or your feet start to get happy.

10. I love how daddy is "MY daddy" and mommy is "MY mommy". There is no one else's mommy I'd rather be!

A Stalling Secret

She's come up with a new stall tactic when it comes to going night-night. The list already included, rubbing her back, a family hug, another kiss, some water, and some more water. So last night she thought of a new one and knew mommy was a sucker for secrets.

Ava: "I have to tell you a secret!" she yells as mommy is leaving her bedroom.

Mommy: "Okay. ONE secret"

Ava: gently whispers in mommy's ear, "Iiiiiii love youuuuuu sooooooo much!"

Mommy: pushes her heart back into her chest and tells Ava, "I love you so much too." And left her bedroom with a smile.

It's a Pull-up Hat!

What's THAT you say?

An invented term created by Ava when she decided that she didn't want to sleep one afternoon. Hmmm, this seems to be the case A LOT lately in my posts.

I heard her talking and listened to her sing "Happy Birthday" on the monitor and thought I better go in there just to make sure IT didn't happen again. You loyal blog readers know exactly what I'm talking about.

When I walked in, I saw something on her head. It took me a few seconds for my eyes to adjust and she said, "It's a pull up hat, mommy!" She was so proud of herself and it was all I could do to maintain my composure. "bwahahahaha!" I literally laughed out loud.

This is the funniest thing she has done so far. It was just the innocence of it and how much of her personality showed.

Singing "Happy Birthday" again for me.

The Next American Idol?

She loves to sing.

Not only does she love to sing, but she loves to pretend she is singing into a microphone.

Or in this case, a plastic baseball bat.

She gets points for her creativity though.

Note: The one-arm shirt was created by Ava herself. Jewelry provided by mommy and daddy on a recent trip to NYC.

She's not TECHNICALLY Sooner born

But, she sure is Sooner bred! When I told her that we haven't started saving for OUT of state tuition yet...

A Video of Ava with the Giggles!

She gets a case of the giggles when she tells daddy about everything she is going to eat. It's a little hard to hear, but you get the idea from her laughing. She says she is going to eat things like the camera, the sky, the books, the floor, etc.

"There is beauty in simplicity."

This was Ava's fortune in her fortune cookie at Pei Wei.

I thought it was a beautiful quote and one that helps us all to learn.

What's Ava Up To These Days?

Just a little Ava update, at almost 27 months old:

Stats.....

Height: she HAS to be over 36 inches, was 34.5 at her 2 year well visit, but she has totally shot up!

Weight: 26 lbs. 2 oz last week, so I'd say mid 26 lbs. this week w/ her appetite back.


Favorites....

Song: B-I-N-G-O, Bingo was his Name-O

Food: Chicken tenders and of course, french fries or mashed potatoes

Snack: TLC Cherry Dark Chocolate Granola Bars

Vegetable: Broccoli

Fruit: Grapes and Blueberries

Drink: Lemonade

Bedtime Story: The 3 Little Pigs and Ava and Pony in Sweet Treat World

Character: Any of the Wonder Pets!

Book: My Little Animal Book. She LOVES any animal book!

Color: Blue

Clothing item: Simple, easy sundresses

Activity: Playing pretend. She'll pretend like she is "Ms. Carey" and play the guitar and give Daddy and I roles to play. Anything, playing baby, playing dress-up, playing ballerina, playing cars (complete w/ 'vrooooom' sound effects)

Animal: Giraffe

Lullaby: Hush Little Baby and likes to be rocked like a baby.


Stories......

She tells me she wants to be a big sister. Could it be because all of her friends are becoming big sisters or brothers? Also could explain her interest in having a baby in her tummy.

She told me today that she wants to go to school. She is enrolled to start preschool in the fall.

Ava is no longer wearing diapers and tells me (mostly at home) when she has to go pee-pee and poo-poo. She's wearing big girl panties all day and pull-ups during naps and bedtime. She has taken a child-led approach and I'm just trying to do what I can and figure this whole thing out. When her diapers ran out last week, I said, "Uh oh, what are we going to do? You don't have any more diapers?" She got so excited and yelled "big girl panties!". We had a small celebration and having a Dora balloon solidified for her that she was a big girl. She still has accidents a few times a week, but it's to be expected I suppose.

When Ava is playing with cards, either memory cards or the touch and feel flash cards from when she was a baby, she'll lay them all out and sort them. I watch her sort them into piles of "animals", "food", and "transportation" (she doesn't say this one, but puts the car and the fire truck into the same pile.)

Ava is getting so good at letting us really get into her mouth while brushing her teeth. We like to pretend that different characters are in there we are brushing them. She thinks of some crazy ones, Curious George, Ming-ming, and Grover, to name a few.


Ava-isms.....

Piggy Bank = the bank (i.e. Where are we goin mommy, the piggy bank?)

Seat Belt = a regular ole belt

Nook! = Look!

Peshal Teat = special treat

Bicycle = Tricycle

Eagle = Any bird soaring in the sky


Schedule.....

Awake around 7:00-7:30 am

Nap 12:30-1:00 pm (1.5 to 2.5 hours)

Night Night around 7:30-8:00 pm (sleeps an average of about 11 hours at night)

Tuesdays: Music class

Wednesday: Gymnastics

Thursdays: Playdate of some kind

Fridays: Mommy and Ava do something together day


Sayings:

"I just can't figure it out!" (hand on head and everything, oh the drama)

"Keep trying, keep trying, don't give up" (from Yo Gabba Gabba)

"Hmmm, let's see...."

What To Do When You're Sick

After almost a full week of being home-bound and sick with the stomach bug, I can say we used our time indoor wisely and made the most of it. There were a few days where we just had to lie in bed, watch tv and snuggle because Aves was just too weak to really do anything. Case and point, the picture below is of Ava cuddled up on the hard, wood floor just to lie down. So sad. Once we got past the throwing up, she was ready to do things. She chose to paint first and foremost.

We played games, including abc's, memory/matching game, hide and seek (umm, she hid in the closet and mommy was stumped and/or panicked for a GOOD five minutes.

We baked and cooked. Here is Ava mixing the blueberry sour cream coffee cake.

Then, she requested popcorn. Since we didn't have any microwave popcorn, we easily made our own, using a recommendation from my new favorite book, Eat This Not That. This was a highlight for her. We waited for the oil to get hot and the listened for the kernels to pop. Once we heard the popping, I lifted the lid only to (obviously) have popcorn flying out all over the place. She thought this was hilarious.

Oh, and yes, I know this is a choking hazard. She is very well supervised during consumption.

Or, you can play in a box. For hours.

We are all healthy again and don't wish that virus on anyone. Whew, we made it!

Visiting the Zoo with Grandma

We were lucky enough to meet up with Grandma a few weekends ago at the OKC Zoo for Mother's Day. It was such a thrilling time for everyone involved to see a 2 year old run all about seeing animals come to life that she normally sees in a book. Thanks for meeting us Grandma!

The gorilla was right up by the glass and really liked it when Ava gently put her hand on the glass.

Perhaps the most fascinating animals were the giraffes! Ava and her twin.

Ava and mommy.

She loved watching the sea otters jump in and out of the water and swim around.

Taking in the vastness of the huge black bear.

Our little gorilla.

3 Generations.

Is that an elephant? I really can't tell.