potty talk

Ava peed on the potty again this morning! :) I put her on it when she woke up and a few minutes later she went---go Ava! {pun not intended}

tinkle tinkle

So since Ava's been into the potty at school we figured we'd pick one up to have at home. {Let me first say that I'm so not ready to potty train but since she is interested we let her do her thing} Steven & I picked up the Fisher Price Royal Princess Stepstool Potty this morning & Ava was just thrilled. It's super cute {who doesn't want a cute potty?} and makes "royal sounds" when you pee {I can't imagine how disappointing sitting on the real potty is going to be}
She was so excited when we opened the box and sat right down on it. She gets up and shuts the lid and claps. She's constantly on and off of it all day. Tonight I sat her on it when I was getting her tubby ready & after her tubby she wanted to sit on it again.


After the tubby, Ava wanted to stay on the potty so I brought it into her room and we sat and read books. She sat on that potty for a good 20 minutes reading stories and singing songs. She absolutely did not want to get off the potty.


And after all that sitting, Ava started clapping...

and Ava is clapping because...

SHE PEED ON THE POTTY!!!

I couldn't believe our little baby peed on the potty! She was so excited and thrilled that we were clapping and cheering {ok maybe more me than dada}. I finally dragged her off the potty so we could flush and she happily waved goodbye to her pee. I'm glad she likes the potty {although who knows how she will feel about it in 6 months---but at least now it is a hit} I don't think she fully understands what she is doing {although she seems to know what she is doing} but we don't expect her to be potty trained anytime soon so we're just seeing what happens. {Oh the excitement at the florest household!}


{some blackmail pictures :) }

{ can you tell she is dada's girl? :) }

saturday fun!

I don't think the weather could have been better today! Ava is not used to being outside without a coat so she flipped when we took her coat off because she thought she had to go back in---I promise there is warm weather in New England, Ava! :) Ava had a great time playing outside {as always!} She just loves running around the yard and goes from activity to activity non-stop. No wonder she eats like a piggy & is a great napper!

We went out to a yummy dinner tonight w. nana, papa & uncle mike. Ava was clearly starving from being outside so every time the waiter put something on the table she would say "mmmmmmmm" until we gave her a piece. We got Ava her usual kids meal of chicken fingers & fries which she happily gobbled down until she got a fry with some heavy seasoning. I've never seen a face like that! She was frantically trying to wipe her tongue. I finally got her to drink some milk which seemed to help but that was the end of that meal! She did amazingly well considering dinner was almost 2 hours long. When we were leaving, Ava had to wave goodbye to everyone at their tables---such a ham.

I think she looks like a little old lady heading to bingo :)

on the climber

down the slide!

playing soccer with dada {she does great running & kicking the ball!}

running to dada

pouting because dada has the ball now

she snuck her hat off

big girl!

If anyone has seen my baby please let me know---I seem to suddenly have a big girl now. Yesterday, Ava sat twice on the potty, rode a bike {the tiny wodden bikes} and was all over the huge preschool playground equipment. She didn't do anything on the potty but since all the big kids sit on them, Ava had to as well. When I asked her if she sat on the potty and rode bikes, she enthusiastically nodded her head yes. {But just to be sure I checked with her teachers :) }

She is growing up way too fast!

what a difference...

...a year makes!

pictures from today @ 17 months

pictures from a year ago @ 5 months


Ava pulled out some loose pictures from school and I couldn't believe how much she has changed in a year!

SEVENTEEN! {monthly update}

Seventeen months already! It just amazes us how fast she is growing. It seems like every day she is doing something new. She is such a chatterbox and talks non stop. Instead of just repeating words, she is now using them correctly. She will say "book" and brings it to you when she wants to read a book or "ball" when looking for one or if she wants to play. As soon as we are done with dinner she hands us her plate and pulls at her bib saying "off". She also uses "off" when she wants her coat off or her car seat unbuckled when we are home. She also uses "up" when wants to climb up on the couch and, of course, she is great at using "no" :) She says "wawa" for water and every drink I have must be pointed to and confirmed that it is "wawa". It's so great hearing her communicate. Ava also tries repeating everything she hears us say too so we really need to watch what we say! She loves reading to us {I'm sure you've seen the video!} It's hilarious watching her change her voice inflection and her facial expressions. She's always been into her books but now she is really starting to pick her "favorites". We have a cycle going of books we have to read every night. Some books she only likes certain parts and others she sits through the whole thing. When we read books that name body parts, she makes sure to point them out on herself and us too. One of her absolute favorite books to read is a little photo album full of pictures. She loves pointing everyone out and saying their names.

She is on the run! I don't know where she gets her energy. She is quite the fast runner now and adores being chased. She hides when we need to get her ready for bed or change her diaper. She is such a big girl walking into school carrying her lunch box. She always makes sure to hold my hand. I'm teaching her to keep one hand on the car when I open the door. She does pretty well listening and as soon as I open the door she puts her lunch box on the front seat and points to her door. Ava walks up and down the stairs now. She does really well hanging on to the railing although we do have to remind her to pay attention every now and then {again the chatterbox thing}. When she wants to go out, Ava grabs her coat points to the closet with our coats and reaches for the door handle. Thankfully she is still too short but not much longer before she can reach it!

Ava's been big into dramatic play. Almost every night we have to play "nap time". Steven and I have to lay down on our bellies and Ava pats/rubs our back. If we lift our head up, she'll say "no, no" and push it back down. Then Ava lays down and we switch. Her teachers tell me she does this with her little piggy she sleeps with on her mat. It's so cute to watch her act out cooking at her kitchen as well. I love watching her pour some mustard into the boiling pot of eggs, ice cream and hot dogs, stir and taste with a "mmmmmmm". If I ask her for some pizza she'll find me a piece and feed it to me. Ava recently found a thermometer from when we were sick a few weeks ago. I usually wouldn't let her play with it but I decided to see what she would do with it. I was surprised when she sat down, lifted up her shirt and stuck it in her belly button to take her temp. I've taken her temperature a few ways but that wasn't one of them!

Ava is still quite the bossy one and will absolutely not let you leave a coat/water bottle/bag/shoe laying around. Don't even ask about the state that her toys are in :) She does well cleaning up but is more interested in making sure everyone else cleans up. If I have a water bottle on the floor Ava will run over with it and push it in my face until I take it and place it where it is supposed to go. Then she'll slowly walk away keeping her eyes on my to make sure I don't put that water bottle back on the floor. If I dare put it back on the floor she'll come running over with her finger pointed at me saying "no no!" Oh, Ava...

She's growing bigger by the day. At the last check up a month ago she was about 26 pounds! We're heading into 2T for the summer season which is just crazy to me. Not that she's ever really worn her age as her size ever since she was a chunky 9 pounder newborn. Ava does great with her fork and spoon and we've just transitioned her fully to a straw cup. We still use the sippy at times but try to mainly use the straw {because mama is crazy about language & oral motor development} Happy 17 months! We love you baby girl!

coloring in her coloring book

check out those fine motor skills :)

on a mission

beautiful drawing

slide time

weeeee

reading before dinner

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

picture day...

was a BUST! I took Ava in to school for her class & individual pictures. She was cranky from the start so I figured this wasn't going to go well but we gave it a try. Ava loved dressing up & everyone telling her how beautiful she looked. When it was time for her individual pictures she just freaked. She has a cold, teething and they put her in a room with 15 preschoolers, teachers, adults and the photographer and she was done. I tried, her teacher tried and I tried a picture with her and it was a no go. I have enough pictures of her so I didn't push it. She did well for the class picture and they got some cute candid ones of her. We are getting a free coupon to picture people so we'll see how that goes. The poor thing was just so sad!

After that little meltdown, we went and took dada out to lunch. Ava was thrilled to see him & instantly cheered up. We had a super yummy lunch and it was nice spending time with dada during the day. When we were leaving Ava stopped at all the tables to wave bye and waved in the windows as we were walking to our car. We experienced quite the mood swings today! :) As soon as we got on the Pike, Ava was passed out. Hopefully she will enjoy a nice long nap & mama will too!

enjoying a nice snack in her class

the climber

sad ava

happy ava :)

Official!!

I finally am licensed to teach PreK-2 for students with and without disabilities in the state of Massachusetts!! I can't even tell you how long of a process this was but I've met all the 500 requirements and I'm official! :) Of course now the schools are all cutting job but I'm hopeful for the fall. Keep your fingers crossed!

Off to celebrate!

{weekend updates} spring fever!

I love how much time we can spend outside now! Ava absolutely loves being out---there is so much fun stuff to explore! Saturday morning I had to head into Boston to represent my company at the American Baby & Family Expo. It was pretty fun and thankfully not too much traffic driving in {which is always a blessing!} It was just a short day so I was home by the time Ava was getting up from her nap. Steven also had to work this weekend---it was his first time being in charge of club inventory. Thankfully he just had to work in town so not too much traveling---just long overnight hours. After running some errands on Sunday {and finally getting new phones!} we spent most of the day outside. We spent most of the day outside in sweatshirts only to come in for dinner and see snow falling! Yuck.

chalk time!

draw with me?

clean up time

Ava follows me around and draws a few lines on everything I draw

baby grace needs a walk

mama did the kite flying this time :)

Ava had so much fun chasing the tails around

making sure grace is buckled in

living the good life

always time to slide!

Once we finally came inside, Ava build a fabulous creation with her blocks

choices...choices

they are growing!

Have a great week!