progress!

• Ava's been SO much better with the separation anxiety at night. She either won't cry at all or just cry for a minute but stays in her bed. Nights are so much easier now!
• Ava's gone potty 4 days in a row! She even pooped on the potty today! :) I asked her if she needed to go and she said yes and ran in the bathroom.
• Little Ms. Shy ordered her dinner tonight at the restaurant. Well she said "fries" and I added the chicken fingers, but it's a start. She also loves dipping her fries and chicken fingers very daintily into ketchup. I can't imagine where she got that from! :)
  

school days & other randoms

Ava's school had a petting zoo come visit! They had different pens set up with chickens, bunnies, a goat and ducks in them. Ava went in a few but didn't want to touch the animals. She kept telling everyone "I no like dat".

with the ducks & dylan
{after she left this pen, she realized that dylan was still inside and yelled "dyyyyllllllaaaaannn!" while reaching out to him. I told her dylan could hold his own against the ducks
but she was very concerned for him :) }

checking everything out

w. the goat

some school stories:
Ava has two little boyfriends that she has grown up with. They are like 3 peas in a pod and so cute together. Yesterday as we were leaving, dylan came and gave her hugs and kisses. {this is the same boy who she talks about all. the. time. and who she give love to and makes sure he stays in line} Ava turns to him and says "I no like dat, dylan". Her teachers and I were cracking up. The whole way home she kept telling me "I no like dat dylan". Her dada is very proud :)

Ava is always the little teacher/mama at school and has to make sure all her friends stay in line. She'll go running over and say "no no no!" if they are doing something they aren't supposed to. She cracks us up.

Since they set their mats up before lunch, Ava likes to try to sneak her baby dolls to the table. She decided that her baby should sit at the table too. So she got a chair and sat the baby down next to her. Of course, this doesn't go over too well with her friend who is left without a chair so baby heads back to the mat.

Once parents start coming to pick up their kids, Ava will continuously run up to the teachers and say "mama soon? mama soon?" I'm sure they love that! :)

Ava woke up dry again and peed on the potty! Since she loves stickers, we started a little sticker chart for her yesterday. She loves filling up the spaces and, of course, getting her m&ms!

Today, we had grammy & 2 family friends come visit for lunch. It was great seeing them and being able to visit. Ava was shy at first but opened up and was showing off all her tricks. She can be quite the ham. I think she ate her weight in chips but at least she had a healthy lunch! :)

progress?

Ms. Av Lou stayed dry all night! When I asked her if she wanted to go potty this morning, she jumped up and said "yeah!". She ran into the bathroom and peed on the potty! After, she tells me "I pee on potty, mama. m&m please" she knows the drill! :) Now we just need to keep this up every morning.

weekend fun!

Our weekends are always so busy! Friday, my mom had Ava so she took her over our family friend's house to play w. Lauren & Ryan. Ava was shy with the older kids but warmed up after a while. I can't believe how big these kids have gotten! They were super sweet w. Ava and hopefully we'll get to see them again soon!


Saturday, Ava & I went to Little Gym. Steven had to get his flat tire fixed---lucky him! I couldn't take a ton of pictures since I was Ava's spotter and all but here are a few:

bear walk

blurry but starting her somersault!

Saturday, we just did stuff around the house. We headed out to Friendly's again for dinner. Ava sat in a booster for the first time! While we were there, there was a girl throwing a major temper tantrum. Little Ms I-never-throw-a-temper-tantrum kept telling her "shhhhhhhhh". Thankfully they didn't see us :) After dinner {And ice cream, of course} we headed over to Home Depot to pick out some paint colors and a few other things for the house.

yardwork. in her underwear. I'm sure the neighbors love it

squirting dada

Sunday, we headed down to RI for my cousin Jeff's 18th birthday/ graduation party. The weather was overcast but the rain held off and we had a great time. Ava just took a short nap in the car and was surprisingly good for staying up until 4. She was shy to warm up {as usual} but had fun playing with bubbles and her ball.

silly girl

bubbles!

flying high

Ava and I took a dip in the pool! The water was a little chilly so we didn't stay in for a super long time. Ava was all excited to jump right in but I don't think she expected the water to be cold and deep. She loved being on the raft and was even jumping into my arms at the end.

noodle girl

swim, ava, swim!

swimming sure makes you hungry for cake!

Ava passed out on the way home {so did mama!}

After getting home, Ava and I headed out food shopping while dada mowed the lawn. Since it was late, we just swung by and picked up pizza on the way home. Across the street from the pizza place is the town common. While our pizza cooked, I took Ava over to run around and play. It's a really cute area and she loved the playground. In the middle is a gazebo that Ava would run around and dance on. She is quite the performer!

Have a great week!

TWENTY-ONE {monthly update}

We're getting closer and closer to TWO! Ava is changing so much---she's gone from a chunky baby to a lean, tall toddler. She is really losing that baby look and is looking so much older now. Her language is just exploding. I know I write that every month, but every day she talks more and more. She's gotten really good at stringing together words to make sentences and telling you what happened and what she wants. It's so amazing to have these big conversations with her! I swear she doesn't forget a thing which could be good or bad. She loves dunking her baby in the pool. If she asks for the baby or when she sees it the next day, she'll say "baby wet". When she falls when running, she'll tell us "I fall down. boo boo right there" and point to her knee or where ever she bumped. It's so amazing the things she'll say---even at school they are noticing how much she is talking in sentences. Her favorite thing to tell us is who's turn it is and "two". When we ask her if she wants to bring her baby she'll say "two babies" and you better give her two :) Of course she loves telling you "I no like that" when she doesn't like something. When it's cloudy she'll ask "where da sun go, mama?" I'll ask her where she thinks it went and she'll say "sun go night night" She just amazes me sometimes.

Ava loves singing and we are recognizing more songs that she sings. One of her favorites is "jump up and down" which she'll sing with each baby and has them jump. I love peeking in on her singing and reading to her babies.

Ava's favorite thing is dramatic play. She LOVES her kitchen and her babies. She always has these whole scenarios that she acts out. She does really well playing by herself when we need to make dinner or we're doing stuff around the house. Of course she loves it more when we play with her too. Ava loves serving up food and if we ask her for the peas or some chicken, she'll bring it over to us on a plate with a fork and make sure we eat it all. She also loves being outside, doing art and building with blocks. I love that she is so into toys that stretch the imagination! She's gotten really good at puzzles and shape sorters. She has some trouble turning the smaller puzzle pieces but gets them in the right spots. It's amazing how much her hand-eye coordination and spacial awareness has grown! Ava loves playing hide and seek. Although her version usually means she hides next to the couch or next to the table and then says "boo!" when you walk by.

She's been picky with food and would only eat chicken {breaded only}, hot dogs, pizza, fruit, goldfish and fruit snacks if we let her. She won't touch chicken unless it's breaded. She loves bread rolls, bagels w. cream cheese, pancakes etc but will not touch a sandwich. Our munch has turned into quite the picky eater now. She still does well and surprisingly eats her veggies but that could change :) We just take it day by day and make sure there is at least one thing on her plate she likes. She can eat though! Some nights she eats more than me during dinner!

Ava is doing great with the big girl bed! She loves it although we have been going through some separation anxiety when going to bed. As with everything, it will pass. She sleeps with about 6 books, 5 dolls, 2 ugly dolls, 3 "lovies", 3 pillows and one sippy of water. I have no idea how she fits! I still get sad seeing her in there---I'm not sure where my baby went! In the next few months, we will be transitioning her into the full bed and into her new room too!

Ava's a great helper around the house. She will even get my shoes and put them on which will be handy w. the big growing belly! She can get her crocs on and loves trying to put all her other shoes on. She's really helpful with putting things away and throwing things out when we ask. This age is just so fun! I feel like the tantrums are somewhat subsiding and she can communicate so much more. I love hearing her tell me that the baby is "sad because it fell down" and she'll have me kiss it better. She loves getting kisses to make things better. Every little bump is met with a request for a "kiss right dere...and dere too". She's just so much fun and becoming such a big kid with each new day!

{I should have started this months ago:}

Size: 2T in clothes
5 in diapers

Favorite books: Llama Llama mad at mama, hippos go berserk, barnyard dance

Happy 21 months bubbs! We love you! :)

Wednesday Fun!

Our vacations go by too fast! Hubby took the day off from work today which was a great treat. We started off the day headed to Ava's school for a meeting w. Ava's teacher. Every 6 months in toddlers we meet to discuss her development, skills to work on etc. She, of course, is perfect :) Her teacher said she is doing everything she should be and is the little mama of the class. She's very caring with her friends and makes sure they are ok when they fall or if they are sad. She said her language has really exploded and she has no problems using her words. Her teacher told us lots of cute stories of her reading books to her friends and making mama out of play-doh. She does great with the class routine and transitions and even tries to get the sheet on her mat like the big kids. Ava's starting to work on a cup so she'll be transitioned off the sippy. She'll also start setting up her own lunch like the big kids and continue going potty at each diaper change {she's even gone a few times on the big potty at school!} Ava's really into playing with the kids instead of just engaging in parallel play. Of course she still likes her alone time and I love that she can entertain herself for a while. All of Ava's artwork & pictures are kept in a portfolio that is kept until she leaves the center. It was so amazing looking back and seeing how little she was! Ava can point to all her friends in the pictures and name them too. I think it's so cute that they all call her Ava Lou!

After Ava's meeting, I headed down the street to go to my 14 week appointment. Everything looks great! Baby bean's heart is nice and strong at 153 bpm. Surprisingly, I'm not anemic like I was with Ava which I'm excited about---one less pill to take :) I go back in 2 weeks for blood work and then back again on the 26th for the big ultrasound!

leaving Ava's meeting

dancing to the Wiggles

After my appointment we headed to Friendly's for some lunch. It was so yummy! Ava even picked her own ice cream off the menu.


Ava slept for maybe 20 minutes today---she was just not having a nap. I got a tiny nap in and then we were up. We headed to BJs for some things and played outside since the sun was back out. {Now when the sun goes away, Ava says "more sun...more sun" } Steven made some super yummy steaks on the grill. I figured Ava would throw a fit when she saw it, but nope, she gobbled it all up. I think she ate more than me!

cleaning the slide

After dinner, we headed out for more ice cream. Yup, our second helping of the day. Super healthy right? Ah well it was too good to pass up. Have a great rest of the week!

mean mom {updated}

Since we took the binky away, Ava's had some separation anxiety when going to sleep. Oddly enough, she hasn't asked for the binky once. Before she would want it all the time & cry when we wouldn't give it to her. Last night I ended up falling asleep on the floor because she needed me there to sleep. When Steven woke me up to go to bed, she also woke up and he stayed with her until 11. I figured we needed to end this pretty quickly so today at nap time I made her cry it out. Heartbreaking, but I don't want to start this habit. She kept crying "all done, mama, all done!" When she finally fell asleep I went to check on her. She had taken her babies and her favorite book and fallen asleep on the floor. I carried her into bed where she started whimpering "mama" complete with the lip pout before falling back to sleep. This kid really knows how to pull the heartstrings!



UPDATED: We did cry it out again tonight {well I did, Steven has no will power when she brings out the pout} She only cried for maybe 5 minutes and is soundly sleeping in her bed. My mom thinks I'm horrible but it doesn't do her any good to fall asleep with us there and wake up and we are gone. I'll save up for therapy just in case :)

new words

While reading our Red Sox book Ava picked up the words "wally" and "bobby doerr". Steven is over the moon :)