19 months

Dear Sweet Ava,
You are 19 months old today! You are getting closer and closer to that two year mark! Pretty soon I am going to have to start thinking about what to do for your birthday party. I feel like I just planned your 1st one! This month really flew by. Here are a few things that you have been up to this month.

*You have been re-aquainted with your long lost pal "Bubbles" and lately you have been treating him like your baby, sharing toys with him, reading to him, putting him in your chair to watch tv...You have never really liked dolls so I am glad that you have Bubbles to love on.

*One of your favorite activities this month at home is to play outside in the front yard. We do this just about every day and you like to pretend to mow the yard with your push toy that you still love. Macy joins us outside and you like to help Mommy by calling her and telling her to come. Since we live close to the airport lots of planes pass overhead while we are outside and "e panes" have become a new obsession with you. You also love to spot them up in the sky when we are driving in the car. As they are passing by you say "epanes, epanes, epanes (sometimes more than that)" and then say "bye bye" to them. So cute!! I love hearing your sweet talking voice.

(oh yeah, and every once in awhile I get a sassy look like this from you when you know I am taking your picture. You are so full of personality and it just makes me smile...at least for now it does. I am sure these "Mom, WHAT are you doing, you are so annoying" kind of looks wont always be cute but your 1 1/2 and psst... can get away with a lot more right now) ;)

*You have been doing a lot more imaginative play besides just pretending to mow the grass. This month you have loved pushing your shopping cart around and around the kitchen pretending to go to Target. Haha! Yes, you and I frequent there often and you know where we are when we pull up and that mommy pushes you in the cart and gets groceries (and maybe a few other things every once in awhile!). When you push your cart I ask you "Hey are you going shopping at Target again? Can you get Mommy some more ______" and you kind of give me a little nod and then your on your way.

*Some things outside of the house that you have been enjoying are going to "Bible Study" with Mommy (aka the church nursery while Mommy is at Bible Study) and also storytime at the library. Almost every time I ask you if you want to go do either of those things you give me a cute nod of the head and say "ssss" which is yes in Ava language and with a little lisp (too too cute!). It's so nice that you can tell me yes or no when I ask you questions now. Your no is really cute too because you shake your head and say "nah" very casually. It's pretty funny when we tell you things like "Hey, Ava let's go change your diaper" and you shake your head without even looking at us and say "nah" and go right back to doing what your doing. Haha.

*You have been learning a ton of new words lately besides just yes and no. It's as if we tell you what something is just once and its already stored in your brain and then a few days later you will attempt to say it and it blows us away. Your 1 year old way of pronouncing words is precious!

* You know almost all of your body parts now including the most recent eyebrows and eyelashes. When we are changing your diaper you think it is fun to point to all of the parts of our face and name them. You also like to do this with Macy too. What a good sport she is!

Ears

Nose

Eyes

You like to get up right in front of Macy's face when you want to tell her something which usually involves a bunch of very serious jiborish and grunts!

*You can now also recognize and say your name, which is pronounced "ova" at the moment, and you also are learning about letters. You can recognize and say the letters A, B, and O. I know you are capable of learning so many more but we are taking baby steps so that they really sink in and you arent overwhelmed by so many new letters at a time.

You just realized for the first time that your name was on your chair!

*You aren't much of a snack eater, usually it is on the run, but if we are home you prefer to eat your snack at your table like a big girl. Of course, your doggy Macy is usually within a foot from you hoping for handouts which you so generously share with her.

*Some of your favorite songs to sing(or Mommy to sing) this month are The Wheels on the Bus, If You're Happy and You Know It, Twinkle Twinkle, and The Itsy Bitsy Spider. You are so cute to watch when you do all the movements to the songs.

*Over the past couple of weeks I have seen quite a few more meltdowns from you. Usually it is because you want something and I won't give it to you. It can be very exhausting but I try my best to distract you and direct you to something else that you would like. Something that has worked well for calming you down before changing your diaper or laying you down for a nap (both of which you fight often) is I will say It's time to ________ and THEN we can do _______." Surprising it works about 80% of the time in those situations and you do them without a fuss. I always try and remember to follow through with what I tell you so that you will believe me. This often means that immediately following nap we go "mow the grass" outside because that is what I promised you we would do after you took a nap. :0

You LOVE stickers right now and I think you wanted me to give you like your 3rd sticker but I told you no more and you were NOT happy. The camera happened to be right there on the counter so I snapped this sad but true life picture of you. You have such a mild manner about you and are usually a pretty happy girl but we do have some rough moments which I am beginning to see a little more frequently now that we are approaching the 2 year mark.

Ava Marie, those big blue eyes of yours melt my heart everytime they look at me! I feel so honored and blessed to be your mommy. You are a very special little girl and in the 19 months that you have been in my life you have brought me more laughs, smiles, and happy moments then I have ever experienced. Your daddy and I love you so very much!

xoxo,

Mama