more than a MOMMY: Ava at 4

So this kid of mine? She is an emotional roller coaster of a child. Happy. Sad. Excited. Whiny. All rolled up into one big bundle of cuteness complete with ridiculously long eyelashes, pouty lips, and the world's most difficult feet to put shoes on. She's a handful. I like her okay though.

Everyday she gets really upset about something trivial, cries, proclaims her dislike for it, then five minutes later gets over herself and starts from scratch. Her mad/pouty face makes a frequent appearance, but she goes back to smiling soon enough. She has ups, she has downs, she makes mad statements that she doesn't mean like: I hate laughing! I hate parties! I hate Bambi! Overall with this girl, everything is exaggerated by about 100.

Ava loves all things Disney Jr, but especially Sofia the First, Jake and the Neverland Pirates, and Doc McStuffins. Those cartoons remind me she is still a little girl, since the rest of the time her and Alana like to watch other live action shows and movies, like Teen Beach Movie, which must be viewed at least 3 times daily. I know all of the songs by heart at this point.

I used to think that Alana was the girliest girl I had, but Ava takes girliness to new extremes. I cannot remember the last time she wore shorts or pants. All skirts and dresses, all the time. In winter she will just add some leggings under them, pants are for quitters. She is always careful to accessorize, changing her earrings every couple of days, layering on necklaces, bracelets, headbands. An outfit is nothing without the right accessories.

I try to make sure she gets attention, since she is my forgotten middle child. And she makes sure that I voice all of her toys according to her directions, just because she is a middle child doesn't mean she can't be bossy. She loves to play anything girly where she can make the toys talk, so Barbies, Polly Pockets, Minnie Mouse figures, Smurfette and LaLa Loopsies are all frequently on the list. If she can make it talk, she will play with it. Even better if it has some type of house to go with it, because pretending is awesome.

Ava was seriously obsessed with her birthday this year. Every party that we went to the month before (which was like 4 because everybody has a summer birthday around here) she would make a mental note about what she wanted at her party. Can we have cake at my party? Yes Ava. Can we invite everybody at this party to my party? Yes Ava. For my birfday can I have presents? Yes Ava. So we had all of those things, you know, guests, cake, presents. I think she enjoyed them, she's easy to please.

As far as her role as middle child, she is mostly content. She is sweet and loving towards Witten and still tries to play with him, even though he is a wild man and tries to pull her hair and eat her toys. When it comes to Alana her feelings are more complicated. She misses her if she is gone, then fights with her when she is here. She openly challenges Alana's "authority" over her, never quite listening and obeying the way Alana wishes she would. She won't be pushed around just because she was born second.

Although she is dramatic, and crazy, and often whiny, Ava is the sweetest and squishiest lady I could hope for. She brings me home a masterpiece every day from preschool, and so far every picture has been of me and her. That's what she is focused on while she is away from me, making a drawing just for me. That's how she rolls though, mostly sweet with a touch of sassy, just to keep you on your toes.