About Ava

When I blogged about Ava turning two, I mostly talked about her birthday. I didn't mention much about her, who she is right now. It is hard to capture the essence of a toddler, with all of their crazy toddler ways. They're somewhere between kid and baby, in limbo, and when you look at them in the present they seem so big, but when you look back on them in a couple of years you realize just how much of a baby they still were.

Ava is a baby, and at the same time she is a little kid, who thinks she is big enough to do everything Alana does. Alana jumps off the couch? Ava is right there to go next. Alana needs to wear a princess dress over her regular clothes? Ava is a mini Belle or Snow White. Alana is brushing her teeth and using mouthwash? Ava thinks she needs mouthwash, so I give her a little cup of water cause she just drinks it.
She is a follower, but she still stands up for herself when she's been wronged. She won't tolerate injustice.

Ava is often two people. She is a shy girl, so when she's around a lot of people she doesn't know, or just a lot of people, she is quiet and glued to my leg. When it's just us around the house, or there are just a couple people here who she feels comfortable with, she is a wild and crazy woman. She is the opposite of herself, and of her sister. Alana knows no stranger, and loves everyone. Ava is more cautious. Who are these people and why am I supposed to be nice to them? I don't see them on a daily basis, so therefore I don't know them.

She really inherited my sweet tooth, but also got David's enthusiastic love of breakfast meats. She is a snackaholic, and will eat small amounts of stuff all day if I don't make it a point to feed her structured meals. She will eat two cold hot dogs in a row, just because she likes them so much. Cookies are another weakness of hers, and so are pumpkin and zucchini bread. She likes pumpkin and zucchini bread so much that she will go to the oven every ten minutes while it's cooking and tap on the door, inquiring about when she can eat some. It's nice to have someone to share a loaf with, because Alana and David aren't as into sweets as Ava and me. Her favorite place to eat is in my bed, on my side, with the covers pulled down. Yesterday she climbed in there and pulled down the blanket, then ate a big piece of pumpkin bread, leaving plenty of crumbs as a present for me.

Ava may be two, but she doesn't talk much yet. A big part of that is that Alana is always answering questions for Ava, so Ava never really has to talk. She gets her point across though. She squeals, grunts, yells, points, shakes her head yes and no. She has a few words in her repertoire, but she only uses them when she feels like it. Mostly you will find her squealing then pointing. I'd like some pumpkin bread is Squeal, point to bread, point to open mouth. This is hot but I still want to eat it is Blow, then point to mouth. I'd like to watch Dora please is Run to Mommy, pull on her pants, hand her DVD, squeal and point to TV. She pulls on my pants so much that sometimes she pulls them down, that can be kind of annoying. Get de-pantsed daily. Maybe I should wear fewer pajama and yoga pants.

Ava loves playing, especially with Alana. She plays whatever her sister wants, whenever. Barbies, babies, legos, littlest pet shop guys. Its cute when they play together, but just as cute when Ava plays by herself. She makes the dolls or figurines "walk" around and kiss, its pretty funny. And babies must all be rocked, then thrown into the crib.

Ava is a momma's girl, but she's always glad for Daddy to come home. She tries to play and hide with Alana, but always gets excited and runs out when he opens the door. She gives hugs and kisses, and plenty of snuggles. There is no shortage of snuggles with Ava. She is so sweet and squishy, I think I'll keep her.

She is 25 lbs, but won't hold still for me to get her height. She has a sweet baby mullet that I can't bring myself to cut yet. Its mullet-ness isn't too bad because it curls out, so I don't foresee a haircut in our near future. She has big brown eyes and still had super long eyelashes. Her cheeks and butt are so chubby and squishy and I want to squeeze them all the time. She always has her toenails painted, cause when I paint mine or Alana's she wants to be included, and she recently started requesting that I paint her fingernails too. Her chubby little hands look so cute with a coat of red nail polish on her fingers, but they also look impossibly grown up. Its bittersweet.

She is my couch potato baby and loves cartoons. She is a big Nickelodeon fan, because Wubbzy, Dora, Bubble Guppies and Max & Ruby all top the list as her favorites. She also requests to watch a Disney movie a day, mostly Up and Monsters Inc, and sometimes Rapunzel and the Little Mermaid. Gotta stay updated on her Disney movies for our next trip to Disneyland in December. Gotta get one more trip while she's still free!

I can't remember what it was like to have just one kid, even though having two kids means a lot more compromise, for them anyways, they rarely agree on what movie to watch, and it also means being the referee far more frequently. She has made our family more complete, and we're all better off with her in our lives. She is so crazy and cute, but at the same time she is quiet and shy. I love her and I'd be completely happy if she stayed my baby forever.