LIKES-
- Shoes! She is obsessed seriously. I wonder where she picked up one this? haha hmm... She loves going through my closet and trying on my high heals. And she even gets them on the correct feet and already can walk around like a pro in my huge wedge heals. That little girl's got talent. And a sense of fashion. She only likes certain ones.
- Purses and phones- I have a few mini purses I let her have and she carries them around on her shoulder all prissy and cute. I never even told her or showed her how. She must have just picked up on it from watching me. She has her own mini Tinkerbell cell phone and keys and keeps them in her purse she carries around everywhere. OH and phone obsession! She will find either pretend phones or my cell phone and walk around with it to her ear just talking away. She leans her head to the side and puts her other hand on her hip with SOO much attitude while on the phone. It is seriously the cutest funniest thing EVER! I have it recorded but I'm not sure how to upload it on here. Ava fluctuates her voice and everything while she jabbers. All just random misunderstandable jibber while she "talks" on the phone. Apparently that must be what she observes while I am on the phone. It is so funny the things she has picked up from me.
- Books and reading. She LOVES to read. Her favorite book is GOODNIGHT MOON. At first I wasn't a fan of it. But after the 50Th time reading it to her it has grown on me. She brings it to me at least 20 times a day to read it. She knows where everything in the book is and I have her point out it all as I read. She also loves to pretend to read. She will sit in the corner of her room surrounded by all her books pointing to pictures and babbling away.
- Dogs, Ducks and Kittys- Her favorite word to say is dog. Anytime we see one either in real life, tv or in a book she will point and say "dog" or doggie". She also really loves ducks and will say "duck" all the time. Mainly when she wants a bath since we have rubber duckies for her to play with in the tub. Since I work a Aflac now and the duck is their logo I really want to get her one of the promo ducks that say "AFLAC" in the funny voice. Kinda ironic I work for Aflac and my daughter has this love for ducks. We also have tonz of plush stuffed animal ducks and whenever I see one at the store I always get it for her. So we have started quite a collection of ducks. So Kittys- if you ask her what a kitty says she will make a meowing sound. It's this high pitch cute little noise Ava makes. So cute.
- Bunnys- She LOVES her bunnys. We are getting quite the collection now. She carries these 2 things everywhere with her.
- Stuffed Animals- Lately she will line up he stuffed bunnys and try to feed them and give them drinks with her sippy cup. Its so cute how she is started to play pretend with her toys. She will talk to them and line them all up on the table then one by one give them a pretend drink out of a little cup.
- Great Eater- She is really great about eating most whatever we are. She loves noodles and chicken. LOVES yogurt, Nilla wafers, graham crackers, bananas, applesauce, most fruit, green beans, tomatoes, toast with peanut butter and honey or jelly. She has gone though phases where she gets picky. But it is random and for the most part she is a great eater. Hopefully that doesn't change anytime soon.. cross your fingers for me :)
- Lucky (our dog)- Ava LOVES LOVES LOVES him. Our little black dog is her best friend. He follows her around all day long hoping she will share her food with him. And whenever she's sitting in her highchair he waits at her feet since he knows she will throw things off her tray for him to eat. I guess that makes clean up easier for me. haha
- Balls- She is so coordinated. That child has a arm on her. She overhanded throws far and straight. She can also kick any size ball small or large with perfect aim. We will play kick the ball and she kicks it right to me every time and far. We were playing at the pool once and kicking it back and forth and I had so many people come up to me amazed at how good she was. I am gonna have to put her in sports as soon as she is 3 yrs old. I know that she can be a great athlete. I never even taught her how. She just figured it out so it really must be her raw talent. She knows the difference between throwing and kicking and will do whichever you request. Ava loves to play fetch with Lucky.
- Dancing and music- She loves music and knows how to turn on our various radios and the CD player in her room. She puts in the CD and knows which things to switch on and buttons to push then starts to dance. She has some pretty awesome moves. She shakes her little hips and rocks out (even if its not dancing music). Her favorite artists are Katy Perry and Ke$ha. Whenever songs by them come on the radio she gets all excited and turns up the volume (full blast) and starts dancing. It is so cute. She already has a music taste and if she doesn't like the song playing or if its commercials she will try and change the station. Its pretty funny.
- binky- I know I need to work on taking this away. She mainly only uses it for naptime and to sleep at night. But if we are going somewhere we want her to be quiet and good (like church) then she can have it them too. Ava knows where I keep her binkies and will go there and point and beg until I get it. I have a feeling it is gonna be SOO hard to let go of this habit. I think its actually really cute when she has her bink. It makes her seem like a little baby. But I think it looks stupid when older kids still have them and I don't want her to end up a 4 year old with one. SO we will maybe slowly work towards taking it away by her 2nd b-day and for sure by her 3rd. Wish me luck :)
- blankie- Since she was 10 months old she has grown really attached to her purple blankie and takes it everywhere with her. Its so cute how she drags it around. And over the last couple months she has grown attached to her light pink blankie. It was what I would give her if the purple one was dirty. Now she has to have BOTH of them at all times. And won't sleep if they aren't both in her crib with her. I don't like bringing them both everywhere so I end up just taking one away while she isn't looking..
- Mama's girl- Lately Ava is such a mama's girl. She only wants to cuddle with me at night and will only let me feed her. She still adores Russell and is always SO excited when he gets home from work but when we are both with her she only wants me. She wants to sit with me or wants me to hold her books or help her or whatever. Ava and I really bonded this summer and it shows since she prefers me most of the time. She comes up to me all day long randomly giving me hugs or kisses. She rarely does that for anyone else. Since I went back to work this past week I have noticed it get even worse. She is so attached to me at all times. When I leave for work in the morning she bawls and cries when I go. It just breaks my heart. But I think it's good for her to spend more time with Russ and will give them a chance to bond more. Russ says that he can quickly cheer her up after and so that makes me feel better at least. I am not at work very long and since some of the time I'm gone is her nap time anyway it's like I'm only missing 2 hours of playtime. I have to admit I am flattered that she is so loving and attached to me. I try so hard to be the perfect mommy to her. I never raise my voice or get mad. I have so much love for her that there is no way I can get angry. I never want her to think I am mean or be scared. I see parents at the store or park who are yelling at their kids and hitting and spanking them. Every parent is different and have different parenting methods but for me I don't believe in any sore of physical reaction. I think that's where kids learn to hit other kids is from the parents spanking them. I try to only be so kind to her and I can tell that is having a huge impact on the way she treats others.
- Good girl- So basically I lead into this already. I am so patient with Ava. I'm not saying she is perfect cuz she is naughty sometimes. But for a child her age I think it is very minimal. She never hits or is violent at all when she's upset. She is a really happy little monkey and we laugh and play all day. She has so much love in her life and she is such a kind little girl. I have only had to put her in timeout a few times for throwing things at the TV ( the only negative part of her great arm ) but she is really a well behaved kid. She doesn't like to sit still at church so we spend most of it in the hallway chasing her down the halls but to me that's not worth me fighting with her.
On the subject of naughty.. she found the box of goldfish and dumped them out and her and Lucky were eating it. I wasn't even mad it was so funny! After this incident we put locks on all the cupboards so she couldn't get into the food.
- Share- She is SO good at sharing. I taught her that this summer from being at the pool and park all the time. I would tell her to share her toys and she would give whatever toy she was holding to the kid next to her to play with and share. Ava never says mine or is possessive with anything. She is really easy going and doesn't mind sharing with other little kids. She is better at it then I am. It stresses me out when I have to lend out my things. I am so particular about my stuff. My husband is always lending things out of ours and it makes me so stressed. We are so opposite that way. Looks like Ava takes after her daddy and not me on this one. She is also so thoughtful of other kids. Whenever there is a kid sitting down or laying down she will go over grab their had and try and pull them up. Sometimes she would go over to babies who couldn't walk yet and try to pull them up and would get frustrated when they wouldn't. She will go up to random kids and start jibber jabbering her little baby language. She is SOO social. Her pediatrician said she is very advanced in her social skills since most kids her age and insecure and won't approach kids they don't know. But Ava wants to make friends with anyone her size (anyone above 3 feet tall she has no interest in).
- ALL GIRL- Lets face it everything I've said so far Ava is just SOO girly. From purses to heals and talking on the phone she is just my little girlie girl. She loves jewelry and anything that resembles a bracelet she will ware-so my hair elastics or toy rings she will stack on her wrists. Sometimes I let her play in my jewelery and its so cute how she piles it all on and will parade herself in from of the mirror. She loves to look in the mirror. She will talk to herself or make funny faces and laugh. She just has to be in front of it! She knows I like to have bows and her own bracelets and necklaces on her. So I will say bracelet time and she will hold out her right wrist for me and hold really still while I put it on. She also is very cooperative while I blow dry and round brush her hair and put it into piggy tails. This is seriously my dream child. We really have so much in common and she is so fun. I love having a daughter. I would be happy if I had all girls in fact. Although I would like at least one boy. But girls are just so fun especially girls like Ava.
- Great Sleeper- She is great about napping and going to sleep at night. Everyday she wakes up around 7:30am then goes down for her nap around 11:30- sleeps between 1 and 3 hours. Then goes to bet at 9 or 10pm. She has always been such a great sleeper even as a newborn I never had any issues getting her to sleep. I really feel like I lucked out on this. We have a little routine every time I put her down. First I lay her in her crib with her blankie, then I shut the curtians on her window, turn on her ceiling fan and then I turn on the CD player and her favorite CD is A Fine Frenzy. (I just realized the only pic I have of Ava sleeping is as a newborn. She was just the cutest little chubbs)
- Socialness- Little Ava is quite the little social butterfly already. She is really outgoing and everytime we were at the pool or the park she will go up to other little kids and start talking to them or try to share her toys. She loves other little kids especially little boys. Haha she is already a little flirt but she prefers boys that are a bit older around 3 or 4 yrs old. And she likes to play with little girls that are within a year of her and has no interest in babies. I guess they aren't very interesting to her. She isn't shy at all and yet she doesn't like adults. She is SOO shy around adults and when she is approched by one she will run to me and hide between my legs. So grownups always meet her and think she is so shy then when they see her around kids they are shocked at how outgoing she is with other children. Ava she is brave and loves other kids and will be the first to go up and make friends. I love it! Even as young as she is already I can see her sweet social personality coming through so strong! (Here is Ava with her 2 little cousins)
Dislikes-
- Being Ignored- She has to be the center of attention at all times. She loves being praised when she does something clever. She loves hugs and kisses. She will dance around whenever there is music on. She will do something and always look at me after to see my reaction. She is such a spunky little thing.
- Holding still or being quiet- She hates sitting still and always has to be up doing something. She thinks watching TV is boring and will rarely sit for more than 5 or 10 minutes watching TV shows or cartoons. The ONLY movie she will watch start to finish is Tinkerbell and the Lost Treasure. Ava is very active and always wants to be outside playing in the grass or running around. Thats probably why she is such a great sleeper since she is really worn out when its time to go to bed.
Here is a pic of Ava the the doctor at her 18 month checkup. This was right before the shots. She wasn't very happy to be there. Maybe she knew what was about to happen.. BUt I still think she is absolutely adorable even when she frowns. :)
