2 YEARS OLD!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, AVA! It seems like yesterday we were at the hospital welcoming you into the world. Boy, has the last two years flown by! You are the light of our lives and we are so thankful for you.

Today for your birthday, Mommy took the day off work to spend with you. When you woke up I kept staying "BIRTHDAY GIRL!" You thought that was hilarious. We watched your favorite cartoons in the morning and played and colored for awhile. You finally let me get you dressed and we went to the park to play. You wanted to swing a lot today, but weren't interested in the slides. After the park, we went to have lunch at Panera. You had Macaroni and Cheese and kept saying "mmmm.... nummy, Mommy!" You loved it! After we had lunch, we went to take lunch to Daddy at work. You were excited to see him. Then you and I went across the street to the river where we fed the ducks and geese. We were standing really close to them and you were running around chasing them. The geese must have gotten sick of us because all of a sudden three or four of them took off in flight and went right over our heads. It scared me, so I grabbed you and ran to the car. The rest of the day you kept saying "duckies, scary!" We went home after that and you took a nap. Daddy brought home Pita Pit for supper and then you opened your gifts. We got you a Barbie Power Wheels Jeep a while back that was part of your birthday. Today you received a pretend makeup/hairstyling kit, 2 outfits, jammies, finger paints and paper, and bedding for your new big girl bed.



At 2 years Ava weighs 37 lbs (99%) and is 37 inches (99%).

At 2 years Ava is a non-stop talker. We can understand about 75% of what she says. I am often time baffled by the things that she knows and remembers. The few weeks ago we were reading an animal book and we came to the page with the skunk. She says, "Skunk, stinky." Then with the page with the bats, she says "scary bat!"

Ava wears her heart on her sleeve. If she is happy, you see or hear it in her smile and laughter. If she is upset, you see it in her big crocodile tears. She is also extremely sensitive. If you tell her not to do something, she puts her head down and acts extremely sad. I'm going to have to be careful how I say things to her so that it doesn't hurt her feelings. I think she is like me in that sense, I tend to get my feelings hurt easily as well. Maybe its a girl thing?

Ava is a very good sleeper, usually at least 11 hours a night. She has been a little bit harder to get down for a nap lately, but still takes one around 1 1/2-3 hours. Bed time at night is pretty easy, but she doesn't go right to sleep like she used to. Ava tends to lay in her crib for up to an hour singing and reading books to herself. We've been considering moving her to a twin bed and will work on getting a "big girl" room ready for her in the next couple of months. She often likes to take a nap in what she calls "Nana's room" (guest room).

She continues to love bath time, playing at the park, her dolls, and playing with her kitchen. She's also developed a love for trains, trucks, and buses. Ava is also very attached to her "blank" as she calls it (her blankie). Her favorite "blank" is pink with a silky brown back and silky pink edging. She loves the ones with the silky part.

Ava also continues to have a love for music. We go to Kindermusik on Monday nights and she has so much fun doing the dances and playing the instruments. Her favorite songs are "ABC's", "Row Row", "Twinkle", "Puppy" and "Happy". She can sing along to quite a bit of these songs, or at least hum along. I'm so glad she has developed my love for music! Is it too early to sign up for singing lessons?!