The 2 Year Old Report....

It's so hard to think we have a 2 year old now. It makes me feel like we have been parents for a while and maybe we should know what we are doing by now...but I really don't think so! Ava continues to be quite the little drama queen. She loves to tease and fake you into thinking she is going to do something and then back out at the last moment.

Pass Times: She also loves to sing. The tunes you can recognize include "Twinkle, Twinkle", "Itsy, Bitsy Spider", "Alphabet Song", and "Rock-a-Bye Baby". She does pretty well at all the songs although they are quite rushed at times. She just exploded with the alphabet one day when I hadn't heard her say more than A,B,C in a row. She certainly loves anything to do with music, dancing, or singing. She also loves to count or anything with numbers. She can count up to 13.

Weight: 32 lbs 10 oz (90th percentile)

Height: 35 inches (80th percentile)

Food: Ava continues to be a great eater. She loves pretty much all food and has added another fruit to her list. She now loves grapes and asks for them several times a day. She regularly asks for pizza or cheeseburgers, although she never seems disappointed with an alternative that I make for supper. She isn't as great with the vegatables as she once was, but still loves green beans and broccoli.

Sleep: Ava usually sleeps from 8 or 8:30 pm until 7:30-8:00 am with about a 2-3 hour nap in the afternoons. We have no complaints in that department as she continues to be a great sleeper, although very light. If we are up really early, she typically wakes up too. If you are lucky, she may go back to sleep, but not always.

Language: It seems Ava is adding a few words to her vocabulary nearly every day. It is so amazing how quickly toddlers pick up what words mean. Many of her consonants are not correct at the beginning of words, but I'm sure that will come with time. One of her new words right now is "honey" which means "hungry". Imagine that...another word associated with food! She spends lots of time asking where Daddy is now. She usually talks about how "Daddy workin" or "Daddy bye bye truck" (Mommy is always bye bye car). She is so much more aware of what is going on now that it is hard to slip things past her.

Ava is just getting over her first sickness in a while. Last week, I took her to the doctor and she had an upper respitory infection and ear infection. She is sleeping great now and seems to be better. Hopefully, this isn't a sign of a long winter of sickness. I had forgotten how not fun it is to have a sick child!

Well...we enter the "terrible two's". Hopefully we will survive!

Ava turns 2!

Ava with her present from Mom & Dad Addie liked the kitchen too

With her birthday cupcake- complete with M&M's

The cake - looks professional, right?

Getting ready to sing Happy Birthday

With her new stroller from Aunt Shelly

Daddy and the birthday girl

Opening presents

Her new baby from Aunt Shelly

Playing with her cookie and sandwich set from Grandma Chris It seems like we just celebrated Ava's first birthday, and here it is her 2nd birthday already! Where does the time go? We started out the day with her hiding in our bedroom with me while Brad put her kitchen set together. We brought her out to see it in the living room and she was very excited. I had a hard time getting any pictures because she would not turn to look at me as she was way too busy trying out all the features. It seemed to be a hit, so that was exciting for us. We then started decorating the Minnie Mouse themed party. We told everyone to come for her party around 3:00 pm as she has been waking up from her naps lately by 3:30 or so. Well, not on her birthday. She was still sleeping hard at 4:15. Brad, Shelly, and I were talking right next to her in her crib, and she finally peeked an eye open, and then suddenly she was awake and smiling...great news for us! She came out of her room to be greeted by Grandpa and Grandma Sieve, Grandpa and Grandma VM, Jason, Shelly, Sam, Addison, Lori, James, Luke and Hannah (her sitter). We opened gifts first which Ava really had no interest in. She seemed to just mill around the room among all the people wondering what was going on. Luckily, Sam and Addie were able to take the reigns on gift opening and even added their own spin of emotion. She did join in for a little bit, but for the most part, she really didn't care until some of the gifts were opened and she could play with them. We had pulled pork sandwiches with salads for the meal because Ava loves any sandwiches like this and is also a big fan of grapes in the fruit salad. She did not eat any of her cupcake, but instead ate all the M&M's off the top and then asked for more. I did give her a scoop of ice cream which she polished off in short order. Overall, the party was fun and chaotic all at the same time. We were just happy she was in a better mood as she pretty much cried the whole time last year. It was great to have all the family and friends here for the festivities. Thanks everybody!

Halloween 2009 - Minnie Mouse

"Minnie Mouse" Trick-or-Treating Break at McDonald's

She really just loved her new shoes

Ava & Mom -before the dressing up We spent the day of Halloween getting ready for Ava's birthday party (as I am sure we always will from now on). When she got up from her nap, I attempted to put on her Halloween costume. At first, she was not thrilled. She asked me to take it off right away, and I hadn't even tried the headband yet. Well, I finally got her talked into the dress when I got out the shoes (she LOVES shoes). Then we had to offer an M&M (see previous post) for her to wear the headband which worked like a charm. We also gave her the Minnie Mouse stuffed animal she was holding which she affectionately refers to as "hotdog, hotdog". That is the theme song from Mickey Mouse Clubhouse cartoon, so that is what she calls Mickey and Minnie. This is the only cartoon she will watch and she asks for "hotdog, hotdog" several times a day. We headed out trick-or-treating and Ava didn't seem to get a lot out of it. She did ask for a cheeseburger and ice cream while we were riding around (the heck with candy-she wanted the good stuff). It was supper time, so we headed to McDonalds which was by far the highlight of the night for Ava. We didn't get any ice cream, but she was happy just eating her chicken nuggets. We hit a few more houses, and then headed home to get rested up for the birthday party the next day.

The M&M's and Grandma Chris Comes to Visit...

Ava with her beloved M&M's Grandma Chris & Ava

Practicing our "cheese" for professional pictures

Bath time fun

One of Ava's favorite things right now to ask for is "num a num's" (M&M's). She will ask for one (just one as I always prompt her) about 50 times a day. Usually, Daddy gives in after supper and gives her a couple. I have put them in a jar now, and I am amazed at how she can reach them way in the back of the shelf. She will do ANYTHING for an M&M which comes in handy sometimes. Ava also continues to ask to take baths or showers several times a day. She can now remove her shirt and pants to get herself ready for bathing. I've caught her a couple of times in our shower removing her shirt in the middle of the day. She is usually pretty good about giving it up when you tell her we'll do it later after supper.