Little Lins!

Hello! Our little Ava is now 119 weeks old!!!

Our week started off with a much anticipated trip to the Farmer’s Market. Here is Ava feeding Dada some tamales. She accidentally fed herself a bite and Dan screamed ‘No Ava. It’s spicy’. She spit it out as quick as a lightening bolt and saved her taste buds from the fiery inferno. Close one.

We picked up everything off our list: strawberries, blueberries and oranges. But Ava refused to leave until we bought some flowers. Kids and their routines. So she picked out these yellow pom-pom flowers that need no water. Good pick Ava. No water and no wilting. Perfect.

After the market, it was time to pick out a dress. A party dress. Poor Ava has no clothes. Nothing to wear. Yeah right! This girl has more dresses than anyone I know… put together.

Then we were off to Sal’s birthday party… to celebrate his big day with him and bubbles.

And sand castle making with Nicole.

And a birthday cake with Ava’s favorite fruit… strawberries.

After the sugar was well into their systems, it was time to run and run and run…

… away from the Diego Monster. AHHHH!!!!!

Back at home, I’ve started to make smoothies every morning. And I am not the only who thinks they are delicious. I can barely get a sip because Ava is constantly saying ‘my turn’ as soon as I take the cup from her.

What? I would NEVER do that! Or would I? Hehe.

At school, we found Ava asleep this week. Shirt up. Hand on belly. Dada style. Hehe. And shoes on too!

Also this week, Ava has been calling herself Aba. She has replaced all the V’s with B’s. And she is totally doing it on purpose. Because when I ask her to say her name she does and then immediately says Aba and giggles. Ava is also playing a lot more pretend games too. Pretending she has a turtle in her hand and we need to pet it. Pretending to cover up Dada with a ‘blanket’ that is a piece of paper. It is so great to see her using her imagination.

Swim lesson #3 was great this week. Here are Ava and I listening to the teacher’s instructions.

We practiced with the kick board a lot but Ava refused to hold it near the top most of the time.

And I had to dunk her under the water quiet a few times again but I wasn’t as bad as last time.

Our family and Grace’s family have been swapping dinner nights… which means dress up time for the ladies.

We have a BIG milestone to report. This picture sucks but it really did happen. Ava jumped! With two feet off of the ground. At the same time!!! YEAH!!!! It must of been her new ‘tenny’ shoes. They are magic shoes.

On Thursday, Ava showed up at ‘Nona’s house’. Hey Deets, do you know why I am here?

Do you know why I am picking flowers?

It’s my Nona’s birthday! Yeah!! More party time for me!!

Here are Deets and Ava decorating the cake with the letters totally out of order… Ava style.

Happy Birthday Nona Estera!!

Nathan and Ava had a chance to blow out the candles once Nona had her turn. Much to their delight.

And there was singing…

… and guitar listening too. Hey Deets, are you for hire?

Pajamas are on. Time to say good night. Bye!

Here is your chance to check out Ava on the dance floor. Watch her first dance with Dada. Watch her show off her “tights”. Watch her enter a spinning competition… and then watch her have a head-on collision with the Bride and Groom’s wedding table. Hehe.

Hi. I’m Ava and here is the long overdue wedding post. It’s about time Mama!

Here I am with my Mama. I just woke up from a nap… so my face wasn’t ready to smile just yet. Wake up face!

There were a lot of people there so I was pretty shy. Deets, stop making fun of me.

I got to meet my cousin Chris for the very first time. Not sure how he looks like though. Didn’t look up. Yup, still shy.

Thanks Mickey for inviting me to your wedding but I am being shy right now. Go get married or something.

The wedding ceremony should be starting any moment now. How I wish I had brought some toys with me.

What? Dida brought his cell and I wasn’t allowed to bring my princess cell phone. Not fair!

Oh no. Did I forget to put on deodorant this morning? Whoops.

Oh look, the wedding is starting.

Every time the announcer says Olivia, I look for her but I don’t see Olivia. That’s strange. But here is Livi. She was a princess today. Lucky.

Oh thank the Lord for my Mama and her diaper bag of tricks. This is more like it.

After the ceremony, I was still a little shy.

That is, until someone started feeding me strawberries.

I love strawberries and I love whoever wants to feed them to me.

Once we got inside the reception room, I fell deeper in love… with the dance floor. Don’t worry. My other leg was just dancing in my dress.

Check me out. I am tearing up the dance floor.

My favorite dance moves of the evening were being a bell, ding dong…

… and dips…

… and spins.

But my very favorite dance of the evening was the Chicken Dance. Hehe.

After a few more dances, I was wiped out. Time for plan B.

Cake! Sugar high! Onguard Deets!!!

I wasn’t the only one that had a little too much sugar. Out of no where, Dada started to sing. Bon Jovi. LOUD!

So so embarrassing Dada!!

Was this wedding just a dream? I hope not because it was… wait for it… awesome!

Our little monster is now 111 weeks old. I keep forgetting to mention that Ava got the last of her molars sometime around her 2nd birthday. Now she has all her baby teeth in. See?

Ava was a little sad in daycare this week. According to her teachers, she cried for me after waking up from nap time most of the week . When I asked her what was wrong, she said her stomach hurt. Poor thing. By the end of the week, she seemed in better spirits. Check out those yogurt fingers and that custom paint job on her dress.

What a mess! I love how that yellow block on the floor looks like Dan has a snaggletooth. Yeah yeah. I know it’s only funny to me.

Our weekend started with a trip to the farmer’s market. Ava had a butterfly print dress on during our visit. Out of nowhere, Ava said ‘I want to fly high in the sky’. Dan and I both giggled and eventually made her wish come true. Hehe. I retold that story to Deets and Carrie over the weekend and Ava turned to me and gave me a ‘Oh Mom’ look. I think I embarrassed her. You think that’s embarrassing, Ava? Just wait until you read this blog yourself. And once again I apologize for the first dump picture. Pas kaka!

We were on a mission to buy the prettiest flowers we could find for the floral arrangements we were in charge of at Livi’s bridal shower.

These will do just fine.

Yeah! We found the prettiest flowers in the whole market! Now we can go to Nona’s house!!

One of Ava’s favorite things to do at Nona and Dida’s house is to look at photo albums. She especially loves pointing out pictures of baby Ava.

She also likes playing Ring Around the Rosie with Nona Estera and Nona Dinka.

Ava had some stomach trouble on Saturday (aka the cha-cha-chas) and it messed with her nap. So Deets and I took her down to the duck pond since it was such a nice day.

We threw bread at the ducks and geese.

Posed with flowers behind our ears.

And said hello up close to a new goose in town. Quack quack.

By the end of the day, no nap Ava was a disaster. She was fighting with Nathan and she refused to eat much at dinner so we threw out our hopes of visiting the red trolley car and water fountains that night.

The next day was bridal shower day and Ava had a nice long nap but someone else didn’t.

Ava had so much fun with Nathan. They were running around like crazy together. Here they are laughing at their echoing voices in the bathroom.

And laughing while playing every instrument Deets had in his room.

I somehow forgot to take actual bridal shower pictures so this will have to do. Here is Ava eating pasta as Nathan and Teta Mary watch in amazement.

And here is Ava with her Nona Vinka. Oh pregnancy brain!

And here is what happens when you have had a long day. Deets and Nona pretending their knees are their feet while singing some silly song. I love the expression on Ava’s face… and her tippie toes.

Back at home, our potty training isn’t going so well. Ava tried wearing underwear one evening before bedtime. I kept asking her if she needed to use the restroom. Like every 2 minutes. No joke. She insisted that she didn’t need to use the toilet but asked if she can use the bucket. What is this? Komiža?? A few seconds later, there was a tiny puddle under her. Ahhh.

Also this week, her Little Red Riding Hood obsession is back in full swing. For some reason, she called the wolf  ‘Nona vuk’ (Nona wolf) and the ax carrying man ‘Deets’ a few times.

And if you have ever been to our house while Ava and Grace are playing, you know that this tent means that the Dada monster is coming. There was no Grace play date this week so I was in charge of being the Mama monster.

And I was pretty scary, if I don’t say so myself.

The rains this week also brought out the slugs. Ava got a chance to see her very first one. And of course, we posed her with it. I wonder what our neighbors were thinking at this moment?

Okay. That’s it. Go away blog reading monster. And have a nice weekend. Bye!

Our little cookie monster is now 109 weeks old. Yum yum yum yum.

Friday was Valentine’s Day at school. And someone was very excited to show off her Dora and Diego lollipop cards.

At pick-up time, it was party time. We caught Ava in the middle of the party, enjoying her Cheetos and Juicy Juice.

Ava was very proud of all of the loot she received… and I obviously had problems keeping the camera steady. Doh.

Over the weekend, we went down south to get Nona’s house messy with paint supplies.

And to spend time with her cousin Nathan. Here they are blowing bubbles on the porch…

…and coloring fire trucks together.

Back at her grandparent’s house, Ava got the chance to make cookies in her baker’s outfit.

And yes, your eyes are not deceiving you. Ava baked cookies with her DIDA!?!

Ava was more than excited as you can see.

We also got a chance to visit with all of her great grandparents… and play cars.

The reason for the visit down south was to celebrate my aunt and uncle’s 40th wedding anniversary.

Ava and Nathan had a blast putting on more than enough chapstick.

Nathan introduced Ava to the art of smelling a wine cork.

She thought he was silly.

The dinner went a little past their bedtime so Deets tried to help them stay awake with an Elmo story.

But as soon as the story ended, they started melting away.

And becoming more and more delirious.

They were so delirious that Ava didn’t even mind all of Nathan’s hugs.

Ava spent the remainder of the week feeling a little sick. She puked a little here… a little there…  and a lot all over me… out in public at lunch. Thank goodness she had a belly full of lemonade only. So that’s all of this post. Ava is tired. And I am too. So have a nice weekend. Bye!

Last month during Ava’s birthday party, you might of noticed not one, but two owl cakes.

We had a local bakery make this one and decorate with the same owl as her party decor.

But Dan and I also made this one from scratch. We searched through tons of photos on flickr for an owl cake that inspired us.

Dan actually did most of the work. I was the ‘feather’ decorator.

The eyes were dried pineapples with dark chocolate M&Ms pupils. The nose was an almond.

The wings were a mixture of vanilla and chocolate frosting so they would stand out. The feathers were almond slices. And the feet? Oops. We forgot the feet. Sorry Mr. Owl.

Our little baby Ava is no longer a baby. She is now 2 years old! Where has the time gone?!?

The days leading up to Ava’s birthday was full of singing and practice blowing too. She was so excited for her ‘owl birthday party’.

She spent the day helping us decorate and made multiple trips to visit Birdy. I hope Uncle Buddy wasn’t too jealous.

And after her afternoon nap, it was party time! She was so shy at first. She buried her head into my neck and would not look up. Not even for her long awaited owls.

Slowly but surely, she started to warm up to her visitors. Here are her great-grandmothers trying to get Ava to smile for them.

But as soon her little guests appeared, she was in full party mode.

And paid very little attention to the big guests.

We didn’t have any official games for the kids at the birthday party. They were more than content playing with balloons, party hats… and shrieking because Dada’s beer was sooooo cold.

And then a miracle happened after dinner. They all sat down on the couch and read books. Quietly. Told you! A miracle.

After the reading miracle, it was time to get this party started again… with CAKE TIME!

She did much better with the singing this year. No hiding from the singers. But she did have a little trouble blowing out her candles. I thinks she was trying to blow them both out at the same time by blowing in between them. Hehe. I guess we should of practiced with two candles instead of just one earlier in the week.

The ladies could not wait for cake. They were both caught red-handed while we were taking family photos.

Hurry. Hurry. Hurry.

FINALLY!!!!!!!!!!

As the guests started to leave, Ava sat on the couch, took her owl’s wing and made it play the piano for her. It was adorable.

The night ended with a story about a baby owl who’s parents make him stay up all night, against his wishes… because he is an owl, of course.

On Monday, it was Ava’s actual birthday. She woke up in a great mood and insisted on wearing her new Deets shoes… which she continued to wear all week long.

And here is Ava’s very first picture as a two year old. As we were picking her up from daycare, she was seated at the head of the table with all of her friends, waiting for cake, with her special birthday girl crown.

And just as she did during her party, Ava stuck her finger in the cake moments before it was going to be served.

Yum yum yum.

I asked Ava what she wanted to do today. It was her choice. But she just stared at me blankly. I had never asked her that before and she was speechless. So we took the liberty on deciding for her. We took a leisurely stroll around the block and played with all of her new toys and dresses.

Ava was really into her birthday this year. Not sure who she got that from? And we were scared that she would be disappointed that it was over. But that never really happened. She was probably distracted with her new toys and playing in a band with her Dada. When she plays the piano by herself, she says ‘Ava piano kao (like) Deets’. Yes, Ava… just like Deets.

Ava also is hitting us less and less these days. Thank god. That goes along with pinching and slapping too. So I am not sure what we were thinking when we introduced boxing gloves to her. Think Mama. Think!

Ava has had some sleeping trouble since we have been home. There was a sprinkle of it here and there while at my parents and in the Airstream but not nearly as bad as at home this week. I get her dressed in pajamas and let her choose her sleeping companion and say good-night. Within minutes, she starts screaming. No I don’t want to sleep with my prairie doggy, I want Boots. Okay. Then more crying minutes later. I want my sleeping bag on. Repeat. I want the door open. Repeat. I have boogers all over my face from crying. Repeat. After one night of this and her puffy eyes in the morning (as you can see below) , I needed to change our game plan. So now, she can only sleep with her prairie doggy. All others have been banished. She gets to wear her coconut (that’s polka-dot in Ava speak) pajamas and the sleeping bag only if we are not in our current summertime in the wintertime mode. And her door is to stay closed until her Dada is done working for the night. No exceptions. And by golly, it worked. So far.

Time for Ava’s funny sayings of the week. I forgot to mention in the picture above that she is starting to stick her hand out and say ‘wait’. If we are walking together, she does this so she can get a head start or something. She also insists that we skip-to-my-lou by saying skip-balloons. And one that she has been doing for a while is saying baby with a southern drawl. Bay-beeeee. It’s adorable.

And the very funniest one of the week happened the night before her birthday party. Dan was playing with Ava by trying her catch her as if she was a big fish. After he caught her, he said ‘I got a big one’. Ava immediately stood on her two feet, lifted her shirt up and screamed ‘I gotta big one’!! LOL! Yes, Ava. You have a big belly but a cute one at that.

Okay. It’s time to put on her Cinderella dress for the 162,195,875th time of the week. Bye!