Ava & Mila

Hello there! Our little Ava is now 2.5 years old!! Yup, that’s also 30 months… or 130 weeks old. SAY WHAT?

At the exact minute Ava turned 2.5 years old, she was totally not napping. I slowly sneaked into her room to take a picture, ninja style, but she was already awake. Coughing her lungs out. Poor thing. She was sick for 10 days and had a fever for 5. This is her reacting to me drawing up her shades. Mama, that’s too bright!

On Friday, it was Dan’s birthday. As soon as Ava woke up, she went looking for Dada’s card so he could open it right away.

She finally found him sleeping on the couch. (No, I did not kick him out of bed on his birthday… when Ava has trouble breathing, she sleeps with me in my room so I can keep an eye on her and have her sleep safely with all the windows open. Which means no room for Dada.) She kept repeating ‘Open it, Dada‘. This was no ordinary birthday card. It was a singing card. A Dora singing card and she couldn’t get enough of it. ♫It’s someone’s special day! It’s someone’s special day!♫

Since Dada was awake bright and early (not by choice), we headed out for breakfast… and castle making.

At home, we had a lot of things to do. We were throwing a little party for Dan the following day and had a lot of things to check off the list. Good thing I just bought this water color set. It kept Ava occupied for a good portion of the day.

She seriously ended up making at least twenty painting for Dada’s birthday.

And when painting got boring, she watched an animal parade. That’s her new thing. Lining things up in rows.

Before long, we had a visitor… with a serious case of sweet tooth. Much to our delight, of course. Here are Ava and Nicole making CUPCAKES!

And here are Ava and Nicole making a MESS!

Yum!

For dinner, the four of us headed to our most favorite sushi spot in town, Sushi Marina. They were kind enough to bring out a special scoop of green tea ice cream for Dan. After helping him blow out the candle, Ava moved the ice cream in front of her and kept telling me to take ‘small bites‘ and said ‘you’re all done‘ and ‘I’m going to eat it all, okay?‘ quiet a few times. That’s my girl!!!

Oh. And she used chopsticks for the first time and actually got food in her mouth. The silly thing is, she kept calling them ‘fish sticks‘. Hehe

On Saturday, Ava was super excited. Not only was it Dan’s party. It was Dan’s DORA party!!! After her nap, she woke up ready to go. She stuck a special birthday boy ribbon on Dada that said ‘Shining Star’ and made us all wear party hats.

Look at me. I’m ready to party!

She was so excited to show her friend Grace all of the party decorations… especially her new picnic table.

Hey where is everyone? Ummm, not on our dead grass.

Oh here they are. Hello everyone!

Ava had lots of fun playing outside on her rocker…

…crawling through tunnels and on wagons…

…and cruising with her bike gang.

And when she was inside of the house, she could not stop screaming for Deets to come into her room… so he can become the Deets Monster. Silly girls.

And before long, it was Ava’s favorite part of the party. The cake.

The Dora ice cream cake!!!

Happy Birthday, Dada Dan!!

The cake was a great success. You can tell by Ava’s ‘take the damn picture already’ smile… and by the other kids totally ignoring me.

For the rest of the week, Ava played Dan’s singing card and made sure Yoda knew all about it too.

On Monday morning, her fever was gone so we sent her back to school. Bad idea. Ava woke up from her nap with a fever, a peepee accident and apparently from a nightmare. When we walked into her classroom, she was sitting at the table with her bottom lip out and tears running down her face. It seriously broke my heart.

Look at my little munchkin. She was so sad. I kept asking her what was so scary. She didn’t want to say. So I asked her if she had her school bus driving too fast nightmare again. She said no. I asked her if she saw monsters. She said no. I asked her if Mama left her. And she said yes. There goes my heart again. Broken.

I kept Ava home a couple more days this week. Poor thing didn’t want to eat anything. Not even soup. Her favorite. But I had a trick up my sleeve. Smoothie popsicles. And did it work?

You betcha! She helped me make them too. Fresh strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, yogurt and apple juice. Yum.

Since she was sick, we just hung out at home all week. I placed her in the crib to see what she would do. She made sure to tell me that this was for baby and that she was a big girl who sleeps in a big girl bed.

We played grocery store a lot.

And when the toys in the house got boring, we went into the playroom… our Airstream.

On Thursday, she was finally back to her old self. We made a quick trip to the mall… where she insisted on sitting at a ‘curica stol’ (little girl table), next to our table. No high chairs today.

And we finally made it outside for some of this. Can you guess?

A bike ride! YEAH!! Have a fabulous weekend! BYE!!!!

Hello! Our little Ava is now 114 weeks old! Yippee!!

Every week, I try to remember to take some close-ups of Ava for the start of her weekly posts. These days, I tend to remember to take them on Thursdays, the last day of her week, just as the sun is setting. My memory might be fading quick but at least I am remembering during the best light of the day. Usually Ava is happy to comply with my cheese wishes, but not this week. This week I got lots of ‘gotovo’ (all done)…

… and ‘no more Mama’…

… and some faces that were worth a million words. Okay Ava, I’ll stop.

Over the weekend, the girls had a playdate. Here they are admiring Flippy the Frog.

And as always, they enjoyed some dress up time.

Boy were they excited to take a bath together. It’s been a long while since they got to do this. It was so cute to watch them both ‘swimming’ in the tub, completely covered in bubbles except for their tushes. Hehe. But what wasn’t so cute was to try to have them sleep in the same room for a mini sleepover while the grown-ups hung out.

Also this week, Ava has been continuing with her fake reading. Here she is getting ready to read Snow White. As soon as she turns to a page with the witch, she flips to the next one like her hands are on fire. That is one scary witch Snow White has to deal with.

On our daily walks, I am trying to slowly introduce to Ava the notion that there will be 4 of us in the near future. So instead of picking out just three objects and labeling them as Dada, Mama and Ava… now she needs to pick one out for Baby too.

When the great outdoors and our house get too boooooring for Ava, she requests that we go into the Airstream. I have a feeling she thinks this is her own personal playroom. Tea anyone?

Ahhhh. Look at this sweet toddler hugging her doll. Isn’t she sweet? Well, guess what?? This sweet little toddler started talking in a new possessed voice this week. And it kinda freaks me out! Someone splash some holy water on her. QUICK.

Dan and I both got long overdue haircuts this week. Dan went to a fancy smancy salon our bathroom and shaved his head himself.  Not me. I need some pampering every once in awhile. Dan and Ava were kind enough to join me in Santa Barbara for the occasion. Here they are waiting patiently for me to finish.

Usually Ava takes a walk down the street with Dada and they end up paying way to much for some show at the Arlington. But not this time. This time, Ava discovered their tea cups and saucers so they had a 45 minute tea party instead. Lucky Dada!

Afterward, we headed to my favorite restaurant in town for some pasta and garlic bread. To our disappointment, the prices went up and the quality went down. WHY LORD? WHY!!!! So, after praying for a glitch in the universe, we also went to a water fountain to solidify our wishes. Ready?

Oops. I need money Mama. Pay up!

Make a wish. Boom!!

While taking the long way home to admire the sun setting over the Pacific, Ava cried from the back seat of the car. ‘More, pjesak’ (ocean, sand). She didn’t have to ask twice. We found the perfect parking spot at East Beach and enjoyed the sunset together.

Ava not only enjoyed picking up all the sticks she could find, but also enjoyed the silly footprints made by the seagulls.

School is going great… except for one small thing. Ava started to say the word ‘chonies’ instead of underwear. I guess her first slang word was going to come eventually. I just didn’t expect it to come so quick. She is growing too fast! (Oh boy. I just sounded like Dan.)

Ava is starting to sing more and more. Not as much as some other Mama Mia obbessed kids but alot more for her standards. She sings the theme songs to the Wonder Pets, Dora and the Mickey Mouse Club House now… and songs that come out of her Dora radio. She has also started humming this week too. Mostly Jingle Bells.

We’ve been having more playdates with Grace it seems. Probably because we are taking turns with dinner nights. What a fantastic idea for us cooks. Hehe. So Ava and Grace get to play their hearts out… until one of them starts melting of course. Here they are on Grace’s princess slide…

… which ended up being the fastest slide I have ever seen in my whole life. It went so fast that I couldn’t take a clear picture of Ava. Hehe. They sure didn’t mind the speed.

Kids plus bubbles always equals a big mess. And today was no exception. Here she is showing off her bubble blowing skills to Molly. Notice no bubbles and all the drips on the floor?

Ava also got to pet Grace’s cat, Lola, for the first time. I think she was a little surprised that Lola didn’t run away like Yoda does. I think they were both happy with the petting time.

Here I am asking Ava to give me a thumbs up. This one?

Show me again.

I did it! Yeah!! Have a nice weekend everyone. Thanks for stopping by!!!!!

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!

Ava loves to ride the rocking horse at day care. When she starts rocking you think she’s gonna fling herself right off of the saddle! Here is a little video of her riding one day last week when we went to go pick her up in the afternoon. Check out the hairdo!

Peek-a-boo. Ava is now 68 weeks old!

Ava’s week started off with a couple vaccinations in her thighs. She screamed ‘babababababa’ for a few seconds but recuperated pretty quickly once she saw that her band-aids complemented her outfit quite nicely.

Ava is not one to hold grudges. The very next morning, she started to blow kisses to us from her car seat. It must of been part of Friday’s lesson plan. Here is her kiss action shot just after she says bye-bye. On Monday during daycare pick up, most of the kids were blowing kisses to us as we left the room. Too cute.

At home, Ava started placing her sheep on her bike seat…

…and giving it a tour around the living room.

She also started to make a lot more silly faces, which never fails to crack us up.

In the kitchen, Ava likes to lean against the oven door and bump it with her behind. My little troublemaker.

Over the weekend, we ventured to the local park. Ava tolerates the swings for a minute or so now…

…but still thinks they are boooooring. Not me. Swings are fun. Weeee.

Forget the swings. Slides are way more fun for Ava, especially with her buddy Grace.

Go Grace!

Go Ava!

Ava still really enjoys playing with the neighbor’s cats.

She doesn’t need to try too hard to get their attention.

And having them both there at the same time was a real treat.

Speaking of cats, we bought Yoda a new bed which she happens to think is possessed by the devil. But not Ava. Ava loves dragging it off of the couch and using it as a seat as she plays with Tad and his barn. A duck cow?

And when she is not using it as a seat, Ava uses it as her boat. No, I did not set up this shot. This was all Ava. Fantastic, right? If you don’t have an Ava in your life, you better put your order in now. They sell fast!

Ok. Now for the new words of the week. One of Ava’s new words is shoes. Well, it doesn’t come out sounding exactly like shoes. She pronounces it as choose. As soon as she wakes up, she lifts her pajama covered feet and repeats choose over and over again. Hehe. She also is saying Nana a bunch too. Not sure what it means. I mention Nona and banana when she says it but I don’t get a positive response back so hopefully that mystery will be solved soon so we can add it to her word list.

And next of the list is Elmo and cracker. Ava doesn’t have an Elmo doll or watch cartoons but gets to see him everyday during her diaper changes. And cracker came out of left field and made our day. It sounds like quack-er. I’m giggling now just thinking about it.

One of Ava’s new traits that popped up this week is a slight case of the whines. Not sure if this is part of the terrible twos you hear about or just a little fussiness from her shots early in the week.. We are trying to not react to her when she does this and are hoping that it will pass as quickly as it showed up. Sounds naive, i know, but we believe in tiny miracles.

So here is proof of her whining. Someone became upset when I removed the scrunchie she got at school out of her hair. Ignoring her whining is pretty difficult when you are fighting a smile. This picture reminds me of my seventh grade class photo. I said seventh grade, not sixth grade. Stop giggling. I said stop.

Ava still loves our daily routine of feeding the hummingbirds. She is in charge of holding the bucket of food for me as we walk from the back porch to the aviary. Here she is on the morning we set our third baby of the season free. Oh, and another new trick this week is that Ava started making smacking sounds when you ask her if she is hungry or ask her to help feed the animals.

Do you know what the worst part of never carrying cash in your wallet is? When your kid wants to ride on the mini-carousal and you don’t have any quarters for it and she has to sit still in a duck as you repeat sorry to her over and over again. Oh, and by the way, this thing would of cost us four quarters. One whole dollar! Geez, I didn’t even spend that much to play Dragon’s Lair. And Dragon’s Lair was fancy. And I’m old. And no one knows what I am talking about. Just pretend this paragraph ended at ‘One whole dollar!’.

Want to know why Ava sitting on some other kid’s blankie while reading a book is funny?

Because everyone else in her class was dancing at that moment.

I don’t have all the facts yet but I think Ava might have a tiny crush on Max.

Dan’s freaked out by this new development so he brought out the trailer and is going to get Ava’s mind off of Max with a weekend far away from him. Good try Dan. Good try.

At 14 weeks old, drooling on her hands and lifting her dress are some of Ava’s favorite pastimes. She is still trying to grab things. She has attempted a few times to reach for toys but then quickly shoves her hands into her mouth instead. I tried to tempt her with a giraffe here but she would rather have her hands free to spread drool all over her face.

Ava is also starting to get startled every once in awhile…

But it quickly turns into a smile.

We also had a few visitors stop by to smile with Ava. Nicole and Mikey stopped by my parents house before going to celebrate Sal’s birthday.

And Great Grandma Vinka and Ava had some snuggle time.

Great Grandma Dinka spent the night and Ava wanted to show her how well she stands.

Ava really enjoys standing. Her entire mood can change in an instant if you lift her up. She stiffens up like a board and gets really excited when she stands.

In addition to standing, she still loves taking baths. She is really starting to splash with her legs. I couldn’t resist making her look like an ice cream cone during this bath.

And now that she can support her head, we have Ava face out during our baby bjorn walks. We just have to be careful of the sun getting into her eyes.

Ava is also outgrowing her bassinet so we need start transitioning her to the crib. Here she is during her first test nap, which didn’t last long because she wasn’t swaddled and Dan and I were peeking at her every few minutes. Our squeaky floors woke her up.

So, daycare is getting better for Ava and for us. She is starting to talk more there and to smile for her teachers. They do lots of things there to keep her occupied and learning. Like touching ice and playing peek-a-boo. Check her out in the buggy strolling the hallways with her classmates. I guess Ava called shotgun first. hehe.

She also painted for the first time there… and some got on her shirt.

And here is her masterpiece. Don’t be jealous.

This past Monday was Ava’s official first day in school as Marlene and I headed back to the 8-5 grind. She is still getting use to it and the teachers are getting to know her better everyday. Marlene is at first working half day from home so we get to pick her up at lunch to bring her home. She was the youngest there on her first day but by Wednesday, we already have a little 2 month old there to be her friend.