Done?, Airport Trip, Testing

After my wonderous hospital experience I had a couple days of stomach turmoil and yuckiness but now... I think... I might be done with the morning sickness phase!?!?!! About the last four days I have been HUNGRY and eating like a champ. I feel a tad bit queasy at night still but it is barely noticeable. I even worked out a couple days ago and went for a neighborhood walk last night; it was amazing. It was so awesome to have my dear friend Meredith here for almost a week too. She was an immense help with Lil A and the pups when I was feeling bad, and then we were able to play and have fun when I magically felt good all of a sudden. Ava and I took Mere back to the airport and kind of made a day of the trip. I took a bunch of books for the ride and when we stopped in Topeka on the way I got her a new book and a See 'n Say that spins and makes a bunch of animal sounds. We had lunch and Ava got some playground time in the mall on the way. We stopped in Topeka on the way back, too, for an early supper and a little leg stretching. 2+ hours each way is a long time for a 20 month old to endure the carseat. She gets genuinely bored now (and probably uncomfortable sitting in the seat for so long). Long gone are the days of sleeping peacefully for hours straight on our road trips. Makes the idea of our upcoming winter road trip to GA seem like a very daunting task right now.
Anyway, I am loving this stage in Ava's life. She is SO smart and constantly learning and trying to figure out new things. Everywhere we go she is pointing at things, identifying them or wanting to. I think she pointed out every boy and girl at the mall today. We saw one little boy carrying a sippy cup and Ava said "Boy!" followed by "cup" and then "juice please." She is making so many connections, it's crazy. She has also started testing me a little more in the last few days. For example, her recorder and tamborine were on the kitchen floor and she walked over and stood on her tamborine with both feet. I said, "Ava, you don't need to step on your tamborine. You might break it. Don't step on your tamborine." She looked at me and lightly stepped on it with one foot. I said, "Ava, you need to listen to Mama. I said not to step on your tamborine. Look at me. If you step on it again you will get a spankin because you're not listening." So she stood there for a second and then lightly stepped on the recorder instead. Seriously!? "Ava, you don't need to step on your tamborine or your recorder. We don't step on our toys because we might break them." She stood there another few seconds and then very slowly and lightly touched her foot to the tamborine again. So she got a little spankin, cried it out for a minute, and then moved on. Lesson learned: Mama means business and she really will do what she says. I really need to listen. CONSISTENCY IS THE KEY! (No matter where we are or what we're doing.)