Potty!

Last night Ava peed in the potty for the first time! It was just a little bit and she startled herself with her great and unexpected accomplishment, but it was a step in the right direction. I am not really working with her on it or even having her sit on the potty super often so this "first time" was very exciting. I still don't plan on really trying to get her trained right now but she's showing more and more signs of being really ready, which is cool.

Oh the things that I think are "cool" nowadays... haha!

Words, Words, Words

So Richard and I were making a list of all the words Ava can say now with some degree of regularity. Some are only understandable to us but most are pretty clear. I need to get some talking on video! Here's the list (with more being added daily!):

Mama, Dadda, BB, Sookie (neighbor's dog), I, you
cow, bird, cat, tiger
hi, please, thank you, no, nap, up, down, see yah, bye-bye, ni-night
more, water, snack, juice, cereal, cracker, milk, all done, all gone
eye, nose, ear, toes
kick, sit, rock, shake, beep
chair, book, vacuum, hat, glasses, shower, shoe, socks, diaper, keys, trash
oh shoot, yuck, good girl, uh oh, side (for outside & inside), whoa, gentle, sorry, stop it, watch out, hush (those last 3 are said to BB and Pancake)...

Not So Much a Baby Anymore

This post will make the most sense with pictures and captions but here are a few notes on what's new to start out with... First, Ava is 17 months old... WHAT!?!? How is this possible!? Second, I have started getting her familiar with the potty. We got her a little seat that fits on the regular toilet and I've been having her sit on it a few times a day; pretty much whenever I'm changing her diaper the old one comes off, she sits on the potty for 5 minutes or so, then a new diaper goes on. I just want her to get used to the idea of being on the potty for now. Third, a few days ago I realized that Ava hadn't played with anything in her toy box in a few days. She is not interested in those little things anymore. She is interested in whatever we are using/doing/interested in. She likes "helping" me sweep, checking the mail, pulling weeds, playing the recorder, etc. So on Memorial Day (since Richard was off work) we went to Topeka to go to the zoo and do some shopping. The zoo was awesome; most of the animals were active and clearly visible (not sleeping in the far corner hehe). After the zoo we went shopping and got a couple new toys for Ava: a little popper thing that she can push around, a toddler sized broom, and a mini vacuum that lights up and has sound. So cute! Fourth, we went to the pool today. The water was very cold but it was still fun. :) Okay, so here are the pics:She actually enjoys sitting on her little potty seat, as you can see.

Playing the recorder while relaxing on Pancake (best dog ever).

Face to face with a gorilla. What is she looking at in this picture, though? A little black bird that was hopping through the exhibit. "Bird!"

She kept roaring at the lions.

Yes, those are real flamingos. That's how close we were able to get! She really wanted to touch them.

Looking at the North American Black Bear with Daddy.

She fell asleep in Target, which was our last stop after the zoo, lunch, the mall, and Toys R Us.

Running around at the pool. She did not like the cold water but got used to it eventually.

Cutest little booty!

Helping me clean up with her new vacuum. She loves it! We are keeping it right next to the real one in the laundry room. (And her little broom is with our real broom and mop too.) Big girl!

GA Trip

Well it has obviously been far too long since my last update, so I have a lot of catching you up to do...

Our trip to GA was great! Ava flew like a champ both ways. It was great to see our families (and many other new things for Lil A). We went to Jordan's basketball game, a couple of Shane's baseball games, the Yellow River Game Ranch, and the park. We saw some horses and played on a playground. It was cool for Ava to finally see so many of the animals we have been reading about and making sounds for. :) She also got to play the piano and drums with Uncle Shane. It was a busy yet relaxing trip. Ava did so awesome despite being out of her usual schedule and surroundings. She played hard, slept great, ate okay (a little struggle with sudden pickiness there for a few days), and overall had a super fun time!

Flying

Ava and I are flying to Georgia in a couple weeks! I am super excited and can't wait for all the family to see how big and smart Ava is getting! (It'll have been six months since our last trip and Ava wasn't even walking yet last time we were there, so she is a whole different little person now.) I'm a little bit nervous about keeping little bug occupied and quiet on the plane for two hours, but I think she'll be okay. My friend Anne-Marie has flown a few times with her son Carter (who is two weeks younger than Ava) and she gave me some flying-with-a-baby tips after coming back from her most recent trip a couple weeks ago. I plan on feeding Ava a whole meal, coloring with her new crayons and coloring book, reading books, and people watching. Hopefully that will fill plenty of time without her throwing a fit wanting to get down off my lap and walk around. Miss Independent doesn't really want to sit on my lap much anymore unless we're reading so we'll see how it goes. :)

Any more advice on flying with a 15 month old would be much appreciated!

Videos Finally

2/27/10 - stomping & pups wrestling

2/27/10 - uh oh, snake, & sitting on Pancake

3/8/10 - animal sounds, body parts, "so big!"

3/8/10 - peekaboo, "so big!" & uh oh

Little Mirror

Ava is really starting to imitate me now. She is really like a little mirror. For example, when either of us have an "uh-oh" moment I often widen my eyes, cover my mouth, and gasp a little... Well she is doing that very same thing now. If she "drops" (aka throws) something off of her highchair she will gasp, cover her mouth with one tiny hand, and look at me with big wide eyes and say "uh-oh!" It's so amazing! And it is showing me quite clearly that she will learn how to react to almost every kind of situation FROM ME... talk about a huge resposibility!

In other news, we have reached another little milestone. For a couple months I have only been giving Ava her paci during naps and bedtime. Well for about the last week, she has been 100% paci-free! She gave it up so much easier than I had anticipated, too! I decided to try it one afternoon for a nap. I needed to take a shower and it was coming up on her usual nap time, so I just put her in her crib with a couple books to see what she'd do. (I pretty much expected her to read her books for a bit and then get fussy when she got tired of them.) Well when I got out of the shower I peeked in on her and she was just lying there (not asleep) kind of talking to herself. So as I got dressed and everything I kept an ear out for her and before I knew it she was asleep! So I tried it for the next nap, and then bedtime, and now here we are - she never even seemed to miss it. I guess she was just"ready" to give it up. And I had been dreading what I thought was going to be a battle to ban the paci!
Well I know I need to get some more videos on here.... I will try to capture some good stuff within the next week or so. :)