Cousins... Then and Now

21 Months (A Little Behind)

What in the world, where did time go? How is it possible that my tiny little 7lb 6oz newborn is now a 30lb & 33.5 inches 21 month old. My mom sent me a video the other day of Ava Kate where she is probably around 6 months old and as I watched it I got so emotional realizing my baby is not a baby anymore, she is a full blown toddler. It is so strange how you want them to stay little forever but at the same time you love every new stage and look forward to the next one. She is getting so verbal now, saying new things and putting sentences together everyday. She is repeating just about everything we say to her now. She seems to be much happier now that she can really communicate with us and tell us what she wants or needs. There was a period from about 14months-19 months where we were seeing some pretty big fits and I think a lot of that had to do with the fact that she couldn’t fully communicate with us yet. At the same time she is getting to be quite a little stinker too and I can definately tell that "2" is just around the corner. She continues to light up our world and bring us so much love and joy each day! Here are some of the funny and cute things she is doing and saying lately.

When she wants to get into something she tells me “back” or “bye-bye” or the other morning she was standing at my night stand and I was sitting up in bed and she kept saying “mama night night” so I finally laid down and pretended to close my eyes and when I did she started to open the night stand and dig in the drawer so I sat up and said “Ava what are you doing?” and she again said “mama night night” in hopes that I would lay down and go to sleep so she could continue to dig in the drawer that she knows she is supposed to.

“I yub you”

Anytime a phone rings anywhere she immediately says “Pop?”

She and my mom were playing with a little nativity and when she saw Joseph she said “Bam Pop” (Grandpa)

We went to brunch at the country club with Grandpa the other day and Ava had finished her dinner so Grandpa brought her some ice cream. The server came and took her dinner plate and Ava said “No, my!” The server came back and asked if we wanted her to bring it back and Ava just stared at her with her bottom lip pushed out and quivering and as the server walked away Ava turned in her highchair and stared her down, giving her the evil eye the whole time as if to say “don’t ever take my plate again!”

Every morning while I’m getting ready Ava digs in my make up drawer and pretends to put on lipgloss and then she takes all my shoes off the shoe rack and tries them all on, she loves dressing up! And she loves to fish for compliments too. When we go to school or church or Kindermusik or see a friend out somewhere she looks down at her clothes and tilts her head and pulls on her shirt or dress as if to say don’t you like my dress, especially if she is wearing something extra frou frou or girly, I’m thinking maybe we have doted on her a little too much and we are giving her a complex!

Her favorite words are "mine" and "no"- oh yes two is just on the horizon!

She calls Santa, "Santy"

She is a bit fascinated with "poo-poo", she constantly says "I poo-poo", "you poo-poo" and "baby poo-poo". I took this to mean she might be interested in potty training so we got her a potty and a potty book but so far she just sits on it.

She loves her baby dolls, Angelina Ballerina, Olivia, Little Bear, toothpaste, my shoes, my makeup drawer, her cousins, coloring, Pop, food, books, to be outside, animals except not stuffed ones that talk or make noise, nutcrackers, Christmas lights, dancing! She is my strong willed, determined, independent, snuggly, talkative, loving, creative little 21 month old!

A Very Merry Christmas!

This was our first Christmas to be just the three of us on Christmas morning. We had stayed up so late the night before that Ava stayed asleep in her bed until 7am which is pretty late for her so as soon as I heard her calling me I hurried and got up and turned on our traditional Christmas wake up music, Silent Night sung by Bing Crosby. I went and got her out of her bed and first we stopped off to see if Santa had found the cookies and milk we left out for him. Then we all headed to the living room to see what Santa had left. Ava loved the stockings once she got it figured out although candy was one of the first things she pulled out and that was her favorite part. She got some playdough, a book about using the big girl potty, an owl purse with a coin purse, a kitty cat necklace and some lip balm in it and some candy. Santa did great on my stocking- Starbucks gift cards, iTunes gift card and a gift card for a massage along with some candy. Justin got candy and iTunes. When we started opening presents, Ava would hold onto her candy with one hand while she tore open her present with the other hand. She got puzzles, magnets, an American Girl baby doll and accessories including adorable PJ’s that match her babies and a sweet crib for her baby that her daddy repainted for her. Our new couch and chair were our big Christmas this year and I’m so thrilled to have them, the old red couch was about 10 years old and was covered in baby spit up, drool and food stains and was very ready to be retired! And I love that the new couch is big enough for all 3 of us to cozy up and take a nap on. After we opened gifts I went to the kitchen to get our new traditional Christmas morning breakfast prepared, biscuits and chocolate gravy. Chocolate gravy is a family recipe that actually comes from my dad’s mom and my Papa’s mom. This year when I was trying to decide what our traditional Christmas morning breakfast was going to be I knew I wanted to keep it something simple so I wouldn’t be stressing on Christmas Eve or Christmas morning about getting it done in time and I also wanted it to be a family recipe so chocolate gravy came to mind. It didn’t turn out quite as thick as it should have been, it was more like chocolate syrup but it still tasted really yummy.

After breakfast we loaded up and headed to Nana and Pop’s house to do our little Christmas with them and Natalie and the boys. The kids had a blast tearing into the many presents Nana and Pop had for them. The boys got all kinds of cars, tracks, games and legos. Ava got some kitty cat PJ’s, a walking, purring, meowing kitty cat which she is still a little unsure of but I’m sure she’ll warm up to her soon, dress up kitty and puppy bath toys, a snow globe, a high chair for her baby dolls and Skippyjon Jones book. After we cleaned up we all went to Grandmother and Papa’s for a Christmas feast! Ava and I even got in a cozy Christmas nap. Lila, Laney and Ava helped make, bake and decorate a birthday cake for Jesus and then we all sang Happy Birthday to our risen king, a favorite tradition from childhood! We had a lot of debate about which candle to use and in the end went with 0 for eternity.

Our Christmas continued into the next day when we met Grandma and Grandpa for breakfast. After breakfast we headed back to our house so they could give Ava her last gift, an art easel, which she loved! It is big enough that she can use it for years to come and adjustable to her height. I can see many beautiful works of art coming out of that gift. After that we said our goodbyes as they headed back to Houston.

It was a wonderful Christmas and my favorite part has been all the time we’ve gotten to share with the ones we love celebrating the one who loves us more than we can fathom!