Dearest Ava,
Today, just now, there are things I want to remember about you as a 14 (almost 15!) month old toddler. Since I’m not the kind of mama to keep a journal or a baby book (although I wish I was!), I thought I’d write them here. I have hope that the Internet will still be around when I want to remember these things later, I guess.
-I love that you think you’re hot stuff because you can walk backwards, creep really, into anything you want.
-You think you’re cool because you can turn in a circle.
-You like to smash Cheerios with the bottom of your juice cup. You also like to make the tray bounce and send them all over the floor. Libby has gained two pounds due to your efforts.
-You use your timeout spot as a place to just take a moment and get under control.
-You want to sit in the grown up recliners…by yourself, no adults touching the chair.
-Your favorite book is I am a Bunny and you can point to birds, ducks, flowers, and monarch butterflies (thanks to Daddy for that last one).
-You now only take one nap a day. Today it was three hours long. Welcome, toddlerhood.
-Apple slices are merely vehicles for peanut butter.
-You love animal crackers. You love broccoli more.
-You have very few words yet, you sing.
-You respond to two songs…Itsy Bitsy Spider and The Chicken Dance.
-When you sleep and get all sweaty, your hair almost curls around your face. This only happens at naptime. Your nighttime sleep is so peaceful and deep your hair is straight and flat every morning. I’m certain you’ll curse it when you grow up.
-The back of your hair does the weird swoopy thing mine does. You’ll curse that too.
-You have a tiny little face and perfect skin. You look just like a little dolly. You’re beautiful.
-You’re stubborn, ornery, and really funny. You actually have a sense of humor. Right now, it’s mostly of the physical variety, but I’m sure you’ll grow into sarcasm soon.
-When I leave you at Sarah’s you cry. By the time I pick you up, you’re so over it, you don’t necessarily want to leave.
-When we get home, you stand inside the garage door and wait for Libby to come meet us. You squeal her name and give her hugs. You make that “tickle, tickle” sound as you scratch her neck. You are good pals to each other.
Every day you are so different, it’s a challenge to keep up with you. Thanks for taking me and Daddy on the ride. We do love you so.
Love,
Mama
The post in which I will say it with pictures.
Grandmom’s are cool. They share Cheerios.
All the excitement around here is really starting to wear Libby out.
Yep, she is truly Matt’s child. Of course, some genetics on the Renfro side may also be a factor.
Sure wish she’d had a bucket on her head when she decided to topple over onto the sidewalk at the park…probably wouldn’t have cut her lip so badly.
Drinking milk from a big girl cup is messy…but really fun.
Don’t say it. She is not, in fact, a big girl. Don’t let the pigtails fool you.
See…she still eats shoes.
But there is wisdom in that smirk, I think.
No matter how big she thinks she is, though, this is the only driving she’ll be doing for a while.
Because, after all, the following is still a very accurate representation of her day-to-day activities.
Ten on Tuesday (The Wednesday Edition)
Sorry for the lag in posts….here’s 10 to make up for the time. 
1. How about that America, huh? Whether we all agree or not, power has once again transferred peacefully between two leaders who share little more, politically, than a great love of our country and our freedom. Isn’t it amazing? Love it.
2. John P. Casey is back on this side of the Atlantic. Very exciting stuff. Even better, he came to visit for the long weekend. There was a lot of Wii Star Wars being played and a lot of just hanging around. It looked a lot like this…
3. And sounded a lot like this…
4. Ava got to go pick out her first toy. She got a gift card from her Uncle Wes for her birthday and we’ve just gotten around to taking her to the store. She’s now got her first ride-on toy, a turtle, and she loves it. She can get on and off by herself, but needs about one more inch to get it moving by herself. So, we’ve turned it into an adult pull toy…
5. When we got to this house, our hot water heater needed to be replaced. We managed to get that done about four months after we got here. It was then that we realized that the water softner was leaking too. Thanks to having a knacky husband and a great idea about using boat sealant (Thanks, Dad!), we were able to take it apart, patch it up, and save ourselves $1000. Gotta love knacky husbands.
6. Our good friends, the Hoffmans, are expecting a second child at the end of August or so. We’re so excited for them and can’t wait to meet their new little one!
7. Speaking of the Hoffmans, Sarah is out of town this week, so we’re short one (fabulous!) childcare provider. Luckily, my mom was planning a trip out here at some point in January anyway and was able to come stay with us for the week. Gotta love parents who help out in a pinch.
8. When Grandma is here, Ava gets lots of spoiling. Unfortunately, since Mom and Ava are here by themselves most of the time, their visit together hasn’t been as well documented as it should be. Gotta love self-portraits.
Like that bruise on Ava’s head? She really smacked her head on the coffee table this week. Gotta love toddlerhood.
9. This seems to have been one of the longer weeks on record. Cannot wait for Friday. Cannot. wait.
10. And this about sums it up. Just when you think you’re too tired for it all, something really makes you laugh.
Not yet ready…
…to dine with the queen.
While Ava is certainly a very polite child (she always says thank you as she dismisses you with her cup, bottle, or toy), as you’ll see in this video, we’re not really ready to take her to dinner with the Queen.