Cookie Day!

Today was our annual cookie-baking day and Ava proved to be very helpful in the kitchen! Aside from being head of quality control she also was very good at unwrapping the kisses for the peanut blossoms and rolling the sugar cookies in sugar.

Santa? Thumbs down.

I love the blurry, angry fist.

Halloween 2009

Toddler bed

Ava helps Daddy transition her crib to a toddler bed in an effor to make it new and exciting enough that she'll sleep there. That hasn't exactly worked but it was a big hit as a trampoline!

This and that

Multi-tasking

This cracked me up. Here you'll see that Ava is pretending to be on the phone with her cousin Mia while I try to take video out of sight . Then she says, "mommy takin' a picture" and closes the door.

Budding artist?

Ava did a little painting this weekend with the canvas and acrylics she got for her birthday. It was really amazing to watch her intensity. I love how her piece turned out!

running out of gas

Occassionally Ava will get so suddenly sleepy that she will lie down wherever she is and suck her thumb. She did it recently at Bass Pro Shop during an evening errand and most recently at the Des Moines Science Center. She was having fun climbing up on an activity gym. I was watching her run through a tunnel and I saw her run by one porthole but not the next. I peered in the second porthole and could only see one foot tapping up and down. I climbed up into the tunnel and saw this:As I was taking the photo some other kids came up to play and were clearly unfazed by the time-for-nap casualty.

Butterflies for dinner

Immediately preceding a long, hot, bath, Ava had "buhfies" for dinner, or farfalle pasta. They were specially requested and I had to run out to the store to pick them up. The carnage is quite remarkable. Notice also the "costume book" under her elbow. She requests it at mealtime. She likes to peruse the options.

How to catch a pumpkin

I know I've been a little lax about blogging recently. Ava has finally had quite enough of my taking photos. She says "no take-a my picture, Mommy!" and runs away. It really ticks her off and often ruins whatever nice moment that I'd like to share with you all. This past weekend we travelled to Brunswick for the Pecan Festival and on the way home we happened upon a roadside pumpkin stand. I had my camera and I tried really, really hard to get a good shot of Ava.

At first she protested.
And then she ran. Once I restricted her mobility by placing her on the flatbed of a pumpkin truck she was left with only a goofy face to fight me with. I'm pretty sure she was actually yelling at me here but it looks like a smile, doesn't it?Aha! Gotcha, Pumpkin!

My sceeze it!

Ava and I were super excited to find this awesome caterpillar in the garden the other day. Isn't it cool? Unfortunately after this photo was taken Ava squeezed it really hard. I startled her when I said "oh no! don't squeeze it, honey!". She teared up and now whenever we talk about caterpillars or this one in particular she says "my sceeze it". No caterpillars were harmed but I suspect he too may have been a little traumatized by the incident.

Growing up is hard to do

After a crazy busy few weeks, I'm finally getting around to updating the world on Ava's birthday. We celebrated by taking Ava to the carousel at the mall and letting her ride until it closed. She came home with carousel stamps up and down both arms! She woke up that morning unsure of the concept of "birthdays" but now she gets it - at least the present part. She keeps asking if she can open more presents. The next day Mike's parents and sister arrived for the weekend and we had another little celebration. Much like last year, Ava doesn't seem much a fan of the Happy Birthday song, at least not when directed toward her.

Happy Birthday, Ava!

Cousins

Probably the best part of our trip was getting to spend time with our family and watching the three girls, born in January/May/September of 2007, bond with one another. It was a true joy. Above is a photo of Charlie, friend Jayden (also born in September 07), Rhys, and Ava.

Ava and Rhys show off their matching shirts. Ava's was a birthday gift from Di and Q. Thanks guys!

Sharing an inside joke.

Charlie, Rhys and Ava cashed out after one of our many adventures.

A classic.

Sesame Place

As I mentioned we splurged and took Ava to Sesame Place in Pennsylvania. It was quite fun. As a fan myself, I was just as excited to see all my favorite characters. Check out this cool topiary at the entrance.Included in admission is the option to see several shows. We only had time for one so we chose "Elmo's World Live" which is a live version of the segment on the show. It has the same format and even includes Mr. Noodle and Dorothy. It's hard to tell if the girls enjoyed it. I think they were in shock.Surprisingly enough, there were plenty of ride appropriate for even the smallest kids! Clearly I'm having a blast on this one....I think Ava enjoyed it too!

Mommy guilts Daddy into trying to win a toy for Ava:

Success! Ava with her loot. At least her $9 lunch included a souvenir cup!

Here is Ava in Big Bird's Nest. This was a great play area for the little kids. This is where we first noticed that Ava was changing. She played there by herself and with her cousins. No mommy needed!We were thrilled to see that Sesame Place included a carousel! Here we waited in line to ride it again!We ended the day with a great parade including all the characters. Here Ava is exhausted after her day of fun!

the roaming Ava

We've just returned from a wonderful trip up and down the East Coast. We flew into DC for work. While I attended meetings in a windowless conference room, Mike took Ava for a tour of landmarks. After the work portion was over we went took a train to Baltimore and met up with Mike's sister Di and her family. We took the kids (Ava's cousins are also 2) to the National Aquarium and then left for Philadelphia. After loading up on a philly cheese steak we left the next morning for Sesame Place in Langhorne, PA. I'll post more on that later. After Sesame we went to NYC to stay in Brooklyn. Ava had an art class, went to FAO Schwarz to dance on the Big piano, went to the Central Park Zoo, and rode the subway. Finally, we went to Di's country house in Massachusetts to recover from the city. Whew! It was a whirlwind. Ava changed so much while we were away. She really came out of her shell and did things she wouldn't have done two weeks prior. Her vocabulary really took off and she's been talking about her adventures non-stop. I've got to find a way to go on permanent vacation.

Here are some shots of the roaming Ava. Future extra credit in American History, perhaps?

Independence Hall in Philadelphia


The Liberty Bell in Philadelphia. It was much smaller than we were expecting.


The Capital


The White House


The Supreme Court

The Washington Monument