14 Months... came and went!

I am a little shocked that Ava's 14 month birthday came and went and I have yet to update our blog. We have had a very busy month and Ava's been even busier! We have a million new pictures (stay tuned, I will get them posted eventually) and much to report of our growing girl.

Here are some new things Ava is doing:

1. Cleaning One of her new favorite activities is to ask for a tissue/wipe/cloth and go around "cleaning" everything in sight. We've known of her love for cleanliness for a few months now as she regularly comes over and hands me little "fuzzies" to throw out, but now she likes to throw things away herself! She will pick food off the floor, sometimes eat it, sometimes throw it out, and will take over to the trash anything else she deems worthy. We are working on the selection process as I've caught her throwing away tupperware and taking yogurt lids off the top of the trash to play with...

2. Cooking She also spends much of her time stirring in whatever bowl or pot she can find and then eating and offering up whatever delicious imaginative food she's made!

3. Climbing There will be pictures to follow documenting this new hobby. Ava loves to empty out baskets and bins and climb inside, and then out, and then back in, turn over anything that might get her higher and then climb on top, use her step stool to look out the window or hop up onto a chair. Pretty much anything that her wobbly little legs can climb, she has tried! She'll even turn over a puzzle and hop on top in triumph, a quarter of an inch higher than she was before. Ta da! Surprisingly she hasn't succeeded in climbing out of her crib yet and for that we are grateful.

4. Babbling In the last week or two Ava's babbling has really picked up and she now strings together sentences of incomprehensible words. It must be so frustrating, trying to get her point across so adamantly and not knowing why we don't understand! She takes it all in stride though and thankfully we can usually figure out what she means in context. I look forward to there being more real words to listen for! She is now interested in trying to say words though which is very cute.

"Ava, say strawberry"

"Bobetty"...

"Close, say STRAWberry"

"Blubunam"

"Good try honey..."

5. Walking and Jumping I know this has been a post topic for months now but we can now say that Ava is a 100% walker and very good at it! Not yet a runner but she loves walking and exploring her independence. This has made her much more gregarious in public, going up to strangers at Starbucks, picking gift cards off the rack at Giant and handing out merchandise to shoppers at garage sales we visit. Ava has also started "jumping", though her feet never leave the ground. It is the cutest thing you'll ever see, "Ava, can you jump?"--the fists clench by her sides, she squats and then pushes up with all her might and a big "Wooo!".

6. Animal Sounds These are the things we pull out and show off at parties. Ava can growl like the Nittany Lion, moo, meow, pant, and the newest addition is the cutest little monkey "ooh ooh ahh" you ever heard.

Here are some pictures of our precious girl, so proud of her new talent!

big-girl stroller

Ava and I went for a walk this afternoon and it was a huge success. First, we got to blow on her first dandylion, then we saw two bunnies chasing each other across the path. Then her favorite--we came upon two friendly dogs who we said hi to and one of them licked her toes! Delight. When they continued on their way, Ava burst into tears (no amount of "say bye bye doggies" would console her) so I handed her her precious ducky and tried out the lounge feature in her new big-girl stroller. She loved it! We strolled for another twenty minutes or so and she loved snuggling with her duck. It was getting close to her nap time and I am pretty convinced that she would have fallen asleep if we kept walking. This is a big deal, we've been curious as to whether she would sleep in her stroller at this age and I my guess is now- yes! At least I hope so.

In other news, Ava has had a great last few days and is definitely growing up. She's now walking full-time and loves it, is now on par with her other walking friends and it's so fun to see her interact with them. We had a busy weekend these past few days and we definitely saw a difference in Ava's curiosity and independence while out and about. At a picnic and a restaurant we went to she happily walked off on her own to explore, she pointed and waved hello to strangers and was much more outgoing. She also did very well spending a lot of time with our friends Erin and Jon while Blair and I were out celebrating our birthdays--she slept well at their house, let them put her down easily to sleep for the night, etc. All great strides in her growing up! It's SO much fun to see her independence blossom more and more.