20 Months

Unfortunately this month has been marked by illness. Welcome winter and winter bugs! Ava has had an ear infection, two colds, a virus, a stomach bug and a horrible vomit-inducing cough that won't let up. However, amidst the tissues, motrin and carpet cleaner, Ava has managed still to grow and do new things.

One of the benchmarks of Ava's month will be her new interest in the potty! Just this last week she has asked to sit on the potty a number of times and loves to place all her stuffed animals and dolls on it as well. They go pee pee, we clap for them and make a big to-do. Just a few weeks ago I would have said she was not even close to being ready but then one day, the light when on and the first phase of potty-training had begun. This is not a process I am going to push until she is very ready but consider this stage of education, practice and pretend an important one!

This month once again Ava has made a giant leap in her independence and conversational and emotional skills. Blair and I regularly sit and marvel at the little human that does circles around us, amazed at her ability to interact and her desire to learn. Her new sweet bend is toward asking us often, "Ya OK?" if ever we seem slightly surprised, scared, hurt or if she labels a loud noise or action as potentially causing us harm. It is so precious and exciting to watch her become increasingly aware of our emotions and respond to them!

In past months Ava started labeling things around the house as "mommy's" and "daddy's" (this by the way is a very telling way to see how you spend your time). For instance, the car, iced tea, anything with a power cord and all tools are "daddy's", whereas mommy's things include coffee, dishes, laundry baskets, lotion and the like! Anyway, so this was a new trend in the recent months but in the last couple of weeks Ava has started wanting to know who gave her different articles of clothing, blankets and other baby items. Every time we put on her pink sweatpants from Nana she squeals, "Nanny's!" though you can all rest assured that your names are mentioned daily, whether you gave her something or not. The other day she saw an old pillow I'd stuffed under her mattress to raise it up a bit and she said, "Papa's!" I replied, "Papa's? Did Papa give you that pillow?" Her reply: an enthusiastic, "Yeah! Thank you Papa!"

Ava's vocabulary list continues to lengthen, faster than I can remember to write them all down. With that, here is non-exhaustive record of Ava's words this month: Coat, grass, broccoli, juggle, cracker, Morgan, OK, "apple" bar, nose, eyes, ears, teeth, purse, bag, house, bacon, kix, towel, snap, barney, wheel, applesauce, pasta sauce, rice, bow, zipper, church, dipe dipe (diaper), mess, star, bug, spot, bright, buckle, laundry, all gone, blankie, rolling, hole, ipod, ice, case, monster, oatmeal, football, coffee, frosty and painting!

This month also marked Ava's 1st Halloween... that she actually took part in! We dressed her as the cute teddy bear you see above, went to Emily and Brian's apartment (Blair's sister and her fiance) as well as some of our neighbors homes. Ava had a cold but enjoyed the outing, loved her "hat" and couldn't have been cuter. She didn't quite understand the giving of candy as evidenced by her prompt returning of the treat to the giver with a "Thank you!", but still she had fun. And of course she is benefiting from the holiday with the occasional, "Teet? Teet? (Treat)" shared with mommy from the bowl of leftovers.