Lots of new things

Ava has been growing and changing like a weed since her birthday. Here are some new Ava facts:

She wears hair clips! Finally she has enough hair and with some persistence on my part she's now used to them daily. She won't yet let me use a rubber band to make a mini-ponytail but I'm content with a bow for now.

She's afraid. Ava has developed a lot of strange fears as of late, including public restrooms (she's afraid of the loud flush), wind and the YMCA (she thinks it's a doctor's office).

She has words. Ava has been talking talking talking for the last 6 months but some of my favorite words include "kuckle" (couple, as in "a kuckle days"), "coutend" (pretend), "pooh-dough" (pillow), and "coo-eye-in" (crying). I am sure I'll think of five more as soon as I post this!

Story #1

The other day I was eating some leftover pizza for lunch and Ava spotted it. She said, "I hold big one?" meaning, she'd like to hold and eat a whole piece of pizza all by herself. I said I didn't think that was a good idea, that it was too big. She looked at me with her wide, puppy dog eyes and said sweetly, "Mommy, I can try" with sweet inflection on the "try" indicating both question and an air of I-can-do-it. Of course I obliged the cuteness and she enjoyed her pizza slice like a big girl.

Story #2

Ava's bedtime routine usually includes reading a few books and then singing a few songs before she is laid in her crib and we say goodnight. Last week however, I picked her up to sing a song and she stopped me and said, "Down, pack 'n play?" I said, "You want to go down in your crib now?" She said, "No, coutend (pretend) pack 'n play?" I clarified and discovered that she did in fact want to go in her crib but pretend she was being put in her pack 'n play. We then pretended for a few minutes that we were at the beach on vacation, that she was sleeping in her pack 'n play and that in the morning we would wake up and go fly kites with Daddy. She happily pretended this nighttime routine and that was that! No song, no dance, just an adorable, big-kid imagination at work. Love her.