Today Ava Grew Up Right Before My Eyes

Mom and I mention on occasion how you have the mind of a steel trap, remembering things we thought you have long forgotten. 

No longer are you the little girl that I can hold any time I want. You're constantly on the go now. 

No longer are you the little girl that we can say something to and you'll repeat it for a laugh. You are a budding conversationalist. 

No longer are you the little girl that will laugh at my silliness for no reason. You know what's funny and what's not. 

No longer are you the little girl that I can slip and say something inappropriate in front of by mistake. You're a sponge and will remember and repeat everything!

I'll always miss what you were but I love who you are and the girl you're becoming. 

Today, the above hit me hard. It was just something simple but reality struck. 

We were on our way to brunch with my Aunt's and Uncles as well as Alexis, Aaron and Diane when you asked where the moon was. 

Rather than get into the science of it I told you the moon was tired and needed to go to bed that the sun was wide awake now. 

You questioned me once or twice but I stuck to my story and you seemed to believe me. 

Fast forward to this evening. 

You looked out the dining room window to see a big full moon coming up over the horizon. You looked over to me and said "Moon not tired." 

How many hours have passed since I told you the moon was tired?

You even offered the moon your pink blanket, your favorite. I don't even get offered that blanket!

You're growing up so fast, it's a great experience for mom and me! 

Just do us a favor - whatever path you choose, use your intelligence to make a positive impact on this world! It could use a few good people like you.

Today Ava Danced The Night Away

This afternoon we celebrated the union of Zach and my cousin Katherine. Zach was all but legally a part of the family already. He and Katherine have been together for nine years. Honestly, it's hard to remember a time where they weren't with each other. 

The ceremony was held at Little Flower Church in North Canton. It got off to a rocky start for you as you quickly became restless and cries of "Let me down!" could be heard. luckily, you calmed down once the music picked up and the party began to walk down the aisle.

Fearful that you would storm the pulpit when I went to do my reading, we formulated a plan that we would sit with Aaron and my other cousins and when Aaron would go up to read first, you and mom would duck into the cry room. 

The plan worked to perfection. I little too much I think. Mom said when you got back to the cry room you didn't care one bit about me or the mass. They had books and toys back there. 

After my reading I made my way to the pew, grabbed your diaper bag and joined mom in the back. 

 
You were content the remainder of the ceremony other than wanting to see Aunt Beth. From the labor day get together at Aunt Beth's house to today you've turned a new leaf. When you were younger you wanted nothing to do with her. You'd cry if she even looked at you. Now, you seek her out. 

"Where's Aunt Beth?" you asked on multiple occasions during the wedding and through the receiving line; giving her a huge hug when you saw her. 

After the wedding we dropped mom off to see Karen at their open house while you and I went home to try and get you down for a nap. 

 I had one job ...

... and I failed miserably. 

Since a nap was out of the question we went back to the open house to pick up mom before heading to the reception. 

Since you held up your end of the bargain and were a good girl throughout the wedding (for the most part) we told you to let loose at the reception. No more worry about being quiet and still. 

Moments after walking in the door you made fast friends with a pair of little girls and that set the tone for the night. It makes mom and I happy to see you get along with other kids like this. 

Overall, you just had fun. And seeing you have fun is a joy for mom and me.

 
With no nap and all the fun you had, we thought for sure you'd crash as soon as we set you in your car seat. Close, but not quite. We had to go the long way home before you finally gave up and closed your eyes. 

Sleep tight!

Todday Ava Fed the Cats

We don't like letting the cats on the counters but sometimes we have to when it's their dinner time. 

You do your best to "help" us feed them but to the cats, it's more of an annoyance. 

Mom and I know it's just your helpful nature. But man, can it be funny. 

See what I mean? 

Today Ava Pushed the Cart

I can't begin to count how many times through the course of this journal that I've mentioned how hopeful you are. 

I can't wait to see how it continues when baby sister arrives. 

Mom dropped you off at the Hall of Fame as I was walking out the door so she could handle a few more showings. 

Since she won't be home until 7:30 or so I told her we'd take care of dinner. 

When we got home I looked up a new recipe while you gave McGee a huge hug. 

 

Yeah, that hug came on top of the dining room table.

 

Our choice of a high dining room table may come back to haunt us. 

You've learned how to scale the chairs to climb onto the table. 

Two problems with this:
1. You have learned to get up, but not down. 

2. The poor cats are running out of hiding places from you

You just love your kitties and like to let them know it sometimes. 

We got our recipe, said hi to the cats now it's time to go to the store.

You weren't so happy to go today. And I can't say that I blame you. We went to the store yesterday and now we're going again today. Sometimes I feel that everyday we come home from work and hurry out the door again for some reason or another. 

But, it was necessary tonight if we're going to eat dinner. Due to schedule issues we never made it to the grocery store this week and if we want to eat tonight we don't have a choice. 

After a brief conversation with Uncle Kris we were in the parking lot of Giant Eagle. I didn't want to go to WalMart again ... 

I tried to seat you in the cart, no go. I tried to put you in the grocery area of the cart, no dice. 

You begged to get down. Okay, I can do that. Problem is, when I set you down, you have to walk. You stood there and looked at me, stonefaced. 

Is this your silent protest for me bringing you out again? 

But, the urge to help was overwhelming and before I knew it you took the "wheel." 

 

We've got a little work to do with the steering, but otherwise you do pretty well. 

A few times you'd randomly stop pushing and stand still. Letting me know your displeasure. 

So, as any good dad would, I bribed you with some ice cream. I found a box of ice cream cones and asked you if you wanted some ice cream tonight. You eagerly took the box and said yes. 

I told you it was under one condition, you have to be good for the rest of the night. 

You promised and we shook on it. 

You held up your end of the deal but I didn't follow through on mine. It got to be too late in the evening and I have to work tomorrow so I didn't want to be up too late with a sugared up toddler. 

Maybe tomorrow you can get your reward.  

P.S. You drew the best smiley I've seen to date. 

 

Practice makes perfect. They just keep getting better!

 

Today Ava Sang A New Nursery Rhyme

You and I made a quick pit stop at WalMart for some dinner ingredients while mom showed a few houses. 

We grabbed what we needed so we could hurry home, start dinner and relax. 

It was on the way out the door when I heard you begin to sing. It was a different beat than what I've heard you sing before. I leaned over the cart as we walked through the parking lot so I could hear you a little better.

You were singing, but like you sometimes do, it was soft and barely audible. 

I finally caught the tune. It was "Mary had a Little Lamb." I smiled knowing you picked up something new and assumed mom taught it to you on her days off. 

A few weeks back she started to sing that to you in the car. You studied her lips and she slowly sang the words to you but it was too new for you to pick up right away. 

I figured it finally clicked. 

"Mary had ... lamb, Mary had soma soma lamb. It snoooooowwww."  is what I heard as we walked. 

I chimed in with the words you were missing and we had ourselves a sing along. 

As I'm sure you've guessed by now I like to record things. Unfortunately I wasn't able to capture this since we were walking through the parking lot. As soon as I put you in the car and got my phone out, you stopped. 

When mom got home I told her about it and her first words were "That darn Mickey!" 

I looked at her confused for a second (it's a normal look she gets from me) and she reminded me about the sing-a-long Mickey that  you've been bringing with you everywhere. 

You press his hand and he'll cycle through a bunch of nursery rhymes. 

This is where mom (and now me) think you picked it up from. 

Either way, it's a new wrinkle in your brain. 

No matter how hard I tried or how much I bribed you, you wouldn't sing it for mom. 

It was a one performance night apparently. No encore.

Today Ava Made Herself Dizzy

Well, the three-day Holiday weekend has come to a close and it's back to work for mom and me. 

What better way to start the work week than a selfie?

That duckface hasn't changed since you were born ... 

With the impending arrival of baby sister we need to transition the office to a nursery which means the office will now be somehwere in the basement. 

That's an advantage to both you and mom. You'll be able to play and she'll be able to watch you while she does business. 

I mention this because mom found a potential filing cabinet on one of her Facebook groups that she could use downstairs. 

In a strange twist of fate the seller is an old friend of your Uncle Joe's from high school. She has a daughter just under a year older than you and we thought you might like to make a new friend while we checked out the filing cabinet. 

You two became fast friends while mom and I chatted with Jessica and loaded the filing cabinet into the Mazda. 

 

You had a lot of fun climbing the slide and looking out of the "telescope!" 

We eventually had to go so they could eat dinner. 

We were winding down tonight when you followed me into the kitchen and began to twirl in circles. 

I thought it was cute so I began to record. Then it dawned on me ... you were intentionally trying to make yourself dizzy.

After you stopped, you asked to go back to your room and read books. Absolutely! I'll never discourage you from adding some wrinkles to that little brain. 

But, before we could start to read you fell asleep on your bean bag chair. 

Tomorrow we'll flip through a few pages. I promise.

Today Ava Tried To Inflate A Balloon

I've shared - and hope to continue sharing - the ups, the downs, the dull and the humerus over the past 586 days of your young life. Today will be another one of the latter.

What it really boils down to was a moment of trying to learn, but we sure did have some fun with it.

Yesterday I had cleaned out the pantry before everyone woke up and in doing so need a new place to store some paper plates, plastic cups and utensils. Among those were green and pink balloons left over from your party.

We were putting the items into a new storage tote this afternoon when you came across the balloons. I blew one up for you to play with but that wasn't enough.

Seeing what I was doing, you grabbed another balloon and tried to blow it up yourself.

You have the right concept, you're just not able to make a seal around the mouth of the balloon to inflate it. 

Not to worry, though, if there's one thing I have going for me, it's lung capacity. Whether it be balloons or your inflatable pool, I'm the guy full of hot air to inflate it.

Mom and I didn't care that you were going through balloon after balloon as though they were all defective for not properly inflating.

You were trying so hard and the facial expressions were priceless. 

Once you were convinced all of the balloons had holes in them we went outside to jump on your trampoline and to take a few cuts on the tee. 

 

I'm quite impressed with your swing! I think we've got something here. 

Just remember, whether the task at hand is thrilling or not - make a game of it!