A Day in the Life - October 21

 

• 7:30 a.m.- 8:00 a.m. - Ava wakes up, plays with her stuffed animals in the crib
• 8:00 a.m.- 8:30 a.m. - Brian gets Ava up, she demands "dinner," has yogurt and granola for breakfast
• 8:30 a.m. - 8:50 a.m. - Ava colors at her table, correctly identifies the orange marker, beams with pride  
• 8:50 a.m. - 9:10 a.m. - Ava stacks our prep bowls in different formations, one of her favorite pastimes.
• 9:10 a.m. - 9:40 a.m. - Typical Ava diaper change. She is informed it is time for her diaper to be changed, she requests to skip to the bedroom instead of walking, then she changes her mind, thinking that hopping would be a better idea.  The rest of this time is spent trying to get clothes on Ava as she screams and rolls around on the ground.
• 9:40 a.m. - 10:00 a.m. - Snack time.
• 10:00 a.m. - 10:15 a.m. - Getting socks and shoes on.  Yes, it really does take this long.
• 10:30 - 11:45 a.m. - Indoor play park with our friends Jolie and Carolyn.
• 12:00 noon - Home again, Ava announces she has pooped.  She sits on the potty and we sing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and read books.
• 12:15 p.m. - 12:30 p.m. - Lunch: bulgur, beans and applesauce
• 12:30 p.m. - Ava requests a nap.
• 12:30 p.m. - 2:15 p.m. - Nap time
• 2:15 p.m. - 3:00 p.m. - Ava wakes up and practices putting a diaper on her doll.
• 3:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m. - Shopping
• 4:15 p.m. - 4:30 p.m. - Skype with Tom, Ian and Emily
• 4:30 p.m. - 4:45 p.m. - Snack time
• 4:45 p.m. - 5:00 p.m. - More coloring
• 5:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m. - Family walk
• 6:00 p.m. - 6:30 p.m. - Ava washes dishes at the sink while dinner is prepared.  Side note: she's not all that bad.
• 6:30 p.m. - 7:00 p.m. - Dinner: spaghetti and meatballs
• 7:00 p.m. - 7:15 p.m. - Bath time
• 7:15 p.m. - 7:45 p.m. - Getting ready for bed...diaper change, brushing teeth, reading books
• 7:45 p.m. - Ava gets tucked in for the night.  She goes to bed in her turtle jammies with 3 pacifiers, a small doll, and 3 stuffed animals.

Tinkle tinkle little star

As they potty train the kids at school, Ava's teachers have been singing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star to keep everyone seated.  Here is Ava's re-enactment:

Transcript:
A: Hi
H: Can you sing to her?
A: Twinkle Twinkle. (Baby): Yay.  I did it.  I pee peed potty.
H: Ohhhhh.  Baby pee peed on the potty?
A: Yay.
...
A: There.
H: There she goes.  She's not sitting inside the potty now.  She's sitting on the potty.  That's good. Okay...let's sing to her.
A: Twin
H: Kle.  Twinkle.
A: Twinkle. How I wonder what. Up above.  Ba-bove. Ba-ba-bove. Up-babove. How are you. Won't you. Twinkle. Up. How I. Yay!

A lot of people suggest that your brain turns to mush when you talk to a kid all day but I think we can all agree this video tells a different story.  Pretty riveting stuff.

Ava's 21st Month

As we look back on this month, we are fairly convinced that Ava's 21st month was the best yet. We're still deliberating, but it was pretty awesome.

The biggest change this past month has been her interest in her friends. While she's always loved them, she now routinely asks to visit their houses. When she does see them, she spends all of her time hugging them. Case in point: during Ava's last music class, we would estimate no fewer than 12 hugs between Ava and Alex (counting loving sleeper holds). Just darling.

Ava is also expanding her artistic repertoire. She can now sing three different songs (albeit poorly, if we're being honest), and she dances better than Brian. She's rounding out her creative side by dabbling in painting, with an emphasis on tempera and mixed media.