July - a month of swimming

Ava is sooooo much fun this summer. She is walking, running and talking up a storm. She is definitely a toddler with a mind of her own. For example - she likes to think it is o.k. to stand on the coffee table...

There are times that she can outlast mom and dad with a one track idea. Yesterday she wanted to play with a cup full of pens in the office upstairs - After the final no and many attempts on her part - I took her downstairs. She proceeded back upstairs, climbed on the chair and the desk to get the pens and I waited till just the right moment to let her know I was close by and did not like how determined she was... We went back down stairs kicking and screaming - this time I shut the gate at the top of the stairs. She sat in time out for 2 minutes - apologized and when I let her out - she proceeded back up the stairs and dangled off the gate for longer than I was comfortable kicking and screaming - thank goodness dad secured the gate very well. When I couldn't take it any more I went upstairs to get her again and sat her firmly on her daybed in her play room - where there was no chance to see the TV or get upstairs without getting through me. After a few minutes she was throwing everything on the daybed on the floor and very proud of herself for doing it - I decided blankets, pillows and stuffed animals on the floor was the lesser of all evils, so I joined in and we ended up rolling around in the blankets that were now on the floor... Oh yeah - this was yesterday and she was home sick with a fever - Mom was more tired at the end of the day.

Ava loves to swing at the play ground and go swimming - I think if we would let her play in a pool all day - she would do it.

(us at Dwyer Park, Little York Lake)

She loves to organize and sort things.

She likes to play pretend, especially when changing dolly diapers. She says these amazing sentences that shock the daylights out of me - Grammy called and I gave her the phone - She said "Hi Grammy, Mommy Ava stay home today - Ava sore throat, bing milk please..." I answer "what's that" about a hundred times a day and fifty of the times I think she just wants to hear me say the same thing over and over again until I catch on. She has the cutest little smirk when she knows she is about to do something wrong - she usually says "ta da" if she has crawled up on something. She definitely thinks she is the boss of the dogs and they think she is the purveyor of all the best treats, so it is OK for her to sit on them like a horsey. Speaking of horsey - that is one of her favorite games - here is Dad serving as the palomino.

I have been able to take some extra time off this summer to be with Ava and I am really enjoying sharing special moments with her. Time is going by too quickly...