I haven't been great at keeping our out-of-town grandma's, grandpa's, aunts, uncles, etc. updated in what Ava-Kate is really like. First and probably craziest is she walks! EVERYWHERE! She loves just walking down the street, yep that's right, the street, she will not stay on the sidewalk. I'm afraid I have a shopper in the making. When we go to stores she will walk up to the displays, or racks, or shelves and touch whatever is at her level, but she touches it very gently, and will kind of squat and look at it, smile, then move on to the next display. It is hilarious! I should really get that on video. She LOVES dancing and singing. She'll dance to any music no matter where she is, so if you ever see us at the grocery store, when I think nobody is looking I'll dance right along with her. Her singing is really cute too, it's mostly to the radio when we're in the car she'll kind of just ooh and aah musically, it's hard to describe, but I know it's singing. Ava-Kate is already trying to talk and mimic everything we say. So far her words are gog=dog; top=stop; maaam= I'm hungry/thirsty/more; pop=pop (as in: goes the weasel); bah= boo!; uh-oo= uh-oh. She loves banging and making all the noise she can possibly get out of anything and everything. She is really testing out her independence, but only if I'm close by for a little bit of safety. It's impossible to get anything done around the house because she either wants to be held (while making dinner, doing the dishes, or laundry, or I have to be sitting by her so that she'll play with her toys. We're weaning her off "the bottle" which is quite the journey but she loves peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, string cheese, bananas, yogurt, oatmeal, and whole milk. oh! and beets! What!?! That's right, she LOVES canned beets! Random story as to how that was discovered, but it's one of her faves. Finally, she loves herself! Here's a video of her in the car, and then of her watching her video of her in the car. enjoy!
All of those presents on the fireplace are hers! Van said he wants as many presents as Ava-Kate got for his birthday. She received clothes and clothes galore from both grandmas and grandpas and aunts. A piano and quiet book from mom and dad. A backpack from U. Van. a TuTu and wand from A. Annika and U. Brett. And a cute plush bowling pin and ball set from Nana K.
Once AK figured out "opening presents" she was all for it, especially when the applause came at the end. Which the picture above is her giving herself a clap. Ava Kate also gave us a beautiful piano concert...enjoy!
