Mains Memories: Ava

Our little Ava girl just turned 15 Months old on August 26th. In the last month or so, she has grown up so, so much...no longer is she a little baby, she's now a fierce, happy, wild, determined toddler ready to take on the world!

Stats from her 15th Month Check-Up:

Weight: 24.5 pounds (75th percentile)
Height 34 inches (90th percentile)
Continues to exceed all developmental milestones

She gained only 0.5 pound since our 12 month check-up but grew 3 inches! She looks so grown up now!

She was a very early walker and runner, so these months between 12 and 15 she's really been focusing on her mental development! Her language has EXPLODED! She understands everything, and loves when you ask her to bring you something, throw something away, put her shoes on, etc. And she says too many words to count now. What's also been another fun mental development is the ability to now negotiate with her. She LOVES cheese, and she will take a bite of veggies if I tell her she gets a bite of cheese...so on and so forth until all the veggies are gone! :) hurray!

Her current loves are still animals and her baby doll. She is so nurturing and loving, but also quite playful. Her favorite game is to be chased by her puppy while she has food in her hand. She also loves for you to ask if you can have whatever she's eating so she can shake her head "no" while smiling and laughing as you throw a fit.

Favorite Foods now:

Roasted green beans and bell peppers with hummus (I know! I'm very lucky she loves this!!)
Roasted beets (continues to remain an all-time, daily favorite)
Avocado
String cheese
Spaghetti with meatballs
Pumpkin seeds
Any and every kind of bean

Here are some memorable pics from this stage...

Our little family at one of Ava's favorite places - the Sacramento Zoo!

At Ava's very first dentist appointment. As expected, she was NOT a fan!

Going down the slide with daddy at the park one weekend...

Celebrating buddy Haddie's 1st birthday (also with buddy Emmie)

At Ava's all-time favorite place - the splash pad!

This is what happens when Ava runs through the splash pad AFTER I have changed her into her dry clothes - NAKED BABY!

With buddy Emmie at the splash pad

Here's the evidence of running through the splash pad in our clothes :)

A local church has an awesome indoor play area that has come in handy on hot afternoons (and will when it starts to rain too!). Ava and Emmie loved sitting in these tables...

At the zoo again!

Trying to keep Ava occupied while we waited for Daddy's Lasik procedure to finish...

Ava LOVES the swings!

And loves "organizing" (read: making it look as though a tornado has gone through mommy's kitchen on a daily basis)

At the HP Family Picnic!

Ava loved the petting zoo they had at the HP Family Picnic!

Silly faces!

Saying goodbye to our first nanny, Kristen...

All smiles with Daddy

LOVE her precious smile!

Putting band-aids on puppy...

Special date with mommy at build-a-bear...

Ava loves her wild and free outside time every morning...

This stray cat comes to say hi to us every day at the park...

More splash pad fun!

Loving watermelon!

Being silly in our backyard (yes our lawn has clearly gone California Gold thanks to the drought!)

LOVES her sand/water table!

We love our weekly facetime date with Grandmommy and Grandpa! Blowing kisses and playing peek-a-boo...

At the splash pad with buddy Emmie...

I was making dinner one day and went to check on Ava when I noticed it was quiet...come to find she had put on her rain boots and hat! Too cute!

Ava absolutely loves the house Grandmommy and Granda bought her and loves to play peek-a-boo out the window! A very special thing, as my mom tells me my Grammy and Papa (her parents) were so excited to give me my first play house, and she remembers vividly when they set it up for me I ran inside it, and then opened the windows just like Ava did here and yelled "peek-a-boo"!