Mains Memories: Ava Joy is TWO!

My Darling Ava,

Your daddy and I cannot believe you are already TWO...going on 20! ;-)

You are so full of life and personality, and you bring us so much joy! What an incredible blessing you are in our lives!

At two years old, your daddy and I would describe you as:

Sweet
Compassionate
Sensitive
Fierce
Stubborn
Determined
Independent

Your favorite activities are:

Arts and crafts time at home with mommy: we paint, color, draw, make things, etc. And I just love to see where your imagination takes you with each craft! You could craft all day, every day (just like your mommy!)
"Helping" mama cook - you get quite upset if I start spinkling spices or chopping something without you and will come running from anywhere in the house to the kitchen yelling, "help mama! help!" when you here me in the kitchen. I just love it!
Playing in your sandbox and water table outside
Going to Mother Goose on the Loose at the library: you have all the nursery rhymes and hand motions nearly mastered now, and you're quite upset that it's on break for the summer. When I tell you we won't be going to Mother Goose for a while, you say "Mother Goose sleeping." So sweet!
You LOVE swimming!!! When I first took you to the public pool you were absolutely terrified of the water...a shock to me, as you love the kiddie pool at home and your baths. But, I sat on the edge with my feet in and you stood about 5 feet away from me just shaking your head...and, eventually you crept closer and closer as I repeated "it's okay to be scared. New experiences can be scary because we don't know what they're like, but I think you'll really like this, and I'll just sit here with my feet in until you're ready." It took about 10 minutes, but you finally sat next to me and put your toes in. Then about 10 more minutes to see me fully in to come in yourself, and then I couldn't get you out! Now, on a daily basis, you will ask me to take you to the pool and you love to swim on your own with your puddle jumper, jump off the edge to me, and go down the kiddie slide! I had to smile through this experience because it showed me that you have a lot of myself in you - you can't be forced into things, and have to adjust to them on your own and at your own pace. :)
Playing make believe - I ensure you have playtime in our playroom on a daily basis, usually while I'm prepping meals or doing dishes. I come check on you periodically, but I know it's important to leave you alone to allow your imagination to flourish. And, I get such a kick out of listening to you babble and talk to your babies and stuffed animals. I'll find you making them food in your play kitchen, setting up a tea party, lining them up to take a picture, and all kinds of other adorable scenarios. Lately, you've been into mothering - so, I'll find you putting your diapers on your babies, wiping them, wrapping them in blankets...it's so sweet and makes my heart so happy for baby brother's impending arrival!
Reading - you are SUCH a bookworm and the library has become one of your favorite places as you get so excited about new books to take home and fall in love with. We've had to re-check out a number of books that you've grown attached to. We read before nap and bed time, but also many times throughout the day too.
Going to the Children's Museum: you just love all the exhibits they have, and you ask me to take you to the museum nearly every day!
Going to the Zoo: Your love for animals only continues to grow!
FaceTiming with your grandparents: you love talking to and seeing Mimi and Boompa, and Grandma and Papa
Playing with your friends: you get so very excited to see your friends, and are very into hugging and holding their hands these days
Torturing your puppy...but, seriously. You get whatever toy you're using to torture Paisley taken away from you on a near daily basis these days.

We're continually amazed at the cognitive abilities the Lord has blessed you with at such a young age. For a while now, you've been able to:

Count to 10 (you now love to count anything you see a multiple of), and kind of count to 20 (you get a few mixed up on the way from 10 to 20) ;-)
Sing your ABCs (there are a few letters we're not too sure of, but the majority you've got down!)
Recognize all the colors (you love to describe objects by their colors)
Recall all your family and friends names, their pets, and their relatives
Sing all your favorite songs: Frozen's Let It Go, The Wheels on the Bus, You are my Sunshine, and Twinkle Twinkle.
Negotiate - you already have your mama's negotiating skills and use them quite convincingly to get what you'd like. It's quite hard for us to keep a straight face, because it's the cutest thing ever! Every time I tell you it's time to go, you say "No, mama, five minutes!" Or, when dada says you need to ask mama, you come running to me saying "please mama, I'll listen" (as we've been dolling out quite a few consequences for not listening lately, so you naturally have used listening to try to get things you want!). :)
Go to the potty on your own. You woke up one Friday, saw your Frozen themed underwear, and said "Mama, I big girl now...Ava wear these!" And, here were are now 9 days later and you've had only two accidents (both on the second day). You sure know when you're ready to reach new milestones. Here, I was going to wait until 2.5!

You are an incredible eater! There are very few things I've put in front you that you refuse to eat, and you easily consume more than your 9 daily servings of fruits and veggies! My how far we've come since our breastfeeding and bottle feeding days when you'd scream through every feeding! Your favorite foods are:

Any and every kind of meat - you are a carnivore through and through! Inlcuding Salmon!
Eggs
Avocado spread on toast (what you call "Cado Toast"), or even just straight on a spoon
All beans
Most fruits, especially blueberries, blackberries, strawberries, cherries, raspberries, apples, bananas and grapes
Most veggies, especially beets, green beans, carrots, sweet potatoes, squash, and peppers
Hummus - you'll eat it straight off a spoon if I'm not watching you!
Sandwich wraps - tortilla with hummus, spinach, and turkey rolled up
You absolutely love all dairy, but are still very sensitive to it, so you only get small amount of it daily
And, of course, you like most "crap food" as I call it, and we ensure you get a limited supply of - animal crackers, veggie straws, chips, etc.
You're hit or miss on desserts - you threw an absolute fit at your friends birthday party the other day when we offered you a bite of cake, and at another friend's birthday party when we offered you a cookie...all the rest of your friends woofed theirs down, but you...you kicked and screamed and said "no like it!!!" Too funny.

Some adorable things you do now:

Insist on doing EVERYTHING yourself...Your step stool has become your favorite companion as you use it to do everything from wash the dishes, wash your hands, hoist yourself up to the bed, and "help" prepare your meals. Your most commonly used phrase these days is "NO, Ava do it!"
Feed Paisley her meals - you take the responsibility very seriously, and know just how many scoops to give her and her release word ("Paisley Freeeeee!")
When we ask you, "who's baby are you? Mommy or Daddy's?" You'll smile and say the opposite of whichever one of us is asking you, knowing you'll get tickled and squeal with delight
Sing all the songs we sing along with us. My most precious time of the day with you is nap time (daddy gets bedtime so we each get to equally share in these precious moments with you), when, after we've finished reading, I turn off the light and lay down next you and sing you three songs while I rub your back. I'll sing Brahm's Lullaby, You Are My Sunshine and Twinkle Twinkle, and you'll sing them all with me. You love me rubbing your back and always ask me to stay and sing another song when we're done
Have conversations with your friends, or any similar in age person you come across...most of which makes sense, but sometimes we're not too sure what you guys are talking about! You'll walk up to random kids at the museum even and start talking - you've always been a social butterfly!
Think dada can fix anything and everything....whenever something is broken, you'll sweetly exclaim "daddy fix it!"
See your favorite characters at stores (mickey/minnie, nemo/dory, and all the frozen characters) and say "Look! Dory! Hi Dory! Muah! Miss you Dory, bye bye Dory!" Everyone around us dies laughing (as you're pretty much loud enough for the whole store to hear). It's incredibly cute!

A major transition we made at 2 years old was moving to the big girl bed. It went SO much easier than we thought it would, especially with how much you loved your crib. But, we got you super excited about it by buying you an Frozen Elsa pillow doll to sleep with, and aside from waking up scared the first night, you've slept beautifully in it ever since...you even stay in it after waking until we come get you (yes, we know how extraordinarily lucky we are!).

And, you're still incredibly attached to the pacifier as a sleep prop, and have even named each paci by the image on them (kitty paci, strawberry paci, giraffe paci, etc). We're following the doctor's advice and letting you keep it until close to age 3, because we agree that you shouldn't have to give up your primary comfort device and sleep prop while going through the huge transition of adding a child to our family. And, of course, you are still equally attached to your beloved bunnies you've had since 6 months old and go hand-in-hand with your pacis as your comfort and sleep props. We're glad you have those as well, which you'll never have to get rid of!

We love you Ava! More than all the stars in the sky and the waves in the sea (our special saying)!

Here are some of the highlights from your second year of life. An additional post will follow in the coming days with your formal two year pictures!

WARNING READERS: If you've learned anything from my previous posts, there will be a plethora of pictures! :)

Celebrating Father's Day 2015 (we went to Apple Hill):

Playing little mama:

At buddy Haddie's 1st Birthday Party:

My favorite shopping partner - fun times at the mall:

Mimi and Boompa got you this house for your 1st birthday, and you LOVE it!

Celebrating 4th of July in WA at Grandma & Papa's in the adorable dress Aunt DD made for you:

You loved exploring Papa's combine!

Playdate to celebrate buddy Haylee's and Aunt Sarah's birthdays:

Your favorite store - Costco! You love getting all the samples and the picture on the receipt on our way out :)

Fun times with puppy:

At the library, making a mess of their play area:

Poor Paisley. She is so very patient with you!

You loved the splashpad in the summer of 2015. Now, notsomuch

Having a blast in a box from Costco!

More splashpad fun...this time with buddy Emmie!

Fun at Bayside's indoor playground to escape the heat of summer!

You and Paisley both love water!

Fun at the zoo!

LOVE swinging!

Your favorite place to play is in the kitchen - this entire year:

At the HP Family Picnic 2015:

Saying goodbye to your first nanny, Kristen, just prior to mama quitting her job!

One of my favorite pictures from the whole year - such a sweet smile!

Again...poor Paisley!

Having fun with the neighborhoods stray kitty:

Much to dada's dismay, you love playing in the garden:

You also love your rainboots, and I'd find you wearing them all the time throughout the summer!

Playing peek-a-boo in your play house!

Your favorite part of Fairy Tale Town is the garden:

Bad baby!!!

Zoo date!

Snuggling with your beloved puppy:

You finally got your first kind-of fever at 15 months. It lasted all of two hours and was only ever up to 100.9. For this to be your only fever in 26 months, your immune system is freakishly strong (and for that I am super grateful!).

One of our favorite activities - playing in the dirt!

Family zoo date:

You LOVE your learning tower! It's where you eat all your meals and do all your crafts, plus help mama make dinner!

Mimi and Boompa came to visit in the Fall of 2015:

With buddies Haddie and Emmie:

At 17 months, we signed you up for gymnastics, and it's now your most favorite time and activity of the week! It's been so incredible watching your skills grow, and I believe it's had a huge impact on your cognitive developments!

Playdate with buddies Lyla, Emmie, Haylee and Izzy

Sweet smiles!

Your most favorite "toy" of all time - your beloved kitchen!

Another favorite - your bike from Grandma and Papa!

Stuck in between your gate and door :)

My little bookworm :)

Being silly dressing up in Paisley's rain coat:

All smiles in our gymnastics outfit!

More smiles in our hello kitty slippers:

One of our favorite things to do (at our now old house/neighborhood) - visit the ducks!

Wearing one of Aunt DD's amazing dress creations:

Bath time is any time of the day in this house - you love your baths!

The best way to keep you occupied on flights - lots and lots of stickers!

Fun at Mimi and Boompa's for Thanksgiving 2015 (it was not fun, however, catching Croup on the flight home!):

Helping mama bake!

Morning snuggles with Paisley:

More swinging!

At Bass Pro Shops to get our picture with Santa in Aunt DD's amazing dress!

Special dada time!

Fall 2015 pictures:

At the Pumpkin Patch!

Christmas 2015 Pictures:

First trip to San Francisco:

Helping mama make (and eat) Christmas cookies:

Fun times with playdough:

At the Christmas edition of Mother Goose on the Loose in one of Aunt DD's adorable jumpers she makes for each holiday!

Our first playdate post mommy quitting her career. I remember shedding a few tears of pure happiness as we ran over the whole park collecting acorns and making art with them, knowing I would never have to miss these moments again!

Second Christmas!

Christmas at Mimi and Boompa's

Helping Mama make juice!

At one of your favorite places - Tiny Tumblers:

You absolutely adore this dog Mimi bought you - her name is Lucy!

Playdate with buddies Izzy and Haylee :)

Costco shopping trip with buddies Haylee, Izzy, and Emmie

Celebrating buddies Anthony and Claire turning 1

You're quite the engineer (making dada, Mimi and Boompa proud!) with your blocks!

Announcing to our families that you're officially a big sister! Dada's hand is blocking the checked box :)

At one of your favorite places - the children's museum!

Playdate with Anabelle, Emmie, and Haylee

You love being a little mama :)

Puppy love!

At the Greenhoe's for a fun dinner with the Marks family too!

First pigtails!

Snuggling in bed with mama watching a movie while we were both sick

Rainy day fun, with Paisley too!

Your first peek at your baby brother - LOVE!

While I was cooking I heard you say "ay peas!" (translation: say please) to your baby as you fed her.

You and Emmie showed up in matching outfits at Mother Goose one day :)

Pretty excited to read a book in your Valentine's day outfit from Grandma and Papa!

Valentine's day park playdate

In one of your adorable Valentine's outfits Aunt DD made :)

Your Valentine's present from mommy and daddy - Fishy!

Another adorable holiday themed jumper from Aunt DD!

Paisley is your very best friend

More fun at the children's museum:

Aunt DD was so kind to make you an adorable Monsters' outfit!

Playdate at our house for a few buddies:

First Jamba Juice!

You're really into holding your friends' hands these days - I love it!

Keeping yourself entertained at breakfast!

Yet another adorable holiday-themed jumper from Aunt DD - Easter 2016!

First manicure to celebrate Auntie Ella's wedding!

The cutest member of Auntie Ella's bridal party!

The most beautiful flower girl. I just love the relationship you have with "Ella," as you call her. I can tell she will be your go-to Auntie as you grow and you'll have so much fun together! And, yet another stunning Aunt DD creation in this amazing flower girl dress!

You still love the robe Auntie Ella gave you!

Just prior to your 2nd birthday you and mama went out to Wichita to have lots of fun with Mimi and Boompa!

We were even able to celebrate Mother's Day while we were there!

First ice cream cone was a hit!

You LOVE petting zoos more than anything else in the world!

Fun at Mother Goose with your friends

First pool time in our new backyard!

Three little cuties!

Such a daddy's girl!

You love the carosel, and mommy loves how sweetly you ask for it, so every zoo date we go!

Your official birthday! We had just moved literally 9 days prior, so you did not get a formal party this year. But next year will more than make up for it!