Ava's 18-months!

I'm ready for bed, Mama.

Ava has grown up so much in the past few months!

Height: 33 1/4 inches
Weight: 23lbs 4oz
Shoe size: 5

Ava continues to be very tall for her age and her feet and hands are very slender. Even though she's slightly more than average weight, she looks thinner because of her height. I was a bit worried because she still eats so little. I'm so thankful that Ava is growing so well on mama's milk! We just went in to her doctor's office for her 18-month well-baby check and she had one vaccination and a flu shot. I'm hoping her healthy streak continues this winter! She did so well last cold and flu season with the breastmilk antibodies protecting her from the nasty bugs.

Ava's Fall art projects from daycare last week about apples and apple trees.

She is a very busy toddler! Ava enjoys music and loves to sing and dance to all types of music including nursery rhymes. She likes to hum and sing songs. You can definitely make them out! Her favorites are Row Row Row Your Boat, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, Itsy Bitsy Spider, the ABC song, and Thumbkin.

We transitioned her to a new daycare last month and she absolutely loves it! The smaller class size is very good for her and it gives her the chance to do lots of activities during the day. She has bonded well with her new teachers and likes to sit on their laps and she asks them to read her a story. Ava plays with her new friend, Amy, who is just a couple months older than her. They have a screened porch and a playground with a fun slide.

Last week Ava's class focused on apples and apple trees. She brought home these cute art projects on Friday afternoon. Then during our family pizza movie night, she started to say Apple. She said A-a-ple, then said Apple very clearly! I realized it was because of all the apples they discussed in class! She loves it!

Look who's walking Bena

Ava really loves to be outside. She often asks us to take her on a stroller ride on our street when we get home from daycare. With all the trees around our house, we're talking about the leaves changing and falling to the ground to prepare for winter. She likes to play with the leaves on our walk. The other night, Ava insisted on holding Bena's leash as we walked. Bena is very strong, but since she knew Ava was holding her leash, she was very gentle. It was very cute! Thankfully, our street has only local traffic so it's great for walking with the baby. The weather is cooler and the leaves have changed to orange, red, yellow, and brown. This is my favorite season!

Enjoying an evening walk with Mom, enjoying the Fall leaves.

Snuggling with Mommy before the walk.

Munching on granola bars before the 5k walk.

Ava talks a lot! Her language is developing well. Sometimes she launches into a big story and I have no idea what she's saying, but some of her words are very clear and she's starting to make simple sentences.

Ava's favorite words:

• No (she loves to say that really loud to show her independence!)
• I did it!
• Go!
• Apple
• Animal
• More (she pronounces it "moi")
• Mama
• Daddy
• Bena (Nena)
• Baby
• Bye-bye
• Corey (her friend) she loves him! When we went home after visiting Corey last weekend, she said "Bye-bye good boy, Corey." So cute!
• Colt (her friend)
• Cup
• Yah!
• Wee - when she goes down a slide or down the bed to the floor
• Woh - when she's excited
• Row, row - to sing "Row row row your boat"
• Um - something new she says all the time when you ask her a question. Silly!

We taught Ava to slide off the bed on her tummy and she loves it! Since she sleeps with us in our bed a lot, we wanted her to learn how to get down safely. She is an expert stair climber now, taking her time up each stair. We give Ava simple instructions and she responds.

Hanging out with her friend Corey!

Go Bears!

Last weekend, we went to the Corporate Challenge event and did a 5K Fitness Walk for ExactTarget. It was 55 degrees and cool. We were glad that it didn't rain and stayed warm with the exercise. We carried Ava in our pack and it was great. I had to switch her to Aaron because she was asking to nurse when I had her in the pack. She was a little anxious by the end, but we entertained her until the end.

Ava is a big helper. She likes to help in the laundry room, except folding clothes is a challenge because she wants to snuggle with all the clothes! In the kitchen, she likes to measure the ingredients with spoons and cups. She's pretty good at transferring ingredients to bowls without spilling too much. Ava likes to stir and even sprinkle chocolate chips on brownies before they go in the oven. I let her play with the beans that are soaking in the water before I turn on the slow cooker because she loves the texture. 

My last picture is Ava with her Chicago Bears cheerleader dress that we randomly found last summer at a secondhand store. She's a young Bears fan and when Daddy was watching the game she clapped! It was very fun!