Little Lins!

…for Friday’s weekly post. Week 132 will arrive on Monday. Have a great weekend!!

Lately, most of our mornings involve a lot of nagging, begging and pleading to get this one out of the house on time. Go Potty please. Put on your shoes please. No, you can’t wear your Cinderella dress to school. Stop bah-bowing Yoda please.

I wonder if that will ever change.

Hi. I’m Ava and I’m half Croatian and half Chinese. What the heck am I supposed to use when I go out to eat? Chopsticks or a fork?

Today I choose both… but are these chopsticks supposed to go up my nose like this? Oops!!

Hi. I’m Ava and here I go!

This!

Is!

So!

Awesome!

Hello there. Our little potty-trained, big girl bed sleeping toddler is now 131 weeks old!!! And I should mention that she is no longer sick. Yeah. Finally. But ever since she’s gotten better, something has changed. She has gotten crazier. And sillier. And more talkative. And a bit skinnier too. I miss her big belly.

So last Friday marked her last full day at daycare. We decided to switch Ava over to half days since maternity leave is quickly approaching… and it’s nice to save a couple bucks too. So instead of picking her up around 3pm, we will now start picking her up around noon… and she will start napping at home. No more sleeping on mats on the floor… with naked babies piled in a corner! This was the last day for that.

On Saturday, Ava was more than excited for three of her favorite babysitters to come over and play with her. I heard that they played, sang, went on bouncy waggy rides, ate popsicles… but I am still waiting for pictures for proof . All I know is that Ava woke up talking about Darla kisses. Hehe. Thanks guys.

Where Mama and Dada end up going? To Rodrigo and Emily’s wedding!

On Sunday, we ended up joining the wedding crew for some breakfast and Ava insisted on wearing her cowboy boots and hat. She gets comments everywhere we go when she puts them on. Good ones.

After breakfast, we went over to Grace and Cole’s house so Ava can play in Cole’s new sandbox…

… and wish him a happy 1st birthday. How time flies! These two were loving their ice cream cupcakes a little too much. Messy kids.

On Monday morning, Nona and Dida stopped by before they continued to drive up north to catch their ship to Alaska. Ava was really shy when they first got there. Dida called her Marlene #2. Hehe.  Once she warmed up, Ava kept talking about how they were going to ‘baycation‘.

And at school that day, Ava’s best friend came back from her ‘baycation‘ and these two were back enjoying each other’s company. Ava R was kind enough to try to fix Ava undone bow on her dress.

I try to send Ava to school with fresh fruit in the mornings for breakfast. Her friends are quick to ask for some too. Ava’s teacher says she is a good sharer. And on this day, it was no different. But after awhile, she looked at me and said ‘I wanna eat it all‘. And then her teacher quickly gave her friends the heave ho.

She might be a good sharer to at school but she surely wasn’t one at 31 flavors on Tuesday. Dida gave her some ice cream money before his trip and she talked it up all day. She called it her ‘tickets for ice cream‘. But what happened when it was time to use her tickets? She wanted to keep them in her purse. Nice.

Since I’ve been lucky enough to work some days from home, I get to help Dan drop Ava off at school in the mornings. And what does Ava say when I tag along? ‘What are you doing here, Mama?‘

On this day, we were a bit late. Someone decided to sleep in. Who am I kidding? We all did. So if we get to daycare after 8:30am, breakfast time is over and we are in charge of feeding our own kid. So here she is eating grapes and scrambled eggs with spinach. One of her favorites. And she is eating as fast as she can…

… because all of her friends are on the other side of the room making a HUGE mess.

Like I said in the beginning of the post, we pick up Ava now for nap time. We come straight home and I put on her pajamas while Dan warms up her milk (or ‘milky‘ as she calls it). And ever since she was little, Ava likes to pinch or knead while she drinks milk… sorta like a cat, I guess. But now her thing is to play with my knuckles.

And at night, she is doing so well sleeping in her big girl bed. The only thing different now is that we have to leave her door cracked open instead of closing it. (Sorry for not mentioning it, Deets!) Oh, and our bedtime routine is a little different too. While drinking milk and playing with my knuckles, she wants to me read her a lot of books. And I mean a lot. I have to cut her off. And after Dan comes in to give her a kiss good night, we sing songs together… but lately she doesn’t want me to sing with her… but wants me to listen to her sing.

Ballerina class #4 was a success this week. She was much more into it. There were times when she didn’t listen to the teacher and wanted me to just spin her.

But for most of the class, she paid attention. Check her out pretending to be a tall flower. Oh, and during the part where we have to sashay across the room, the substitute teacher mentioned that it was like her feet where a dog and a cat and that the dog has to chase the cat across the room. Ava immediately piped up and declared that ‘I have a cat named Yoda‘. Dan and I giggled like crazy. We love when our shy girl says silly things out loud in public.

And at the end of the class, the girls always get their hand stamped. They love it.

After class, Ava becomes crazy. It takes a lot to wear her out. So, as soon as we got out of the car, the sprinklers came on. In her leotard and all. She LOVED it.

And last but not least, here is Ava enjoying her newest book. Big Sister Dora. She (and Deets and the rest of the world) is convinced we are having twins. Oh geez. It’s only one, Ava!!! BYE!!

I’m tired. I seriously have a big belly. And I have 6 weeks to go. Plus, it’s Friday. Wah wah wah. So… I am taking a break today. I will post Ava’s 131st week on Monday.

Oh. And if you think I am exaggerating about the big belly. Check out this camera phone spy shot Dan took a few days ago. This belly is no joke.