Baby Love

This past weekend, Ava became more interested in the baby doll that Grammy Lawson gave to her for Christmas.

We're not sure where Ava learned to "pat the baby"; she must've learned it from us patting her on the back, or in watching a teacher comfort a crying baby at day care. Either way, we thought it was super cute. She pats her baby quite frequently, lately.

Baby Love
Video sent by thecareyclan

She also looks more like a toddler, now. Within the past week or so she seems to have had a huge growth spurt. Her one-year appointment is this afternoon, so I'm anxious to see how much she's grown! (Not looking forward to the immunization shots...)

She now says these words frequently:
"Dada"
"Car" (LOVES pointing at our neighbor's car driving down the driveway, while in her high chair)
"Dog" (She gets excited EVERY time she sees a dog)
"Duck"
"Cow"
"Mama" (She still doesn't refer to me as Mama. I think Doug and I are both collectively "Dada". Over the past few days I've tried to emphasize that I'm "mama". When I say it, she just looks at me and grins. :-))
"More"
"Ball"
"Wow" (her all-time favorite)

She also says "Dah-dun" quite a bit (we're not sure if this is "thank you", or maybe "cousin"? We point to her cousins on the refrigerator quite often).

She also takes huge, fast steps and almost runs. She's into climbing on things now, too. She climbs up her "car" and stands on it in the middle of the living room. Yikes!