The Word Bank

My Mom meticulously documented my development during the first two years of my life, in my baby book. She even drew (see figures A and B below) a picture of a mouth, with an arrow pointing to each tooth and the date on which the tooth popped-through my gums! (And yes, I was 2 1/2 months old when my first tooth appeared!?!).

Figure A


I made a sorry attempt at a "tooth diagram" for Ava, but kind of gave up, as there were so many teeth coming through at once, and I didn't see a need for pinning her down and torturing her by looking in her mouth (this seems to be the worst punishment for Ava, at least).

Figure B


My Mom also noted in my baby book that I had said 100 words by the time I was 17 months old. So, last night, Doug and I got out our fingers and toes, and decided to count how many words Ava knows. Ava's word bank is a little over 50 words, currently! My favorite is that she calls Elmo "Mel-mo", and she sounds like she's from the Bronx when she says "bear" (it sounds more like "beah"):

1. Airplane
2. Baaa (when we ask what a lamb says)
3. Baby
4. Babydoll
5. Ball
6. Balloon
7. Bath ("Bah". says this repeatedly when we ask if she wants to go to the bath.)
8. Bear (Beah, when she wants her teddy bear)
9. Bee (loves to point out bees. She's not afraid of them, yet).
10. Bible
11. Birdie
12. Block
13. Boo-boo (she insists we kiss her "boo-boos" now).
14. Book (Bah-bah)
15. Bubble
16. Bus (she points to school buses and says "bah!")
17. Bye-bye
18. Car
19. Cow
21. Dad-da (and Daddy)
20. Doggie (dawh)
21. Door
22. Drink
23. Duck
24. Elmo (Melmo. She knows how to laugh like the “Count”–ah, ah, ah!)
25. Eye
26. Fish (??? - she has only said this a handful of times)
27. Flower (???)
28. Grandma
29. Heeeeh (when we ask what noise a horse makes)
30. Hi (she frequently greets many with a big "Hi!!!!")
31. Hot
32. Jesus (sounds like Jay-jee)
33. Mama (and Mommy)
34. MMM! (She LOVES chocolate milk, so we hear this often when she drinks it)
35. Meow (when we ask what a kitty-cat says)
36. Moo (when we ask what noise a cow makes)
37. More ("Moh, Moh" she signs "more" w/her hands when she wants more food)
38. Night-night
39. No
40. Nose
41. Ooooh!!!
42. Ooh-ooh-ooh (when we ask what a monkey says, or when she sees a banana)
43. Pig
44. Please
45. Poo-poo (she came up to me & said "Momma, poo-poo," when she had a dirty diaper.)
46. Pool (says this repeatedly when we ask if she wants to go to the pool.)
47. Purple
48. Quack-quack
49. Shoe
50. Thank you (doesn't use this often, currently)
51. Tree
52. Uh-oh
53. Vroom Vroom (when she sees a car)
54. Waah, waah, waah (when we ask what a baby does)
55. S'at? (what's that?)
56. Woof, woof, woof (when we ask what a doggie says)
57. Yes (yeah, yeah, yeah)

She understands so many words right now, but doesn't say them. I think her vocabulary will be taking off within the next month or so. It's so fun to listen to her sweet little voice saying all of these new words! She LOVES to talk to herself and hold elaborate, animated and colorful conversations.

She also knows a few signs. It's funny; she thinks the sign for "more" is also the sign for "please", which is cute. I guess I can understand why she might have these two mixed up...

I'm sure she knows and says other words, many of which WE don't currently understand. :-) Someday soon we'll crack the code. :-)

With love,
Shelly

Future Renderings Professional

I wrote a few weeks ago about Doug's amazing picture he drew for Ava to paint. Attached is the video of an architect's doodling of a house; his daughter completed the "rendering" (as it's known within the architecture field).

Ava Puts Finishing Touches on Renderings
Uploaded by thecareyclan

All Aboard!

We had a great time this past weekend with Kenyon, Anna and Ryan Ashton Fletcher. We all attended church in Ellijay, GA on Sunday morning, ate a quick lunch and caught the Blue Ridge Scenic Railway train to McCaysville, GA.



We enjoyed sitting in one of the train's open cars. The weather was beautiful, and the breeze when the train was moving was nice. The kiddos (Ryan Ashton and Ava) both did very well, considering the trip was one hour to McCaysville, a 1 1/2 hour stop and a one hour return trip. We got back to our cars around 5:30 p.m. or so, so it made for a long day for the little tikes. Ava fell asleep three minutes into the car ride home! (this is a record)

We did some sight-seeing in McCaysville, ate some ice cream, relaxed, and Doug took some architectural pictures.








I love this picture of Ryan Ashton and Ava:










This picture is for Grandpa Dean. There was a woodworking shop that sold hand-made items. I think this was turned on a lathe of some sort? We window-watched a man carving something in this store.



One side of the bridge / road was Tennesean, the other side Georgian. Boys took pictures on the Georgia side, girls on the Tennessee side.



A cool church being refurbished...



The conductor also came around and took pictures with the kids. The picture below of Ava with the conductor is absolutely hilarious. I love the pained look on his face as Ava tries to wiggle her way out of his arms.





Look at these big blue eyes!


Santa and Mrs. Claus (the Appalachian version) came around and greeted the kids for the "Christmas in July" train ride.





The man pictured below was an admirer of the kids. At first we were a bit skeptical of his admiration for the little ones, but he seemed safe enough. We found out he was a Grandpa of four little ones, three who live in different states. Ryan Ashton seemed to do well with him. As you can see, Ryan Ashton served as the sticker-repository; our stickers served as our ticket to get back on the traincar in McCaysville. :-)

Ava and Mekhi

Our friends Mark and Amy came over a few weeks ago, and we all enjoyed "take-out" together. Wow, how nice it is to have friends who are fellow parents and can stand to get take-out from Chili's, just so we can all be together. (I promise I did at least make homemade chocolate chip cookies!)

It was cute to watch Ava and Mekhi together. Mekhi was born December 30th, so he's quite a bit younger than Ava. They both seemed to thoroughly enjoy each other's company, as you can see in the pictures below...

These Boots ("heels") Were Made For Walkin'

As mentioned in a previous post, Ava REALLY enjoys putting on other people's shoes. We think she picked-up this interest from her older cousin, Trinity, while we visited MI. (Trinity would sit at my shoed-feet and say "Off...Off...Off...", requesting that I take my shoes off so she could walk in them). Because my sandals have a heel which could cause us to visit the nearest emergency room el pronto, I thought it might be wise (wow, did I ever think I would say this?) to invest in a pair of Barbie shoes.

I fondly recall walking in my Grandma and Grandpa Griffith's kitchen with my own pair of Barbie shoes (with fashionable elastic straps) as a child. Ava picked-up on walking in these shoes right away, and does it with great skill! As our friend Amy said, good "gender-specific" toy!

Channeling Carmen Miranda?

Walkin' - Yes Indeed
Uploaded by thecareyclan

Ava with her buddy - Alana Baillairge

Ava and Grammy

These pictures were taken in early June, of Ava and Grammy Lawson. We had a great time with Grammy, hanging outside and enjoying the fresh air.

I love this first picture!

Acrobatic Maneuvers

Ava has taken a keen interest in doing somersaults, of late. It started with us flipping her over in the living room on the carpet, a few months ago. It progressed to her randomly putting her head down on the carpet throughout the house, viewing the world upside-down a minute at a time. When we finally encouraged her to take the plunge, saying "You can do it!", she then pushed-off with her feet and did a few somersaults on her own. Her most recent passion is roaming the aisles of the local Hollywood Video (video rental store), doing somersaults at her leisure.

You can catch her act on infrequent Friday nights around 6:30 pm. Be there, or be square.

Somersaults
Uploaded by thecareyclan

Somersaults and Peek-a-boo:

Somersaults 2
Uploaded by thecareyclan

Le Petit Painteur

I've been trying to be a bit more crafty indoors with Ava these days, especially as the heat soars outside. We've been coloring with crayons and painting with watercolor recently. She seems to love both.



It's entirely too cute to watch her paint with watercolor. She's so focused! I put her in her booster seat at the kitchen table, but have to put a box underneath the booster seat to raise it up high enough. We have a small bowl full of water for her to rinse the little brush. I tape something I've drawn to the kitchen table, strip her down to just her diaper, and let Picasso go. (I need some suggestions for future drawings... I can only draw so many trees, doggies, rabbits and people...).

The first time we tried this, she got the hang of the process. She likes to dip the brush in the water, swirl it around pretty well, then put her brush in numerous colors at the same time, then paint with the colors. It's fun to see what she does with a literally blank canvas. :-)



I had to show her some technique (I didn't say good technique...) and start out by painting the rainbow. Daddy used his architectural prowess in drawing a house for Ava to paint on Saturday morning. I've never seen a more intricately drawn house for a 15 month-old to paint! I will try to post a picture of it later.

When she paints, she mainly uses her right hand. It's funny to watch her shake her head from side-to-side while painting. It's almost like she uses her head to counter-balance her arm; she paints with her whole body. :-)



As you can imagine, the kid goes directly into the bath after watercolor festivities...


What's cool about watercolor? I put the watercolor palette (or whatever you call it) right under the faucet after we're done, and it looks like new again... Can't beat $2 entertainment...


The finished products:

(notice R-O-Y-G-B-I-V? We didn't have indigo to paint with, so we're missing the "I" in "BIV")






Painting the town red (and green, and yellow, and blue, and purple...),
Shelly, Doug and Ava

She Can Cry On Demand...

Lately, when we ask Ava what a baby does, she immediately gets this pained-look on her face and fakes a cry. It's pretty funny. She knows how to say "bible" (bah-ble), and points to the sky when we ask "where is God?". She started saying her version of "Jesus", too, although it sounds more like "Jay-Je".

She loves to sing. Favorite songs are "Old MacDonald Had a Farm" and "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star".

She likes looking at airplanes and makes a sound when she hears them in the sky, and points upward.

She recently found the couch, too. The couch is a magical place for Ava. If she is lucky enough to get her short little legs up onto the couch, and then climb up, she looks like she won the lottery, sporting a Cheshire cat-grin. Unfortunately, she likes to stand up while on the couch... We're working on "first-time obedience" and have to tell her to sit while on the couch. If she doesn't comply, she doesn't get to sit on the couch, which makes her an unhappy camper. (I'm afraid of a busted lip on the coffee table / trunk, too).

She's adding more boo-boos to the repetoire by the day, especially at day care. For her to sit still (for long) at this point is futile. We just try to focus her attention on something that will help her sit down for a bit longer. I'm sure she'll get there. It is exhausting to keep up with her, though! It's been really fun to interact with her, especially lately.


She Cries On Demand
Uploaded by thecareyclan

With love,
Shelly

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Hmm, wondering in what context I used that word? Taking a "stab" at something?