Ava at 15 Months Old

Ava LOVES to read. We moved her books from the stairway runners to their own bookshelf. This seems to make the house look a bit more tidy, and she LOVES it. She can now reach any book she wishes to read. I think the books are on the floor more than they are on the shelves. She will pull a book (or many) down, go down and sit in a random spot on the floor, and start reading to herself. We chuckle when we hear her read, because she uses SO! MUCH! EXPRESSION! You wonder what story she is trying to relay to us.

She loves to give kisses. She will pull my or Doug's face close with both of her hands, and give us a kiss on the mouth. It is the sweetest thing! Fortunately for us, she now closes her mouth when she gives kisses. Sometimes she blows air out of her mouth before she gives kisses.

She no longer seems to miss her pacifier. She has most of her teeth, now: all four top teeth are in, three of the front-bottom teeth, at least one of her 1-year molars is entirely through and the others are coming in quickly, too.

When we dump water over her head in the bathtub, she now yells "yay". I don't think she enjoys it, but at least she's not sucking air and water in at the same time! It works.

She LOVES the bathtub and the pool. When we ask if she is ready for a bath, she runs around the house yelling "Bah! Bah!" with much enthusiasm. She now kicks her legs in the water, and seems to be very comfortable in the pool. She is definitely Daddy's girl when in the pool, for some reason. Hmm, could it be the # of times I've dunked her underwater? Possibly? She is getting to the point now where she will almost jump off of the side by herself, when I'm barely holding her.

Ava really likes to jump now. It's hysterical to watch, because she doesn't ever leave the ground. She just looks like she's a member of the 80's group Devo, dancing like she has Tourette's. She can ALMOST leave the ground now, when jumping.

It's interesting the phases through which Ava goes. She rediscovered a huge soft puppy dog stuffed animal which we bought for Valentine's Day. She decided she wanted to take it to bed with her this week. When Doug woke her up in the morning, she brought it downstairs. When he tried to put it on the floor before she ate breakfast, she was opposed and threw a fit. A new friend, I guess.

She waves like she was taught by Miss America. I have no idea where she learned to turn her hand the way she does???

Ava's vocabulary now consists of:
Mama (and Mommy)
Dad-da (and Daddy)
Hi (whenever I pick her up from day care, she greets me with a big "Hi!!!!")
Bye (and Bye-bye)
Her first sentence is "Bye-bye, Daddy" (She says this often)
Book (a FAVORITE word these days. "Buuh, buuh!")
More ("Moh, Moh" she now will sign "more" with her hands when she wants more food)
Wow
No
Yay!
Uh-oh
Bath (bah)
Ba-ba (drink)
Baby
Shoe (shoe)
Mmmm (yum. She's sure to emphasize how much she enjoys chocolate milk... "mmm!")
Cow
Car
Truck
Bus (bah - she points to school buses when they drive by)
Vroom Vroom (when she sees a car)
Dog (daw)
woof-woof (when we ask what a doggie says)
Duck
Quack-quack
Ooh-ooh-ooh (when we ask what a monkey says, or when she sees a banana)
Meow (when we ask what a kitty-cat says)
Waah, waah, waah (when we ask what a baby does)
Baaa (when we ask what a lamb says)
Bear (Beah, when she wants her teddy bear)
Ball
Balloon (bah)
Yuck (kuh, kuh, kuh)
Fish (she has only said this a handful of times)
Love you (she said this ONCE...)
Please (she said this only ONCE, too)