Happy 2nd Birthday, Ava!

Ava turns two today. It's so hard to believe that two years have already gone by! Each day I look forward to showing her the world and letting her explore it. It's been so fun to watch her learn things and become more confident in her abilities!

She knows it is her birthday today. When we ask whose birthday it is, she says "Ava's!", and when we ask how old she is turning, she says "two!", holding up her last three fingers. 'Can't quite get the two fingers up at the same time.

We sent her to school with some homemade pink (is there any other color in the world?) strawberry cupcakes with sprinkles. We gave her the choice of going to McDonald's Play Place or to Chuck E. Cheese's tonight, knowing these seem to be her two favorite places in the world. I think she chose McDonald's Play Place.

She's been extra-sweet lately, and continues to learn exponentially. At school, she has now officially graduated (with three other kids) to the younger two year-old class. It is a bit more structured than her previous class. Her previous teacher, Miss Jackie, already misses the kids. Miss Jackie jokingly told me that Ava, Jack and Aidan weren't allowed to graduate, so she could keep them in her class longer. It's also good to know that the day care rate drops $50 a month with Ava in this newer class!

While in Vegas, I tried to put Ava down for a nap in the room we stayed at Aunt Kathy and Uncle Jeff's house (Aunt Kappy and Apple Jaff, as Ava refers to them). Ava knew I was in the bathroom getting ready, so she systematically emptied my purse and would push items through the crack at the bottom of the door. She started saying "Mommy", but then I caught her saying "Mom?" a few times. I had to laugh, thinking she is entirely too young to already be calling me Mom! :-) We celebrated Ava's, Aunt Kristy's and Grandma Mary's birthdays while in Vegas (Kristy on 04/02 and Mary's on 04/03), with an ice cream cake and some gifts. More on the trip and b-day presents in a future post.

I purchased the white "princess" dress in the pictures below at a recent consignment sale for $15!!! When I was about to check out with the items I found, I noticed a table that said "Play Dress-Up for $15", and couldn't resist.

Happy birthday to our sweet girl! Know that you are forever loved and mean the world to your Daddy and me. We pray that you have a very special day today!

All our love,
Mommy and Daddy