Frank-a-lynn

Ava is like a little adult these days.

She now realizes when she has to go to the bathroom when she gets up in the morning. She is normally in the bathroom (decides to use our bathroom) with the light on, before Doug or I even awake in the morning. She's an early bird, and probably always will be. :-) She is still in a Pull-up at night, but mostly wakes up dry. During all other times she wears "big girl underwear" and seems proud to do so. She definitely likes being in charge of going to the bathroom herself and will often tell me she can do it herself, while closing the door to the bathroom. :-)

Her facial expressions and conversation skills crack me up lately. Recently, I noticed that she kept calling / naming her dolls "Frank-a-lynn". I asked her if there was a "Frank-a-lynn" at school. Nope, no Frank-a-lynn at school. One morning, we were sitting on the couch before breakfast and she says "Franklin!", pointing to the t.v. That morning I found out that Franklin is a boy turtle on a cartoon. I had to crack up, realizing that (a) there really is a Franklin and (b) Franklin left impression enough upon Ava that she felt her dolls needed to all be named after him.

Ava likes to line up her stuffed animals and read to them. She likes to make "steps" out of books. She loves to giggle with her little brother. She loves to organize and clean her kitchen. Ava loves to help me bake, as well. On Tuesday night she helped me make a pizza.

Ava knows all of her letters, now, and has graduated to the big "three year-old" class at school. Since in the new class, she is taking naps without fail every day. They take a nap with the big kids in the four year-old room. In her class, they learn their letters, numbers, words, etc. She has taken a particular interest in our flash cards recently. Instead of saying the letter on the card, she will say "A, uh, apple..."B, buh, bear", as if to recite. The teacher was impressed that she knew all of her letters and that she can recognize some words on the back of the classroom door already. I'm glad she is in this new class, as I think she might've been a little bored in the last one.

She peeks in on Liam in his classroom while at school. She told me: "Lesterday? I walked into Liam's classroom and he smiled at me." (She can't quite say "yesterday", so she says "lesterday").

I was touched by how big my little girl was, this past Monday. When I went to pick the kids up, the teacher was so impressed that Ava knew some of their "words" (on the back of the door) that she wanted Ava to demonstrate. The teacher instructed all of the other kids to sit down on the rug while she attended to Ava. The teacher then got out her "pointer" stick and pointed at the words for Ava. I looked on, close to Ava. Ava stood there, not shy or cowering at all, and tried her hardest to recollect the word to which the teacher was pointing. She knew some of the words! Her first day in class! She wasn't frustrated with herself when she didn't know a word, but seemed content with those she did know. She wasn't embarassed in front of the class, nor did the other kids take note of the words she didn't know. The other kids just sat patiently and waited, as if to go about their normal business. Ava just smiled afterward and returned the hug I gave to her. It was at that moment I was especially thankful for the environment in which Ava learns every day. Prayers were answered. It made me glad that Ava is in this environment of people that she considers her family, as well. She often talks about her classmates and tells me that (insert classmate name here) is my best friend. It makes me feel good to see her developing her own relationships. She's learning life!

Peace, love and a world full of letters,
Shelly, Doug, Ava and Liam