Ava at 18 months (so, back around March/April 2016)

At 18 month, Ava started bursting with personality.  She surprised us this morning in the kitchen.  She walked around the corner with the stroller, doll, "purse" on her shoulder and cell phone in the other hand and said "bye" to Rob and I.  So hilarious and so cute!  It was the first time I'd seen her act out real life to this fullness.  At her 18 month wellness check, she weighed 21 pounds and was 31.5 inches tall.  She met all milestones.  She has lots of words, can parrot very well (e.g., clearly speak the word "dictionary" after never having heard it) and LOVES to sing (including the Happy Birthday song and a bunch of Mother Goose nursery rhyme songs).  She doesn't have the same ball arm that her brother had at her age, but she's much more cuddly than he was - we love it both ways!  Their different personalities make the house a lot of fun.

Ava loves baths.  She loves to splash, play and show us that she can lay down and put her ears in the water.  Jameson is working with her on blowing bubbles.

She started outgrowing her high chair - but, only to the extent of wanting to be a big girl like her brother.  This was probably one of the last times she was in it.  She's still a snacker at heart, much like myself :)  During the mornings, though, one of the giveaways that she's tired and needing a morning nap (as opposed to pushing through till the afternoon) is that she'll start whining for "crackers" when she's already full from breakfast and a mid-morning snack.  Despite trying to get her down to just one nap a day and pushing it to be an afternoon nap, sometimes she really needs one in the morning.

As with wanting to be a big girl, she wants to do many things on her own and expresses pride when she's accomplished something.  One of her favorite phrases is "I did it!"  Other phrases she often repeats include "Come on!" and "Love you much."