Ava's New Hair Gel

Ava has a new hair product by the name of syrup and chocolate. I made pumpkin pancakes with chocolate chips (my sister Lori turned me on to this new addiction of mine). Ava just kept running her super sticky fingers through her hair. She must have liked the way it felt when her fingers were sticking to her hair. Luckily I had her in just her diaper for this feast. Clothes safe, hair not so much.

PS Jess this picture is from my new camera.

TP Anyone?

So I know all kids do it but I thought Ava had passed up this milestone. She has had access to the bathroom and has never shown any real interest in the toilet paper. She will tear off a couple sheets and pretend to wash the floor and that is about it. Well we were in her room and I said "Come here, I think I spot a little boogie in your nose". She ran out and a few minutes later she appeared with a little strand of toilet paper pretending to blow her nose. When I passed the bathroom I noticed a big pile of TP on the floor. She was excited about her creation and even decided to play with it a little more. She was sad when I rolled it back up. She kept saying "noooo, noooo". I suppose it isn't as bad as the time she used my toothbrush to stir the toilet water. True story. I was about to brush my teeth and Ava wanted to brush her teeth too. So I gave her my tooth brush and used Matt's instead. Next thing I know I hear her playing in the toilet behind me. I was mortified. My scream scared Ava so much that she dropped my toothbrush into the toilet and cried hard. Hey who doesn't like a new tooth brush? (:

Pointy Hair Princess

We love to put Ava's hair into a pointy do when she's in the bath. She dances around and splashes like crazy when she has this hair do. Can you believe how long her hair is?

New Years Day

We started a tradition for New Years last year. We have cheese and chocolate fondue. Last year we were all sick with a cold, so we stayed in for sure. This year we were traveling until New Years Eve, so we did our fondue dinner on New Years Day. As you can see Ava is just a wee bit rounder this year. Last year she was 10% on the growth chart and this year she is above 97%........the introduction to solids did wonders in the growth chart area for us. This year we kept the cheese warm in a crock pot knowing our daughter would find open flame a little curious. We had apples, bread, mushrooms, and cauliflower and yes Ava is eating the cauliflower, but not with cheese. She didn't really dig this kind of cheese. For the chocolate, which Matt and I devoured, we had strawberries, bananas, angel food cake, and cherries. We got Ava down and let her have a couple of bites, otherwise she/we would have been dealing with a major sugar high. It is no surprise that she loves chocolate, as it is in her genes on both sides of the family. The word chocolate is part of her small vocabulary too!

Walk a Mile in My Shoes

These are my old (14 yrs old!) Ugg boots. Anyone who knew me in college will remember these trusty ol' boots. So I still have them and love them! They truly are the best snow boots, and where I live we happen to get a lot of snow. Ava really likes shoes , especially mine. She tromped around in these for a while and managed to not even fall down.

Packing up and no more Nukie

As we tried to pack to go home, Ava thought she would climb in and play, and unpack what I have already packed. This is also one of the last times she used a Nuk/Binkie. Ava still sucks on her pointer finger and has asked for her nukie one night so far. My pile of nuks started at about 5 and is up to 10. Ava had hidden nuks all over. She would run up and show me a nuk she had found with a big smile, and then run away. Such a funny girl!

Beach Bums

Tasting a little sand........yeah nasty.

We spent a couple of hours on the East side one day. It was windy but warm. Ava enjoyed putting her feet in the water and the feeling of the wet sand. Later in the week we went back, just the girls, while the boys tried out deep sea fishing. That time Ava and I sat in sand and waited for the waves to get us. I thought this would scare Ava, but she loved it. The water would come up all the way to her chest and she would say and sign more, more, more. Silly little fish. Of course I forgot my camera, so you'll just have to try and picture it. We left in a hurry and when we got back I realized my swim suit bottoms had a ton of sand in them, like enough to pot a plant.

Beach Hut-This Year vs Last Year

As I was going though pictures I thought this picture looked similar to one I took in March. Ava was 8 months old vs now 18 months old. When she was 8 mo, Ava just sat inside her hut and played with toys. This time she only stayed in there while I put on the rest of her sunscreen. She wanted to hit the waves and check out the sand right away.

The Life Saver Floatie

So this floatie didn't necessarily save any lives, but Ava loved it. Santa filled our stockings in Mexico and this was one of the things he brought for Ava. She even liked playing with it in the condo.

Fearless

Can you believe the smile on that little girls face. She loves it when her Dad balances her whole body in the palms of his hands. Those two could have their own little stunt show! I love that Ava enjoys the pool. Her hands and feet looked like raisins, because she never wants to get out of the pool.

Super Sandy Girl

So sand is hard to get out of a little girls hair. I couldn't believe how much Ava loves the sand. Every morning after breakfast we would go down to the sand. It is a great area because the sun doesn't hit it until around 10:30. Ava would move little handfuls of sand from one area to the next, once in awhile pretending it was shampoo. She did try it out for taste a couple of times and quickly decided it was nasty. After watching her cousins run and jump she gave that a try too. She would bend her knees and then go up and then fall on her knee's. She thought for sure she was jumping. But her feet were not leaving the ground. Anyway I have already started thinking about where we can put a sand box this summer.

Cousins are the Best!

We are off to Dinner. Ava loves hanging out with her cousins. She follows them all over the condo and always wants to do what they are doing.

Mexican Christmas House

Ava with Grandma and Grandpa.

























In Cozumel they have a great place in middle of town called the plaza. Families gather here every Sunday to dance and listen to a live music. For Christmas this year they set up a giant Christmas tree that you could walk through and in the middle of the tree was a life size nativity set. There was also a cute little Christmas house that kids could run around in. I didn't get any pictures of the huge tree, or Ava shaking her hips, but I did get a few pictures of the Mexican Christmas House.

Santa's Visit

Ava wants a ride in her new doll stroller.

Santa stopped by our house early this year. He must have known we were going on a trip. He dropped off an adorable pink kitchen, doll furniture, and two dolls for Ava just before bedtime. Santa brought Matt a play station 3 that he had to find with clues. I tried to snap a couple of pictures of Ava with her new stuff but she kept running from thing to thing. She wouldn't stop moving, even for a photo op. Matt couldn't wait for Ava to go to bed so he could check out the new video games.

On a side note, when we brought Ava downstairs, the first thing she pointed out were the 3 little Christmas tree's that were by her stuff. We put up all kinds of Christmas decor, but no Christmas tree this year because we were going out of town for Christmas. Because I knew this was going on video and we would be taking pictures, I thought it would look way more Christmasy if we had some kind of tree. Well Ava BUSTED us first thing on the video. She let everyone know she had not seen these trees before and that they were just props. Next year we will have a big Christmas tree even if we are going on a trip over Christmas.

Copy Cat

I was out on the balcony with Ava watching the kids swim in the pool below when she spotted a boat on the ocean. She pointed out to the water and said "butt" which translates to Boat. And then she was on a mission. She ran over to little game table and grabbed the binoculars. She had seen grandpa do this on more than one occasion. Those binoculars are heavy so I let her hold them long enough for me to get a quick picture and than I grabbed them and put them up. I didn't want her to drop them....I would have been in big trouble. Se was furious. Lucky for her I had my camera was handy. I know, I know, the place I put them was torturous. I moved them to a place that was out of sight out mind, and then of course grandpa was on the hunt the next time he thought he spotted a big fish, dolphins, or boat. Oh well, better hidden than broken (:

The Flasher

We were trying to get a good photo next to this great fountain in Cozumel. The fountain has been there since the first year I started going to Mexico with the Paske Family(2000), but was never working. Not that unusual for Mexico. Well it works and is beautiful. Anyway I digress, I was trying get Ava to look at me and smile. All she wanted to do is play in the water. She finally turned her head and flashed me, not her pearly whites, but her belly. I think she takes after her Aunt Lori....... Lori used to moon us when she was younger.

Snow Baby

This was Ava's first time playing in the snow. Last year she just sat in it where ever I posed her. This year she is a pro snow ball thrower. Anyone who knows me knows I have no skills when it come to throwing snow balls, or anything for that matter. Grandpa would build them for her and she would throw them and actually hit us (our legs of course). She loved the snow and every time we would go anywhere she would spot that snow and try to wiggle from my arms. Little girl don't you know the snow is cold I would say. Mom hates to be cold!

Badger Time!

Ava's cousins had one of their Birthday Parties at the Kohl Center. Included with the party was a visit from Bucky. Ava likes Bucky from a far, but wanted nothing to do with him up close. I don't blame her. Those big headed creatures are almost as creepy as clowns!

Mexico......and Finally Caught up on Blogging!

Family Photo

The Cousins Jumping in the pool!

Here are couple more pictures from our trip to Mexico. The last one is Ava and her cousins in the Airport. They would run up to the end of the moving walkway and race back. Ava being a wee bit slower would meet them while on their way back. When they met her she would lay down on the floor and act like she was so tired from all the running. She wanted them lie on the floor too. Of course they went with it and let her run the show. It was a nice way to pass time.

High Ho to Mexico!

Ava plays in the Sand at the Condo
Ava hangin' like the movie star she is
Ava with her cousins, all in their Jammies.

We took a quick trip to Mexico last week. We went with Matt's family and traveled back on Turkey Day. We ate in the Charlotte airport at Chili's and had a very delicious Turkey Dinner on Sunday. Ava loved that she could play outside, since it has been too cold in Wisconsin to enjoy the outdoors (well maybe too cold for her mom who has to watch her while plays outside :).

Just Not feeling well.

Ava had a hard night and was not feeling well. I slept with her in the spare bedroom and was surprised when I woke at 9 am that Ava was still sleeping. Believe me she needed the sleep after the hours we had been up in the night. I got up quietly and placed pillows around her. I stayed nearby so I could grab her when she wok up. She slept until 10:30 am and awoke in a good mood.

Who loves her babies?

Ava is all about her dolls these days. She rocks them, feeds them, and talks to them. It is so cute to watch her care for them. Her dolls are all pretty small, but when we go to cousin Grace's house, Ava plays with a couple of dolls that are much bigger-almost as big as her.