Ava Grace - 16 months with phone photos

Ava Grace, you are will be 16 months old this week!

You are our little firecracker!  Weighing in at only 20.4 pounds, you may be small, but you have a big personality to make up for it!  On the charts you are 25% in weight and 30% in height, and we are okay with that! 

You love milk and watered down apple juice.  You have milk as soon as you get up in the morning... it's usually the first thing you ask for and you gulp it down like a cup of morning coffee and ask for seconds!  Throughout the rest of the day we shoot for milk with meals and juice in between, but you are starting to tell us which one you would rather have at any given time.  We like that you are using words to ask for things now.  As far as food and drink go, you know the words more, cup, milk, juice, water, cracker, banana, and snack.  Anything else falls under "this" or your version of how to pronounce what you want on the given day and in that moment.

Your favorite place to be is outside.  You love to pick flowers and say "flower" when you find them!  We get lots and lots of dandelions from you!  When asked if you would like to go outside, you say "go!" and run to the door.  You also love playing with rocks and can say "rock" as well!

If it were up to you we would be outside every day.  You don't seem to care what the weather is or who is around as long as you are getting to explore!

You respond to lots of instructions now!  You like to throw things away, so we ask you to help with that often.  You like to carry things for me.  You can bring things, get things, and put things away when asked.  You go to the appropriate room when asked.  If I ask you to go upstairs and put your PJs on, you run to the bottom of the stairs and wait for me to open the gate.

You also love your wagon.  Riding in the wagon is one of your favorite things to do!  Daddy and I like to take you to the park to pull you in the wagon.  We also let you ride in the wagon over to Missy's house in the afternoon if the weather is nice!  When we go outside, you always want to get in your wagon right away!  You like to say "Weeeee!" and sometimes even say it before we have started moving! 

You have a booster seat at the table.  We call it "your chair" and if we ask you to get in your chair you go to it and wait to be lifted up.  You have to be buckled in tight because you can unlatch the tray with ease and figured that out a few months ago.  You reach your hand underneath and unlatch one side, then lean over and do the same on the other side and lift the tray off when you are done eating!

Your favorite food right now is grapes!  You also like bananas, graham crackers, strawberries and blueberries, gold fish, teddy grahams, mandarin oranges, sliced baked carrots, broccoli, and any kind of pizza.  You are not a picky eater at all!!  You will try anything and have liked pretty much everything you have tried for the most part.  We give you everything to try, even supreme pizza and you like it!

You are very good at answering questions with a yes or no.  Sometimes your "no" is a little more enthusiastic than we'd like.  You are very strong willed, but usually handle it pretty well.  You have thrown a fit or two, complete with a floor flop, but they don't last more than a couple seconds once you realize we aren't paying attention.

You love to play all day and I feel so blessed that Daddy works hard so that I can be a most-of-the-time stay-at-home-mommy.  You love your Bitty Baby and spend lots of time pushing her in the stroller, tucking her into her crib, loving her, and sitting her on your couch beside you.  You love to pull and push everything from your little play wagon to the furniture in our house!  You are starting to climb on things more and more as well and it just about gives me a heart attack every time!

We think you are extra smart and people are sometimes amazed when they see you in action or hear you speak in public.  Part of that is because you are so small, but you really are extra bright!  Your doctor even thinks so!

You love our phones and your play phones.  You pretend to talk on them.  When you put it to your ear you say, "'Lo?" (hello), then pause and say "Yeah" ..... "Yeah"..... "yeah" ........ "bye bye!"  It's pretty cute.  When Daddy calls from work you'll talk to him, answering his questions with a "yeah" or a "no" and occasionally saying "la ya"  (love you)! 

You aren't very shy, but you don't talk a lot when we are with lots of other people.  You love to people watch and that usually keeps you busy when we are out shopping, watching Lily play softball, or visiting Daddy at work.

You are still a Mama's girl, but did enjoy spending some one-on-one time with Daddy while Mommy was out of town in Palm Springs.  You are also still head over hills for your big sister.  You two crack me up and play together all the time!!

We love you doodle bug!  You are something special!

xoxo,

Your Mommy, Daddy, and Lily