ava turns 4

Ava celebrated her golden birthday this year.

She turned 4 on the 4th.

Grandma D and Aunt Helen came over and we enjoyed the usual birthday merriment.

This is the face Ava makes when she is thinking. She is that cute almost all of the time.

ava swims

So much of parenting is learning more and more about your children. For the last couple of weeks during swimming lessons I have learned a new side of Ava's personality.

Ava is almost always by my side. In our day to day life she is my buddy, we do almost everything together.

I was therefore very surprised at Ava's independence and outgoing personality at swimming lessons. She went right into the pool on day one, did everything that was asked of her (including several jumps off the diving board) and excelled. She enjoyed every moment of it.

We found it amusing that out of the ten kids in Ava's class (two of which cried the whole time) she was the only girl! Maybe that is why she felt so comfortable! And can you believe how cute this girl is?!

and then there is ava ruth

This girl, with her oh-so-soft voice and sweet ways is pure delight.


Ava is smart & creative, kind & caring, tough, strong & social. Today I asked her to switch the laundry for me, she had no problem --did it all on her own. She regularly (as in several times a day) changes her clothes, putting the old outfit away. I am continually amazed at her abilities.


Ava is so beautiful; we are teaching her that it is a smile and a happy heart that make a girl truly pretty (conversely, a grumbling-whiny heart is ugly!). I am learning so much from these lessons!


We are so thankful for and blessed by Ava; we earnestly pray that the Lord will give us all that we need to parent her well.

mischief

Today as we were scrolling through old pictures in search of something new to hang on our wall, we came across this:

We all shared a good laugh.

ava & the chickens

Ava loves chickens. She has a stuffed chicken (from the Boynton books which we all love) who she is often seen playing with, carrying around or bringing to bed.

I think this love was sparked last spring when we got baby chicks. She was at just the right age to be forever changed by the little balls of fluff in our garage.

Often when I get Ava out of bed she explains to me that she could hear the chickens (she means the rooster) in her bed. And every time --EVERY TIME!-- we drive away from home she calls out, "bye chickens" and every time we pull up to the house she greets them with "hi chickens."

Ava loves chickens.

and then ava turns two!

The morning after our last Christmas party was Ava's birthday!



This girl. What a delight she is to us. She is cherished deeply by each one of us. Her "boe-eez" as she calls her brothers, especially when she is beckoning them to entertain her latest whim, think she is the princess of the world. Her daddy is smitten ending each day with a comment about how hard it is to believe she could be so cute. And her momma, is just so thankful to have this amazing girl for a daughter.


Ava is really different at home than she is out in public. When we go someplace, Ava stays quietly right by my side. She acts like she is shy. I am still not used to this because this is so different than how she acts at home with the family. At home Ava is in command, loud, and boisterous. It is fun to observe the complexity of her personality.


Ava is really good at loving those around her. She helps her momma, wrestles with her daddy, plays soldiers with Ethan, allows Luke to take care of her, and kisses Aidan's owies. She notices other people and what they are interested in, what they are doing, wearing and saying. She is an attentive sister.


Her birthday this year was very low key. It was Sunday so we worshiped in the morning and in the evening and napped in between. This left dinner time to say "Happy Birthday" and share some cake. Actually, at every meal we put a candle in her food and sang to her. She loves the birthday song and enjoyed that part of it very much. However, she hated the candle. I think we have done too well of a job explaining the dangers of "fire" and "hot" because she wanted nothing to do with the candle while it. So at breakfast Aidan blew out, at lunch Luke helped and at dinner when two candles were on her cake Ethan was happy to do the job. Funny girl.


We did not get super pictures of Ava on her big day. But we did take this (really poor quality) video which serves to record the occasion. It's kind of amazing that we (for once) have no good pics of the biggest picture magnate in the family.

Since this post is about a month late, there have been some new developments. About 1 year ahead of our traditional timing, Ava has decided to become potty-trained. The process was so very different than with the boys. Aside from being a year early, she takes particular joy in doing it ALL by her self (as in the video: "Ava do it.") For us it's a little unbelievable how easy it's been, but she just seems to get it and care about it a little more than the boys, who I honestly think would sometimes still prefer diapers so as not to disrupt a particularly intense time of fighting bad guys, slaying dragons or whatever.

We're so blessed to get to share in the experience of raising up this little lady.

about mud

The kids and I have this story that we love to remember and laugh about. It happened right after Ava was born and was still nursing a lot as new babies do. I was inside nursing Ava, Mike was on a trip, and the boys (all three) were outside playing in the mud. During our rainy season saying that they were playing in the mud and that they were playing in the yard is synonymous.

So on this particular day in February while outside playing, Ethan got stuck in the mud. He was two and the mud was so strong, his foot so embedded that he was unable to pull his boot back out of the mud. So he did what all two year old's would do and started yelling for help. Aidan and Luke came inside to tell me what was going on. When I looked out the window, I saw my sweet little boy about half an acre away standing in the mud crying all alone --he couldn't move. So like all post-postpartum mommas while nursing, I hollered at the big boys to go help their brother! They went back out and I watched them attempt to pull him out without success.

I apologized to Ava and put her down (she was not pleased!) while I put on my boots and coat over my (remember I had just had a baby) pajama bottoms. As I walked out in the field to pull my two year old out, I too had trouble keeping my boots on the mud was so thick! It was not easy pulling Ethan out of the mud. In the end I pulled so hard that once he popped out, I fell flat on my backside! In the ice trimmed mud! It was hilarious, after I was warm and cozy again.

Here is the picture I took of my pants while I was feeling sorry for myself. I wanted Mike to see how hard my life was.

So anyway, I retell this story today because I never realized how dangerous it is to reminisce stories like this with the kids. They love this story so much they decided to re-enact it today with our current two year old (almost). I do not know if it was conscious or sub-conscious, but they did it non-the-less.

I did not have the heart to take a picture of Ava while stuck in the mud or immediately afterward because she was VERY upset about it. But here she is in the bathtub, now clean but still grumpy about it all.
And she wants you to know how happy getting clean makes her.
Here are what her socks and pants looked like. You see, her boots got stuck in the mud so they came off when she took a step so her brothers threw them "out of the way," then she got stuck --unable to move in just her (once) white socks.

The scene of the crime.
Next time we remember these stories, I will be sure to add at the end that this is not something that is pleasant or good for the two year old. Or for momma!

a few of Ava's favorite things (part two)

6. "Shake." That is what we call it when we put spinach, water, frozen berries and orange juice in a blender. Ava loves this drink and always has.

7. Reading books. As you can see, she is an advanced reader, Tolkien upside down takes savvy!

8. And Ava loves her new baby.
Ava also loves to give kisses.

9. EATING!!! This girl can pack away the groceries! Here is something she loves a lot: yogurt and berries.

10. Being outside with her brothers! And they are so cute with her.

A few more things that do not fit neatly in the top ten and of which I do not have current pictures include: 1) her bed! She has always been perfectly happy at bedtime and nap time and spends a bit of time in there after sleeping just "hanging out." Many times when I go to get Ava out of bed, she wants to stay in (but have me "hang out" too). 2) Sunday School! Mike and I are teaching the toddler class this year and Ava is such a little helper. The other toddlers are still warming up to the idea and Ava loves to pass out everything (shakers, snack, papers etc.), clean up everything, and tell the others what to do. It is really cute. 3) Me! I think I (momma) am her favorite :).

a few of Ava's favorite things (part one)

Here are some of Ava's current favs in random order:

1. This toy is one of Ava's favorites. I have lots of pictures of her enjoying this toy. It is a bit of a novelty for me to have a child who plays with toys!
Here she is enjoying the same toy with Adia. I could not believe that they played with the same toy for so long together. They are so advanced! :)
And because I didn't get both of their faces in one shot, here is another, with our beautiful friend.

2. Ava loves her older girlfriend Ella who has known Ava since she was a bump in my womb and her younger one Adelia who Ava has known since she was brand new!



3. The swings! We have big windows in our living room and dining room from which a view of the swings can be seen. Several times a day Ava looks out and asks to go swing, no matter the weather.


4. This is obvious, but her nigh-nigh has to be mentioned. She will read this someday!

5. Expressing how she feels...
More Ava favs to come in part two.