At the Races

Ava Reese is blessed with hand-me-downs from her cousins and friends. The latest super fantastic toy to come her way from Peter and William is a Shake-n-Go Racetrack complete with 6 racecars! Now, I'm not really sure who has enjoyed this toy more, Ava or her Dad but it's definitely a hit. Here's Ava "fixing" a racecar before sending it out on the track. And then some randoms of her and her Dad as they run the cars. Maybe you noticed that the track is in the living room? I'm not sure how long Grandma is going to allow the racetrack to stay where it is, it's not exactly in line with her decor and its rather noisy. :) It'll be moved to the basement eventually but in the meantime Grandma's being really swell about this taking up so much room. (This and all the other toys!!!)

A couple pics from the party

Here are just a few pictures from Ava's birthday supper. We kept it very low key, for which I will accept all the blame. (I had hoped her brother or sister was going to be at the party but baby is still hanging out waiting for just the right day to make an appearance. As a result, I'm rather tired and slow these days.) Ava & I decorated her cupcakes before her party, something she really liked. (She had green fingers from the cake confetti because she insisted on licking most of it off her fingers before actually putting it on the cake!) We had spaghetti for supper with Daddy, Grandma, & Grandpa Kingma all in attendance & then ate the lovely cupcakes Ava made. Jeff & I gave her a wagon for outside & G & G gave her a Cozy Coupe Car. I have to say the car is the bigger hit. She spent the night pulling someone over to the car to push her around and saying "car, car, car". First thing the next morning she was back in the car, drinking her milk and watching cartoons. (The car comes complete with a cupholder.)

Happy 2nd Birthday, Ava!

Happy 2nd Birthday, Ava Reese! Look at how much you have grown! We love you! Thank you for making everyday wonderful and fun!

Pickles for Breakfast

Ava has decided that she likes pickles. And she likes pickles immediately upon waking in the morning! Yesterday she saw the pickle jar sitting next to her sippy cup in the fridge and was very insistent that she wanted one for her breakfast. I didn't think she really would so gave her cereal instead. Well, today she again insisted on getting the pickle jar out of the fridge so I shrugged and gave her what she wanted. And she ate her pickle right up! Good morning, pickles!!! I did take a picture for you but can't get any images to upload so sorry about the lack of proof. :)

One Very Bouncy Belly

I was sitting on the couch on Wednesday morning and the baby in my belly was being EXTREMELY active and I thought to myself, "I wonder if I could capture this on camera?" I gave it a shot and if you watch closely you will definitely see baby moving around. We had an OB appointment on Monday and my midwife explained that the reason we can see so much movement is that the baby is facing out and thus her/his arms and legs are on the outside of the belly verses being on the inside closer to my back. We are very much hoping that the baby flips and faces the back before he/she decides to make an appearance (this makes labor much easier) but its kind of fun to catch the movement while we can.

Coasters and Sippy Cups

Ava doesn't get her tendency towards tidy from her parents and I'll tell you that straight up. But maybe that gene did make it into her little body from her Grandma Theresa (we can only hope). The latest thing is using coasters. Yesterday I was sitting on the couch watching my new favorite show, "The Big Bang Theory", drinking a glass of water that I had sitting on a coaster on the end table to my right. Along climbs Ava up between me and the arm of the couch and sets her little sippy cup on the unused coaster on the table. She sat and watched the show with me, periodically taking a drink of milk and setting it right back down on the coaster. Jeff came into the room and told me that she was doing that the day before at the computer desk. He said that he had been sitting at the computer with a drink and as soon as he left the room she climbed up to use the empty coaster and get some computer work done.

Ava teasing Daddy

I wasn't really sure what to title this post. This is a video of Ava doing her "thing" and it's a sort of combination of tickling or teasing and a "goochy-goochy-goo" thing. It's so funny and here she's teasing her Daddy with it. What she'll usually do is crouch down and curl her fingers in front of her face and start making this goofy little noise. Then she comes at you and gets you. (Really, how does one explain the make believe silliness of a 21 month old???) We hope you enjoy the video.