Our Sign Language Testimonial

Ken and I have been using signs with Ava since she was about 6 months. She didn't really start signing back until about 8 months and her signs have been relatively limited. Her first sign was "more" and that was followed with signs for "all done", "milk", and "eat". She is up to about 8 signs and this weekend she actually used two signs in succession without being prompted. We were eating lunch and she signed "more please". It was pretty exciting to see a child at an age where they can't speak to actually communicate a sentence. (Or at least that's what we like to believe it was.)

Tonight at 5:30 as we were eating dinner she was very fidgety. She didn't really seem interested in eating and was making the sign for "milk" over and over. I was reading her daily activity sheet from school and noticed that she only napped for an hour today so I asked her "Ava you sleepy?" She instantly started making the sign for "sleep". So, I thought "maybe she's confused and that's not really the sign she means to make." (It was an hour and a half before her normal bedtime; she couldn't ACTUALLY want to go to bed.) I took her out of her chair and she immediately made a beeline for the stairs making the sign for "sleep" the entire way. I took her up, changed her into her pj's and put her in bed...where she is still happily sleeping. The moral to this story: a child who can communicate is generally not the one who is confused...it's the crazy parents.

Gingerbread Man

Hey, this cookie is just my size.

Yummy! I love my gingerbread man. Thanks Great Grandma for sending me some cookies!!!

Ava's First Birthday

Ava is ONE! Can you even believe it? We had a great little celebration for her with her Grandparents, Great Grandpa, and Avery. Of course we served Ava's favorite--PIZZA (she loves mushrooms and black olives on hers) and then had cupcakes. Avery was our little chef for the day. She helped make the cupcakes, the fruit kabobs, and the pizzas.

You'll see from the pics that Ava had no interest in getting messy. She very gingerly picked apart and ate her cupcake. Here are some of our favorite photos from the day. (Thanks to Aunt E for sending Ava a beautiful party dress!!)

My Cousin Avery

My cousin Avery came to visit me all the way from Michigan. We have been having so much fun. We have slumber parties every night and the weather has been so nice that we have gone to the park TWICE! Here are some of our pictures.

Hide and Seek

Ava loves to play in the kitchen while I am making dinner each night. She especially loves to empty out "her" cupboard (the one where I keep all the unbreakables.)

You can see all of the breakable things on the counter that need a new home.

Hmmm...this is just my size!

Where's Ava?

Boo! Here I am!!!!

(messy hair and all--can you tell it's almost bath time?)

My First Birthday Present

This afternoon my mommy took me to the doctor to get my 2nd flu shot. (I tell you this for the sympathy.) When we got home there was a package on the doorstep. My Grandma and Grandpa Barker sent me an early birthday present!!! (My mommy says that they NEVER let her open her birthday presents early--they must love me more.)

Since I am transitioning to a new classroom at school I don't have to take naps in a crib anymore. Now I get to sleep on a nap mat with all of my new First Step friends. Grandma and Grandpa knew that I didn't have a nap mat so they sent me one! I love it because it has giraffe print all along the borders. My mommy loves it because it isn't pastel pink or purple. :-)

I am such a big girl now!

I LOVE THIS!!!

Do you want to see what this says?

It says "Ava". That's MY name!!! Thank you Grandma and Grandpa!!

The Philadelphia Zoo

Today was so nice that we decided to go to the zoo. Ava had such a great time. She loved seeing all of the different animals. Here are a few of our favorite pics.

Transitions

Ava is spending quite a bit of time "transitioning" these days. She's beginning the transition from the Infant Room at school to the First Steps Room. She has successfully transitioned from her bottle to a straw cup (no sippy cup for her!) And tonight she transitioned to the big bathtub. As you can see she still LOVES to splash in the water. I put some bubble bath in tonight (well, actually it was just a few squirts of the baby wash), so she really enjoyed splashing to make the bubbles...

...then she would try to eat the bubbles...

...the fruits of her labor....

Cindy Lou Who

It's Ava's first Halloween! Her school had a Halloween Parade today. It was probably the cutest and funniest thing I have ever seen. As you can see, Ava was Cindy Lou Who. (I made the cape--no laughing.)

The infant room teachers got all of the kids into their costumes and loaded them up for the big parade (apparently they even had a fire drill while they were trying to get them all dressed!)

Each of the different classrooms got their time in the spotlight as they marched (or were strolled) around the play yard. You can see all the excited parents lining the fence.

Daddy didn't get a chance to come to the parade, so we had our own parade at home tonight.

Dada

Ava is definitely Daddy's girl. (She was eating sauteed mushrooms for dinner so ignore all the food on her face.)