Ava: 1 Year, 3 months

Where did the time go?? Our Ava is 15 months old now and quite her own little person. She makes us laugh out loud daily. She doesn't just walk, she runs. She is very curious and must always explore in drawers and cabinets. Her favorite area at the moment is Mama's make up drawer. There she finds soft brushes that she so kindly cleans the floor with or even adds a little blush to Violet's cheek.

Speaking of Violet, she is Ava's best friend. They are always in cohoots with each other. Ava has no issues with sharing and is always making sure that Violet is well fed. They chase each other, snuggle together and sometimes share Violet's bed.

Ava's second best friend is Dora the Explorer. She is a little obsessed. She hands us the remote and says, 'Dora??'. She has her own chair that must be in place when she is ready to watch her program.

Ava has a large vocabulary for her age and it also happens to be a mix of German and English. She'll get tongue-tied as she points out the 'blume' or flowers in German. She kindly says, 'hatsi' when any of us sneeze. Her most frequently used word is 'doggie'. She must say it 20 times a day. She knows when we are getting close to home and calls out 'doggie!' because if we are close to home, we are close to Vi.

We will need to start being careful because Ava is learning to copy us. I was calling out for Brian the other day, "Cookie?!" and two seconds later I get Ava calling out Cookie in the same tone. She is very sweet and washes her Dora doll's hair in the tub and cleans her Froggy's nails with the nail brush. All things she watches me to do to her.

She loves helping us with any chore, let's hope this lasts! She assists with the laundry by sorting the clothes, mainly taking the clothes out of the hamper and then putting them back in. She helps with the dishwasher, mainly taking the silverware out and sometimes even putting them in their correct drawer.

We have to be very careful when the refrigerator or pantry door opens because this is a sound Ava can hear from miles away. Out of no where she is running to see where her help may be needed. We often find things in odd places, like the shoe horn in the refrigerator door or Violet's food scoop at the bottom of the recycling bin.

We are so in love!!