18 months

Ava is 18 months old, but don't tell her that. She thinks she is four or five. She is full of enthusiasm, excitement, and opinions. Lots of opinions. "No, mommy! Deeeeez pants. Jeans!" She is already trying to usurp control of her wardrobe, and it makes me sad. She likes jeans (skirts, shorts), "jammies", and anything lime green. She has one pair of lime green leggings, and a pair of lime gingham shorts and always requests them.

She copies everything her brothers do. She always wants a red plate, because that's what Max asks for. If I give her a different color, she screams "noooooo! red!". She loves to look for letters and yells out "H!!!!", etc. She only sometimes guesses correctly. She surprises me with her vocabulary everyday. Today she told me her hands were "dirty" and wanted to "wash". I didn't realize the water was hot until she yelled "hot mommy! burn!". Her favorite things to say are "watch out!" (when she pushes her brothers around), "jump down!", "sit down, mommy...nurch!" (yes she is still nursing), "read book", and many more. She is a little parrot and is constantly repeating everything she hears. My favorite thing she says is "oh". She says it so adult-like. If I tell her that her purse is cute, she replies "cute?...oh." Or she will ask me where Max is, and when I tell her he is in his room she says "room?....oh." Her intonation is funny, as if she were saying "huh, ok, I get it".

She loves Dora, and can spot her from a mile away. If we pass anything "Dora" in a store she hyperventilates, flaps her arms, and yells "DORA!!!!!". After we pass said Dora paraphernalia, she puts on a sad face, turns, waves, and says "Bye-bye Dora!!!! Bye-bye!!!!". Sadly I don't share her enthusiasm for Dora, and the only Dora item that has made it into our house is a toothbrush purchased by her father. J-P has a huge soft-spot for his little "sugar plum".

Her 18-month well-check went well. In contrast to every other appointment, she was a perfect angel. She happily let the doctor examine her, and when it came time for the shots she didn't even flinch. No tears at all. The nurse yelled out "Wow!!! You didn't even blink! You get two stickers!! Tell them to give you two stickers!!"

Here stats:

height: 32 3/4 (75%)
weight: 22 lbs 3 oz (25%)
head: 18 1/4 (50%)

I get so many comments about how tall she is so I was wondering if she would be in a higher percentile, but I think she must look tall because she is lanky. She definitely has her daddy's body.

More pics here.