Um, yeah. Busy.

You'll be delighted to learn that we are still alive. SHEESH.

In the past month, Ava's picked up probably 30 words, and many of them are neither profane nor part of a demand (sometimes "Sit!" comes out "Shit!" and we're pretty sure she's saying "Sit!" but it could really go either way). At the end of each day we are exhausted and astonished by how much Ava there is going on at any given moment.

Our strategies as parents have changed. No more do we ask "Do you want to go to bed/take a bath/eat your dinner?" because 99% of the time the answer is No!. The other 1% of the time is a big Yes! and we'd better make damn sure the bed has a sheet on it/the bathtub is full and bubbly/food is on the tray and has cooled enough to eat or there is hell to pay. So instead of asking, we preface every.single.sentence with "It's time to..." and that seems to work. For now, at least. I'm quite confident that it won't last forever.

She has such breathtaking tantrums. The first real doozy was probably a month ago, and I was just stunned. She just flipped her gourd for no. good. reason. and I watched it like it was in slow motion. Rob comes in and he's like "What the hell?!" and I'm all "No idea..." and after about five minutes she was done and it was over and she was OK like nothing had even happened. So now when it happens, we make sure that injury is unlikely ("Clear the perimeter!") and we let her just work it out. If we're at a restaurant, then it's "Check!" and we get the hell outta there. We go about our business, have a conversation, and once she sees that we're not buying into it, she stops. She just freaking stops like "Oh, OK then, can I have some juice?" and we're all "yeah whatever here you go" and we're fine. We pick our battles so very carefully... We've learned that the morning and evening routines are critically important and there are no variables--we go to parties and we're the first to arrive and first to leave, and that's fine because by the time we leave we're so tired from chasing her that really, it's OK, we'll catch you next time. But stuff during the day is kind of flexible. Nap should start by 12:30, but sooner is fine. Meals are kind of arbitrary--she eats either NOTHING or EVERYTHING and there's no way to know in advance which it will be. All those people who say "Just be consistent!" and are all chipper because they know it all? Yeah I want them to come over and spend 24 hours in our house being consistent and let's just see how well that goes.

The Daycare Ladies give us a daily report at the end of each day--just a summary of how she ate, when she napped, the particular intricacies of her #s 1 and 2, and then they write a little blurb about any noteworthy happenings or behaviors. In the last month, the blurb has gotten interesting:

• "Ava exhibited a lessened tolerance for her peers today". (I'm not sure what this means, exactly, but I didn't have to sign anything so she didn't bite or hit anyone.)
• "Before naptime, Ava searched through everybody's cubbies looking for binkies and blankets, which she gave to all of the baby dolls as she tucked them all in."
  
• "Ava loves to paint!" (I read that, and then I looked up and she's covered head to toe in all the colors of the rainbow, happy as can be)

And so on.

She's 18-1/2 months old now. We had her last Well Baby check last week. That was a big one for me--it's like she's officially Not A Baby anymore. Ooof. And she's so not a baby anymore--no more binkies, eating food with a spoon at mealtimes, very specific likes and dislikes. She loves Mickey Mouse and Elmo with a love that is pure and true. Those marketing gurus at Disney and Sesame Street know what they're doing. And yeah, we're suckers, because she now has a stuffed (non-speaking) Elmo doll.

Next weekend, I'm going out of town with some girlfriends, and I. Can't. Wait. I haven't spent a night away from Ava EVER. I'm all cool and offhand about it on the surface ("Eh, she'll be fine!") but it's going to be very weird to be away. We'll drop her off at daycare on Thursday and then I won't see her again until Sunday night. Whoa. That's a lot. And I know she will be fine--Rob is amazing with her and she's totally a Daddy's girl. They'll have lots of fun and she'll be able to run around all weekend looking like a hobo (honestly, I don't know how he concocts such awful clothing combinations from such cute clothes...).

So that's where we are. There's not a lot of glamour happening. We have a School Friend birthday party this weekend--Ava's friend "Lexi" is turning 2. I don't know which one she is, but the invitation has Tinker Bell on it so I'm going to do my best to put something awesome (and sparkly? sparkly seems like a good way to go...) together.