I'm My Own Woman

Little Miss Ava, whom I have cherished since birth as my mellow darling, has totally morphed into a crazed, unpredictable, demanding, spunky two-year-old before my very eyes. Oh boy, these terrible twos are draining the life out of me!

That's not to say that she isn't still my sweet girl with an adorable personality, because she is that, too. But she's also all the other stuff I just mentioned. As I said, she's unpredictable! Like most two-year-olds, she's all about the independence. Everything is, "Me!" From the moment she wakes up, she wants me to take her downstairs pronto and get her breakfast started. First, though, I have to pick her up so she can open the blinds. She usually wants oatmeal, but she must be the one to pour it into the bowl, pour the water, and press the buttons on the microwave. If you dare try to leave her out of a step, you can expect a shrill, "Me!!!" and a very angry girl to let you know how exactly she feels about that.

And this is the tip of the iceberg. She MUST do EVERYTHING herself, and sometimes, it's such a painstaking process to get something simple accomplished, such as getting teeth brushed, getting dressed, and getting in and out of the car. But what can you do? You either let her do it (unless it's dire), or she'll scream onnnnnn and onnnnnnn. And boy can she scream and carry on if you dare go against her will, let me tell you. For the most part, I know what to expect now, but even still she throws in a curveball and becomes hysterical over something I hadn't anticipated at all.

And another thing about Ava is that she is a total Daddy's girl. Whereas when I get her in the morning, I must feed her breakfast asap without any delay, if Eric gets her, she'll happily rest her head on his shoulder and let him bring her into our bed for a few minutes and just hang out. The first time that happened, I was in shock (and maybe a little annoyed)! I had been trying for months to get her to do that, and it only ended in tears and shrieking. But not Daddy! He's special I suppose. The bummer is that most of the time, he has left for work before she wakes up, but you can bet that the other times, I make him go get her now that I know this secret! Anytime she thinks she hears Eric pull up, she yells, "My dad!" and runs out to greet him. I love seeing how much she adores her daddy, and Eric just eats it up. He is definitely wrapped around her finger!

A really wonderful thing is that Ava's language skills have finally started taking off, which is a huge blessing so that she can communicate with us better. She still gets frustrated, but I can see what a big difference it makes when we know exactly what she's saying and what she wants, and I love that. We have one of those small, plastic pools that we keep outside, and everyday, she points at it several times and says, "My pool." Sometimes, this is followed by her stripping and pointing frantically at it saying, "My pool! My pool!" because she wants to get in it, regardless of whether or not it's convenient! If she had her way, she'd live in that thing, which is not quite as much fun for Mommy, who's sweltering outside in the 105+ degree heat (what am I gonna do when it's 110+??). Ava definitely loves the outdoors and going swimming. She also loves my parents' pool and will often talk about "Papa's [Grandpa] pool." (She also really loves Grandpa and talks about him all the time).

In addition to her spunkiness, Ava has also shown us so many fun sides to her personality. She has really grown into her own person these past few months. She loves to dance, do funny expressions with her eyes to make you laugh, shake her sippy cup at night to determine there's no ice in it so she can make you go get some for her, and hold her baby dolls close and murmur, "My baby." 

For all the challenges, tears, and feistiness, you can't help but just adore this girl, who is also equal parts sweetness and delight.

And did I mention she's also an aspiring tattoo artist?