growing pains

Yes, I know I haven't blogged again in a REALLY long time (almost a year to be exact). I'm not sure exactly what brings me back to Ava's blog. It could be that she has grown up SO much since this time last year that I can hardly believe it! With this growing up comes a lot of perks:

1. She goes to school for 3 hours per day, which leaves me ample time to do various things. (This has lead me to the creation of Domestic Thursdays)
2. She can hold a half way intelligent conversation. Now...I've been having full conversations with her since she was 1, but now that she can actually join in on them makes for a much more exciting day.
3. She has become a non-embarassing dinner and/or lunch date. No longer to I have to worry about whether or not there will be highchairs or ample room to store the stroller and all of her crap. We simply walk in to any establishment, she eats anything, and holds conversation better than many adults I know.
4. Speaking of strollers, I can say that we rarely use it!! To those of you who have read my blog in the past...you know the stroller is a downright curse in my mind.

All of these great things being said, with Ava on the cusp of being 4 comes some not so awesome things. I find myself jealous of the moms and nannies with the sweet little babies who can't talk, be mean, fight, or throw absolute diva-esque tantrums when one little thing doesn't go their way. (like the wind is blowing Ava...sorry, let me call mother nature and ask her if she can stop the wind so you can walk the one block to the subway without freaking out.) So what's got us down about growing up you ask?? Here we go:

1. Ava has turned into some diva that even Kate Gosselin style divas would gawf at!! Today this sweet little thing actually ordered me to pick out all of the "crunchy" things (onions) in her spaghetti sauce (which she has been eating with out complaint for the last two days). Yesterday she refused to make the effort to push her foot into a rainboot, refused to hold an umbrella ("it keeps faaaaaaalling"), and refused to walk down wet steps into the subway. So here I am, holding my own umbrella while Ava is throwing a fit with soaking wet shoes and no umbrella and I'm carrying all of her 37lbs with one arm. People are looking at me like I'm some kind of abuser. Per usual.
Also, she has decided that it takes too long to pick up any toys and stands there staring at them and crying instead. And...the bath takes too long as well, and WAY too much effort. It must be so hard to have someone undress you, wash you, wash your hair, lotion you, dress you, and comb your hair (all while singing Christmas songs about Santa only bringing presents to nice kids)!!!

2. Now that Ava goes to school with some older kids, she has insited on being friends with some girls that rival Rachel McAdams in Mean Girls. I can't believe how these little girls act. Ava will come home telling us that she can't just be friends with Esther because Esther is friends with Zoe and Zoe isn't nice, but she has to be friends with her because she wants to play with Esther. Wow. She also came home one day and told me that when she grows up she wants to change her name to Kate. (I later found out that Kate is another pre-K mean girl).

3. Ava has also acquired an attitude that I don't think I had until I qas about 12. She overheard me telling Barb that she was picking up an attitude and she glares at me and says "NOOOO, I am not." Oh really darling??? I just asked her to please eat more of the sald that she asked for for dinner and she says "I already did." I politely informed her that she needed to eat more if she wanted dessert. To this she rolled her eyes and says "It's in my mouth." Then proceeded to open her mouth and spit out the chewed up lettuce. So, I shut the TV off and she cried. Look who's such a big girl now!!! :)

Awwwww, I love Ava with all of my heart but growing up is hard to do. <3

Ava Questions One Year later

Lala: What do I always say to you?

Ava: Eat your dinner.

Lala: What is something that makes me happy?

Ava: Being nice


Lala: What makes me sad?

Ava: Being grumpy


Lala: How old am I?

Ava: 6
(yes!!!)

Lala: How tall am I?

Ava: quarters

ha!

Lala: What is my favorite thing to do?

Ava: Play and read The Grinch

Lala: What do I do when you aren't home?

Ava: Watch shows

Lala: What am I good at?

Ava: Well, you're good at readung the Grinch


Lala: What do I do for a job?

Ava: Making party hats

ok.

Lala: What is my favorite food?

Ava: Ceral
I honestly dont think i ever ate ceral in front of her before.

Lala: What makes you proud of me?

Ava: Sleeping through the night

Lala: If I was in a cartoon, who would I be?

Ava: You'd be on the Wii

Lala: What do you and I do together?

Ava: Watch shows and i play on your computer.

omg!! she acts like we never do anything. haha

Lala: How are we the same?

Ava:

Lala: Where do I like to go?

Ava: the pet store

Lala: How do you know that I love you?

Ava: because i'm nice

Lala: What is your favorite color?

Ava: Pink and purple

Lala: What is your favorite food?

Ava: Pasta

Lala: Where is your favorite place to go?

Ava: to the doctor



Lala: Who is your favorite person?

Ava: evan and isabella

aw!!

Lala: What is your favorite game?

Ava: Tennis


Lala: What do you want to be when you grow up?

Ava: a halloween person

Lala: How do you help Lala?

Ava: I help make brownies

Lala: How do you help mommy?

Ava: blow my boogers out

hahahaha!

Lala: Who is your best friend?

Ava: Izabella

Lala: What don't you like?

Ava: Snakes because they come up to my bed and catch me and eat me and mommy and lala and daddy and barb and gar and your cat and the whole city.

omg!!!

asking ava

So, Ava was taking forever to eat her lunch as usual...so I decided to ask her some questions:

Lala: What do I always say to you?

Ava: Don't touch my food with my hands

(this is true, i HATE when she puts her hands in her food and touches the metal part of her fork?spoon)

Lala: What is something that makes me happy?

Ava: Barb

(my mom, aw!)

Lala: What makes me sad?

Ava: Going under the table

(Umm, ok...)

Lala: How old am I?

Ava: I don't know Lala.

Lala: How tall am I?

Ava: tall and tall and tall

(true.)

Lala: What is my favorite thing to do?

Ava: Play with me.

Lala: What do I do when you aren't home?

Ava: You pick me up outside.

Lala: What am i really good at?

Ava: Dancing

Ha! She probably said this because she's one of the only people I dance in front of anymore. I got too old to dance in public.

Lala: What am I good at?

Ava: Blowing purple bubbles

(What in the world is she talking about? It's like all of a sudden she's on an acid trip during this interview! She said it all mellowed out too!)

Lala: What do I do for a job?

Ava: I don't know Lala.

(This confuses her a lot.)

Lala: What is my favorite food?

Ava: Quiche

Lala: What makes you proud of me?

Ava: Going in the potty when I poop.

Lala: If I was in a cartoon, who would I be?

Ava: Olivia

(great, i'm an obnoxious and annoying pig)

Lala: What do you and I do together?

Ava: Play in my room.

Lala: How are we the same?

Ava: We are together.

Lala: Where do I like to go?

Ava: the grogery store

Lala: How do you know that I love you?

Ava: Alligator

Lala: What is your favorite color?

Ava: Pink

Lala: What is your favorite food?

Ava: Meatballs

Lala: Where is your favorite place to go?

Ava: Dr. Edie's office

(what kid says the doctor is their favorite place to go??)

Lala: Who is your favorite person?

Ava: you, lala.

(believe me, she knows how to work people!) :)

Lala: What is your favorite game?

Ava: Football with Daddy

Lala: What do you want to be when you grow up?

Ava: a mommy or something

(or something?)

Lala: How do you help Lala?

Ava: I clean up

Lala: How do you help mommy?

Ava: by going to the gym

(ha!)

Lala: Who is your best friend?

Ava: Izabella and Juliana

Lala: What don't you like?

Ava: Winter

(this is far from true!)

alexander the terrible

Ok, I am the biggest procrastinator EVER, but typing this blog is way more important than my fundraising project right now. I'm afraid that I will be less fired up if I wait until later...and then no one will understand the severity of what I witnessed at the playground this morning.

It's pretty cold here in NYC, but at least we got the stroller muff so nannies and snobby mothers can quit staring at me as if I just beat Ava in public. I mean, come on ladies...it's not like I have Ava out in shorts and a t-shirt...as Kai-lan says: "calm down". Anyways, Ava and I went to the park this morning and it started out really nice because only the "cool" people take the kids to the park when it's a little chilly and there were only 3 other kids there. I love this because Ava can get a lot of large motor practice without being intimidated by all of the bratty kids (and adults) that are usually there. So Ava loves to go up the ladders and go down the twisty slide by herself now and it's the cutest thing to watch how proud of herself she is when she lands at the bottom. As she's walking up the stairs she sat down on the step for minute and this little PUNK who was younger than her just comes up and starts shoving her!! My first reaction is to grab that little kid up and toss him over the playground fence, but I wait. I want to see what ava will do. Of course she just sits there and takes it even though we have had SO many talks about saying "NO" or "I don't like that" when someone wrongs her. Finally the mother of little Alexander comes over and says in the nicest way ever "No, Alexander honey, be gentle." I mean, that's what I used to tell Ava when she was 16 months old and chasing after OG (the cat), not when she was forcfully shoving kids at the park for no reason. Well, she actually never did that...hmm I WONDER WHY?? Alexander the Terrible huffs away and my poor Ava just walks down the steps, head hung, singing "I see a firetruck...". I see the tears welling up so I pick her up and we have big cuddles and I tell her again that she can say "NO" when someone is hurting her. I want to cry myself at this point because she is just so caring and sensitive. I also want to say something to that mom and her precious Alexander. Ava moved on and went back to the jungle gym until a group of boys come in with their teacher who lets them pretty much have a wrestling competition on the jungle gym. Here comes Ava again, same face, same tears.

I can tell she's had it...so we went to check out the hippies' rally about harmful chemicals that was going on across the park. She actually was never quite back to herself for the rest of the morning. I know some of you might want to say that she needs to "buck up" but, she is not a cry baby AT ALL so when I see her so hurt by something I know that she must really be upset and hurt. Alexander is a total punk ass. Ava may be a little sensitive, but I gaurantee she's WAY cooler than stupid Alexander...like go by Alex, you aren't cool because you go by your full name. He probably isn't allowed to watch TV, eat ice cream, get dirty, or talk to his parents...so he takes his aggression out on the cute girl at the playground.

Wow. That was a rant. Phew. Don't mess with my girl!

all righty then!

a few updates, since ava and i are stuck in the house with colds/coughs:

• Last Thursday: So Ava, Amanda and I had a HUGE day at Central Park, American Girl Store, and carving pumpkins. After dinner, i was doing laundry and Ava did not want to go down the hall with me. So I leave her in the apartment playing with her Little People barn under the watchful eye of TWO, yes TWO grown ups (I won't name names in case someone reading this decides to call Children's Services...but not Colin)! As I'm pulling clothes from the washer and shoving them into the dryer, I hear a small knock on the door and "Lala, i come in?" I open the door and laugh so hard I almost peed my pants. Ava is standing there in an almost two small green t-shirt and NOTHING else, dragging the HUGE Little People barn in behind her. She didn't find anything funny about it. She simply walked past me and situated her little naked self and the barn in the corner of the laundry room and continued playing. As we come back in the apt. I notice that none of the responsible adults are phased by the fact that Ava was no longer in the apartment. I then ask if anyone noticed that the naked two year old left the apartment. No one did. Oh did we all have a good laugh...
• Liz and Colin went to Chelsea Day School's open house the other night. Those of you who aren't from New York would not believe the amount of competition there is to get your TODDLER into a preschool. It's a freaking nightmare. Go out and Netflix Nursery University and you'll see what I mean. The best part about Chelsea Day is that Ava is in competition with Kyle MacLaughlin's (spell?) three year old for one of the EIGHT spots. This guy is of course better known as Trey MacDougal from SATC. Ha!! Scooner. That's an awesome celebrity encounter.
• Ava and I are both a little sick. At this moment she is zoned out watching Olivia on Nick Jr. It may be the cough medicine I gave her so that she would quit climbing all over me and coughing on me. She told me: "you can go and shee your mom amanda and barb." she thinks amanda AND barb are my mom. that's funny.
  

everyone poops

So, Ava has been potty trained for most of the summer. On our second try, she really took to it and never had poop accidents. Now, all of a sudden she is acting like it's the biggest pain in the ass (no pun intended). She hasn't pooped in 2 days and i have to practically put on a complete stage performance to get her to sit on the potty for even 3 minutes. I can't figure out what happened. I gave her a whole bunch of prune baby food, hopping that at least she will be more comfortable. I've bribed her with stickers, treats, trips...yeah, she doesn't care.

While she was at school today I went and bought her "Everyone Poops". It's this kids book about pooping. It's kind of funny, but I can see how some people would be offended by it. We read it before nap and she takes one look at the little Asian boy on the front and says: "He's really freaking out." Ha! I tried to explain that he was trying to poop in the potty, but she insisted that he was freaking out. Whatever, I was tired of talking about poop. I plopped her in a pull-up and made a wish hoping that her bed would not be covered in poop when she woke.

Not to fear, I'll keep everyone posted.

for the love of an alpaca

I feel like I haven't blogged in awhile. Let me tell you, it's NOT because Ava has ceased to do anything spectacular. I've just been super busy.

On Monday this week, my parents were in town and we took Ava to the Bronx Zoo. She had an amazing time. The only thing she would talk about the whole bus ride there was seeing the polar bear. I think she only wants to see the polar bear because that's the animal that she associates with the zoo. Go figure. Turns out, she found a new love...the alpaca. I'm not 100% sure why she would pick this strange looking farm animal to obsess over the entire visit, but she LOVED it. I got her a little alpaca food from the vending machine and she practically jumped over the fence and shoved it in the alpaca's face. At this point she is repeatedly saying: "eat it paca, eat it." Her bossy little spirit was taking over. Of course I tried to get her to nap in her stroller...no such luck. She was so delirious by the end of the day that I was at a loss for what to do. She started going absolutely crazy on the bus, singing the Wonder Pets theme song at the top of her lungs. To add to that show, she had extremely bad gas and I seriously felt bad for the people around us.

Yesterday was an absolutely BEAUTIFUL fall day. I guess we deserve the four straight days of rain that we have coming. err. Ava was in awesome spirits. We walked down to the farmer's market to buy Amanda a little pumpkin and get one for Ava as well. Ava found one that was literally the size of her toddler size fist and she LOVED it. She kept saying: "little tiny baby punkin." We also bought two Honey Crisp apples to eat on the way to the park. Ava was in absolute apple heaven. I didn't hear a peep out of her for almost 20 minutes. Then...the inevitable. Of course, Lala has to get a photo of her looking so cute and fallish with her big homegrown apple. As I stand back up after I take the photo, I watch in what felt like slow motion as the apple plummets to the ground. I stood there for awhile, seriously considering picking it up and finding a place to rinse it off, but I couldn't bring myself to do it. Ava was looking at me as if I just killed her puppy as I tossed the apple into the trash. I felt so bad and gave her a quick hug. I could see it coming. That instant that the kid can't hold it in any longer, mouth open in a horrified wail...then the ear piercing screams. I almost cried because I knew how good that apple was. I carried her all the way to the park promising that we would go back and get hundreds more on Friday. Aw. Then, she peed her pants at the park and I told her that we had to go home since she peed her pants...again, horrified wail.

She was having a rough day for a day that started out so perfect!

Today it's pouring down rain and freezing. When I picked Ava up from school, she was super happy to see me. I decided that her and I would make turkey chili for dinner, just because it's that kind of day. When we are in the grocery store, I am pushing the stroller with one hand and pulling a basket with another. I realize that although Morton Williams is close to her school, i can never go there again with her. The aisles are so narrow that her stroller bearly fits down them. She was in her stroller and I swear, she asked me at least 30 times what I was doing. "Lala, whatchu doin?" I couldn't get out of there fast enough, but NOT before Ava knocked down an entire display of Kit Kat packages. I scowl at her as I pick them up and she says: "Lala, whatchu doin? You happy? I happy." Oh little darling, I still love you!