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!!!