Life with a toddler

Ava is walking!! Woohoo!! She definitely waited until she was absolutely ready! She took her first solo steps on April 20th, at 15 months old and less than 2 weeks later on May 2nd she was on the go! She skipped the whole, "wobbly/falling down" stage and went straight to walking like a pro. We still get a kick out of it and love watching her try to carry every toy she owns while strolling around the house. She is now going up inclines and runs (well toddler running). Here are some pictures from the last few weeks.

Her language is growing everyday. Her vocabulary bank is up to 30 plus words now. At times she will put 2 words together and say things like, "bye bye dada" or "dada bath" but mainly we get one word, a lot of pointing, and still lots of gibberish. 

Last week was Anna's last week watching Ava for this year. She is hopefully going to be watching Ava next year, but just in case she ends up getting a job in her field we will have a plan b set up. She had to leave us a few weeks early due to her new internship working at a PR company here in LA. Luckily, we will still see her over the summer as she has become a part of the family and Ava wouldn't be able to go all summer without seeing her buddy! For the last month and a half of school we have a whole clan of mostly family members watching Ava. Auntie Beth is in town this week for Ava duty. Next week I have a new sitter coming in and my mom will come in town the following week. For the last week and a half Steve's mom and dad will come out to watch Ava. I never would have imagined that finding good childcare could be so stressful. I feel lucky that we have such amazing family that is willing to drop everything and help us out. 

So besides our nanny situation and chasing Ava around the house there isn't much else going on around here. We are just enjoying our little peanut and can't wait for summer to be here very soon! 

Here are some pictures from this past month.........

We've discovered a new park near my school that has  a duck and turtle pond. Ava is obsessed with the ducks! She will point and say, "guck, guck." She loves to try and kiss them and has no fear when it comes to going in the pond, so we have to hold on her very tightly. 

She knows she is up to no good right now! 

This is her face when we took her to see the ducks for the first time. 

Playing ball at gymboree 

Baby goes everywhere with us, even to the park. 

Ava's first drawing of a circle! The yellow one I drew and then she tried to copy me with the blue chalk. 

Getting ready for summer with some corn on the cob.

Enjoying Mother's Day breakfast 

Dancing to the street performers at the promenade 

She was pretty obsessed with this particular street performer. She tried to walk up to her while she was singing.....the woman was not amused! 

Hanging by the beach 

Beach and shopping with Auntie Beth (Or as Ava says, "Bef")