Jekyll & Hyde

Sorry for the lack of pictures lately. I have plenty to put on here, but I'm having some laptop cord issues and it is more difficult to get them up right now. Have no fear, there is another cord on the way!

Ava has picked up coloring like a baby Van Gogh. It started as something to keep her busy while we were in Doni's classroom. Now its nearly an obsession. The last two nights she has been carrying around a crayon, pencil, and, on occasion, pen nearly the entire time between dinner and bed. There are papers on our fridge that she brings home from the babysitter's. She grabs these and her coloring instruments and goes to town. It's really pretty humorous. She will set the paper on the floor and scribble. Ten seconds later she will pick it up and start scribbling with her paper on the coffee table. Then she goes to another part of the floor and scribbles some more. She bounces around like a hummingbird in a land full of hummingbird feeders.

The problem comes when it is time to put her beloved writing utensils away. We have to be careful when she has a pen because sometimes she likes to use the couch to support her paper. Not a good combination. Last night this led to our first official "fit". Now, I had thought that Ava had had fits before..... No, no, no, no. THIS... was a fit. Screaming, flailing arms and legs, a refusal to cooperate.... and that's not even getting into what she did! *cue rimshot*

Who would have thought the Terrible-Twos would have come five months early? I don't know if she decided to assert herself because she turned 17 months old yesterday or what, but this is definitely a new chapter. Her fit continued through her entire bath and into the time spent drying her off. As we walked out of her bedroom after laying her down for the night early, I told Doni, "I'm sure glad you're not pregnant right now."

Cast-free is the Way to Be

After three not-so-short weeks, Ava is no longer lugging around a cast. I took her to get it taken off on Thursday. She didn't care much for the saw that they used to cut it off. Unfortunately, they had to cut down both sides of the cast. She was clearly worried as they made the first cut down the inner-side of her leg. However, when they turned the saw back on, she immediately went into Defcon 5 mode. With tears streaming down her face, she had a look of terror as she watched the saw cut through her cast. I was practically holding her, but not well enough because she clung to my arms. In a matter of seconds it was all over and she rapidly chilled out. Throw in the loud noise and vibrations with not being able to understand that the saw can't cut your skin and you've got one unhappy little girl.

As the weather has been cooler lately, we've been able to dress Ava in some new Fall clothes. It's amazing to me how much older she looks when she wears a long-sleeve shirt and pants. When we have nursery at church we have the opportunity to look back at what kids look like at 12 months, 9 months, etc. It really wasn't that long ago, but when she changes in subtle ways day-to-day you don't really notice. We also get to see where she might be developmentally in another 6 months or 1 year. It blows my mind. Forget about imagining who Ava will be when she's a teenager! That is beyond comprehension for me right now. I look forward to the day when she starts to talk in sentences. I can't wait for when we can actually see the moment she begins to understand something new for the first time. On one hand, she's growing so fast. On the other, I can't wait to watch her make new steps. I guess I'll just have to daily enjoy where she is.