Yesterday, a woman said to me, "Yeah, my first-born was an advanced talker at that age, too..." and I had to pause for a second.  Wait - she is talking about Ava!  Ava is an advanced talker!  Since her language virtually exploded a few months ago, we have gotten used to having our own little chatterbox around, but there was a time when I was very scared that Ava would not talk.  We could barely get her to say, "on" or "off" when playing with a toy.  For a while, everything was "guck" and then one day, she just started repeating words.  Truthfully, I can't even really remember the way in which it happened.  It just happened.  Now, Ava uses language to ask for things, make choices, express emotion and preference and to engage others socially.  Some of my favorites:

1. She will say, "Strawberry milk or chocolate milk...which one do you like?"  and of course, the words don't sound exactly right, but it is so darn cute!

2. She repeats what others say to her.  Mommy says, "Hey sugar, it's Mommy!" and Daddy says, "Hey munchkin, it's Daddy!"

3. She does the best horse and sheep sounds I have ever heard, hands down.

4. She will say people's names after hearing them once.  Yesterday, we were at the park for an Agora event, and another teacher introduced herself as Michelle, and Ava said, "Hi Michelle," like it was nothing.  The look on Michelle's face was astounding! 

5. When Ava bumps into something with her walker, she will say, "Turn around!  Use your muscles!" 

To myself I am only a child playing on the beach, while vast oceans of truth lie undiscovered before me.

  I told Bobby that being in Cape May with he and Ava had fullfilled one of my life's dreams...and he laughed a little.  It's true for me - this is the place that I have loved my whole life, the place that has nurtured my soul.  I breathe better when I am near the ocean and I wish that our time there would never end. Being there with my husband and first-born child was so special for me.

  We started out the week with the threat of thunderstorms every day and were blessed when it didn't rain once. Each day was more glorious than the one before.  We swam in the ocean and in the pool, ate delicious seafood on decks overlooking the water, and Ava had ice cream every night on the boardwalk while the ocean crashed in the distance.  Who could dream of a better place? 

  Ava kept saying, "Nonnie's house" as we tried to explain that we were in a hotel in Cape May, but that Nonnie and Dida were staying there with us.  Ava entertained us each night from her portable crib, reciting the alphabet, counting to 20, trying to engage everyone by saying their names.  We were all asleep before she was! 

  While I was braving the waves in the ocean on Thursday with Mia, my mom and Aunt Katie took on the task of getting Ava used to the ocean.  She was a little scared at first, unsure of why the water was coming and going and why her feet were sinking into the wet sand.  I watched them carefully teach her on the shore, and pretty soon, Katie was lifting her up in the small waves and Ava was laughing.  When I got back to the towel, Ava informed me that, "Water goes in, water goes out," and I knew then that she understood! 

  I am always sad to see our vacation at the beach end.  Even at 30, I cry a little when we leave.  I miss the sound of the ocean when I am back here in my house, preparing for everyday life.  But, we have a very special delivery coming in December and we have already decided to return to Cape May next June, so there's a lot to look forward to.  I will have a 3 year old and a 6 month old by then!  I can't believe that so many things will happen in one short year. 

Today was a visit to Mr. Tillman's office, which is always an emotionally draining day.  We have to leave her prosthetics there for the day so that he can clean them and build them up.  I usually spend the day at home with Ava while we wait, and it is strange indeed to see her without her pretty blue eyes.  After they are in place again, Bobby and I always feel like celebrating a bit.  She is reborn again.  Today, the celebration consisted of ice cream on the way home - Ava's favorite!

She has been sick for about 5 days now with a cough, stuffy nose, and had a fever for the first 3 days.  Despite this, we managed to go swimming on Saturday with Katie and Mia and it was glorious!  My little water baby.  She wanted to kick her legs, splash, and loves to "jump" in and out of the water.  We sang in the water and talked about everything under the sun.  Later, on the bench, she was so cute in her cover-up and sun hat - she looked like a little flower.

Ava also amazed all of us by counting to 10 on her own, to which my dad pointed out, "Didn't she just start talking a month ago?"  Her vocabulary grows literally every day - the flood gates of language have opened.  Her level of understanding surprises me every day.  She is learning to use language to make choices, to ask for what she wants, and certainly to entertain.  She loves to say, "I like ice cream," but this weekend, she put a twist on it and said, "Ou louk ouc crom."  Could it be that our 2-year-old actually understands switching vowel sounds?  I can't believe her mind, her capacity to learn - what 2-year-old understands that concept?!

We spent 2 days with Grams this weekend - she is doing surprisingly well in the hot weather.  She was very energetic on Saturday, staying at my mom's until nearly 11:00.  She admits that she is "better" when she is out of the house and around people - who isn't?  We will try to give her more opportunities to get out and about, and we will roll with whatever comes.  Remember: those little miracles are what count now.

Looking forward to our 3rd annual School for Blind Children Toddler Program conference this weekend.  Mia and Katie are coming up for it - they are so proud and supportive of Ava.  Bobby and I look forward to the conference; it's an opportunity to show off Ava's latest accomplishments.  It will be a great weekend.

Ava has said her first sentence!  In fact, she says a series sentences, all beginning with, "I like" or "I need."  Her two favorites are, "I like ice cream!" and "I like music!" Today, she wanted me to repeat after her as she went through a series of, "I....(repeat, Mommy)..like (repeat)...ice cream, music, water and swing.  Or whatever is in her little head at that moment.  She also likes to say, "honey bunny," which sounds like, "honey gunny" and is so adorable. 

She and Bobby sent me the most beautiful flowers today for an early Mother's Day gift, and when they came to the door, it surprised me and brought back memories of last Mother's Day when I was still working at Avonworth.  I am so glad to not be there anymore; my new job is perfect.  The peace that this career move has created in our home is amazing.  Ava is totally thriving - talking, walking and learning, and I couldn't be happier. There are days when I feel fragmented and that I accomplished very little, but I think that is just because my expectations are higher for myself. I have to take care of the house and grade 85 essays, plus play with a toddler and...take a shower?   Something always gets lost, but that's ok.  It's the life we've chosen.

We've been spending a lot of time outside and Ava's #1 activity is swinging.  She LOVES to swing.  She also loves to throw an absolute tantrum when we try to get her out of the swing.   She actually cries like we have seriously hurt her feelings.  I feel so bad that I don't know if I'll ever swing her again, but I always do, of course.  I can't wait to get her little pool out and maybe some kind of a sprinkler toy - she will love the water this year!

So, I'm looking forward to a relaxing Mother's Day with my family.  Grams just came home from a stay in a rehabilitation center, so I'm really hoping to celebrate her this weekend.  She always believes in Ava and says, "She will do all kinds of things; you just wait."  I dearly love her.

Happy Mother's Day to all the moms reading this!   

It's been quite a while since I've had time to write - I feel as though as Spring arrives, we are busier every day.  Ava is getting bigger and stronger and continues to talk up a storm.  Some of her latest words are: oatmeal, neck, crab ("cwag"), music, organ, wagon, and just about anything that we say.  She is our little mockingbird. 

As many of you know, we found out a few weeks ago that we are expecting our second baby in early December.   I keep trying to teach Ava how to say, "baby" and it comes out sort of right.  She has a little baby doll that talks and she will touch it's nose and her nose at the same time.  She needs a real baby to hold, though, so we're working on getting her some infant exposure soon. I don't know how she will react to have another little one in the house - I suppose that is how every parent feels about their first-born child.  I am excited to know a new baby, but I don't want to lose the precious time that I spend with Ava.  I make promises to myself that I will still rock her before bed, still give her a bath every night, still read and sing and play just as much as I do now, but I'm sure things will change.  As I lie in bed at night, knowing full well I am about to get 8 solid hours of sleep, sometimes I wonder, "why are we doing this again?!"  But, like most things in life, the sleeplessness will be temporary.

A cute Ava story: She adores this little Fisher Price toy, whom we call "Crab" - she whips it around and it plays a little sailing song and bubbles like it's under water.  She has had this toy forever now, but just a couple of weeks ago became completely obsessed with it. While I was away in NYC this past weekend, Bobby told me, "Well, 'cwag' broke...in the middle of the night.  Ava let out the saddest cry I have ever heard."  So, I was on a mission to find a new one: I went to Toys R Us in Times Square...nothing.  On Tuesday, Ava and I went to Target, and there he was: cwag.  So, we bought 2, just in case.  I took one right out of the package in the middle of the store, and said, "Ava, guess what Mommy found?"  When I handed her that toy, she drew in this big breath, and said, "Cwaaaag!" as if to say, "Finally!"  Needless to say, she has not let go of cwag ever since - she eats with him, sleeps with him, and I have had to explain every night why cwag can't go into the bathtub.  Even when she is playing with other toys, she will babble to herself, and then every so often, reach to make sure cwag is still there, and she will ask, "Cwag?"  Just checking, I guess.

This week is my Spring Break and I LOVE not having to work!  Ava and I have been out and about every day so far, and today I am taking her to her babysitter's house so that I can spend a few hours shopping by myself!  Amazing!  It's been a while since I've done that.

Last weekend, Ava learned to say, "Gram" when Grams was visiting my mom's house.  It was so cute - now she will say it randomly, and I wonder if she suddenly thinks of Grams, or what.  Ava continues to be a chatterbox, imitating everything.  She said, "net!" for a little toy fishing net, she says, "swing!" when we're at the park - it's like the floodgates of language have just opened up for her. I can see now that she will be very ready for preschool in less than a year.

We have so many wonderful people in our lives, and one of them is our friend, Mary Helen, who I used to work with at the University.  She is in her late 50's and just retired from Pitt and she and I visit whenever we can.  She was a strong influence on me in the beginning of Ava's life - always thinking positively and encouraging me. Her most recent gift to us is the writing of a letter to the director of The Falk School, the University of Pittsburgh's private laboratory school that I believe is the right place for Ava.  I also completed my one-year teaching internship there and fell in love with the small, nurturing atmosphere.  It is a progressive school and Ava's teachers would all be Pitt instsructors/professors - she would thrive!   Mary Helen worked closely with the new director of Falk before she left the University and she wrote the following letter just a couple of weeks ago:

Outside today in beautiful weather!  Ava was happy and very energetic.  It will rain this afternoon, but we got our fill of the sun before lunch.  Ava is starting to wear bits and pieces of her new Spring wardrobe (size 2T everything) and boy is she cute!   Her "new" Stride Rite shoes are actually getting a little dirty in spots, the sign of a walking toddler. 

She has recently started saying, "Mom-my" instead of just "mama" and I love it.  Today, when we were out in the yard, she kept asking, "Mom-my?"  and I would say, "Yes, Ava?" and then she would babble some little phrase or word in her toddler talk.  I feel like she is beginning to understand how to USE language, which is one of the goals that we talked about at her annual meeting. 

I have played two new games with Ava this week:

1. I will ask her where her body parts are, and not only does she point to them, but she continues to try to name them.   But, the really fun part of the game, is that when I say, "Ok, ready?  I'm gonna try and trick you!"  Ava will say, "Ok! Trick you!"  in her own language (it acually sounds like "kick ooo").  Hey, we can understand it, and that's all that counts for now.

2. The second game is something that I tried just the other night and I could not believe the results!  Ava likes to take small toys in and out of two soft bins, and I decided to ask her to find certain toys and give them to me.  I asked her to find a stuffed dog, a bead, a ball, and several more objects - she located about 95% of them on the first try!  I had no idea that she connected so many object names with the objects themselves, and that she could identify them by touch alone.  What an amazing little girl.