Growing Up . . .

Our little girl is growing up. How do we know? Take a look . . .

Drinking out of a big-girl cup and insisting that she is not “Mommy’s Big Girl” but “Daddy’s Girl” (since she has the shirt and all.)

Painting her own toenails. (Okay, I officially painted them the other day — she just added to it. — maybe I should have said “painting her own toes.”  ) Unfortunately, this means that she is now capable of opening a bottle of nail polish. Fortunately we have laminate flooring. Also fortunately, the rug she spilled some on only cost $15 at a yard sale to begin with and was getting pretty stained anyway. I couldn’t bring myself to punish her — she was so proud of her “pretty piggy toes.”

TRYING to go potty. The poor thing can hold it for hours (literally), yet doesn’t seem to have the concept of releasing. SO, we’re hanging it up for a week or month or so.

Playing with Helen in her little swimming pool. Helen wasn’t too happy about the water to begin with, and Ava was chirping and splashing and jumping in and out. Amazing what a few short months can do when you’re talking child development. She also was not too happy about sharing with Helen (Unfortunately, is that another sign she’s getting older?) — Helen had her Baby Einstein nature cards and Ava went running to her with an emphatic, “My cards!” I told her that she should share with Helen, that Helen wasn’t taking them home; she would just look at them while she was at Ava’s house. Her response: “But I don’t like that.”

Trying to put mommy’s earrings on. This is a relatively new phase, but one that shows she clearly associates items with their intended use. I had to put them on to work in the yard yesterday. . . She couldn’t stand it that they were just laying there and not in use. (The mark on her face is none other than nail polish from the earlier toe-painting episode.)

What fun, fun times to have a little girl!