While putting Ava down for her nap, this is the conversation that took place...
Me: Sweet dreams Ava bug.
Ava: I love Daddy. I love Reidy. I love you always Mommy.
Me: (choking back tears) I love you too!
A few weeks ago Josh was helping a family in our ward move and came home with this gem.
This little girl has been busy driving to the grocery store, delivering the mail, and taking baby for a drive.
The same weekend one of our friends was cleaning out their garage and gave us this gem for Reid. Their oldest is 8 years old. So this toy has been around since my Freshman year of college. But I actually really like how big the shelf part of the toy is. It's actually big enough we can put stuff on it. and plus, it was FREE! As you can tell, Reid is a fan too!
Reid continues to use his rolling skills on a daily basis.
I've seen him roll from his stomach to his back a few times. But he hasn't made the connection to roll consecutively yet. Ava better enjoy it while she can because soon enough he'll be going after her toys.
Ava loves to hold her "small brother" (as she puts it). She was looking at our Bunting family picture that we took at Christmas and asked, "Where's Reidy? Is Daddy holding Reidy?" I don't think this girlie even remembers life without her little "Buddy" (another name Ava calls him).
This kid is a drooler. My pants, shirt, arm, fingers, the floor, his clothes, his socks, all his toys, pillows, and blankets are completely drenched.
Not only can he drool he can do this with his mouth. Add toes to the list of things he sucks on.
How can that possibly be fun? Ava and I tried it. Ava was shocked that there was something Reid could do that she couldn't.
This pic is a little blurry but I just had to post it. This is what Reid does every time he sees his sister.
I don't get it. This girl pokes him, takes his binky away, hugs him nonstop, steals all of his toys, and he still can't get enough. But I guess Ava is pretty sweet with him too. Like today he dropped his toy while playing in the above mentioned toy, and she ran over and picked it up and gave it back to Reidy. She always wants to make sure that he's happy.
I didn't realize just how much of a big helper Ava is with Reid until she took that 2.5 hour nap today. Entertaining Reid by myself for that period of time was exhausting. I couldn't wait for the little buggy to wake up!
Josh and I always thought we had dodged the bullet when it came to sleeping with Ava. That was all before she decided to go on a nap time strike. Every afternoon when nap time rolls around Ava protests saying, "Mom, I sleep last night!" Ava is quite the little negotiator.
Last week I went to check on Ava and found her like this.
It didn't surprise me that she was on the dresser. This girl can get onto anything. Notice the changing pad hanging off the side of the crib. It was strapped on vertically to stop Ava from climbing into the crib. Sidenote, she discovered that she could climb into the crib without getting on the dresser. Another sidenote, Reid will not be sharing a room with Ava until he is a little more sturdy!
Doesn't Ava look so peaceful in this picture? It didn't last long. After snapping the picture I decided it was not safe for my little princess to sleep up so high, so I gently and slowly moved her into her bed. And that's when the dragon was released from inside and she had a full blown tantrum for an ENTIRE hour. To the extent she screamed so hard she threw up. Ugh.
This is how I found her today. This child does have a bed! I guess she just doesn't realize how tired she really is and just conks out while playing.
Today Ava took a 2.5 hour nap. Yay right?! But that meant that instead of falling asleep around 8:30 pm, she fell asleep around 11 pm. So here's the real question. Is it even worth having her take a nap if she doesn't fall asleep until 11 pm? Don't get me wrong, she will definitely still be going into her room for quiet time. But naps just seem more of a hassle than they are worth.