12/12/12

The girls' half b-day falls on 12/12/12...cool!  I can't believe that these girls are 2 1/2 today!  Time is flying by and we can't believe how big they are getting.  They are at such a fun stage and they are learning new things daily.

Ava amazes us constantly.  She is able to put complex ideas and thoughts together and she will shock us every once in a while with something....how does a 2 year old know that!? Of course her first response to most questions is "Yah" and then she processes the information and provides the appropriate answer.
She is a great sleeper.  They go down about 7 and get up about 7.
Ava is our eater...she will try almost everything.  She loves spicy food and unusual things.
Ava is the more social of the 2 but she has her quiet moments as well.  She loves LuLu (her stuffed giraffe), her blankets and still is a paci girl. She also has a collection of "stuff" that she likes to sleep with...it's usually whatever she sees on her way to her room at bedtime that she will grab and HAVE to sleep with....things from cups, hair bows and random toys.
We just took the rails off Ava's bed a few days ago and she had done GREAT!  I am so proud of the girls!
We are "sorta" starting potty training although Ava has no real interest.

Our little Isabella.  Her and Ava are about the same height but she is a little smaller overall, but last "official" hospital measurement gave Isabella a slight lead in height.  She is a cuddle bug and loves to be held.  She is never far from Mommy and although she is warming up to the teachers at the Dutch pre-school she still doesn't like being left.  She has only a few people in her inner circle but she is SOOO sweet when she gets to know you!!
Isabella is our sensitive one...man, something small can really effect her.  We don't have to discipline her much because she hates it.  She loves her bear, blanket and paci.  She doesn't like to be separated from any of them.  She will wake us up at night if any of those things become missing or detached.  Her big thing lately is "Me do it" for anything that might involve assistance and "Door open" for going down to sleep in her bed during naps or bedtime.  (It seems that after returning from our cruise in October that closing the door is no longer an option--where did this come from Uncle Jon & Grandma June???)

The girls are never far apart.  They (mostly) play well together and both seem to be in charge....they seem to switch all the time of who is more in charge that day.  They can both get into things and do an equal amount of damage although Ava is not as sneaky.  Isabella is a little sly and overall Ava gets into more. :) Marc set them on a path of color schemes with Isabella as PINK & Ava as PURPLE...Recently, they refer to the colors with possessive affiliation, i.e. "Oh, that's Ava's bowl" for the purple one :)

They both have wonderful smiles but Ava's lights up her whole face.  Isabella appears to be more serious but the girl has a laugh like no other!

THEY LOVE ISAAC!
He is a wonderful big brother and they want to be doing whatever Isaac is doing!!!
We are SOOOOO Blessed by these 3!