Our silly little girl

Yes, Ava has quite the sense of humor. This is what she looked like when I went to get her out of bed this morning...

...and she was saying, "Ooooooooo, I'm a ghost!" But instead of scaring me, she just made me laugh.

And this is what she looked like when I checked on her last night...

See that black and white thing poking out from her pajama top? That's her little kitty-pretty much her constant companion for the past 2 months. I got it for a buck at Target and out of all the toys she has, this one is her favorite. Go figure. As you can see, Ava likes to put things down her tops; this kitty is no exception. Do not ask me why...

She did it!

Well, it has finally happened. Tonight, right before her bath, Ava sat on the toilet and peed. Hallelujah. I've been waiting for quite some time for this to happen. Whenever I would ask Ava if she wanted to use the potty, she usually would say, "No thanks" or if she did, she would just sit on the toilet and ask for toilet paper and sit some more and then ask for more toilet paper and then she would say she was done. She was going the same route tonight when I thought tickling her might help and it did. Now I'm keeping my fingers crossed that she will use the potty tomorrow.

Meet Robin

So Alex has this friend named Robin. Here they are together.

Can't you see him? Don't worry, neither can I. Robin is invisible. (I'd actually be a bit worried if you could see him). Robin has been hanging out with us for about a month and a half now. He likes to play tag, Simon says, red light, green light, and a whole bunch of other games with us. Sometimes it can be hard trying to tag someone who's invisible but Alex is very good at telling us Robin's whereabouts. I thought the whole imaginary friend thing would be a little confusing for Ava but she's catching on. I'm not sure how long Robin will be with us but I don't mind having him around. He's very well-mannered and I often forget that he's here.

Chia-Pet, Take Two

Ok, I really don't know what happened. We followed the directions and everything but somehow Alex's chia pet didn't grow. There were a few sparse sprouts on the sides and legs but that's about it (it definitely did not look like the ones on tv and I'll spare you a picture of our sad looking chia). Fortunately the kit comes with extra seeds so I washed off all the old ones and we spread the new ones on. We are keeping our fingers crossed that it will grow this time around. However, I think this has been a good lesson for Alex, like the old adage says, if at first you don't succeed...

Knock, knock

For a while now, Alex has really been into knock, knock jokes. Unfortunately, I only know about 3 of them. Anyway, Ava soon got into it as well but after telling us who was there, she would just smile and laugh. Now we just do the knock, knock jokes without the punchline, which I guess means that they're not really jokes anymore but the kids like thinking up who is there (it's usually a family member or cartoon character).
Anyway, for the past couple of days, we have been talking to Alex about how we are getting a new president. He already knew that Barack Obama was elected but he will still ask about John McCain and we have to remind him that he lost the election and that Obama won. Then he'll ask about George Bush and we told him that Bush is done being president and that it's Obama's turn. Well, I was watching the inauguration today with the kids when Ava says, "Knock, knock" and I reply, "Who's there?" and she says, "Barack Obama." I had to laugh. I guess she's interested in politics, too.

Chia-Pet Revisited

A couple of weeks ago I wrote that Alex wanted a chia-pet for Christmas. Well, my mom read my post and decided that she would get him one. I'm glad that she did not decide to get me aquaglobes as well. She and my step-dad came down for New Year's and as promised, my mom got Alex a chia-pet. Alex was so excited that we had to do it right away. It has been almost a week since we put the seeds on the chia-pet and everyday Alex (and Ava) check to see if anything has started to grow. Hopefully soon we will have a plant in the shape of a dog. I shall keep you all posted.

Christmas

We had a quiet Christmas this year (well, as quiet as it can be with 2 kids and new toys). We usually spend the day at Shane's parents (Mom-Mom and Granddaddy) house but his mother was taken to the hospital on Christmas Eve with a blood infection. She was diagnosed with lung cancer in September and while the chemo has been successful in significantly reducing the size of her tumor, she has been beset by a number of infections. We were able to get together with them after the new year so the kids could open their presents. As you can see, Santa was extra generous this year as this may be mom-mom's last Christmas with us. We hope not. We love her and hope that we have many more holidays with her.

The kids got a bunch of great gifts. Ava got her very first American Girl doll and a play kitchen that looks a lot better than my real one. Alex got his first Nintendo (I think Santa forgot about my ban on video games), which of course he loves. (Sigh) It starts already...