4 Years, 2 Months

In case I haven’t said it before, boys and girls are very different by nature. I can’t say it enough. We had a busy and fun weekend and one of the things we did was attend Ava’s pre-school Carnival. At the Carnival I met a woman who has an older son and daughter and I think we could have talked all day about the many differences between boys and girls. One of the first things she said was, “Oh my goodness, the drama with my daughter! And the moods! Ugh.” I couldn’t have agreed with her more. While we agree that our daughters are easier in the sense that they’re polite and considerate and inquisitive where our sons are active and hungry and loud we also agreed that our daughters are challenging in the sense that they’re moody and dramatic where our sons are carefree and easy-going. It was nice to know that I’m not the only one who is concerned about a bi-polar four-year-old.

Aside from Ava’s moods, she’s wonderful! We couldn’t ask for more. She’s my buddy and I truly enjoy her company (when she’s not in a mood). She challenges my intellect every day and I love that! She’s doing a much better job with Lincoln; she actually enjoys his company these days and they have a few different games that they play together. It’s much less stressful for me. They still have their moments but those are totally manageable now. Ava is also my big helper as she doesn't like a messy house. She cleans her room and she helps me fold laundry without ever being asked. She says, "I don't even understand. It's all just messy!"

This is a picture of the washcloths that she folded by herself. I can't get over what a great job she does. They go in our closet just like this and I smile every time I see them...

Ava has a lot of interests! In fact, at dinner last night she told us, “I’m going to be a fire truck driver!” Then she thought for a minute and said, “Well, I also want to be an astronaut.” Finally, she concluded, “Gosh, I have a lot of interests! I want to do everything!” She still enjoys working on projects and reading, of course! Recently, she has been asking me to teach her how to read. Still, I think her favorite activity is working in the garden. Whenever we’re out and about, Ava can’t resist the urge to pick flowers that she sees. Every couple of days I have to clean the wilted flowers out of my car. Painting is also a favorite activity for her. This is a picture of a painting that she did last night. She told us that it's the inside of her body and that red is her blood, yellow = bones, green = ribs and blue = veins.

When she's not painting the inside of her body she's usually painting flowers, I promise!

Ava has two goals in life right now; she wants to be a ballerina and she wants a dog, desperately. We’re working on the ballerina thing and she’ll be taking ballet this summer. As for the dog…I desperately want her to have a dog too. However, we must wait until the time is right. I don’t think our family feels complete without a pup so I’m convinced that it’s harder on me than it is on her...she doesn’t know that though. She has a stuffed dog that she carries with her on all our errands and she has two little dog figurines that follow her around the house all day.

They even Skype with Ninny...

Ava also requests to be referred to as "Spot" on occasion. She pretends to be a dog on a regular basis. Boy does this confuse Lincoln!

THE END.