Update

It's been a while since a true Ava-only update, so I thought we were due.  As of late:

• She's OBSESSED with water fountains and trains.  If she was put in the middle, with one of each on both sides, she'd be in a serious dilemma on which to run to first.  Serious.
• She likes to get massages, perhaps a bit too much. She'll now look at me, say "Mommy, Mommy," and pat her head (her favorite thing to have rubbed).
• She loves singing.  She can hum - in surprising good tune - the ABCs.  We listen, pretty much exclusively, to kiddie music in the car, and recently when the music pauses in between tracks, even if extremely briefly, she'll urgently repeat "more, more," until the next song starts.
• She's night weaned! (Wahoo!)  Beginning on August 16th, we stopped nursing when it's dark out.   I explain to her when she asks, that we don't have milk until it's light out and Mr. Sun comes up, and she gets it (I think).  This was a big deal for us since this was the predominant way she drifted off to sleep for the first 15 months of her life, but it was time.  I think the transition was made easier because of her LOVE for massages (see second bullet point above), as this is what we've substituted for nursing to sleep. We're not sure if this is a good or bad thing as now she asks for massages until she's asleep.  How did we teach our little girl to self soothe, you ask?  Oh we just pampered her back to sleep upon every waking. Ha.  She'll sleep through the night someday; it may not be until she's 16, but it WILL happen.
• She dispises sun in her eyes.  When we're out on a morning run or in the car when the sun is low and coming through the windows, she violently shakes her head and whines until you fix the shade on the jogger, or, in the case of the car, pull over (which doesn't usually happen).  We're working on the whole whining thing, which seems to have peaked lately.  :/
• She loves to hold hands and say grace. Yes, this melts my heart.  We could never forget a blessing at this point because she'd remind us for sure.  She especially likes that we (Jeff, Ava and I) all hold hands in a circle (I think she likes the togetherness), but once in a while she'll just want Jeff and I to hold hands for a while after we're done.  Pretty stinkin' cute.
• And lastly, here's a video update of Ava's swimming progress.  My goal, which is rather lofty, is that she is swimming independently (at least enough to get to the side of a pool and get out) by next summer.  We shall see....