Panter Family: Happy birthday Ava!

So this post is a little late, but I couldn't pass up the opportunity to talk about my little baby girl who is getting so big so fast! I'm not going to lie, the first two years of Ava's life have been a bit challenging! Slowly though as she became more able to communicate and a little more mature, things started getting better and better. She now sleeps through the night ( most of the time) and she can talk to me and play with me and now that I know what she is saying there is much less frustration! When I have to leave her I can explain that I will come right back and she knows what that means. We had a hard time with nursery at church for a long time! She would either go in with me, but I could never leave or she refused to even enter the doors because she knew where we were going and she did not want to be around that many people. But a little after her second birthday she started getting better. The first time I left for good I told her I would be right back and she cried for a while but kept repeating to herself, 'be right back...be right back' and when I came back she was so happy! Now she knows I always come back and while I feel a little less claustrophobic now, I always miss her terribly when I am gone! I love this girl more than anything, she is so funny and wonderful and beautiful and I can't believe she is mine! Here are some things about Ava right now. She likes to think she is very funny and loves to make us laugh with her silly faces, silly songs and whatever else she can come up with to make us laugh. She also loves her big sister and I will find her carefully watching Audrey's every move and then doing it herself. If Audrey is doing it, then it is something she wants to do. Her favorite person is still Mom, however she is branching out and enjoying other people's company much more these days. I am continually surprised lately by how bold she has gotten and how social she is becoming. One of the things I love about her is her cuddles. I am pretty much the only one she will cuddle and love, and I love every second I get with her! She is pretty much potty training herself as she does not like to wear any clothes and does not like to have accidents so she always tells me when she needs to go. She wears underpants around the house and does a great job with them, but I have been too nervous to go anywhere just in case. However, the other day we went to Walmart and were there forever and I was price matching everything and it took forever and right when the lady starts checking out my groceries she tells me she has to go potty. So I tell her she needs to wait because there is no other option, but I am thinking oh my gosh there is going to be potty all over the floor because I forgot to put a diaper on her! She totally held it and we hurried to the bathroom where I helped her go and she told me "That was fun!" haha, so I guess she can do it! She is so full of life and has extreme emotions from laughing and bursting with excitement to full on tantrums with kicking and hitting and screaming. She has a big personality and anyone who knows her can't help but love her, especially me! I am so thankful for my Ava!