Ava is 8 and a half!

It is so crazy that Ava is already halfway to 9! Well, more than halfway now. The past 6 months have still been so crazy and strange with COVID that it feels like time is flying even faster. I don’t want to admit it but I know her birthday will be here before we know it. She is just growing up way too fast! She really seems like such a big kid now. We wish we could keep her little much longer but it is fun to see who she is growing up to be as well.

I feel like I don’t have as much to update for her half birthday this year because she isn’t changing quite as much these days. But, I do have plenty to write about. So, here is what Ava’s life is like at 8 and a half.

Ava is really growing so much these days. She keeps having huge growth spurts and getting so much taller. I really feel like it won’t be long before she is as tall as me, or even taller! Since she hasn’t been to the doctor (thank goodness!), I don’t have any weight or stats. But, I did measure her on our growth chart and she is 52.25” tall. She’s grown about 2 inches in 6 months!

We can see how much Ava is growing in her clothes. She is already outgrowing some shirts and some of her pants are looking a little short. I am just hoping they hold on until it gets warmer. She is wearing size 8 in most things but I’m looking at 10s for the summer, especially in shirts because of her height (they start getting a little too short on her belly). She is wearing size 3 shoes. It is crazy to me how close she is getting to juniors/adult sizes!

We also see how much Ava is growing in how much she wants to eat these days. She is always hungry because she is always growing! She is getting pretty good at trying to make sure what she is eating is healthy. Although, she does still love her snack foods like crackers and goldfish. She is learning to eat more foods because she gets free lunch at school (one tiny COVID benefit). She thinks it is so fun to get lunch at school and gets excited to try new things there, which has helped us add new foods to our suppers, like chicken pot pie. One of Ava’s new favorite things to eat is roasted kale chips. She gets so excited when we have that as a side for supper and we try to do it very often so she gets some good leafy greens. Unfortunately, due to COVID and some new dietary restrictions for me, we haven’t been able to eat out much. Ava definitely misses eating out at any Mexcian restaurant, Tropical Grille, Sidewall Pizza and Swamp Rabbit Cafe. We keep hoping things will get better COVID wise so we feel more comfortable eating out but that isn’t the case right now. She will be so excited when we can finally go to a restaurant!

Ava is growing physically but she is also growing so much in school as well. This is the strangest school year ever but she is making the most of it. We are so thankful they are in person full time now because she thrives in the classroom with her friends and her teacher. They have plexiglass dividers on their tables and have to wear masks all day long, which is so strange. But, she loves being there in person and is so much happier with school than she was when it was virtual. She is working hard to learn multiplication and division facts. They have been doing a lot of culture studies in Social Studies. And they are constantly working on writing books. I think she is writing a book about Red Pandas right now, because of her favorite stuffed animal. She says she loves science because of the experiments. She also loves her art and music classes. This year is definitely strange (like having to send valentines in a few days early to quarantine and no field trips) but her teacher and school are trying to make it as special as they can despite the circumstances. We’ve also been working with her teacher from last year to help with some extra tutoring. She loved her teacher (who was really a long-term sub) last year and is so happy to have that one on one time with her once a week. We started it when they were virtual, to give her some extra support but she loves it so much we’ve continued it. They work through her homework or on any subjects she needs a little extra help with. She’s doing so well with her work and her report cards have been great! We are proud of how well she’s doing in this crazy year!

Ava’s favorite subject at school is reading. She could read all day some days. We cannot keep enough books around for her. Books are the one thing she wants to spend her money on and what she asks for the most for Christmas and birthday gifts. She can fly through a short chapter book in one evening at bedtime. We let her read for about 45 min at bedtime but a lot of nights we do find her reading much later and have to tell her it’s time for lights out. She gets so caught up in the books that she loses track of time some nights. Some of her favorite series are American Girl books (any of them), Star Darlings, Whatever After, Princess Diaries, Never Girls and Magic Treehouse.

Ava also continues to grow socially. She is still very shy but comes out of her shell much easier. School has been the best thing for her socially and we are so thankful she gets that social experience this year despite all the craziness. She has a new best friend at school this year because her other best friends from previous years are not in her class. Makayla was in her class last year and they played some but weren’t super close. This year they’ve grown very close and it’s so nice to know she has a sweet friend at school. We haven’t seen many other friends lately because of COVID. We aren’t going to church in person anymore now that they’ve moved indoors so she doesn’t get to see her church friends like Ella and Maisy. We are so ready for the weather to warm up so hopefully they can start having church outside again and we can see friends. Ava definitely misses all her friends that we don’t see these days and will be so happy when things can go back to at least a little more like normal.

One area where Ava has really grown in the past 6 months is ice skating. Our local rink finally opened back up in October and she was able to start her lessons again in November. We weren’t sure how well she would do after such a long break but she shocked us and her coach Ms. Juliana with how she picked it all right back up. She is working on spins, one foot spins, skating backwards, gliding on one foot and little cross over hops to start. She loves skating and it is fun to watch her do something she enjoys so much and to see her improve each week.

Ava has also really mastered her bike in the past 6 months. We always knew she could do it but she was pretty timid and afraid to fall. She learned how to pedal without training wheels a while ago but would never really get going with it. One day she finally decided she was going to do it and it clicked and she’s been unstoppable on the bike ever since. She just needed the confidence to do it and now she loves riding her bike. She also loves trying her roller blades that she got for Christmas. I saw several figure skaters on Instagram practicing on roller blades and thought that was a great idea since we can’t get on the ice all the time. Ava loves being outside and is so excited about our new house (which should be done in the next month or so) and having a flat concrete driveway to ride her bike and roller blade on. She and Zoe have already decided on a hide out area in the back yard near the woods and love playing in that area whenever we go check on the house progress.

Ava is also still obsessed with crafts. She loves being outside but she is quite content to spend all day inside making crafts as well. She loves to cut and glue creations together, especially paper dolls and their accessories. She says abstract art is her favorite kind of art because she loves just drawing different shapes and putting them all together in a design. She says she wants to be an art teacher when she grows up. Another benefit of COVID right now is Bonnie, a college girl from church, is doing school virtually at home this year and Ava has been able to hang out with her some. Bonnie is in art school and Ava loves working on art projects or just coloring with her. Bonnie is also adopted so it is wonderful for Ava to have an older girl to look up to who’s been through similar things in her life. Bonnie has been so sweet to mentor Ava this year!

Ava’s current favorite toy is her doll house. She loves to spend time playing by herself with her doll house and creating her own little worlds there. She also loves her American Girl doll still but says the doll house is what she enjoys the most right now. We recently found a new show on Netflix called Gabby’s Dollhouse. It is about a girl who can shrink down into her dollhouse. I think Ava wishes that magic was real and she could play with all her toys in her dollhouse too!

Speaking of TV, Ava and Zoe both look forward to the weekends because they know that means they get to watch TV in the mornings. It is hard to find shows that an 8 year old and a 3 year old can agree on but lately they’ve liked Vampirina, If You Give a Mouse a Cookie, Hatchimals, Pete the Cat, Curious George, and Magic School Bus Rides Again.

Ava and Zoe are still best friends. With COVID, they have really had to bond well together because they are usually the only playmates available. They definitely have their normal sister moments of fighting (a lot more when we are stuck at home) but they really do love each other so much. They are going to be sharing a room when we move and we hope it will be a special time for them. The first little while will definitely be an adjustment. The few times we’ve let them have sleepovers in Zoe’s room, Zoe keeps Ava awake talking way too much. She is super social and will have to learn not to talk all night. But, we think once the newness wears off, they will really enjoy being together. They have a big age difference, which can be hard sometimes. Ava always says she wishes Zoe was older. But, now that Zoe is getting bigger, they can do so much more together and they have a blast together. We hope they are always each other’s best friend.

Ava is still a very sweet kid. Teachers and anyone who is around her always comment on how sweet she is and how she is such a good friend. She is very empathetic and cares about making sure other people are not hurt. She is still sassy (always keeping it real) but she always makes sure to tell us how much she loves us.

We are so thankful for the past 8 and a half years with this girl! Our lives would not be the same without her. But, as I always say, we know that our joy in her comes with pain for her birth mama and we never take that lightly. She means the world to us. We are so thankful for her and are thankful for the relationship we have with her.

Happy Half Birthday, Ava Girl!

We love you to the moon and back!!