Chapter Development

I intentionally delayed Ava's 4-year checkup. Her birthday falls smack dab in the middle of flu season, and we have (knock on wood) been so healthy. It didn't make sense to take her in and risk catching something, so we waited until March 1.

4-year-old stats:
Height - 42 inches (90th percentile)
Weight - 40 pounds (70th percentile)

She also soared through the vision and hearing tests with flying colors.

We are so lucky to have our wonderful church friend, Dr. Stephanie Parker, as our primary physician. When we had to leave our beloved pediatrician in Texas we were sad. When we found out that Josh's student insurance required us to use the on-campus medical center we were nervous. However, our experience at Goddard has been wonderful. I feel like we get extra special treatment for Ms. Ava. All the nurses and doctors are thrilled to be treating a kiddo, and make sure she leaves with at least three stickers after each visit.

Ava kept herself busy decorating the paper covering the bed.

She described these doodles to me very specifically, "This is my pasta making machine. The blue part at the bottom mixes the flour and wet stuff, then it travels up to this part and squishes flat. These parts twirl it into swirly pasta and this ocean makes it salty and warms it up. Then it goes into the cooker and it is all done."

After sitting through three stinging shots like a champ, no tears or complaints, I rewarded Ava with a trip to Toys R Us.

We walked through every aisle as she considered what toy she wanted to take home.

Another dollhouse?

A Disney princess baby doll?

A remote-controled puppy?

Finally she decided on an Olivia play set.
We are so thankful for our healthy, brave, imaginative girl.

Ava and I make Josh's lunch for school Monday through Wednesday. To make sure he remembers to grab it from the refrigerator the next morning, we leave his keys and other necessities on top of a gentle reminder.

He's a brave man to carry an Aggie lunchbox on campus at OU.

A thankful morning note, since Ava and I are usually (okay, always) still asleep when he leaves.

Playing outside on a chilly evening

Dozens of robins have started congregating on the roof, so Ava decided to build them a leaf mountain to rest on if they get tired.

Loving her skinny jeans and sparkly Target shoes.

Later that same night Ava watched Bambi for the first time and we enjoyed some popcorn. She thoroughly enjoyed the movie. She fell out of her seat laughing when Bambi learned to walk on the icy pond.

HLS was offered a very prestigious summer internship, so we headed to OKC for sushi and cupcakes.

Is there really any other way to celebrate?

Such a young lady now. I cannot get over how grown up she is becoming.

We ended our night's celebration with a Lockett Family Sing-Along. Ava wrangled up an audience. They were completely captivated by our talents.

A few of the songs featured:

I See the Light from Tangled
several David Crowder songs
Toxic
We are gonna' be friends
'Forget' you
Wheels on the Bus
various Rufus Wainwright songs

I am thrilled to announce that Ava and I are reading her VERY FIRST CHAPTER BOOK! We checked out the first Junie B. Jones book, just to see how she liked it. Junie B. only has pictures on some of the pages. Josh and I showed her that the books we're reading have chapters and no pictures, but we use our imaginations to make pictures in our minds while we read. As we read the first chapter of Junie B. I stopped at several points to ask Ava what she was picturing. By the time we started reading the second and third chapters she was stopping me to tell me what she 'saw'. I could not be more ecstatic about her enthusiasm for reading.