i know i have not written anything, i have been so incredibly busy it seems. who knows what i am doing, but by 8 pm, i am not able to remember anything that happened during the day.

carter now says "AVA!" or "AAAAAVVVVVVIIIIIEEEEEE" (he puts a nice little eeeeeee at the end--aveee), "DAD!" "DAAAAADDDDDIIIIIEEEEEEE!" "MOM!" "MAAAAAAAAAAMMMMMIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" rarely is it every without the exclamation point, unless he is trying to pull heartstrings and he whimpers "daddy? daddy. daddy. daddy?" after said individual leaves for work.

and he has figured out that now that he can say her name, he can also tattle on her. apparently she bit him in a fit of frustration (he would not do what she wanted, so she bit him--always a good management tactic), and when i asked what happened, he said "ava..." and then he bit his arm. she looked completely shocked. i guess she figured i would not notice her dental fingerprint on his bicep.

he also has total surfer dude hair. curly, long and blond. very cute. very messy.

ava has changed dramatically. she no longer thinks big machines, planes and motorcycles are cool. i am not sure where she figured it all out, but she has decided what things are 'girl' things, and what things are 'boy' things, and she is absolutely determined not to be seen enjoying anything that might be a product of testosterone. she separates everything into the girl's and boy's sides/pieces/parts/places/etc. if it can be assigned a gender role, it is. even when we went for a walk on a dirt road, the left wheel track was for the boys (carter) and the right wheel track was for the girls (ava and myself). it is so interesting. and all she wants to wear are dresses and to look pretty. i remember thinking this way when i was in 1st grade, and i do wonder where little girls get it. it definitely is an aesthetic, and i am fairly sure the jury is still out on whether or not aesthetic preferences are innate. i am pretty confident that my ratty old clothes, lack of makeup, sporadic beautification efforts, and complete lack of anything girly or pink or shiny in my day to day existence has done nothing to foster her state of mind.

and it drives her absolutely nuts when carter likes the pink shiny things. "no carter! that is for GIRLS!" -- but he still is blissfully naive and thinks nothing of parading around the house with a victoria's secret shopping bag.

they play together now, and they laugh together. it is great. they play. together. with smiles and giggles. did i mention how pleased i am? they like each other. most of the time. they spent hours today making concoctions out of soapy water and buckets and dirt and sand and kitchen utensils. (ava is still very happy to get dirty).