Ava has been able to spell her name since long before she turned too. When your name is spelled with three letters, you definitely are going to be the first among your friends to memorize it. She also had an advantage in the particular letters of her name. She has been able to write "A-V-A" for a long time. At first, she's write and A, then turn the paper upside down to make the V, always saying aloud, no line in the V, and then turn the paper right side up to make another A. She did eventually get how to make a V without moving the paper and "AVA" is written everywhere and anywhere she can write it. Other than her name, however, Ava had very little interest in letters. She seemed to be a number girl (not surprising since I have always LOVED numbers). Recently, however, she has been crazy about the alphabet and learning her letter sounds.

Yesterday morning, Ava was writing "M"s like crazy. She figured out how they were written and was writing them everywhere. Then she said, "I am writing Mom, Mom, Mom, Mom." I explained to her that the letter M starts the word mom like A starts Ava, but to write "Mom" you have to put an "O" in the middle. I wrote it for her once...just once.

Several hours later, after church, she was coloring on her little table and brought me the picture she colored for me. "Mom" was written across the top. I can't tell you how amazing it is to see your three year old writing, let alone to have her color a picture for you and write "mom" at the top. I saved it for her baby book and I am sure will pull it out in my more sentimental moments...or when she's 16 and says something nasty and I need a reminder that deep inside, she loves me;)