My day care provider, aka my ex-mother-in-law, was out of town this week, and as such, I took the opportunity to take four days off work and spend some quality time with my little munchkin.

I mean, I see her pretty much every day, except for the weekends she’s with her dad, but still, there was something glorious about being alone with her for 6 days, with no place we had to be, no things we HAD to do.

We slept late.  We played silly games.  We had tickle fights and cuddles on the sofa.

We baked cupcakes and made dinners and lunches together.

We painted our toes sparkly purple.

We had playdates with 3 year old BFFs.

We invited Nana and Papa for dinner, while Ava provided the after dinner dance for entertainment.

We went shopping for big girl underwear and have had a good run of potty training.

We went to the zoo, where she saw all sorts of animals, and was enthralled by the bugs and got to brush pygmy goats.

We ate ice cream and stuffed ourselves silly on fresh strawberries and cantaloupe.

I made it a point to unplug from the world as much as I could, and be there.  Not just be physically present, but mentally as well.  Not worried about blog posts, or updating Facebook with where we were.  No stumbling, digging, pinning or tweeting.

I know these moments in which she wants to be with me are fleeting and will end all too soon.  But for now I hold warm, fuzzy memories in my heart of the last 6 days.   A week in the life of Ava.  What a gift and a treat.

Don’t step too fast, baby girl.  Not too fast.