On Tuesday morning, Ava woke up in her bed and felt worried, but then she remembered she and Hailey were going to the zoo. That made her happy! She wanted to see the animals.
She got out of bed and went to find Hailey, who was still in bed, and Jay was in the shower. "Haiwey, zoo day!" Ava said, walking to her sister's side of the bed.
"It is zoo day, baby! But not for a couple hours, so let's go get you changed and go potty then we can have breakfast," Hailey said as she got out of bed and lifted Ava into her arms and kissed her cheek.
Ava placed her head on Hailey's shoulder and relaxed. She felt safe with her sister and never wanted to leave her, ever.
Hailey carried Ava back to her room and changed her out of her diaper into a pullup, they would be going no pullups the rest of the week, and took her downstairs to get breakfast ready.
She made eggs and cut some fruit up then made some bacon as Jay came downstairs, grabbed Ava off the counter, and tickled her, making her bust out laughing, which made both of them smile. Ava's laugh was both of their favorite sound.
"Jay! No!" She laughed, wiggling around until he put her down.
She ran off to hide from him and Jay shook his head and sat down to eat. "She seems happier today."
"She is, she's excited about the zoo," Hailey grinned, eyeing the toddler from her hiding place.
"I'm glad. I wish I could join y'all, but work," Jay frowned.
"We'll go again together. I'd wait till the weekend if she didn't want to go so bad, but after how stressed she was yesterday, I want to do something to help her relax," Hailey admitted.
"And I'm glad you're doing it with her, it will be good for y'all," Ava eventually joined them to eat and talked about all the animals she was excited to eat, mainly elephants, pandas, and penguins.
Hailey did Ava's hair in two half-braids into pigtails, then braided the pigtails and added bows while the little girl finished eating. She also had a dress for Ava that had zoo animals on it for the little girl to wear with a pair of natives that Natalie had gifted them, so they worked like crocs but looked nicer.
Ava looked at Hailey when she was done getting ready. "Zoo now?" She asked, hopeful the answer would be yes.
"Not yet, silly girl. I'm not dressed yet!" Hailey tickled her belly, getting a laugh. "I'll go get ready while you watch a show, then we'll do something fun before we leave, got it?"
"Okay!" The little girl followed Hailey upstairs and grabbed her bunny and blanket before climbing into the bed. Hailey turned on a show for her and went to get ready.
Twenty-five minutes later, Hailey was ready and grabbed a bag from in the bathroom and got Ava to follow her downstairs once the bed was made and they made Ava's bed. The toddler paitiently followed her sister around, but in reality she wanted nothing more than to go to the zoo.
"I know you want to go to the zoo right now, but if we leave now, we'll just have to sit in the car for an hour and a half until it opens. That wouldn't be very fun, would it?" Ava shook her head sadly.
"So, how about we paint our nails before we leave?" Ava's eyes lit up. "Yes, pease!"
"I thought you might like that!" Hailey beamed and got some sparkly nail polish out and proceeded to paint Ava's fingernails, the little girl watching in fascination the entire time. Hailey made a mental note to actually take Ava to get her nails done once she became comfortable with others touching her.
"THANK YOU!" Ava squealed when Hailey finished. "You're welcome, baby. Now, you need to sit still with your hands under the fan until this timer goes off. I'll turn on Frozen so it doesn't seem long, but no thumb until I say, got it?"
Ava whined but nodded. "Your naiws gotta match!"
"I need to match?" Hailey asked, amused. Ava nodded with a serious look on her face.
"Okay, I'll make my nails match."
Hailey painted her own nails and Ava's smile made it completely worth it. Hailey wasn't huge on glitter nails for herself, but if her sister liked it, she'd do it. Ava definitely had she and Jay wrapped around her fingers.
Finally, after what seemed like hours to little Ava, her nails were completely dry, but she had to wait longer before she could suck her thumb. Hailey avoided a meltdown by getting Ava to help her put snacks in the backpack they used for her pullups and to hand her their water bottles to be filled up. Ava liked being a helper, so it was a good distraction.
"Nowwww can we go to the zoo?!" Ava asked when Hailey went to put her bag in the car.
"Go use the potty then we can go to the zoo," Hailey said and Ava cheered and ran to the bathroom.
She came out a few minutes later and ran to Hailey, holding her bunny. "Go now? Pease?"
"Let's go, baby," Hailey led her out the back door to the garage and locked up then put Ava in her car seat and put her wrist brace on her before they left. She didn't particularly want to deal with one of Ava's pain-induced meltdowns in public if it was avoidable.
They got to the zoo 30 minutes later and Ava couldn't be more excited. She was wiggling in her car seat, eager to get out. "Hold on, Aves. Let me sunscreen you," Hailey managed to get sunscreen on Ava's face with only slight protesting, then got her out of the car and sprayed her arms, legs, and neck.
"Haiwey, no mowe!" Ava whined, getting overwhelmed. She was so excited and getting so frustrated and overstimulated.
Hailey thought Ava was just being difficult for a moment, but noticed the emotion in her eyes and finished quickly. "I'm done, baby. Breathe for me. Stay right here while I get your bag and stroller," Hailey kissed the top of her head and Ava nodded.
Hailey got the stroller, mostly using it to carry the bag and as a backup for if Ava couldn't handle the walking by the end of the day. They mostly just used it when they went on runs.
Ava climbed into it and sat down, smiling up at Hailey. Hailey snapped a picture of Ava before locking the car and heading for the entrance. Ava watched in awe as they went through the entrance, and even though she couldn't see any animals yet, she was loving the zoo already.
Hailey went and looked at a map and decided they could loop through the whole zoo if they really wanted to, but she wanted to let Ava take her time and enjoy the experience, so she wasn't going to rush anything.
"Ave, should we go right or left?" She asked and Ava pointed to the left. So they'd be starting with the flamingos.
"Ah-fingos! Haiwey, wook! Ahfingos!" Ava squealed in excitement, bouncing in her stroller. Hailey laughed and started videoing her little sister's excitement.
"Would you like to get out of the stroller?" She asked, getting an eager nod from the toddler. She stopped so Ava could get out, reminding her to stay with her and not touch the animals.
Ava ran around, absolutely beaming at Hailey every few seconds. Hailey kept smiling back at her and responding to all of Ava's comments. Eventually, they moved on and went to see the gorillas, then giraffes, which Ava got to feed a piece of lettuce to, and Hailey got a video of it, then she took a selfie of them with a giraffe. From there, they went to the elephants, Ava bouncing the entire walk saying, "eh-phants!" over and over. People kept commenting how precious her excitement was, and Hailey thought Ava was going to cry tears of joy when she saw the elephants and their babies.
"Haiwey, wook! Eh-phants!" She yelled and Hailey laughed. "Yeah, baby, elephants, your favorite! Stand still for a second and I'll take your picture!"
"Excuse me, I'll take a picture of you with her, if you'd like," a kind woman offered, and Hailey handed her her phone. She lifted Ava up as an elephant walked over to them and the woman snapped several photos, including some candids of the Elephant touching Ava with its trunk and Ava lighting up with delight, petting it.
"Thank you so much, these pictures mean the world to me. Would you like any pictures?" Hailey offered, seeing that the woman had a little boy with her.
"Sure, thank you!" Hailey took pictures of the woman with the little boy before they parted ways. Ava and Hailey stayed longer to watch the elephants and feed them. Ava didn't want to leave them, but after 20 minutes, Hailey promised they'd go see the pandas next. That helped.
Ava adored the pandas, but because they couldn't interact with them, she wasn't interested for as long as she was with the elephants. They went to see several other animals and went through the reptile house before stopping to get lunch.
After lunch, and some ice cream, they headed to see the monkeys, then tigers, then lions, and finally, penguins. Ava was running around the whole penguin exhibit, watching them slide and swim around, absolutely fascinated by them. When they finished with that, they went and saw a few more things, but it was way past Ava's nap time, and she was fading fast, so they went to leave after a quick bathroom break for a change, Ava relaxed in her stroller.
They were passing the gift shop when Ava gasped, and Hailey stopped, concerned. She crouched down to see what was wrong. Ava was staring at the gift shop, and Hailey followed her line of sight to a stuffed elephant.
"Aves, do you want the elephant?" She asked, careful.
"Don't need it," Ava mumbled, getting upset. Hailey knew that was a result of their father, so she turned Ava's stroller to the gift shop, grabbed the elephant, and paid for it while Ava as still looking down. When she got them out of the gift shop, she stopped infront of Ava and handed her the elephant.
Ava promptly started crying and saying "thank you" over and over again. Hailey kissed her head and lifted her out of the stroller, holding her close.
"You're welcome, baby. You're allowed to ask for things. We may not say yes every time, but you can ask for things. Understand?" Ava nodded, going to put her thumb in her mouth but Hailey stopped her.
Ava sobbed and shook her head, now upset. Hailey got a wipe out and wiped her thumb clean, then rinsed it with water from her water bottle, and let Ava put it in her mouth. The little girl was clearly overwhelmed and overtired, so Hailey placed her back in the stroller and got the the Jeep.
Needless to say, Ava was sound asleep when they got home and Hailey laid her on the couch and covered her with a blanket as soon as they got home, letting her rest. Hailey went and showered and changed then got on the couch with a book after sending photos to Jay. It really was a good day.