Ava Thursday: Self Portrait

This has got to be one of my favorites. Ava drew herself in class earlier this year. She's very proud of it. In fact, I decided to ask her this week what she wanted for me to put up on Ava Thursday, and this is what she chose.

Not only is she proud of it, but I am too. I mean, how could I not, you know? I love how she drew everything as it should be: brown eyes, brown hair with bangs, cute smile with pink lips, red shirt, sweet little nose. I asked her if they used mirrors in class and she said no. She then proceeded to tell me all about her classmates' self portraits and how Jack made his eyebrows like this, and how Nate drew his eyes like that—all the while showing me, hands gesturing wildly. This was done several months ago and I'm amazed by how much she remembers little details of the other kids' drawings. Ava pays attention to such details. More so than me at her age, that's for sure.

And speaking of which, I'm amazed by her talent on a daily basis. She's grown so much as an artist in leaps and bounds, it's mind-boggling to me. And she's always drawing, too. Oh sure, Ava will take the occasional break and play with baby dolls or Polly Pockets, but it doesn't last long. She'll get right back on a drawing jag and suddenly Andrea and I will find ourselves with piles of crayon drawings and marker drawings and pencil drawings in our laps for us to go through and look at.

When I look at this picture, I see a child who is headstrong and happy and full of life. I see a girl who's wide-eyed and taking it all in. I see my girl growing up. I see the future.