Ava Grace

Ava Grace Lang was sitting in the crook of her mother’s arm, her head leaning on her mother’s shoulder.
She was smiling as Alisa Lang, her mother, invited me into their Franklin home.
Ava’s head rose from Alisa’s shoulder, she lightly bit her bottom lip with a grin, and as I took a seat, she held her arms outstretched toward me, calling to be held.
And that’s how two-and-a-half year-old Ava Grace Landry said hello to me.
As the interview progressed and Ava held out her arms again, I took a knee and lifted her into my arms. She smiled, and I asked her, “Are you having fun?”
She answered, “Yeah,” and that moment completed my understanding of what the buzz around Ava is about.
She exudes an ease and confidence that informs one’s piece of mind with the feeling of unexpected hope.
It is an exceptional moment, and it seems to occur quite naturally.
Two weeks ago, Ava was crowned Toddler Miss Louisiana 2019, a feat which has never been achieved by a toddler with special needs, until Ava.
In November, she will compete for Toddler Miss USA at the Forever Beautiful pageant in Houston.
Alisa gave me a little bit of insight into how Ava got started down the road to pageant competition. “The first year of Ava’s life, she was in and out of the hospital,” she said.
“At a year old we put her in the Patterson Cypress Sawmill Festival with 24 little girls in her age-group, and she won Queen.
“That was her very first pageant.”
Alisa said some people at the Patterson Cypress Sawmill Festival invited Ava to compete in Mississippi the next day where she won the Ultimate Grand title.
“From there,” Alisa said, “we kept going here and there, and she kept winning and winning.”
She added that during those first few outings, Ava picked up the fundamentals of pageant routines and poses from watching her competitors, and it wasn’t long before Ava was in a league of her own.
“Every time she steps on stage, she just lights up, so we continue doing it with her and she just loves it,” Alisa said.
Since the stakes have increased, Alisa, along with Ava’s Dad, William, procured for Ava a pageant coach, Asia Brungart.
Brungart works with Ava twice a month in Ponchatoula, where she is teaching her the fine points of pageant routines.
I said to Ava, “You are something else, you know that?”
She smiled and said, “Yes.”
I asked Alisa if I could get some photographs of Ava to accompany my feature story, and Alisa acquiesced.
She set Ava on a little stool on the living room floor, and Ava looked at me.
I readied the camera and Alisa said, “Dimples,” and Ava set her thumbs to her cheeks and waved with a smile. Alisa said, “Fist,” and Ava brought her fist to her chin, thoughtfully. Alisa said, “Pizza,” and Ava playfully placed her hands in the air in front of her, as if holding a pizza in each outstretched palm.
After collecting a high-five and bidding farewell, I ambled out the door and back toward my truck; to head back to the newsroom.
And as I backed out of the driveway, I noticed I was already missing Ava’s grin.
To follow Ava Grace Lang, go to her Facebook page at: Toddler Miss Louisiana “Ava Grace” or @ToddlerMissLouisiana.