Growing Up

Abigail is growing up so quickly. Tonight, while we were playing in her room before bedtime, she picked up a baby and a toy bottle and fed the baby the bottle! It's the first time I've seen her do this, and it really touched my heart. We played around with a few more babies, "feeding" them, giving them kisses and patting their backs. I had no idea that children as young as her can imitate these kinds of tasks. She's such a little mommy! It was all I could do not to scoop her up and hug and kiss her at that moment. She makes me smile and I am so blessed to have her as my daughter.

On another note, when I picked her up from daycare today, her teacher told me that she influenced the other children. All the children were running around and Abigail went to the bookshelf, picked out a book, sat on the mat and started "reading." The other children slowly gathered around her and they all "read" together. We've seen her preference for books before (at Christmas, she was the only one listening to Aunt Becky read the real Christmas Story; at the hospital visiting Papa, she went to the library in the waiting room and walked straight to the bookshelf to pick out books; she brings books to me to read to her...so on and so forth), but to know she does it when we're not around - wow! Stories like this make Robby and me so proud! Hopefully she'll grow up with this love for literature - 4th generation reader! I can still remember my grandmother and mother reading chapter books to me when I was younger. We'd read all the time, and Robby and I carry that on with her.

This little girl is such a joy. What did we ever do without her? Robby has been talking about baby #2 for a while now (as a matter of fact, when Abigail was only two days old, he asked me when I thought we'd want another one!), and my dad had a dream that they translated to mean that I was pregnant (or needed to be? apparently it was a weird dream). I don't think I'm ready, at least not yet. I have so many questions - all of which I know are normal - about how to love a second baby when it seems that my heart is already so full. I know it will happen and that I need not worry, so then I wonder how I can split the attention between two. The plan right now - if Robby can wait! - is to wait until this summer to get pregnant (God willing) then have the baby next March/April/May so I can take off for the rest of the school year + the summer. Or, if I can get Robby to wait, I may even want to try NEXT summer (2011) to give me a little more "Abby only" time. Hmmm...only time will tell! All I know is that I love my family to pieces and that I am so blessed to have Robby and Abigail in my life. They are my life, and I am happy.