Knock Knock

Who's there? Mason and Abigail!

We went over to Randi & Chris' house to watch the Superbowl this year, and Mason has a new toy - a house made from a box! The children loved playing in it, and we had more fun watching the kiddos than the game. It's so neat that the babies are growing up and playing together now - I hope they grow to be good friends!

I was reaching through and tickling Mason, so he laid on the floor to escape! So smart!

Another peephole!


Peek-a-boo

So darn cute!

Where a Kid Can Be a Kid!

Robby, Abigail and I went to Plano today to visit my dad in the hospital. While we were there, Nani wanted to take Abigail to Chuck-E-Cheese's, because for a while now, she has been promising Abby as soon as she can walk, she can go to Chuck-E-Cheese's (she calls it motivation; I call it a bribe! ha.). Since Abigail can now walk, it was time to follow through on the promise.

Honestly, I was looking forward to it, but was a little hesitant because I didn't know how much fun Abigail could have playing games designed for bigger kids. I needed not worry! Abigail had a BLAST! (Plus, the pizza was WAY better than I ever remember it being. This pizza reminded me of my old pizza days at Mazzio's in Tyler. Mmm-mmm.)

The first time we put Abigail on a ride, she seemed a little apprehensive the whole time. But as soon as we took her off, she immediately wanted more! She loved them after that first time! Her favorite ride was the Barney ride because she liked looking at Barney sitting next to her and his ride had fun buttons to push. She and my mom played skeet ball, and they were actually very good at it! They made TWO 100,000 points in one game! I was impressed since their high score was like 280,000 or something like that, and I'm doing good if I can break 70,000! Ha.

Abigail also really liked the "slap" games - where you push the buttons when the light is on a certain number and get that many tickets. I think we played every single one of those Chuck-E-Cheese had to offer. In the end, she earned 151 tickets, and was able to buy 4 sticker sheets, a pair of stick-on earrings and a crazy straw. She even bought her daddy some AirHeads with her winnings. Such a sweet girl!

It was a fun, fun time!

Digging the pizza!

Abigail loved the Barney ride the most!

Trying to figure out exactly WHO or WHAT was sitting next to her!



Playing Skeet Ball

The look of concentration. Abby and my mom both had the same look on their faces, but I was too slow to catch Abigail's!

TICKETS!

Driving without any hands!

The man himself.

Trading in her tickets

After we had been home for a while, I was ironing clothes and Abigail was in her room playing. When I heard her talking, I peeked in to check on her. This is what I saw: She put her baby in her stroller and was reading outloud to her! How precious! I was amazed that she was playing by herself and by her choice of activity! She certainly is a girlie girl - playing "house" at only 14 months old!

Changes Overnight

It seems like Abigail just started walking. Since early this past week, she started RUNNING! Be on the lookout for the little tornado whizzing by! Because of that, she has already had two boo-boos while at daycare. Agh, this is going to be tough for me. I want to hold her hand the whole way, but I know it's okay (and necessary) to let go. I know she has to learn and I have to allow her the freedom to explore.

Another development that Robby and I were delighted (or horrified - we're not quite sure, yet) to see was how her dance skills have improved. She not only "bounces" when she dances, she can now move her head and - get this - she added HIP movements! She shakes those hips from side to side and dips down LOW when she hears music! OH MY GOODNESS. Hopefully, this is a sign of talent and rhythm, not foreshadowed hoochie-mama. :) I can't wait to see what we have in store for us! She is a surprise every day!

A Sweet Weekend

We went to visit my parents this weekend. My dad is still in the hospital, so we went to visit him and to stay with my mom to get her house ready for him to come home (!!!). While we were there, we were busy!

Abigail and I made Valentine's Day cards to send to the troops overseas. It was a long process because her attention span is so short. She would color 1-2 valentines, then get distracted. We'd take a break, then color some more. Ultimately, she was more interested in eating the crayons than coloring with them!

Sending love to the troops!

Getting help from Nani.

After finishing up the valentine cards, Mom asked us to bake a cake for some friends who were helping rearrange the furniture to get ready for Dad to come home. Of course, I needed help! When I asked Abigail if she wanted to help me, my mom ran to the kitchen and broke out the 50 year old apron! Her mother made it for her when she was 2 years old, she used it growing up, I used it growing up and now Abigail has used it! It is tattered and stained, but I know it was fun for my mom to let her granddaughter use something she used when she was a little girl. It was a very touching moment.

She has a little chair that is just her size. Here she is pushing it around the house. She loves pushing stuff around!


In the heirloom apron!






Gotta get it just right!


A tiny little taste test!

Future Betty Crocker?

Cranky Gus

Since Abigail was about 5-6 months or so, I've noticed that when she first wakes up, she is an angel. She hugs and kisses and smiles. She's always been like this, but now - the past few weeks or so - there is a noticeable change. A few minutes after she wakes up, her whole attitude changes. She turns into a screaming (not crying - actual yelling), inconsolable toddler who demands to be fed. Feed her, and she starts singing and clapping and talking nicely again.

What on earth happened to my always happy angel? Toddler-hood, that's what.

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.

Finally Caught on Video!

We finally caught Abigail walking on video. It's not the best quality, because it's from Robby's cell phone, but I'm happy to have it.

She took her first steps on December 23, 2009, and we thought walking was imminent, but it wasn't until January 14, 2010, that I would officially call her a "walker". I think the promises from Nani about going to Chuck-E-Cheese whenever she could walk helped motivate her to take the plunge!

It was very interesting to see her progression. She started crawling relatively early and pulling up at about that same time, but it took her 6 months to be a confident walker. She could cruise between furniture and squat and pick up things, but she did not want to let go and do it on her own. She took her time. (Honestly, I wasn't rushing her to walk. We practiced frequently, but I was quite content - and still am - to hold her!) Robby and I were/are so PROUD of her! And she was proud of herself, too. That was the best part!

My little girl is growing up. I guess her new-found independence is just a small taste of "letting go" that I have in store for me.