Christmas Pictures

The girls were really disappointed that Steve had to go to work today. He'd been home 14 of the last 15 days, so they were pretty set on the dad as a permanent playmate routine. So it made for a long morning of "I want my daddy" whining. But we survived it and both girls took naps this afternoon (of course it had to be at different times). Olivia had a great time during Abby's nap playing with all the toys Abby never lets her touch. She was really fascinated with Abby's new "real talking" Woody and Jessie dolls. She kept pulling the string and smiling when the dolls talked to her.

Abby has had a major growth spurt in the last couple weeks and went from being comfortably in size 3t to comfortably in size 4t. We have been back to checking the stores for good deals since most of her wardrobe in now in a box to be saved for Olivia. Today we scored 3 Disney Princess outfits and 2 dresses half off at K-Mart. Abby was really excited about the dresses because they each came with a matching dress for a doll. We had to take them right out when we got home and dress the dolls. Abby ended up wearing one of the dresses over her clothes for most of the morning.

I undecorated the Christmas tree today, but we left it standing. It still looks and smells great, so I didn't see the point in removing it altogether, but I wanted it to be ready to haul out to the curb when the city picks up trees. Last year we missed the pick up and ended up with a skeleton of the Christmas tree in the backyard until sometime in September. I'm aiming to avoid that.

Olivia got another tooth today - that' s 2 teeth in 10 days for those of you keeping track. She now has both bottom central incisors, the top right central incisor and the top left lateral incisor (weird... she had the outside tooth before the center tooth came in). She's really close to having the other two upper incisors and I don't think the lower incisors are too far behind. She's been really mastering real food. Tonight she had a 6 ounce jar of baby food beef and veggies and then downed a whole slice of pizza. She would have probably eaten more, but I cut her off. Yesterday at lunch both girls had the same thing and Olivia ended up eating every bite of her lunch just like Abby. She has quite the appetite!

Do I Have Food on My Face

It has been hot and humid all week. So hot we don't really feel like doing anything. And mostly too hot to sleep. So... with Olivia being days away from 4 months old (when we gave Abby her first meal), I thought to myself, if I feed this kid maybe she will sleep all night and I won't have to be awake in the middle of the night in this miserable heat. Wrong. Instead, she fills her little belly in the evening and wakes me up even EARLIER at night. So weird! But, Olivia is a champ at her rice cereal and, as you can see by comparing pictures, she is a much neater eater than Abby.

Other than feeding kids, which is practically a full time job, we've been busy putting our home and lives back together after the scabies invasion. I finally have all the furniture and toys back into their homes. Now I just need to finish the laundry, which was a humongous pile since one person's entire dresser got sent down the chute. But I think I have only 4 or 5 loads left. If it weren't so humid I'd be working on them today. Instead I might just melt. Or maybe make some homemade ice cream. Hmmm.....

Happy Valentines Day

Abby got to pick her own breakfast this morning from these options:

Russel Stover Chocolates
Great Grandma Grace Sugar Cookies with frosting and sprinkles
Fresh Strawberries

She picked the strawberries. I was shocked! I didn't know that there was a variety of child who would turn down candy or cookies given the chance (all three where on her plate at the same time).

Fancy Salon Treatment

Abby decided to give herself a fancy salon hair treatment today. Unfortunately she decided to try it at McDonald's and used a yogurt parfait for the treatment. And she really got it smashed into her hair very well. She got lots and lots of laughs from the senior citizens who were enjoying breakfast at McDonald's this morning too. So, it suddenly became bath day even though we were a couple days away from our scheduled bathing. And she had to wear the yogurt hairstyle to our Tuesday morning playgroup.

We signed Abby up for another swim class that starts this Saturday. I'm pretty excited to take her and even more excited that AJ and Baby Abby will be joining us at the class. We are hoping that Maddie will also be able to join us. Abby has recently decided that she loves swimming, so it should be a really good experience for us this time, unlike last class where we spent the first week crying and the second week clinging. And... since the class is Saturday mornings Steve will be able to get in on the fun (and save me the joy of wearing my now too short maternity suit into the pool).

21 Months Old!

Abby is celebrating the 21st month of her life today. It's hard to believe we are 3 short months from her 2nd birthday (not to mention the birth of her little sister)! Abby started this morning out with lots of playing and since it is staying just above freezing here today I think we will be doing some snowman making this afternoon. We'll see how Abby likes the snow when we actually play with it.

We tried something new today in Abby's diet - star fruit. Let's just say that most of it ended up on the floor and I'm not sure that any of it got into her belly. She did clean up the clementines and blueberries pretty quickly. Once she decides she wants food she doesn't really mess around too much.

A few funny things from traveling with Abby that I had overlooked mentioning. We left Maize at dog day care, but Abby was asleep when I dropped Maize off and asleep again when I picked her back up. All day long she kept telling me, and anyone else who would listen, that Maize was at the "dog circus" and that Maize was "going in bag." She came up with the dog circus all on her own. She also cracked me up talking about the dental school. We drove by the dental school at the University of Michigan 3 times throughout Wednesday and each time I told her that the building was where daddy learned to fix people's teeth. This fascinated her. She kept telling me that she wanted to fix teeth. And that she was a big girl dentist. And that daddy is a dentist and fixes people's teeth. I think she's been thoroughly indoctrinated in the desire to follow in daddy and Grandpa Scott's footsteps as a dentist. Finally, and worst from a traveling with children perspective, for some reason every movie we put on the portable dvd player while driving home for some reason or another scared Abby. I'm sure it was more a case of pure exhaustion and less a case of Winnie the Pooh becoming scary. We made it about 3 minutes into any given movie before we heard a little voice from the backseat saying "Abby scared. Change movie show. Scared." It made for a very long ride until she finally fell asleep (she also wanted any song on the radio changed immediately and wanted the radio on, but not on at the same time). Luckily after a couple nights in her own bed, Abby is back to her sweet self.

Oh Well... Go Blue Anyway!

Abby was hoping to feel like this after the Michigan/OSU football game. Unfortunately...
she felt more like this.

But she did enjoy wearing her Michigan warm-ups (Thanks Grandpa Scott!) and she looked good doing it. Now that football season is over for her, Abby is going to have to start learning her basketball lingo, since touchdown really won't work when watching Michigan Basketball with daddy or Michigan Hockey with Grandpa Scott.

We've been really busy, but we are still finding time to squeeze in some random fun. Like colored water bubble baths and Veggie Tales movies. Abby also has been working on not throwing her food onto the floor - Friday night she had 3 time outs for doing that trick before she was excused from the table. I'm pretty sure she only ate about 3 bites of dinner that night, and she did about the same at lunch today. She has suddenly developed an aversion to eating what I put on her plate, but has no problem eating the same foods if we take her out to eat. Weird...

Best Friends

Abby has been enjoying some weekday play dates with one of her best friends, AJ. Last week we played with AJ on Tuesday and Friday and she came over again yesterday. The girls always have fun together. The only thing missing is the third musketeer, Maddie. Yesterday we heard some exciting news - Abby's friend AJ will be officially adopted by her foster family tomorrow. We are so glad that AJ will be a permanent part of Abby's childhood and can't wait for the age when they can have sleep overs and parties and all the fun things that make childhood memories great.

Abby is eagerly anticipating Grandma Mary's surprise visit tomorrow. When I told her yesterday that Grammy was coming to see her she had the biggest smile I've ever seen. And she must have said Grammy about 20 times in a row. She was super excited.

We have found a new favorite food for Abby - peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, but only if you cut them with a cookie cutter. Her favorite shape was the star sandwich, so if you ask her what she'd like for breakfast, lunch, dinner, or snack you are likely to hear star sandwich. We will see how long this kick lasts. She still loves her chicken nuggets and hot dogs too, so at least we are getting more variety in her diet.

Berry Blue

Abby helped us pick blueberries by sitting in a bunch of bushes and eating them as fast as she could pick them. She was very helpful!

Abby has been enjoying the fruits of Grandpa Scott's labor in a very literal way. She has been eating tons and tons of fresh Up North blueberries every day. She loves blueberries now, which is another thing she learned while camping. She would never eat them before, but now I think she could live off them.

Today is supposed to be a really wonderful day, so Abby and I are going to head out to the beach after her nap time. I'm hoping she continues to like the water and sand as much as she did while camping. If not, at least there is a nice playground at the park with the beach. I'm betting she'll have fun!

Abby learned two phrases in the last week that she has been saying a lot - "no way" and "go away". We've been working on teaching her when it is okay to say these new things. So far she knows that it is okay to say "go away" to the dog and "no way" when she doesn't want something. Other than that we don't want her using the new words too often. She also rediscovered nose picking - gross!!!

Getting Big

This picture was blurry, but it was super cute, so enjoy. Abby used her potty again today and got her great reward - a peanut butter M&M. Those are awfully wonderful candies and she now knows right where they are stashed in the bathroom. She was a little surprised with herself when she started to go in the potty, but I think now that we've had the candy episode we will be moving in the right direction.

Yesterday we had another hilarious Abby event. She ate her cherrios with milk (she only eats cereal with milk on it) and then tried to drink the milk out of the bowl like her daddy does. Needless to say, she made a huge mess but hearing her say "yummy" when she was done drinking the milk was worth all the cleaning we had to do. She is sure ready to be a big girl, much faster than I am ready for it!

Cherries, Cherries, Cherries

Abby is a nut. Yesterday she would only eat the bing cherries. Today she will only eat the rainier cherries. Why the sudden change of heart - don't ask me!

We are trying to potty train more today. So far we made an attempt that resulted in poop on the bathroom floor. Whoops! Hopefully we will have better luck for the rest of the day :-) More updates and pictures later (I hope).

Using Utensils

Using Utensils
Originally uploaded by Jen O.

Here's a video showcasing Abby's newest skill - using forks and spoons to feed herself. We are working on speed and precision, but for a little squirt I'd say she was doing pretty good.

Saturday Fun

Well, we've made it to Saturday and I think we just may come down to Hastings for Courtnie's shower. We got Abby to eat most of a stick of string cheese last night and this morning she had a few bites of melon. That's a pretty big improvement for her. Before we decide for sure we'll have to see how she does at the Angel Food distribution this afternoon. We'll have to head out soon to get things ready and help Steve unload the truck. I'm sure he'll be tired after his early morning drive down to Gaylord to pick up the food.

Abby and I picked up more paint cards yesterday. I am trying hard to figure out what color to paint her room and what color to paint the extra bedroom, which will probably someday be for a little brother or sister. Any ideas or suggestions would be helpful. I've been trying to to find a perfect quilt for a little girl's room too, but finding something cute, but that will grow with her is quite a challenge. Plus a lot of the "kids" bedding only comes in twin or full size and we have a queen size bed for Abby to use when she gives up on the crib. I didn't see the point in replacing a beautiful queen with a full just because that is what most kids use. Aah.... decisions, decisions.

Orange You Glad I Didn't Eat the Peel?

Abby found some tangerines today that we got in our Saturday delivery of Angel Food. She is super smart and right away knew that the tangerine was one of her favorite foods (she loves, loves, loves citrus fruits). She did all of this finding while I was busy chopping peppers and onions for a pot of chili. I was very surprised when I had a little tug on my pant leg and saw that Abby had chewed through the tangerine peel and had gotten part of the fruit in the process. What a little smarty pants. I peeled the tangerine for her and she gobbled it right up. But not before I got a picture of her damage.

We are still working on focusing with the camera for an awesome coming around the door photo. I'm still not sure what the deal is, but the camera always seems to focus on something other than sweet Abby. At least I keep getting her to do the posing - one of these times the camera is going to get the focus right and we are going to have a home run.

Other than eating tangerines, peel and all, and walking through the doors, Abby is becoming a walking machine. She has almost totally forsaken crawling and just cruises around here like she owns the place. She is really steady for only having a few weeks under her belt. She is also becoming quite the mommy to her dolls. Yesterday she was sharing her sippy cup with her dolls during the day. When we went upstairs to get ready for bed she insisted on going up the stairs all by herself and did so one handed so that she could bring JoJo up with her. I tried to get her to give me the doll so that she could crawl up with both hands, but she would have none of it. Today she fed part of her snack to her dolls, and also part to her best buddy Maize. She is growing up and learning a lot. And with only 15 days or so until her birthday, she is leaving babyhood behind for girliness.

We've Reached The Point Of Exhaustion

We have finally reached the point where she just can't party anymore. Finally, we wore poor Abby out so she would take an afternoon nap. We just didn't expect that it would be in her high chair during her lunch time. And she went down fast - it was no more than 2 minutes while I was putting away the lunch supplies. And now... I am going to use her nap time to catch up on my much needed rest!

Play Date

Abby went on her first play date without her mom or dad today. It must have been really, really fun because when I went to pick her up she didn't seem to want to come with me. We are very glad that there are two girls about her age in our small group - it makes going to group fun for us and for her too. She is getting to have a HUGE personality and has got to be close to getting over her stranger anxiety because she spends every moment in public flirting and waving at anyone who will look at her.

Abby and Maize have been having more and more fun together as Abby grows. Abby loves her dog and likes to pet Maize, although sometimes the "pets" are little pinches or pulls on Maize's loose skin. Maize loves to kiss Abby, which seems to be one of Abby's favorite activities as well even though her dad and I don't sanction these activities. Earlier today Maize was doing her crazy dog dance for Abby who was laughing hysterically. We are lucky these too silly girls get along so well.

Abby and I are back to normal after our little bit of something - I still am convinced it was the Subway cookies, which were a little chewy and seemed like they were a bit undercooked. Who knows... Abby also got her 4 tooth, so she may have just been feverish from breaking that big girl tooth through. And now that she has her four front teeth she is a very effective biter. And she is also officially done with any baby food. I tried to give her sweet potatoes last night, which she likes, and she did the same trick that she did with the peas. She wouldn't even eat one little bite. Luckily we have a new couple in our small group with a 5 month old baby who I'm sure will be happy to eat all that extra baby food in a month or two. What a nut...

No Peas Please

Abby's cousin Jack Hagberg told her that peas were gross, so she won't eat them anymore.

New Foods

These are the last of the Florida pictures that we are going to blog, since we are getting behind in what big girl Abby looks like now. You can't see her new top front tooth, but it is in and coming down a little more each day. So, for the rest you'll have to check out our flickr page (see the first Florida picture post) or wait until we get the 9 months photos posted on the Walmart page where you can print them off yourself. This bottom photo cracked me up. Abby can see over the top of her stroller tray, but she kept peeking under it to get a better look at the fountain. She is one smart cookie!
















Abby has been enjoying a few great new foods lately. Today for lunch she munched some lima beans and ravioli. Now, Grandma Lorraine can tell you about our family and lima beans, but I'll give you the short version. For the few weeks Steve and I stayed with Grandma Lorraine and Grandpa Harley, Grandma was investigating what Steve liked to eat, since he is a wee bit picky. When she asked about vegetables he told her he liked green beans, corn, and lima beans. The one vegetable that most vegetable eaters can't handle - lima beans. So apparently Abby has a little bit of her daddy's taste buds. Abby's also been eating snow peas and dried fruit, especially cranberries.

We are finally back on schedule for napping, and hopefully soon for waking up. I had to get up at 7 am this morning since some little bug went to sleep at 5:30 pm. We did force her to wake up at 8:30 to eat, but she went right back to sleep after her dinner. We are not going to do that one again!

Almost Vacation Time

We are one day from leaving on the first leg of our vacation journey - the trip to Hastings to pick up Grandma Mary. Abby and I are ready to go, we even packed up Abby's diaper/toy bag for the airplane today. Now we just have to get her Dad equally ready to go and see if there is room for all of our stuff in two suitcases. We are counting down the hours.

We went last night to look at the Presbyterian parsonage and another house that we almost made an offer on last spring (which I had never seen). House hunting is such an interesting process. The house we almost offered on is a classic 70's house, right down to the colored bathroom fixtures and kelly green carpet (everywhere). I think men and women must have very different eyes when it comes looking at the functionality of a space. For example, in the 70's house Steve was all for the "master suite" since it had a master bathroom connected to it. One thing he didn't take into account was the fact that our bed is probably almost as big as the room (apparently king sized beds weren't too popular when the home was designed). So anyway, we checked out those two homes and now we have some thinking to do about our long term plans and goals. But the parsonage was lovely, well kept, and would earn the Aunt Carol two thumbs up for being a very cool, old home. I'd say we really liked it (Steve liked it, I loved it, so that combines to really liked it right??)

Abby's been broadening her food horizons slowly. We finally got her to start eating chopped fruit this week. She still will not eat any vegetables except green beans and chopped up sweet potato, but she will eat the baby food varieties, so we are keeping her diet fairly balanced. She really, really loves drinking yogurt smoothies using big girl straws. She especially likes it when I let her hold the yogurt bottle. She is growing up way, way to fast!

More Christmas Fun

Abby is still working on trying out all her Christmas presents, and that is hard work considering the enormous amount of things she received. She has also been indulging in a new, and yummy, treat - fresh fruit. We made a little stop on the way home from Hastings in Mount Pleasant and got all the fixings for a good fruit salad. Abby certainly has some of her Grandpa Scott's taste buds because she really loves melon, especially cantaloupe. We were also surprised that she liked pomegranate as well. She's a real fruit gobbler when it is the fresh variety.

Abby learned another new smooth move today. Steve and I both watched her sit back up after being on the floor crawling. This is the first time she has tipped herself back into a sitting position - she is really on her way now! When she isn't crawling and sitting she is riding that pony all over the living room and using it to grab things off the couch, the ottoman, and the end tables. It is going to be time to clean off all our surfaces for a while.

Come On Ring Those Bells

Abby LOVES bells. Really loves them. She has a jingle bell and a traditional bell, so we get lots of "music". Enjoy!


We meant to put this up yesterday, but we had company and had a lot of cleaning and cooking going on. Abby hammed it up for our guests and was in general a crack up. She also had a little diaper disaster (aka blow out), so we decided she is going to have to start eating at least a little baby food, whether she likes it or not.