Tonight Abby is graduating from crib to big girl toddler bed. We are getting an early start so that she can get into and out of bed without assistance well before her new baby is born. She was so excited when she realized that the front of her crib wasn't keeping her in bed anymore. She even called many times for Maize to come and check out her new bed.
We are finally getting rested up from our big trip around Lake Michigan. I don't think we will try another extended driving trip for a while - 8 hours in the car yesterday was a bit too much. We had a lot of fun along the way though and enjoyed seeing friends and family.
Part one of the trip was spent in Hastings, Michigan. Abby and I spent 6 entire days there. We got to see some old high school friends, friends from Sault Ste. Marie who had moved back to Kalamazoo recently, and of course our family. By the time we left Hastings Abby had seen almost all of her grandparents and great grandparents. And she was also the proud owner of lots of new outfits, a giant stuffed dog, and a cool 2 kid stroller. She had a lot of fun playing with her cousins, aunts, uncles, grandparents and second cousins. And she also helped catch her first snake.
After our days in Hastings we headed over to visit Great Grandma Lorraine and Great Grandpa Harley in Blissfield, MI. Abby got to hang out with some of my friends from law school and work. She was on her best behavior. She also got a special treat when Grandma Lorraine took her to the Toledo Zoo for the second time this summer. Although some of the exhibits she would have liked this time around were closed (she loves elephants and turtles right now), we still managed to have a lot of fun. It's amazing how much more into the zoo she was after only 3 months. And the zoo was pretty empty that day, so we managed to fit it all in, including the train ride, before lunch. But I think Abby had more fun just playing at Grandma and Grandpa's house than she had at the zoo. She especially enjoyed watching out their windows for kitties.
Unfortunately one of the grouchier cats in the neighborhood was the one she managed to trap long enough to pet. She ended up with a little bite (it didn't break the skin, but left one of the weird scratches that bleeds under the skin) and spent the next 4 days telling us about the "bad cat" that gave her an "owie" and she wanted to make it "go away". I must have heard that series of phrases 100 times. She still repeats them randomly and the owie is all gone, so she can't even see the reminder.
After the time in Blissfield we packed up for the drive to Milwaukee, Wisconsin. We left Thursday early in the morning and spent most of the day in the car driving really slowly through construction in the Chicago area. We were both glad we
live in the middle of nowhere after that drive. We got checked into our hotel without much fuss, but our first room had a plugged sink, so they had to move us down the hall. To compensate us for the inconvenience we got two warm chocolate chip and walnut cookies. That's the kind of compensation that always makes a pregnant lady happy. The only downside to the move was that we changed sides of the building, so we had a quiet alley and parking structure out our window instead of one of Milwaukee's main streets. I'm sure most people would have appreciated the quieter side of the hotel, but Abby had been enthralled with watching all the cars go by, so we were a little bummed out that one good source of child entertainment didn't work out. We spent that evening walking around downtown Milwaukee and Marquette University and enjoying the beautiful fall weather.
The riverwalk was really nice, but we were disappointed by the lack of resturants and shopping that was child friendly in the downtown area. On Friday Steve had to attend the class at Marquette, so Abby and I enjoyed the pool and explored the library. She swam for almost 2 hours with me (45 minutes in the morning and a whole hour in the afternoon) and also went swimming again when Steve got back to the hotel. Friday night we checked out the Indian Summer Festival and pow-wow. Abby is for sure a lover of pow-wows. She was entranced again by the coustumes and dancing. She must have said pow-wow 50 times while we were there.
Saturday we loaded up and spent 8 hours driving back home. We weren't sure we could make the trip in one stretch, so we had a back up plan in mind if Abby didn't do well. Fortunately for us she rode like a big girl and only got fussy for a short period of time. She enjoyed watching the trucks and tractors out the window, watched some movies, and spent almost an hour laughing at the fact that she could poke herself in the eye with her big toe. I'm glad she still finds little things like that exciting. She rode so well that we were able to make it home in time to watch the 2nd half of Michigan's glorious defeat of the Fighting Irish (Go Blue!) Abby even spontaneously did the sign for touchdown and screamed out touchdown when Michigan scored their winning points. Steve's been training her well.
New baby seems to be doing fine. I've finally gotten past the morning sickness and have been feeling better, althouh I am still quite tired during the day. I was sure feeling it yesterday with all the riding and sitting. My whole body was aching by the time we got home.
Apparently hats are hilarious! Especially when being worn backwards.
