Our Baby - Week 16

How your baby's growing:

Get ready for a growth spurt. In the next few weeks, your baby will double his weight and add inches to his length. Right now, he's about the size of an avocado: 4 1/2 inches long (head to rump) and 3 1/2 ounces. His legs are much more developed, his head is more erect than it has been, and his eyes have moved closer to the front of his head. His ears are close to their final position, too. The patterning of his scalp has begun, though his locks aren't recognizable yet. He's even started growing toenails. And there's a lot happening inside as well. For example, his heart is now pumping about 25 quarts of blood each day, and this amount will continue to increase as your baby continues to develop.

Fall Fun

Abby is still working on her molars, so it is still hard to catch her without a hand or two in her mouth. And, this morning she fell and bit her lip pretty badly, so she's been checking it out. Luckily her Dad was home for lunch and he was able to check and make sure all of Abby's teeth were still in working order.
Abby helped me rake the yard yesterday and again today. By the time I was ready to quit today we had a pretty good pile started, so we tried the bury the kid and throw leaves trick. Unfortunately she wouldn't open her eyes and smile nicely for a picture. Oh well...
I'm not even sure she enjoyed being buried, but she did like throwing handfuls of leaves into the pile and kicking loose leaves too. Sometimes she was too helpful though and was pulling handfuls of leaves out of where I have raked and throwing them into areas that were already cleaned. Sometimes her helpfulness is too helpful. She also liked having me rake leaves into her, which made raking without whacking her pretty difficult.
Evidence of the "helper" throwing leaves from the pile into the place I had already cleared. Abby had her friends A.J. and Maddie over to play today. They had a good time, mostly. Since they are all approaching the terrible two age we had some sharing issues and needed to do a quick search for enough play phones for everyone, but for the most part they have a good time together and it is nice to have some adult company during the week.
Happy fall to you all and good luck raking up your leaves! We still have about 1/2 the yard to go, so I'm pretty sure we will be back at it again tomorrow.

When Pigs Fly

Abby and I got our swine flu shots today, so our family is basically protected (we hope) from catching the H1N1 virus. Abby still needs to go in again for a booster, but at least we know she has some protection. Now she and I are just relaxing after being pincushions this morning.

We bought Abby a board book Bible on Saturday, since we were buying the same one for her friend's birthday party. She has been very excited to read it right before bedtime and nap time. She even reminds us to read it to her and knows that her Bible is about Jesus. She is such a fun kid to have around. Steve has been particularly enjoying the benefits of her new found bossiness and talking. She has, for the last several days, insisted on first her kiss from Daddy and then that Mommy has to kiss Daddy too. I think he must be paying her on the side for this deal. Maybe that evening when they had the bubble bath playtime...

Ninja Baby

Baby O. is apparently a ninja. It took over an hour for me to get to sleep last night. I'm glad this baby is moving and healthy, but I would love to fall asleep without being a punching bag.

Abby played all weekend with her friend Maddie, who is now sick and throwing up. Icky... I can hardly wait until it hits our home. We've had a really busy weekend and will have a crazy busy week, so I don't really have time to be giving you much of an update. But either way, I thought you all should know how crazy the new baby seems to be.

Happy Monday.

Translation Please

We need someone to tell us what in the world Abby is saying to us. We are pretty sure she isn't meaning to say "dollar-six" even though that is all we can make of it. And there is no context for her phrase - it is used throughout the day and when doing many, many different activities.

Favorite Things

I wanted to take a moment and write down Abby's favorite things at 18 months so that we don't forget how cute some of them were at this age.

Favorite toys: her Schleich farm animals, Penny the American Girl Bitty Baby, and puzzles

Favorite activities: coloring, chasing Maize, reading books, and getting her picture taken

Favorite color: pink

Favorite foods: chicken nuggets, grapes, carrots, milk, cheese tacos and string cheese

Favorite t.v. shows: Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Olivia, and Dora the Explorer

Favorite movies: The Lion King, Pocahontas, and Monsters Inc.

Favorite books: Cuddle, Hop on Pop, Dr. Suess' ABC, and Tom's Tail

Best Friends: Maize, A.J. Hood, Maddie Dodge, and Jordan Doghmi

She also loves bubble baths, looking at herself in the mirror, putting on hats and taking them right back off, and playing "Super Abby" with her dad. She also loves getting her hair done into pony tails, but only if she can take them out immediately. She has lots of big person words in her vocabulary and a few words that only she knows.

Bubble Bath Time

Steve took Abby upstairs to "put on her pajamas" last night and after 30 minutes they had still not emerged, so I went to see how they were coming on the change from play clothes to pajamas. Somehow Abby accidentally fell into the bathtub, which evidently filled itself with water and bubbles in the process. And Abby and her dad were having a great time making bubble beards, bubble shirts, and doing bubble high fives. Abby even made a bubble beard for Steve. It was pretty funny! I am glad that I don't have to worry about my girl when her daddy is around.

Abby has been practicing her reading skills a lot lately. She can tell what the title of the book is and will often say the title to us when she brings the book over to be read. She can also read quite a few pages from "Hop on Pop," especially the "All Tall" page. We obviously are a little biased, but we are pretty sure she is way smarter than most kids her age. She even has been practicing her good manners lately and has been using the phrase "excuse me" after she has a little burping or tooting going on. And because she has been using her manners she also now knows that "me" refers to her, so last night when we were playing ball and I asked her who I should throw the ball to, she said "me" instead of Abby. Again... this girl is way to smart.

Our Baby - Week 15

How your baby's growing:

Your growing baby now measures about 4 inches long, crown to rump, and weighs in at about 2 1/2 ounces (about the size of an apple). She's busy moving amniotic fluid through her nose and upper respiratory tract, which helps the primitive air sacs in her lungs begin to develop. Her legs are growing longer than her arms now, and she can move all of her joints and limbs. Although her eyelids are still fused shut, she can sense light. If you shine a flashlight at your tummy, for instance, she's likely to move away from the beam. There's not much for your baby to taste at this point, but she is forming taste buds. Finally, if you have an ultrasound this week, you may be able to find out whether your baby's a boy or a girl! (Don't be too disappointed if it remains a mystery, though. Nailing down your baby's sex depends on the clarity of the picture and on your baby's position. He or she may be modestly curled up or turned in such a way as to "hide the goods.")

See what your baby looks like this week.

Note: Every baby develops a little differently — even in the womb. Our information is designed to give you a general idea of your baby's development.

How your life's changing:

You've probably gained about 5 pounds by now (a little more or less is fine, too) and are well into the swing of your pregnancy, but you may still be surprised by an unexpected symptom now and then. Actually, I've only gained 2.2 pounds according to the Wii fit, which I hadn't used since July (whoops), so I guess some Halloween candy is in order. And maybe some pumpkin pie... If your nose is stuffed up, for instance, you can probably chalk it up to the combined effect of hormonal changes and increased blood flow to your mucous membranes. Stuffy nose... check. This condition is so common, there's even a name for it: "rhinitis of pregnancy." Some pregnant women also suffer nosebleeds as a result of increased blood volume and blood vessel expansion in the nose.

(from: http://www.babycenter.com/6_your-pregnancy-15-weeks_1104.bc)

Abby's Baby Name

Abby has decided, quite definitely, that she wants to name the new baby Sister. So hopefully the new baby will be a girl or it will be very difficult to explain to Abby that we can't call a baby boy "Sister".

Some Ham To Go With Your Eggs

When Grandma Mary came over Abby learned about how fun it can be to make funny faces for the camera and then see the pictures. Since then she has been hamming it up and begging for us to pull out the camera whenever possible. She's done some pretty funny pictures lately. One night she had to take off her pajamas just so she could model her new boots. We didn't coach her on any of her modeling poses or faces - she is just a natural talent.

Abby enjoyed playgroup this morning. She got to make a place mat with her picture on it and had a lot of fun coloring it with all her favorite colors. She also got to do some dancing and singing, which she really got into. We have a great time playing with Abby's friends every week. And, as a special treat she had lunch with dad at his office afterward. It was lots of fun.