Stretching out

Abby is outgrowing all of her clothes.  Which is a good thing!  But, its also a bad thing.  Most of the next size up is fall/winter things.  And, its too hot to wear those right now.

This morning, I put on a cute top and skirt on her.  Her belly was hanging out of the shirt.  Nope, can't wear this anymore! 

So I put on a little dress.  Its a wee bit short on the backside, but it will have to do.

I don't know what I'm going to do for the next few weeks.  It won't cool off till at least the end of September. 

And I'm also worried that she won't make it through the winter on the things we have bought. 

She's just crossing over to fit into 18 month size things (at 21 months!).  But she's pushing the edge of that height limitation already.  I don't want her to be wearing high waters come February, but there is no way 24 months or 2t things will stay around her waist.  One of the 18 month pairs we recently bought I had to cinch the tabs all the way in, just to hold it up on her waist!

I have no idea what I'm going to do.  I just want my baby to stop growing up so fast!

(To which she would say... "No Mommy!)

Beak

Abby has discovered that Woody has his own treat jar.  And that he will do things to get treats. 

So she has started begging to give him treats.

We will take a few out of the jar.  She will look at him and say "beak".  Which is Speak in Abby talk.  He kinda stares at her until I flick my finger and then he barks.  But, by this time, she has already shoved the treat in his mouth. 

She giggles with delight when he does it.  And we repeat.  And then we repeat again.  And then the tears and screams come when I say we are all done.  Too many treats make Woody sick, and Abby just doesn't understand.  (But mom, there are lots there in that jar!)

Its so amazing to see her connect two things.  She did this all on her own.  She saw me do it once, and then she's all over it.

She's smart.  We need to watch out!

Sit Back, Fatback

This year we decided to take our summer vacation in Washington, DC.  Its something we've always told JJ we would do, and now seemed like the right time.

The thought of trying to keep up with Abby on a beach just seemed exhausting, and we beached earlier this year and thought we were beached out.

Day one of DC vacation, I was second guessing my reasons.  But, I made the best of it and had a great time despite the lack of relaxation.

We saw as many things as one could see in a week, hitting all the major spots.  And, Abby hung in there like a champ.  She did not get one formal nap for a week.  She often napped in the stroller, only after finally succumbing to exhaustion.  It was usually on a transition from one place to another and the scenery wasn't much to look at. 

She pleasantly slept through the nights while sharing our room. (Only because JJ refused to share the living room space with her).  She also slept in every day, allowing for us to catch up on our exhaustion.

She playfully enjoyed all the exhibits in the museums, but her favorite was riding the carousel outside of the Smithsonian Castle.  The minute we got our tickets and stood in line, she was in awe.  She gladly sat on a horse, got strapped on, and held on.  Once it started moving, I thought she would panic, but she didn't.  Her face lit up.  She smiled bigger and bigger, the more it went round and round.  And then it started to slow, and I could anticipate what was going to happen.  Finally the ride stopped and we had to get off. 

And she cried.

And she cried.

And she cried.

Oh my, it broke my heart.  She did not understand we couldn't ride it forever.  But the video we have of her riding it will always be a good back up.

I was anxious about how well she would travel.  She's done distance before, but nothing of this magnitude in a while.  She doesn't sleep as much in the car as she use to.  Heading up, we split the trip in half so it wasn't too bad on anyone.  But coming home, it was a straight 9 hours.  She did really well.  She slept a lot.  And looked out the window a lot.  She liked riding in Gene's truck because she can see out better.  She would wake when we stopped for gas or lunch.  She got a little fussy asking to play the ipad. 

She only likes to press the home button on the ipad, so its not very fun for anyone else who has to keep taking it from her in order to keep her from messing it up.  I tried using Guided Access, but it managed to get locked on a barney movie, and then not work at all.

Overall, it turned out much better than I thought it would.  Everyone had fun, everyone learned something.  It certainly wasn't just rest and relaxation, but there are plenty of other days for that.

Blow Out

It's been a tough few days.  The stomach bug has gotten Abby.

It started Wednesday.  I got a text that she threw up during nap time and needed to get picked up.  Gene went and got her and took her home.  She seemed fine and dandy.  She played outside, we went to dinner. All was good.

Thursday they came to visit me (since she couldn't go back to daycare).  Again, feeling fine and dandy.

Friday, she has an epic blowout in the night.  Both sets of sheets on the bed are a mess.  She didn't make a peep about it.  I found it when I went to check on her in the morning. 

The rest of the day she was fine.  She played.  We went to a cookout.  I closely monitored her. But she had fun with all the other kids.

Saturday morning I was alarmed that her overnight diaper wasn't wet.  And I couldn't recall a lot of wet ones on Friday.  As I was waiting for the pediatricians office to open, I heard it.  I heard Abby's poor bottom fall out. 

She looked so pitiful.  I peeked in her diaper and it was a soupy mess.  I took her outside and stripped her down. Got her cleaned up.  30 minutes later, she did it again.  30 minutes later, she did it again.  Then things quieted down.  But the out of now where, she threw up. 

Argh!

I got her cleaned up.  And we settled down on the couch.  She eventually took a nap.  She didn't feel like eating anything, but she would drink pedialite.  She continued through the afternoon with diarrhea and vomiting.

Sunday she was lethargic.  We both sat in the chair and watched TV for most of the day.  Then somewhere around 2:00, she perked up.  She went over to her high chair and asked to eat.  So we had some toast.  Then she wanted to get down and play.  She seemed to be pepping back up.  But the explosions were still coming.

So, she stayed home Monday from daycare.  The events were now not as frequent, but she was still having loose stools.  She was more and more interested in eating and drinking.  She cried for milk.  I tried to resist, but she begged, so I gave her some.  It seemed like the vomiting had stopped, so maybe dairy was ok.

Then, in the middle of the night Monday, she woke up crying.  I went down to comfort her and noticed she had pooped.  Finally, it was firming up.  It was still messy, but firming!  I've never been so happy to see poop!  But she was still out of daycare for the day.

It turns out that she has passed the bug on to her MaeMae.  I feel really bad that she has it.  And I can hope it passes quickly.  Poppie thought he had it yesterday, so I took him some Gatorade and Pepto.  Hopefully he has shared those with her. 

I'm just trying to keep the rest of us from getting it.  The house cleaner comes today, so everything will get a good disinfecting.  I think Abby is over it, so its good to get it all clean.  We leave for vacation on Friday and I would hate to be stuck in the car for hours with an upset stomach!

Flower Girl

This past weekend was Jerry's wedding.  An event that we've been expecting for several months.  An event that we weren't sure which way things would go.

Last fall Tracie asked me if Abby would like to be a flower girl in the wedding.  I agreed, but only with the understanding that she might not want to participate.  Tracie was ok with that, and said she as ok with anything that happened.

We didn't do much practicing for the day.  We tried in the church, but Abby was too easily distracted.  Plus, the ceremony was going to be in a hotel, so it wouldn't be the same.  We just decided we would wing it and see how things do when the time came.

Well Friday was the rehearsal.  The wedding planner decided that it was ok if Abby and I walk down the aisle together.  She is more than willing to hold my hand and walk with me.

We practiced several times and she didn't have a problem with it at all.

Saturday, we made sure she got a good nap, she was fed.  She got dressed in her pretty green and white lacy dress.  She willingly kept the bow in her hair.

We congregated in the hallway outside the ceremony room.  She was given a basket of flower petals to hold and or scatter.  She loves playing with baskets and putting things in and taking them out.  She didn't understand that now was not the time to take them all out.  She was getting fussy and pissy and wanted me to hold me.  I tried not to pick her up because then I knew she wouldn't want to be put down.  I did the only thing I knew I could to keep her quiet, I stuck in the paci.

She calmed down and its was finally our turn.  She entered the room and she walked down the aisle with me hold my hand and holding her basket.  She smiled at all the people and came with me to the front.  We stopped in our spot. 

Then she saw Gene.

"Daddy!!!!"  "Gogee!!!" 

I just let her go to them.  Gene then took her out of the room so she wouldn't disrupt the rest of the ceremony.

She managed to hold it together for some pictures.  Thankfully the photographer didn't want to take very many. 

She sat nicely in the high chair and ate some dinner. 

Then, she discovered the dance floor.  Little bit had a wild time getting her groove on.  She twirled around and around and around for hours! 

She loved the colored lights and the music.

She didn't want to leave!! 

I made sure to bring her PJ's with her because I knew she would crash hard when we got in the car.  And she did.  She slept until 8:30 the next morning!  

It was great to see family and friends we hadn't seen in a long time.  Grammy got to come.  It was good for her to see how grown up Abby is getting. Its a shame that we only get together for weddings and funerals.  And those don't happen very often.

Your first is still your favorite

Dog was the first word.  Woody was the first personalized word.  Its only fitting that Abby still loves dogs, and animals of all types.

She goes nuts over a dog.  Giggly, happy, squealing, excitement for a dog, cat, or some other animal creature.

Its nature, afterall, Gene is an animal lover, so is Shirley.

Pet commericals make Abby the happiest.  Petsmart, or Petco get a squeal or two.  But the ASPCA and animal rescue commericals win her over.

Its at least a minute of pure happiness for Abby.  "Dog" "Dog" "Kittie""Meow""Dog"" Woof"

Its so hard to watch her be excited because you know the commerical is suppose to be sad. She doesn't know the dogs and cats are homeless and or in poor health.  She's just so excited to see an animal.

Its precious.  And its one of those things I want to keep in my mind forever.  (Or least on video, if I can remember to do it). 

Bo-Coo

I'm not really sure what she says, the best we can come up with is "Bo-Coo".  Which means peanut butter. She will stand at the counter and beg for a spoon. (Or she will try to open the drawer herself and reach blindly for one!)  Once she has a spoon, she turns around to the other counter and begs for Bo Coo. 

She would like you to dip her spoon in the peanut butter.

She could eat the entire jar of PB, if we let her.  But we have limits. Although we often let her do it well past when we should stop.  Just because it gets her so excited, and PB isn't really that bad for you.  (Both Gene and I love it, so its hard to stop for us too!).

We are working on the real word.  It has many syllables, so its quite complex for her vocabulary.  But she's trying.  She uses so many more words now.  And babbles most all the time.

She's also learning to use words in context.  She knows eat means shes hungry and she will ask to sit in her high chair and "eat" when its dinner time. She also knows snack and will go digging in the cabinet looking for the perfect treasure to munch on.

She knows ride and knows that means you go somewhere in something other than the car.  She loves the Gator, and recently she's taken to rides in the wagon.  She will ask to go "ousside and ride".

She knows to kick her legs while swimming and says "kick kick kick".  She's become so much more comfortable on the water, sometimes its hard to get her out.  She knows she needs to move her arms (scoopers) and her legs (kickers) to get anywhere.

She knows sock and shoes go on your feet.  And she knows where her shoes are kept so she disappears into her room to reappear with a different pair of shoes for you to put on. She smiles are you and says "Sues on".

She knows her lovies.  She asks for Mimi and blanket. (Often the pronunciation is on the Ket part of blanket.)  She knows to ask her pappy, and lord help you if you don't have one.  "My pappy mommy.. my pappy!"  She uses the time between day care and home every night as her own downtime.  She often sits quietly in the back seat, sucking on pappy, just taking a moment to rest. 

She finally grasped that Poppie is Poppie and not Maemae.  And she has taken to Poppie much like he's taken to her.  I don't believe there is anything she could ever do that he would think no wrong about.  She is wrapped around him.  Its precious to see.  I enjoy watching there interaction. 

She thinks movement is call "see-saw".  She will sit in her rocker and sing see saw to herself.  The playground at daycare has a see saw that the kids (or maybe just Abby), love to play on.  I often she her run to it in the mornings and see- saw with her friend Brice.  (Brice is twice her size, so there isn't much seeing or sawing). 

She know Bye Bye and what bye bye means.  Although its often said once the person is gone and can't hear her.  When we leave in the morning, I often hear "Bye bye dada" as we pull away.  She makes sure to say Bye to her friends each day as we leave, even if they aren't still on the playground.

There is still a ways to go.  We still have a lot of grunts and groans, squeals and screams, but she is a sponge and is absorbing and learning so quick, that I know it won't be too long before she can express herself to her fullest.