Friday, February 28, 2014

Happy 15 Months, Little Love!!!

This has been such a great month. It is so much fun to watch Abigail explore and discover new things. Just the excitement and thrill she gets because of the simplest things puts a big smile on her mommy and daddy's face. She's such a bright little girl. You can always see the wheels a turnin' in that cute little brain of hers. If she does something once, she will remember it always. We think Abigail totally skipped ahead of the whole "out of site out of mind" phase a long time ago and went straight to the "object permanence" stage. No fooling this big girl.
At 15 months, Abigail weighs 19.02lbs (17th percentile) and is 30.25 inches tall (37th percentile). Abigail feels heavy! Girl has gained some weight! Abigail wears both 6 month and 9 month clothes and size 3 diapers. Abigail was in mostly 6 month clothes until the last week. It seems that she had quite a growth spurt. Just 2 weeks ago, we had to roll up her 9 month bottoms TWICE. Now they are fully unrolled. So crazy how quickly they grow and change.

The biggest milestone this month had to be the purchase of new shoes! Yay! We are happy to report that Abigail now loves her new shoes....well...we guess you could say she loves what they represent....going outside. If we ask her if she wants to go outside, we tell her she needs to get her shoes...she happily obliges....we can't put them on fast enough. This little girl could stay outside all day exploring, picking up leaves, swinging, going on the slide...you name it. Last weekend was gorgeous. I think we're all ready for some more spring like temperatures.

Abigail LOVES to play. She is such a big girl and can even play by herself for a while. (Only if you aren't trying to get anything done that is. Every parent knows that their child can sense when you are trying to get something done. They will do anything and everything to put the kibosh on that real quick!) Abigail loves to play everywhere in the house, especially her playroom, the family room and her bedroom. Recently she's been getting in her crib, turning the mobile on and dancing and playing with her stuffed animals. It's adorable. She also loves to sit at her table in the playroom with all of her animal friends.

Abigail is obsessed with her farm animals. She carries them around with her EVERYWHERE! We have to do an inventory on those things a thousand times a day because she will carry them somewhere, lose them and get super upset. Her two favorites are the cow and horse. Recently she has started making "moo" noises. Adorable! She also loves playing with her musical doggie and bear too. Abigail also loves live animals. We all know her fondness for the cat....now she has started becoming interested in doggies too. Shhhh....don't tell Mia! :-) Every time she sees a dog walk by, she goes running to the window waving at them. So sweet:-) 




Bath time is one of Abigail's favorite times of the day. She gets super excited whenever we even mention a bath. It seems like she could play in there forever. She brings her cups in there and just plays and splashes around.

Abigail talks a lot! While she does not actually say a whole lot of actual words, she sure is expressive and can get her point across. Abigail will occasionally say mama and no. We're not so sure she fully understands the word no, though. She'll shake her head no (basically imitating us) and then continue on doing what she was doing. Ha! Abigail knows several signs: eat, milk, more, all done, up....I think that's about all. One of the cutest things Abigail does now is blow kisses. So sweet!!! Abigail is also becoming familiar at identifying body parts. So far she knows ear, head, hair, nose, mouth and belly button. It's not always a guarantee she'll get them correct though. Depends on her mood:) It's just so cute to see how much she has learned!



Abigail loves her Daddy! Her Mommy does too:-)
Abigail is still obsessed with clothes. She loves to hold them, touch them, carry them around...you name it. She's also developed quite a love of shoes as well. Smart girl:-) The other day, she was playing in the closet...aka Abigail's version of pure bliss:-)

Abigail is still not a big eater. She is a huge drinker...she still drinks about 22-25 ounces of milk a day...half breast milk, half whole milk. She's trying a whole lot more food, so that's good. She loves cheese (any kind...grilled, feta, cottage, goat, shredded....), pears, pizza, grapes, freeze dried fruit, carrots, grapefruit, french toast, eggs, date/oatmeal "cookies" that I make, oranges....she loves graham crackers, puffs, chips and goldfish, but we've been limiting those to about once a week because otherwise she won't eat anything but those things. She loves to try and eat what you are eating. No guarantee she'll swallow what you are eating, but she'll at least try it!

Abigail still takes 2 naps a day and has been sleeping well through the night (about 10.5 hours). She's even woken up a few times at night crying and put herself back down. Good girl!!!
Abigail hamming it up:-)
We love you so so so very much, sweet baby girl. You are such a sweetheart and just the best little girl ever! Your daddy and I could not be happier. Happy 15 months, little love!!!

Wednesday, February 26, 2014

Tuesday, February 25, 2014

Going Out and Staying In

There is not much I would rather do than hang out at home with my beautiful wife and lovely daughter. However, last Thursday, I reluctantly agreed to head out for a night on the town. Actually, it was just dinner with our neighbors. We had a great time, but missed Abigail like crazy. I want to say thank you to Nana and G-Dad (aka, Stephanie's parents) for watching Abigail. We were able to relax because we knew she was in good hands. We don't have any pictures to share, but hopefully we will get some good ones this summer driving around in G-Dad's shiny new convertible!

On Saturday, Meme and Granddad (aka, my parents) came up to visit, along with Uncle Kyle, Auntie Anna, and Uncle Jay. This day was more my style. We ate barbecue, drank sweet tea and a few beers, took a walk around the neighborhood, watched basketball, worked on memory boards, and generally just had a good time visiting.  Here are a few pictures from our day:

Must be an optical illusion...my "little" brothers can't be that much taller than me!
Abigail can be shy, but quickly warmed up to Uncle Jay. Must be the pants.
Intrepid voyagers preparing for a circumnavigation of the neighborhood
Here, Mom, let me help you with that
Someone must really love bunny towels!
Abigail is stylin in her new outfit (thanks Meme!) and shoes
Thanks everyone for coming to visit! You guys can stop by whenever you want, I will (hopefully) be home.

Sunday, February 23, 2014

Baby Needs a New Pair of Shoes

Until recently, Abigail had not really worn shoes. She started walking after the weather turned cold, so she has not been walking around outside. We tried to get her fitted for shoes a few months ago, but she cried so hard that we just gave up. She generally wears socks with rubber grips on the bottom when we take her out and about. However, with spring around the corner and a forecast of good weather this weekend, we decided to go ahead and get Abigail a new pair of kicks.

After a few trips to some fashionable shoe boutiques (Wal-Mart, Ross, Stride-Rite), and accidentally buying a 2 right shoes (who needs a left shoe?), we settled on the following...

Stride-Rite's Finest!
Abigail cried and cried when we put the shoes on her. Eventually, she started to walk a little bit. She didn't know what to think at first and was walking very stiff-legged, kind of like a cat you see on America's Funniest Home Videos wearing a tight Christmas sweater. Maybe we should have videotaped her for our chance at the $10,000 prize. That would be nice for the college fund.
What are these things on my feet???
Mom had the brilliant idea of bribing, I mean encouraging, Abigail with some M&M's. She would back away a few steps and hold out an M&M. Abigail quickly got over her issues with the new shoes and was chasing Mom all around the house to get some candy. I am sure Mom rewarded herself too.
Milk goes great with my M&M's
 Abigail has really gotten the hang of her new shoes and doesn't seem to mind them too much. She is walking great and looks like such a big girl with her shoes on.
A little stretching before chasing the cat
Can these things help me jump up and get Mia?
 We all can't wait for some warm weather so we can get outside and put these shoes to use.


Wednesday, February 19, 2014

Smart Girl:-)

We know every parent say this, but Abigail is so smart! She is really starting to understand SO much! It is unbelievable! She understands most simple statements or commands. Her most favorite right now is "Time to take a bath." Abigail goes running. She is obsessed with baths right now. Morning, day, night...doesn't matter. She's always ready to get clean. Maybe this means she'll like the pool this year?!? Fingers crossed!!!
If we say "Let's put on (or take off) your socks" she'll sit down so we can do that...if we say we need to change her diaper, she'll go over to the diaper changing station. I know....so smart!!! I guess we need to start being careful with what we say. Haha! Only half kidding:-)

Sunday, February 16, 2014

Snow Day!

So apparently we do not have a snow bunny on our hands. We got over a foot of snow last week...perfect for getting out and playing in the snow, right?!? Wrong. We got all bundled up, stepped foot outside and as soon as we put her down, the tears started falling:( So sad. Guess we'll just have to move south. For our baby, of course:-)

At least she looks cute:-)

Friday, February 14, 2014

Happy Valentine's Day!!!

We celebrated Valentine's Day a little bit early by going out to eat at our favorite sushi restaurant. Yum! It was a blast! Abigail did great! We sat near two other little girls so Abigail and her new friends kept each other quite entertained. They have a chocolate fountain (one of the many reasons I love this place!) and Abigail tried chocolate covered strawberries for the first time. She LOVED them! No sushi quite yet, though. Almost:-) Nothing better than spending Valentine's Day with my two loves.

Funny face:-)
Little chocolate mustache
Mommy's little girl:-)
Love these two SO SO SO much!!!
Happy Valentine's Day!!!

Monday, February 10, 2014

Just The Girls

Jaime and her girls came over to spend the day together. The girls get along great. It's so cute to watch them all actually play together. It just makes Abigail seem so grown up now! The three of them were hilarious to watch. Jaime and I were in the kitchen cleaning up, only to go into the playroom to find Abigail and Avery taking out the cubes on the shelf and trying to sit in them! So funny! I have a feeling these two are going to be trouble when they get older:-)
Love this picture!
Avery was putting her arm around Abigail. So cute:)


Love girl time:-)

Saturday, February 8, 2014

Special Day With Heather

One of my bestest friends, Heather, came over to hang out with Abadabs and I the other day. What a special treat! It was so fun to chat and spend time with the beautiful mama-to-be:-)
 Heather gave Abigail this ADORABLE outfit! Abigail, being the clothes lover that she is, just had to try it on:-)
So sweet:)
This outfit is too much! Love it!
Then, of course, we had to leave this outfit on for the rest of the day. Doesn't everyone eat dinner in a ballerina costume?!?


Laughing at Daddy:-)
"Yay, Daddy!!!"
Love these two so so much!
Such a fun day...afternoon with a dear friend and sweet daughter and evening with my two loves:-)

Thursday, February 6, 2014

Throwback Thursday #4

Abigail was OBSESSED with her hands for the longest time after she was born. Evidence A and B:
Every time we would try and swaddle her, this is what we saw as soon as we tucked that last corner...Houdini strikes again!
Deep in thought:-)