Bathroom Fun

We gave Abby her bi-weekly bath (honestly, that's about how often she gets one around here! Pretty bad, huh?!) on Monday evening. She had such a blast transferring water from one cup to the other, trying to pour water over her head, and then learned how to splash and kick like a fish. Ooooh, that was fun too! She looked so cute in the tub all freshly scrubbed, so I took this nice close-up picture.

Abby helped me clean the bathroom on Tuesday. She loves to scrub the toilet! She helped me dust, too.

It's a bad hair day, isn't it? Too bad I didn't comb it until AFTER I took the picture. Oh well. Those pictures will be good for memory's sake...

Abby Goes to the Dentist

Randy had his semi-annual cleaning/checkup appointment at the dentist yesterday, and they let Abby come in to have her teeth checked too.

Randy "prepped" Abby enroute to the dentist by reviewing the words teeth (Abby pointed to her teeth), brush/toothbrush (she mimicked brushing her teeth using her finger), Dr. Tupper (Randy said "we'll just call him Doc", and Abby said "Da")... She had fun playing in the waiting room while I filled out paperwork. Randy got called into the chair for his cleaning/exam, and Abby got called in a few minutes later into her own exam room.

I took a couple pictures of Abby while we were waiting for the dentist to come in to the exam room. She was having fun exploring and playing around until she accidentally bumped a button on the chair. Next thing we knew, the chair was rising up and flattening out! It scared Abby something terrible! She was shaking like a leaf! From then on, she wasn't so excited about being at the dentist.




Dr. Tupper looked at her teeth and didn't seem to be too terribly alarmed at the lack of teeth, but when he was done he did a little research and then came back and said something doesn't seem right after all. She's missing the 3 teeth on both sides of her bottom middle teeth, and he doesn't think there are any yet to come there. The bone structure seems to be lacking, too (like what happens to older people when their teeth fall out and their gums shrink). She's missing several on top, too. He suggested a possible medical condition, and told us to talk to our pediatrician when we see him next. We don't know whether more teeth will still come in. She's a little too young to do x-rays, and really when it comes down to it, there's nothing we or the dentist can do about it, so why bother. If God decides to send more teeth, we'll be happy, but if not, He has a better plan and we'll be satisfied with that.

We have mixed emotions on this matter. Of course, we love Abby and will continue to love her no matter if she has a full mouth of teeth or not. It's not such a big deal now because she's still a little girl, and many little kids have teeth missing. It'll get trickier as she gets older, but thankfully we have a very loving support network around her with our family, church family, and friends, so hopefully she won't get teased too much as a youngster. Assuming her teeth continue on their current track, we'll want to get a lot of dental work done for her when she's old enough to have that work done. If you want to put us as a benefactor in your will, we'd appreciate it! :) (Just kidding...altho it certainly is going to be an expensive road ahead).

Abby & Emmy - Halftime Report

Abby's cousin Emily is here again today, and we're having a good time together! I had a little talk with both of them this morning and told them "we're going to share, have good attitudes, lots of smiles, and no crying". It's working so far! We've had a few small squabbles, but no major crying fits.

Currently, Abby is taking a nap, and Emily is happily playing by herself.

I finished a jar of Japanese Plums from our own tree during breakfast this morning. The girls didn't want to eat the plums, but they both wanted to take turns drinking the juice from the quart jar. Emily especially liked it, and kept going to the table and picking up the jar and taking a sip. It's all gone now! We enjoyed fresh blueberry muffins for breakfast, and PB&J sandwiches for lunch.

We sat in the living room window seat and enjoyed the sun for awhile, and then Abby got down and went into the kitchen. Next thing I knew, she had pushed a chair over to the kitchen sink and was proceeding to "wash" the dishes! What a good helper!

Awhile later, after Abby and Em had played outside, they BOTH decided they wanted to wash dishes! I was basically done by then, but I set up the chairs and they got on...and then the crying started! The idea sounded fun to Emily, but not the reality. Needless to say, they only stayed on the chairs long enough for me to get this picture.

One of their fun activities has been to sit in their "chairs" on the fireplace hearth and read books or play. They've done this on several occasions this morning, and have gotten along quite well while doing so.

Emily wanted to go outside and play, so I bundled her up and sent her out. Abby thought that looked fun too, so I got her bundled up. By the time I had Abby ready to go out, Emily decided she didn't want to be outside anymore. (I think a lot of it had to do with Abby coming out...) So they switched places. Abby was so cozy in her snowsuit that she played out there for quite some time. I was washing dishes, and looked out in time to see her push her trike until it bumped up against the deck bench. Then she climbed up onto the bottom step, then the middle step, and then all the way up onto the seat...all by herself! I was so proud!!! She sat there turning the handlebars a bit, and then figured out she could touch one of the pedals (just barely). She managed to climb off the trike all by herself, and didn't fall a single time!

A Picture from time with Dad

Abby decided to read a book entitled "Where is Abby?" in our bed this morning. I thought the pictures were very cute! Randy

Messy!

Abby feeds herself nowdays...she won't have it any other way! A recent favorite food has been yogurt. She ate the whole 4-oz container by herself on a couple occasions. Most of her food ends up being a game in some way, but it's especially bad if you give her more than one dish---then she transfers food from one to the other. The food is generally inedible by the time she's done, but it entertains her for a good 1/2 hour or so! This particular meal was a messy one as you can tell....but she's happy! :)

Abby decorated a felt Christmas tree when she and her cousins spent the evening with Grandma a month ago. The tree has magnets on the back and so it hangs on the fridge within Abby's reach. She thought it would be fun to pull the decorations off the tree and stick them onto her monkey. See the little green dots? She had a good time with that game! (Sorry Grandma! Your fun craft is getting defaced).

Daddy 'n Me

Need I say more??? These pictures are just too cute, and they speak for themselves.

Growing Up

Abby is 22-1/2 months old now, and the most notable recent achievement is that SHE'S STARTING TO TALK!!! I worked at the office for a few hours 4 out of 5 days last week, and almost didn't go to work on Wednesday because of what Abby did in the morning. When she got out of bed, she went straight to her book box and started pulling out books. There was a new Living Country Life magazine sitting there, and she opened it up and saw a picture of a tractor. I identified the things I saw in the pictures like I always do, and for the first time SHE COPIED ME!!! She said "tac-tor"! It was so exciting!!! I tried her out on several other things, and she made an effort to say many of the words. She has been making toddler noises for awhile, but most of them aren't understandable (dg dg dg dk dk dk), some of them are (mama, dada, ball, and her own versions of Snickers, Amen, thank you, etc). In this past week, we've heard her say "thank you", "tac-tor", "cac-r" (cracker), and this morning she said a clear "NO" for the first time. None of these words are part of her regular daily vocabulary yet, but she will say them on command (sometimes....).

We had the bathroom scale out for weighing some bulk chicken breasts I had bought the other day. Abby saw us standing on the scale, and so of course she wanted to do it too! The scale registered about 30 lbs for her, but it is not accurate, and she had a lot of clothes on at the time. I'm guessing she's somewhere in the 25 lb range, but I don't know for sure.

Randy and I are on our computers frequently as we check emails and news, and Abby, being a 21st century kid, is getting acquainted with them too. She feels so big when she sits on our chairs, and she's even been caught moving the mouse around and/or typing on the keyboard.

She didn't like me taking this picture of her checking out her blog...

Here she is "reading" a recent edition of Country magazine. We keep our magazines in the bathroom for "downtime reading". Abby likes digging thru the rack and looking at the pictures. She's especially fond of animal pictures.

Monday (when Emily was here) as such a beautiful, sunny day that we went outside for a little bit. The girls found this old truck which we had inherited with the house, and both played with it for a few minutes (separately, of course!). Abby figured out how to sit on it, a skill which definitely was photo-worthy for Mommy. It's pretty rickety, and wouldn't roll like she wanted it to, but it was cute.

Visiting Great Grandma

Abby and I took a walk this morning and visited my Grandma. Grandma is failing in health (she has bone cancer which is starting to affect her brain and kidneys), and so we wanted to see her and visit with her while we still can. Grandma was doing quite well when we got there, and we were able to spend over an hour with her. Hopefully we didn't overdo it, but she was pretty worn out by the time we made our exit. Abby gave her very nice loves (hugs and kisses) before we left, and it was so sweet to see Abby lay on Grandma and relax and look up at her. Those will be precious memories very soon...

Grandma has made sock monkeys for years. These are little baby sock monkeys she made recently. They are going to be put in shoe boxes and given to needy kids. What a treasure! They are VERY cute!

On our way home, I noticed this remnant of a snow pile. It looked like a bald eagle to me, and I thought it was cool so I took a picture! There was another lady on another part of the sidewalk walking her dog, and she said that same snow pile looked like a polar bear from her direction.

We love you, Grandma!

Cousin Emily Comes To Visit

Cousin Emily (2-1/2 yrs old) came to our house on Monday while her mom worked in town. Abby and Emily are total opposites, and generally don't get along very well, but we're trying to improve that by getting them together more often. Abby is loud and boisterous and rambunctious, and Emily is timid and quiet and likes to have her space.



The girls enjoyed a cheerio snack together while sitting in the sun in our front room bay window. They looked so cute together! Trying to get a 22-month old and a 2-1/2 year old to sit still and smile at the same time is impossible, so out of about 12 pictures, I got these two that are worth sharing:







Emily and I built a tower together after Abby went down for her nap. She had fun doing that! We had a good time puttering around together and Emily relaxed significantly once ner nemesis Abby was out of the way. They love each other in theory, and Emily is excited to see Abby when she comes (and vice versa), but playing together for any amount of time without fighting or crying seldom happens.

Abby's New Stuff

My parents sent a new dress to Abby for Christmas, and since they don't live nearby, they asked me to take some pictures so they can see her in her new outfit. She's a pretty little lady, isn't she?

I tried to get her to stand still in front of the blue blanket to get a good photo, but would she?? NO! So she played peek-a-boo instead, and I had to time my shot just right to get her picture. Some worked, some didn't. This was one of the better ones.


Abby's Uncle Jay and Aunt Mandi gave Abby a bucket of 90 pieces of plastic food for Christmas. She loves to dump them all out and play with them, or carry the bucket around on her shoulder like a purse. Cousin Emily taught her how to turn the bucket upside down and use it as a step stool this past Monday. It's a fun toy for Abby, but not so much fun for Mom and Dad to see the 90 piece mess spread all over the floor! Payback time is coming, Jay and Mandi! :)


Some friends from church were cleaning out recently, and they passed along a colorful stocking cap for Abby, amongst other things. It looks really cute on her! It was tricky getting these pictures because Abby was squatting and then jumping up onto her feet as I was trying to get a good shot.


She has also learned what a somersault is, and LOVES to do them! She gets in this position, and then needs a boost to get her bottom over her top. She'll be able to do it on her own very soon. From the beginning, people have noticed her flexibility and muscle tone and energy and said "she's going to be a gymnast!" We're starting to see those skills come to life, and it's a lot of fun!

Me 'n Mommy

Abby loves to do things with Mommy, and Mommy enjoys having her around to do them with!

Me 'n Mommy.....I LOVE YOU!!!

Trying on Mommy's new shoes...

Cooking together...

Washing dishes together this morning...

Dad's Day with His Daughter

I was home from work today (while Judy worked) and Abby and I walked up town to go to the bank, so I decided to snap a picture of her in the drive through. During our walk we visited a man from church, saw my cousin, my aunt, and enjoyed the brisk sunny day. I am sorry I didn't get a better picture of Abby. The teller at the bank had given her a sticker, and she was busy looking at it.

Onion Breath

I was making dinner tonite, and Abby was on her chair "helping" me as usual. One of the ingredients for dinner was chopped onions, so I got one out and chopped up the portion I needed. Next thing I knew, Abby had grabbed the rest of the onion off the counter and was proceeding to knaw on it! YUMMY!! She didn't seem at all turned off by the taste or smell.

Following in Daddy's Footsteps

There is a (not so) funny story from Randy's childhood that he likes to tell to young children as a lesson to them. It goes something like this:

Randy was in the old Sears store in Bellingham, and he wanted candy from the candy machines. Instead of paying for the candy, he tried to steal it by sticking his hand up the dispenser to dig out a piece. When he stuck his hand in and grasped a piece of candy, his hand got stuck! He screamed and made quite a scene, but he could not get his hand out! A store clerk finally got him to let go of the candy and relax his hand. By doing so, he was able to get his hand out.

The moral of the story is DON'T STEAL!

Well, a couple weeks ago Abby and I went to the Jump Zone in Bellingham and had a fun play date with some of her cousins. Most of the slides were too advanced for her, but she did find the candy machines! :) When I saw her peeking into the dispenser, I immediately thought about Randy's story and took pictures so I could show him.

Dough, Diapers, and Da-Da

As I mentioned earlier, Randy was home with Abby for 2 weeks. They had a great time together! Daddy taught Daughter some valuable skills, like:

How to mix play-dough and hold the cup in your teeth.

How to put a diaper on your dolly.

How to shave your whiskers like Daddy.

Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow!

We, like everyone else in the country, received a good dumping of snow over the last couple weeks. I took several pictures on Christmas Eve, thinking that would be the most we would get.

I was wrong. We got another dump on Christmas Day. In all, we think we had around 24" in our yard. Our biggest drift on the west side of the house was about 3 ft tall. It was really pretty snow, really cold (temps were in the teens and 20's for about 3 weeks), and really dry, which made it decently easy to get around in. I took a walk around the yard and got some neat photos.

Our van handles quite well in the snow (thankfully), so we were able to enjoy our usual Christmas traditions. We went to Randy's parents' house on Christmas Eve and ate pizza, salad, and dessert, read the Christmas story in Luke 2, played games, and the kids opened some presents. On Christmas Day, we got together with Randy's mom's extended family for a potluck and games.