Monday, December 28, 2009
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
All About Abby @ 20 Months
My baby is 20 months old! 20 months old, how could that be possible? Just yesterday Matt was racing to finish Jackson's big boy room so we would have room for the "new baby". Just yesterday my mom and Mary Ann danced in the hospital waiting room at the news of our new baby girl that was named after them. And wasn't it just yesterday, or maybe last week, when Dennis and Mary Ann brought Jackson to see his new baby sister in the hospital and he didn't want anything to do with me? (Oh, yeah, and then I cried for over an hour.) Didn't we just bring our Abigail Ann home from the hospital? No. No, we didn't. That was a full 20 months ago. You don't truly know the meaning of "time flies" until you have children!
So what is Abby up to at 20 months old?
1. She loves loves loves Santa! She runs around the house pointing at all the santa decorations yelling Santa! Santa! Santa! Of course, when we went to visit Santa, she refused to sit on his lap and cried hysterically when we tried to get her to just sit in front of him for a picture. Loves the idea of him, loves his picture and books, but not the actual guy. So, our Santa picture this year is Matt and I sitting in front of Santa with Jackson and Abby on our laps. (In a surprise turn from last year, Jackson also refused to sit on the big guy's lap!)
2. She is very particular about certain things. For example, tonight she was eating yogurt at dinner and when she spilled it on her shirt, she flipped out. We had to clean it off her shirt immediately. This happened over and over again. She also has a thing about apples on her plate. Don't even think about putting sliced apples on her plate. She will make sure they are removed immediately before she will eat. And it's not just food things...Every time she takes her socks off, she immediately sits down and inspects inbetween her toes, picking out any traces of lint she finds. If she can't quite get a piece, she insists on your help, immediately! She's funny!
3. Abby's elephant and pacifer have become increasingly important recently. We never never leave the house without either one of them. When she wants her pacifier, she will go over to Matt or me and pull at our pockets, assuming that is where her paci is. We are going to attempt to break her of the paci habit over Christmas break. We'll see!
4. She loves the bathroom, and everything about it. She will stand at the sink forever washing her hands, soaking herself and everything around her. She will sit and go through the bandaids, wanting you to put one on her finger, or hand, or foot. Then, just minutes later, insists that you take it off. But bandaids and handwashing have nothing on brushing her teeth. The girl loves to brush her teeth. She will use any toothbrush in the house, or every toothbrush in the house. She loves it. She does very little actually brushing, but sucks the water out of the brush, puts it back under the water and repeats. and repeats.....
5. Recently, Abby has warmed up to people other than Matt and me. On Thanksgiving, she went to both of my brothers and Sara too. She has realized that her Nana and Papa are a ton of fun and even went to spend the day with them a few weeks ago. She will go into the daycare at the Y and let me work out for an entire hour. She doesn't even cry when we leave her with a babysitter . She is still pretty apprehensive when new people come over to our house, but has really warmed up to the people that she sees on a regular basis.
6. She has discovered bookd! She will bring you book after book, sit on your lap looking at the pictures and listening intently one while you read it. Sometimes you might only get through 2 pages before she decides it is time for another one. A tall tall stack of books piles up next to us while she empties the bookshelves. It's pretty darn cute.
7. Weekly speech therapy begins in January, despite Abby's growing vocabulary. Dada, snow, santa, up, off, oatmeal, tree, ball, book, see....she has really been working on new words lately. We had a speech evaluation at the recommendation of her pediatrician, and she qualifies for speech therapy since she is about 30% delayed in speech for a 20 month old. We're not too concerned, but figured that the therapy can't hurt!
She's adorable, hilarious and a ton of fun! I can't imagine what we ever did without her.
So what is Abby up to at 20 months old?
1. She loves loves loves Santa! She runs around the house pointing at all the santa decorations yelling Santa! Santa! Santa! Of course, when we went to visit Santa, she refused to sit on his lap and cried hysterically when we tried to get her to just sit in front of him for a picture. Loves the idea of him, loves his picture and books, but not the actual guy. So, our Santa picture this year is Matt and I sitting in front of Santa with Jackson and Abby on our laps. (In a surprise turn from last year, Jackson also refused to sit on the big guy's lap!)
2. She is very particular about certain things. For example, tonight she was eating yogurt at dinner and when she spilled it on her shirt, she flipped out. We had to clean it off her shirt immediately. This happened over and over again. She also has a thing about apples on her plate. Don't even think about putting sliced apples on her plate. She will make sure they are removed immediately before she will eat. And it's not just food things...Every time she takes her socks off, she immediately sits down and inspects inbetween her toes, picking out any traces of lint she finds. If she can't quite get a piece, she insists on your help, immediately! She's funny!
3. Abby's elephant and pacifer have become increasingly important recently. We never never leave the house without either one of them. When she wants her pacifier, she will go over to Matt or me and pull at our pockets, assuming that is where her paci is. We are going to attempt to break her of the paci habit over Christmas break. We'll see!
4. She loves the bathroom, and everything about it. She will stand at the sink forever washing her hands, soaking herself and everything around her. She will sit and go through the bandaids, wanting you to put one on her finger, or hand, or foot. Then, just minutes later, insists that you take it off. But bandaids and handwashing have nothing on brushing her teeth. The girl loves to brush her teeth. She will use any toothbrush in the house, or every toothbrush in the house. She loves it. She does very little actually brushing, but sucks the water out of the brush, puts it back under the water and repeats. and repeats.....
5. Recently, Abby has warmed up to people other than Matt and me. On Thanksgiving, she went to both of my brothers and Sara too. She has realized that her Nana and Papa are a ton of fun and even went to spend the day with them a few weeks ago. She will go into the daycare at the Y and let me work out for an entire hour. She doesn't even cry when we leave her with a babysitter . She is still pretty apprehensive when new people come over to our house, but has really warmed up to the people that she sees on a regular basis.
6. She has discovered bookd! She will bring you book after book, sit on your lap looking at the pictures and listening intently one while you read it. Sometimes you might only get through 2 pages before she decides it is time for another one. A tall tall stack of books piles up next to us while she empties the bookshelves. It's pretty darn cute.
7. Weekly speech therapy begins in January, despite Abby's growing vocabulary. Dada, snow, santa, up, off, oatmeal, tree, ball, book, see....she has really been working on new words lately. We had a speech evaluation at the recommendation of her pediatrician, and she qualifies for speech therapy since she is about 30% delayed in speech for a 20 month old. We're not too concerned, but figured that the therapy can't hurt!
She's adorable, hilarious and a ton of fun! I can't imagine what we ever did without her.
Sunday, November 22, 2009
Dada!
Today, Abby said Dada! She has been saying Mama for quite some time now, but just hasn't been motivated to repeat the many, many times we have babbled Dada, Dada, Dada....until today. I said, Abby, who's that? while I pointed to Matt. Dada, she replied. Dada. Matt was so happy I thought he was going to cry.
Thursday, November 19, 2009
The World According to Jackson
According to Jackson, when will he attend college?
a. Never
b. When he's old
c. In three days
d. After lunch
When Jackson looks into the toilet after going "potty" and sees a big poop, what does he call it?
a. A snake
b. A limo poop
c. Ginormous
d. Nothing, he just laughs
When my friend Amy offers Jackson a treat of crackers, he responds with:
a. Thanks so much Jett's Mommy!
b. Really, cheese crackers?
c. This isn't a treat, chocolate is a treat!
d. These are my favorite and I'm not sharing with anyone!
Much to my chagrin, which character is Jackson currently immitating?
a. Mater from Cars
b. Boots, the monkey from Dora
c. B.O.B from Monsters vs. Aliens
d. Max from Max and Ruby
Answers:
1. Couple of days ago I told Jackson that I was the boss. He wondered outloud when he gets to be the boss. I told him he could be the boss after he went to college. He replied, "I think I will go to college in three days!"
2. Yea, sorry for the poop reference, but that is what you talk about with two kids under the age of four. The other day he actually called me in the bathroom to check out his extra long poop and exclaimed, "Look Mommy! It's a limo poop!"
3. Amy and Charlie came to babysit for the kiddos tonight while I had class and Matt was at report card pickup day. After dinner, she offered them a treat of crackers. He responded with "This isn't a treat, chocolate is a treat!" He later suggested that he look harder for some chocolate treats in the kitchen.
4. Yea, so any of you who have seen Max and Ruby know that Max speaks in only one word sentences. Car! Milk! Balloon. I hate that show. Jackson has started to talk like that too. He has an impressive vocabulary for a three year old, but is running around immitating this dumb rabbit. We deleted the show from our tivo. So long Max!
a. Never
b. When he's old
c. In three days
d. After lunch
When Jackson looks into the toilet after going "potty" and sees a big poop, what does he call it?
a. A snake
b. A limo poop
c. Ginormous
d. Nothing, he just laughs
When my friend Amy offers Jackson a treat of crackers, he responds with:
a. Thanks so much Jett's Mommy!
b. Really, cheese crackers?
c. This isn't a treat, chocolate is a treat!
d. These are my favorite and I'm not sharing with anyone!
Much to my chagrin, which character is Jackson currently immitating?
a. Mater from Cars
b. Boots, the monkey from Dora
c. B.O.B from Monsters vs. Aliens
d. Max from Max and Ruby
Answers:
1. Couple of days ago I told Jackson that I was the boss. He wondered outloud when he gets to be the boss. I told him he could be the boss after he went to college. He replied, "I think I will go to college in three days!"
2. Yea, sorry for the poop reference, but that is what you talk about with two kids under the age of four. The other day he actually called me in the bathroom to check out his extra long poop and exclaimed, "Look Mommy! It's a limo poop!"
3. Amy and Charlie came to babysit for the kiddos tonight while I had class and Matt was at report card pickup day. After dinner, she offered them a treat of crackers. He responded with "This isn't a treat, chocolate is a treat!" He later suggested that he look harder for some chocolate treats in the kitchen.
4. Yea, so any of you who have seen Max and Ruby know that Max speaks in only one word sentences. Car! Milk! Balloon. I hate that show. Jackson has started to talk like that too. He has an impressive vocabulary for a three year old, but is running around immitating this dumb rabbit. We deleted the show from our tivo. So long Max!
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Two bunnies and Three Elephants?
The day started off so great.
Eggo waffles, check.
Jackson dressed without a fight, check.
Mom showered, check.
Abby didn't refuse her outfit, check.
Second cup of coffee, check.
Off to school on time, check.
Dropped Jackson off to school, check.
That is where my luck stalled, or rather my car did. Abby and I went out to the car after dropping off Jackson and my car wouldn't start. The battery was dead. But what luck....there is a Midas right across the street! Of course they have a Toyota Sienna battery! Of course the nice man will brave the Irving Park Rd. traffic to install it for me! Great! Of course they have lollipops in the waiting room for Abby. No, Abby, you can't have another one. Oh no! This lollipop incident caused a meltdown that you wouldn't believe. And on the day that we forgot elephant at home, of course. I want you to know that I am not exaggerating when I tell you that Abby cried for 45 minutes. 45 minutes! I tried everything....Do you want raisins Abby? NO! Do you want to watch a movie? NO! Look! It's Elmo! NO! Do you want elephant? YEA! Well, I tried to explain that we had left him at home, but it wasn't worth it. I thought she would calm down, I thought she might fall asleep, I thought I could distract her. NO. We drove down Clybourn on our way to run some errands, when I realized that no, Abby wasn't going to stop crying. She wasn't going to calm down without that elephant. It had been just over 30 minutes when I realized that Land of Nod was just a block away. We are saved! We rushed in...Blue Jellycat elephant please. NO. They were out. Of course. They were however so nice as to call another store to check if they had them. Not even another Land of Nod, but another retailer. How nice are they? No luck. I gave up on running my errands and we headed all the way home to retrieve elephant. I ran to scoop him up off the living room floor where we had forgotten him. Abby was asleep with elephant in her hands in less than one minute. Tomorrow morning we won't leave the house without elephant! I promise!
Abby's elephant, check.
Eggo waffles, check.
Jackson dressed without a fight, check.
Mom showered, check.
Abby didn't refuse her outfit, check.
Second cup of coffee, check.
Off to school on time, check.
Dropped Jackson off to school, check.
That is where my luck stalled, or rather my car did. Abby and I went out to the car after dropping off Jackson and my car wouldn't start. The battery was dead. But what luck....there is a Midas right across the street! Of course they have a Toyota Sienna battery! Of course the nice man will brave the Irving Park Rd. traffic to install it for me! Great! Of course they have lollipops in the waiting room for Abby. No, Abby, you can't have another one. Oh no! This lollipop incident caused a meltdown that you wouldn't believe. And on the day that we forgot elephant at home, of course. I want you to know that I am not exaggerating when I tell you that Abby cried for 45 minutes. 45 minutes! I tried everything....Do you want raisins Abby? NO! Do you want to watch a movie? NO! Look! It's Elmo! NO! Do you want elephant? YEA! Well, I tried to explain that we had left him at home, but it wasn't worth it. I thought she would calm down, I thought she might fall asleep, I thought I could distract her. NO. We drove down Clybourn on our way to run some errands, when I realized that no, Abby wasn't going to stop crying. She wasn't going to calm down without that elephant. It had been just over 30 minutes when I realized that Land of Nod was just a block away. We are saved! We rushed in...Blue Jellycat elephant please. NO. They were out. Of course. They were however so nice as to call another store to check if they had them. Not even another Land of Nod, but another retailer. How nice are they? No luck. I gave up on running my errands and we headed all the way home to retrieve elephant. I ran to scoop him up off the living room floor where we had forgotten him. Abby was asleep with elephant in her hands in less than one minute. Tomorrow morning we won't leave the house without elephant! I promise!
Abby's elephant, check.
Sunday, November 1, 2009
No thanks, I don't need any more candy!
Sometime yesterday afternoon, Matt and I discussed the fact that neither one of us would ever want to miss trick-or-treating. We wouldn't want to stay home and relax while the other took the kids out to beg for candy. We wouldn't want to miss out on the one night a year when the kids rushed to each door anticipating what kind of treat they might get or the big smile on their faces while they searched inside that plastic pumpkin looking at all that sugar! Then, last night I had to miss it all.
We went to soccer yesterday morning like we do every Saturday morning. Then, afterward we headed to a neighborhood Halloween festival to fill the morning hours before naptime. We had lunch with Nana & Papa so they could check out the kiddos in their costumes and give them some of their own Halloween treats. Then, we headed home for naps. All seemed to be going to our carefully planned Halloween schedule.
But then Abby woke up from her nap...screaming and crying. While Jackson and Matt rushed around getting ready to go, I attempted to calm Abby. She screamed, she cried and she even squirmed away from me when I attempted to soothe her. Nearly 30 minutes later, she was still crying, and it was time to go...trick or treating awaited. Jackson and Matt headed out to meet up with the Whipples, while I sat on the couch trying to calm Abby in vain. Go ahead, I told Matt....when she calms down, we will meet you there.
Abby continued to cry. I tried everything I could think of. Milk? no. Juice? no. Standing up and rocking her? no. Sitting down? no. Lying down? no. Candy? ( I was desperate!) no. Rubbing her back? no. I sat on the couch and I began to cry. Now we were both crying. After about an hour of this, she finally fell asleep lying on top of me. I didn't move...for 2 hours! Luckily, the remote control was nearby. I went through our library and caught up on the shows we tape but usually never watch. Matt called to check in and I whispered into the phone, "She's sleeping...have fun!"
Then, suddenly, Abby woke up. She looked at me, hair amess, face emplanted with marks from lying against my sweater and giggled. She just looked at me and giggled. She was fine. No more screaming and crying. No more tears. Just giggles. We missed trick-or-treating, but she was fine. We ate dinner and had some Halloween treats while we waited for the boys to return from their trick or treating adventure.
Jackson walked in full of Halloween energy and with a plastic pumpkin full of treats. How was trick or treating, I asked? Great! He replied. Then Matt filled me in on what I had missed. Jackson and Sofia had a great time. Jackson promised to share his candy with sister. House after house, Jackson and Sofia collected their treats and travelled from block to block with the other kids. With a pumpkin full of snickers, lollipops and pretzels, Jackson turned to Matt and told him, I don't need any more candy! Yet, Sofia wasn't ready to throw in the towel. They had to hit up those last couple of houses. When Jackson went up to the last door, he informed the homeowner, "No thanks, I don't need any more candy!" Seriously? Yes....he actually refused the candy. The confused homeowner left for a minute and returned with a plastic stencil to give him instead. He happily took it and trick-or-treating was over.
We went to soccer yesterday morning like we do every Saturday morning. Then, afterward we headed to a neighborhood Halloween festival to fill the morning hours before naptime. We had lunch with Nana & Papa so they could check out the kiddos in their costumes and give them some of their own Halloween treats. Then, we headed home for naps. All seemed to be going to our carefully planned Halloween schedule.
But then Abby woke up from her nap...screaming and crying. While Jackson and Matt rushed around getting ready to go, I attempted to calm Abby. She screamed, she cried and she even squirmed away from me when I attempted to soothe her. Nearly 30 minutes later, she was still crying, and it was time to go...trick or treating awaited. Jackson and Matt headed out to meet up with the Whipples, while I sat on the couch trying to calm Abby in vain. Go ahead, I told Matt....when she calms down, we will meet you there.
Abby continued to cry. I tried everything I could think of. Milk? no. Juice? no. Standing up and rocking her? no. Sitting down? no. Lying down? no. Candy? ( I was desperate!) no. Rubbing her back? no. I sat on the couch and I began to cry. Now we were both crying. After about an hour of this, she finally fell asleep lying on top of me. I didn't move...for 2 hours! Luckily, the remote control was nearby. I went through our library and caught up on the shows we tape but usually never watch. Matt called to check in and I whispered into the phone, "She's sleeping...have fun!"
Then, suddenly, Abby woke up. She looked at me, hair amess, face emplanted with marks from lying against my sweater and giggled. She just looked at me and giggled. She was fine. No more screaming and crying. No more tears. Just giggles. We missed trick-or-treating, but she was fine. We ate dinner and had some Halloween treats while we waited for the boys to return from their trick or treating adventure.
Jackson walked in full of Halloween energy and with a plastic pumpkin full of treats. How was trick or treating, I asked? Great! He replied. Then Matt filled me in on what I had missed. Jackson and Sofia had a great time. Jackson promised to share his candy with sister. House after house, Jackson and Sofia collected their treats and travelled from block to block with the other kids. With a pumpkin full of snickers, lollipops and pretzels, Jackson turned to Matt and told him, I don't need any more candy! Yet, Sofia wasn't ready to throw in the towel. They had to hit up those last couple of houses. When Jackson went up to the last door, he informed the homeowner, "No thanks, I don't need any more candy!" Seriously? Yes....he actually refused the candy. The confused homeowner left for a minute and returned with a plastic stencil to give him instead. He happily took it and trick-or-treating was over.
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