January & February 2009

Abby is constantly having "firsts".  It seems that every day brings at least one thing that is new.  I will try to catch up on the last couple of months and not leave anything out.  

Abby's Gramma and Poppa in Virginia came down and spent a week at Christmas with us.  We loved having them here.  (And Gypsy, too!)  I think they liked the warmer weather down here! And she said "Gramma" for the first time while they were here to Sandy.

New Years was quiet for us and pretty uneventful...we stayed at home.

January finally brought colder temperatures here.  That didn't stop Abby from staying naked 24/7 though.  I can dress her and 5 minutes later she is naked again.  Sometimes she will wear her diaper, sometimes she won't.  She rips her earrings out when I put them in so I stopped putting them in, but I still push earrings through to make sure the holes don't close up.

She now whistles, imitates people, and fake sneezes so that you will say "God Bless You" to her. She constantly cracks me up with her hilarious antics.  If she is not climbing in the kitty carrier or giving kisses to Mr Boots, she has the potty chair bucket on her head or the hamper, or anything else she thinks would make a great hat.  Her shoe fetish is in full swing, and she likes to wear shoes, although they rarely are on the correct foot or are a matching pair of shoes.  She doesn't seem to mind at all.  She also follows directions now when I give them to her...like help me clean up the toys or help Mommy find your sippy cup.  Her most favorite activities take place in the bathroom...she LOVES to take baths, and she LOVES to brush her teeth.  If I let her, she would brush them all day every day.

Her hair is finally coming in thicker, but she will not let me put a bow or a barrette or a pony tail thing in her hair.  She has 16 teeth now, with 2 more coming in.  Yesterday I measured her at 32 inches tall and 29 pounds.  She has had a huge growth spurt since the fall when Grubby was home.  (She was a size 5 shoe, 18-24 month pants, and 2T top....now she is a size 6 shoe, 3T pants and 5T shirt)  

She still loves Elmo, but her new favorite TV show is Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and likes to do "the Hot Dog Dance".  She also has a computer program that she loves to play, made for toddlers, and she has a fit over her Leap Pad books.  Books and balls are her favorite play toys.   She really loves dogs and cats and ducks.  Mr Boots will allow her to brush him...even though she brushes him the wrong direction, and he will play with her and let her roll all over him and wrestle him.  Buddy is not so interested in her, although he has let her pet him a few times. 

I can now finally put her to bed in her own room without her freaking out.  (We started in December when Gramma and Poppa came down.)  She will even sleep part of the night in her own bed, but she gets up in the middle of the night and climbs in bed with me.  But we are making progress.   

I tried finger painting with her, and she did great!  She loved the blue and green but wouldn't have anything to do with the yellow or red.  :o)  And she will color pictures now instead of just eating the crayons.  She still eats the crayons, but she does pause to color once in a while.  Silly child!  

My favorite new thing she does is that she will give kisses.  She will pucker up and make the "mmmm" sound and run to me from across the room.  She even told my mom "I love you", but she has not said it to me yet.  

We are very excited about the end of February...a trip to Norfolk where we will see Meridie, Mike, Maddie, Mackenzie, and Peggy...and then on to Crete, Greece for three whole months with Daddy!   YAY!!!  Grandma Havens is coming with us for the first 2 weeks and then will fly back home.  I am so excited for Abby to spend so much time with her Daddy.  She loves him dearly and misses him so very much!  It will be good for both of them to have that time together.  (Not to mention I miss him terribly, too!!!)  

And while we are there, Abby will get to see Uncle Craigy when he transfers in to Greece!  She hasn't seen him in almost a full year!  

So we are really excited to go on this trip....well, I am, and she would be too, if she fully understood!