Baby Chores

Monkey see, monkey do.
First she tries putting on Darla's harness for walks. Yesterday she watched me pull tufts of molting fur from Darla and decided to try and gently pull (non-existant) tufts from Fenwick in the same manner. (Then looks at the two pieces of fur on her hand and wipes them on the bed, before proceeding to look for more tufts.)
And she does this: (video)


Next chore - cleaning the cat litter box!

Amendement

Did I say nine teeth?
Make that ten.
She is cutting a molar on the other side (still on top) as well.
Two. Two molars ah ha ha ha.
:(

Abi requires extra attention right now (clingy). Robin was happy to oblige with some book time.

Basement Toys

Noisy toys are usually designated as "basement" toys. That is, Abi can play with them in the basement with dad because I strongly dislike electronic sounding toys. These gifts have always been gifts, because I refused to buy them.
Nevertheless, today I caved and bought a toy phone for Abi at Angel Worn. She loves it, and given that she is cutting a molar and very clingy - *I* needed something that would keep her entertained.
Now I just have to tune out the phone...

Michaels - Check your receipt

Do you shop at Michaels craft store? Do you check your receipts? Well, if you do the first but not the second, check it! Your Michaels receipt has a coupon for the next week. So far mine are usually 50% off a regular priced item. (This week's was 40%, but next week's is 50% again). Each week, Abi and I now have a short outing at Michaels to buy one ball of yarn (lately sock yarn for Yule gifts) and get our next coupon. Yes, it is difficult to not buy more, but I know I'll be back next week for the necessary second ball of yarn and these are not rare or discontinued colours.
I imagine this coupon would be very handy if you have a crafty child. You could get a new kit or such each week for 50% the cost. Plus, if you are in there every week, you'll actually notice what other clearance sales they may have on. I only buy scrapbooks when they are 40-50% off, for example.
If you check the mailed flyer, the webiste, or flyerland.ca you may find another 50% off one item coupon. Of course, one per customer per day - but maybe your kids are old enough to pay for the second item you have a coupon for.
Just a heads up since I've recently learned that many people don't know about this coupon.

YES

Two posts in a day. Whoa!

I simply had to share this.

Abi now says "yes". Not quite with intent, but clearly it is "yes" - so I'm working on her using it in proper context. Such as "Do you love mommy?" "yes" lol NOT [I want that] "YES!"

We also just received a bag full of board books for Abi and I'm excited to go through them with her tomorrow. She looooooves books. Mommy's girl :) Her current favourite is Piggies. (I see from Amazon there is version with a musical CD, which we do not have but I'm curious about the CD...) She loves to hold up her hands like the pictures, and then her feet. She'll read it alone, or bring it to me, she'll even find it if I ask her where it is. I'm a little proud of her ;)

Father's Day and 9 Teeth

Yesterday we had a wonderful family day. Started with "Abi" making her daddy pancakes with fresh strawberries she picked from our garden, back bacon, eggs and coffee. Had a relaxing day at home while Robin listened to his two new CDs - more gifts from "Abi". It has been a long while since either of us bought new music. Later we went to the Multi-Cultural Festival at Victoria Park - full of more culinary delights. We'd been by Saturday evening as well (after dinner) and once we knew how much there was to sample and see, we knew we would have to return Sunday! Daddy and Abi splashed around on the water pad area for a while. It was jam-packed with screaming kids. Robin and Abi plan to make many more trips there this summer. Picked up some steaks to BBQ and Blizzards to cool off. Blizzards remind me of my dad because my parents live near a DQ and my dad would frequently treat us and the dog to ice cream.

Abi has cut her ninth tooth. The newest addition is in her top right side, a molar. We knew she was teething, but could not tell what tooth. Poor baby. Of course, you'd never know her pain from her smiles. I reflect, daily, on how blessed we are with such a happy child. One can only hope this stays true during the later years...
A couple weeks ago, a friend of mine offered to take some family photographs for us. I haven't shown many of them yet because I was waiting to send them off for Father's Day. Now that that is done, here are a few favourites. (Since I was feeling guilty for not adding pictures last time.)


We had a great evening in Waterloo Park taking pictures.

You have probably noticed the huge smiley picture of Abi at the top of the blog (and the new, more fitting blog title). I'll eventually size that image down - next chance I get to edit photos. In the meantime, I'm sure you'll survive that smile!

Witch Camp and Other Exciting Things

By the time I sit to write, I tend to have forgotten what I was going to write about, especially lately while I've been sick with a nasty ear/throat infection.
The last week has involved a lot of napping - for me. Fortunately, Abi has been cooperative and napped with me for as long as 5 hours. It seems that, as long as she has me there to cuddle with and nurse, she'll sleep forever.

Last weekend she and I attended witch camp, her first (my fourth). Abi had a great time and loved playing with all the other kids. She also napped very well in our tent during the day, but didn't sleep so well at night. I think this had to do with the cold nights and her extreme dislike for blankets. In the end I let her sleep in her fleece outfit so that when she sooner than later freed herself of our blanket she wouldn't be cold. We have another festival to camp at in July, so I'll have to figure out something to keep her warm at night. I'm thinking a blanket-jumper may be in order because at least she can't kick it off. She won't be too happy about it.

So what's new with Abi? Had I mentioned that she figured out how to pull open a dresser drawer just so that she can use it to climb up and reach more things on the dresser top? Apparently it wasn't enough to just pull everything out of the drawer or to reach items at the edge of the dresser. She must be able to see everything. Nothing on any of our tables is safe anymore.

Robin has taught her "happy feet" - a little dance. He neglected to tell me this, so I was quite surprised to see her do her little dance one day as we sang "If you're happy and you know it". Normally she just likes to clap along (it's her favourite song), but now she also has to dance.

Abi also loves shoes. She enjoys putting on her own shoes and other people's shoes. She will pull off her socks just to try and put new ones on (unsuccessfully). She also needs help for putting on shoes, but she does try. And she will try to take my flip flops off my feet and put them back on. I'm not sure why she is so interested in shoes.

Abi loves pictures of herself. One sure-fire way to make her smile is to play a slideshow of photos. Why would I need to make her smile? you ask. You only THINK she's smiley all the time because another good way to turn her frown upside down is to pull out the camera. She hates to disappoint her fans!

Speaking of pictures, there's a few new ones at flickr and I don't feel like posting them here since they are already feeding into the blog and I'm sick. Maybe next time.

Hi Hi Hi Hi Hi

Hi.
That's Abigail's new word. Or sound. It's difficult to tell if she means "hello" or just likes the "i" sound right now.

A funny story from today that you will appreciate (if you didn't already see it on my FB status):
Abigail sought out and found Darla's leash. She then proceeded to try and put it on the dog - unsuccessfully of course. When she gave up on that she waited at the front door, making it very clear that she wanted to go outside. By now the dog is excited because Abigail has offered to take her for a walk! There's no turning back at this point. Two against one. So I let them out, hauled the stroller out, and then watched as Abi climbed into it and turned around, waiting for me to buckle her in. She knows what she wants! Off we went for a lovely walk and to play at the park. Abi fell asleep on the ride home, so I sat outside reading and taking notes (I actually have to return a library book tomorrow! I'm accustomed to keeping them forever or until they are recalled) while she napped in the fresh air.

We also had a Naturopath appointment for Abigail today. She still weighs less than 21lbs, so it will be a while yet before she gets to ride in her front-facing car seat (22lbs min). Her growth is good, she's just on the light side (10th percentile). Aside from still having to use the rear-facing car seat, I don't mind her being light! Much easier on me.

June Already

Seriously, where do the days disappear to??
Abi is teething heavily again. It's off and on whether she'll sleep half the day and eat during the rest of it, or barely sleep at all (more recently). I foresee a growth spurt with all that sleeping and eating.
Robin hooked the bike trailer up the other day. With Abi sporting her new red duck-duck-goose helmet, off they went to enjoy the day.



She's become much better at not putting things in her mouth. However, when she does (or we think she has) she responds well to "what's in your mouth?"


She still loves her cat Fenwick

And she would love to to cuddle with Monkey, but that ain't happening. Monkey runs away, hypocrite that she is.

Mostly, though, Abi loves running around outside lately.

Not on the cushioned lawn of course. No, she walks straight off of there if she can - off into the big world as she aims to head down the street. Maybe one day she really will go join a circus. "Bye mom, I'm leaving!