Chores

Abby does chores!

sleeping beauty

We went to the St. Patrick's Day parade on Saturday and got home way past her normal naptime.  So I laid her down and wanted to wake her so she didn't sleep into the evening. 

I'm obsessed with taking videos...1. They're easy to do now that I have a good phone that takes video 2. Abby likes to watch herself on the videos.  and 3. I love having those memories of Abby!  Can you blame a girl?! 

Fishy Face

I happened to catch this moment while Abby was making a fishy face.  I had to act quick as Abby would notice my phone and want to watch videos! 

Binky Elimination

Since Abby is currently sixteen and a half months old, I've been wanting to have the binky eliminated by roughly eighteen months old.  So began Project Binky Elimination.  We used to have a binky stored on every table and anywhere within reaching distance.  That quickly faded when we decided to not let her walk around with it in her mouth.  We then got it out of the car seat.  Soon that left us with the pacifier used during nap time and bedtime.  I was okay with that.  Abby knows that when we pick her up out of her crib, she is to toss the binky in the crib.  She's really good about it.  I have to give Brent and I the credit for that as we made that a rule and didn't waver.  I did notice that sometimes when I'd pick Abby up from daycare, she'd have her binky in her mouth.  The staff explained that she was being fussy or some other lame excuse.  Brent and I would stress to only let her have it at naptime.  A few times we were told that Abby was wanting the binky and so the staff put her in her crib so she could have it.  When Abby was done and had her 'binky fix', she'd stand up and toss the bink out of her mouth.  (Smart girl).  

This week, Brent and I decided to eliminate the binky at naptime.  We were a bit scared as her affinity for it has exploded in the past few weeks.  Saturday was her first nap without it.  I laid her down, covered with a blanket after reading a book to help lull her a bit and quickly escaped the room before Abby would utter "bink, bink".  It wasn't a couple minutes before we heard the cry began.  Brent and I stayed strong.  Luckily for us, the crying only lasted 10-15 minutes and she slept soundly for a full 2 hour nap.  She did cry/whine mid nap, but that subsided quickly and she fell back asleep.  Aah. Day one of No-Binky Nap went well.  Sunday was even better!  She cried for maybe 10 minutes and then took a 2 1/2 hour nap.  No crying mid nap either.  Awesome.  This was going better than I expected.  

Now, daycare I was more concerned with as they're not going to allow her to cry and disrupt the rest of the kids who are trying to nap.  I got a report that she did well on Monday.  I had drop off duty on Tuesday and when I asked about nap time on Monday, I was told that the staff person offered Abby the binky.  Abby only had it a short while before Abby 'turned it in', however.  I was a bit disturbed as Brent and I have made a commitment to not backing down to things like that.  There aren't any situations where I'd say "Okay, just give her the binky, it's okay".  I didn't want Abby to get sent mixed messages.  So when the daycare staff worker offered to hand over the binkies to me to take home, I accepted without hesitation.  I left Tuesday morning with 2 binkies in hand and didn't look back.  Neither did Abby.  

Today is Wednesday and we are home for a snow day (YES!) and Abby is currently napping without a binky.  She did cry, but only momentarily.  

No looking back.  Next task is bedtime binky elimination.  That will be a bigger hurdle, but considering she did so well with the nap time elimination, that gives me hope for the next stage.  

Chatty Cathy

Boy oh boy, Abby is really chatting up a storm.  She just rolled over her 16th month of life (really??) and is imitating a ton of single words and even some 2 word phrases.  Just this morning she said "bye bye Lacey" spontaneously.  Oh, my speech pathologist heart just beams when she does this!  I forget typical language development so quickly when working with such delayed children on a daily basis.  Abby continues to use sign language, but when she gets better at saying the word, the sign seems to fade.  

Abby's words that she says spontaneously and imitates frequently and consistently:

1. up
2. hat
3. hot
4. help
5. stuck
6. mama
7. dada
8. lacey
9. all done (she doesn't sign this one much anymore it's just "ah duh")
10. more (she sounds like a british person "mo-uh" in her sweet voice.  we laugh because she'll see Brent or I eat something and she'll run over saying "mo-uh" without even knowing what it is we're eating just knowing that she wants some!")
11. bath (sign is still present more than the word, but considering her love of baths, I see verbalization increasing soon and the sign fading)
12. doggy
13. monkey
14. ooh-ooh (what a monkey says)
15. hi
16. bye bye
17. coat
18. shoes
19. socks
20. book (she requests every time we get into her carseat.  she loves reading her books while we drive)
21. open
22. off
23. all clean
24. ball
25. yes (or we get a head nod - and it's really cute when she nods her head)
26. no (accompanied with head shaking and arm flailing)
27. happy
28. eyes
29. car

Holy Moly!  After typing this list I had no idea that she had so many words!  At this age she should only really have 10-15 words, so she's ahead of the curve!  She's a genius! But I guess I already knew that.  :)  

Abby has this new affinity for getting on the couch and running back and forth on it slamming into the pillows/us/arm rests.  She thinks it's hilarious and will do it over and over.  And over.  She always requests "up" when she wants to get up on the couch, but I've now caught her a couple times maneuvering herself to get up on the couch herself.  Can you say "uh oh"?  

Cubby Love

Abby loves climbing into the cabinet in the kitchen.  She'll pull out all of the tupperware (seen below) and crawl in.  There is also a place in our bedroom that we placed a stool because she had this attraction to the nook space between the wall and my dresser.  

I also have a video of Abby peeking out of her nook, but I'm having difficulty uploading it to the blog.  Grr.  

Snow Baby

Abby had her first experience in the snow this weekend.  Since December decided to actually act like December and not September/October, we got several inches of snow the day after Christmas.  Abby got  bundled up in many layers of clothes and headed out.  She could barely walk in the snow - partly because the boots she was wearing were stiff, the snow was unsteady to walk on and the layers of clothes made it difficult to move. 

She didn't care to sit in the snow - maybe her toosh wasn't layered up enough?  She did face plant a couple of times and I couldn't help but chuckle out loud and then think of the movie "A Christmas Story" with the little brother, Ralph, as he was bundled up ready to go to school.  "I can't put my arms down!". 

Side Note: You know, now that I'm on a school schedule and actually get snow days, I'm bummed that it had to snow on my break.  I mean, seriously, couldn't this snow have waited a week or so and I would've gotten a bonus day off!  However, maybe this is a preview of what's to come this winter...

Stationery card

Merry Polka Dots Christmas Card

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Abby is Communicating!

Abby is beginning to imitate our words and just recently, spontaneously use words to communicate her wants/needs.  Plus she is able to follow simple directions and it's so cool to watch! I'm loving typical language development.  It does make me sad sometimes knowing that some of the preschool children I work with are behind Abby in communication skills.  That makes me grateful for and not take for granted my healthy child. 

Signs Abby uses:
bye bye
hi
more
eat
sleepy
bath
milk
all done
open
blow kiss

Words  Abby says (rough approximations):
open
up
hi
bye bye
dada
mama
dog
uh oh
all done

I'm impressed...and she's not even 14 months old!  

Here's a quick video I shot tonight at dinner!

Pumpkins

While my parents were here for Abby's birthday, I dragged them to a pumpkin farm (that's a whole other story of how and when we went when we did...sheesh!).  I wanted to start a tradition of going to a pumpkin patch to pick out a pumpkin and enjoy some fall festivities.  I didn't always have such an affinity for all things autumn, but it's turned into one of my favorite times of year! 
So the 5 of us went to a pumpkin farm and picked out a 2 bigger pumpkins to carve and 3 smaller cute pumpkins.  Abby wasn't letting us know one way or the other how she felt as she just stared.  No crying, but no smiles either.  Tough crowd, I tell ya. 

Later that evening (after the football games...that's a hint of the complications we had with the pumpkin patch outing), we piled around the dining room table to carve Abby's first pumpkin.  Everyone got involved and I have to say, I was impressed.  Dad made the initial slice into the pumpkin to cut around the stem to pull off the top.  Mom was the brave and strong one to scoop out the guts.  Abby wasn't hesitant to touch and play with the goopy pumpkin guts.  Dad and I separated the seeds from the goop to set aside so we could roast the seeds later (Spoiler Alert: the seeds never got roasted...boo!)  Up next was Brent as he traced a pattern on the pumpkin and put his artist skills to work as he etched out an owl pattern.  It turned out fantastic! 

I've learned a few things from my first pumpkin carving in quite some time:
1. Don't carve the pumpkin so early.  It'll rot before halloween even comes. 
2. Don't seal off the seeds in hopes to keep them moist before roasting.  That grows mold.
3.  Also, don't wait several days before thinking "oh, yeah, I have seeds to roast" and then peek inside.  That grows A LOT of mold. 

**Now, you might be asking why don't I have pictures to share?  They are on my camera, but for some reason when I try to upload I get a nasty message stating that I'm out of room.  So, I don't know what to do.  How does one make more room for photos?  Can anyone shed a light on this topic? **