Why Mommy Why...

 

I can't tell if she's thinking about her next big poop, or contemplating what her first words should be...

Sometimes the looks on her face give me the impression that her little brain is running full speed ahead and I fear that by the age of 5 she'll know more than I can explain to her. I can see the "why's" forming in her head already!  

Mommy, why do I have to go to bed now?

Mommy, why is F*^k a bad word?

Mommy, why can't I stand up to pee?

Mommy, why do I have to wear clothes?

Mommy, why do farts smell?

Mommy, why can't the dog come to school with me?

Mommy, why do you have those marks on your body? 

Mommy, why do you and Daddy make noises at night, are you having bad dreams?

I could go on but I'll wait until she starts asking them and maybe if I'm motivated I'll try to keep track of all the actual questions I get...or at least 1-2% of them :-)

For now I'm content to watch her as she figures out how to sit up on her own, feed herself, drink from her sippy cup, roll over, scoot around and coming soon...the crawl. If she has any of her Mommy in her, we'd better enjoy the quiet before she learns to speak because that will be the end of the peace in this house!!

Ode to BonBon

I know this blog is dedicated to our little miracle but her big sister used to be the center of our world and has become "2nd in Command" to Miss Abbey so I thought it was appropriate to show her some big sister love and let all her adoring fans know that the Big Sister of the house is doing well - loving her sister, defending the house and being her general lazy self!

So for all the BonBon lovers - here's a little glimpse into her new "Abbey filled" world...if it looks like the old world you wouldn't be far off...

And we grow, and grow, and grow...

So it's been about a week since I commented on the wonder which is our Abbey Jean...every day I could comment on how she's grown or something new she's doing and I know her Gammy would just love that but unfortunately life is just a little too crazy for that so here's an update on our precious little one.

We had a case of the poops last week, I promised I wouldn't talk about poop so keep reading it leads to something non-poop related...anyway, the poops = a trip to the doctor. A trip that I was not up for making on a Friday afternoon of what had been a taxing, miserable and unproductive work week. That said, off we went - to her credit, little Miss does extraordinarily well at the doctors - loving the attention and the ability to be naked in the middle of the day (something Mommy used to love too & will love again when she moves out) she proceeded to win the hearts of all who had to interact with her. Cooing, chatting, smiling, drooling and being her normal happy little self. She was fine with a little pedialite and some rice cereal in a couple days she was right as rain. We did learn however that our little girl is fast becoming not so little. Barely over the 5 month mark at that point she weighed in at 17.4 pounds. Now a dear friend of mine likes to refer to her little man as "Mr. McFatty Fat Pants" and I'm starting to think we need a new name other than "Lil Bit":-)

Skipping ahead to the following week, she showed us that she has mastered the art of moving - not through crawling but through scooting on her back side. Although she no longer screams when on her tummy she still prefers the comfort of lying on her back and has figured out how to get around with what I refer to as the upside down crawl. Lifting her butt and belly, she turns her head in the directions he wants to go and then pushes off with her feet - quite impressive in my book.

She has also come to love her Tommy Tippie sippy cup.  Being the big girl she is she's decided that eating and drinking should now be her responsibility and the only time she likes to be fed is when she's tired and it's time for a nap or bed, then the baba can be held for her.

All these big girl activities and although I sit in sheer wonder of her I'm also still in panic mode about just how fast she's growing as I miss my "baby" as she quickly becomes a big girl!  But at the end of the day she's just about the most beautiful thing I've ever laid eyes on!

Yankees Fan in the Making...

So in case anyone was wondering what team we support in the house, the feet say it all!!

Can you imagine any other team - for you Red Sox fans - stop reading my blog you're not welcome here! Go Yankees!!

So I've been meaning to post these pics of Auntie Patty and her mini-me Yankee's fan for awhile now - all I can say is good things take time. This face is telling the world, we support the Yankees - you got a problem with that?

These are the Days...

Gotta love a little Natalie Merchant circa 1992...I can't believe this song is 19 years old and yet as I sit here tonight watching my little one sleep the lyrics immediately came to mind.

"never before and ever since, I promise
will the whole world be warm as this
and as you feel it, you'll know it's true
that you are blessed and lucky
it's true, that you are touched by something
that will grow and bloom in you

these are days you'll remember"

I know I'll remember these days amongst the many other that this life will have to offer, many much more memorable than this mundane Monday but none the less this day is memorable for the fact that it's the first time my little girl threw up...didn't see that one coming did you? Hey, I was trying to improve the message but at the end of the day...she pooped and threw up her formula all over Miss Heidi at daycare!

And here I sit and chuckle at the fact that my hard earned money that is spent in excess at daycare, today was well spent. I will happily pay others to deal with and clean up after my vomiting little one. Thankfully by the time I picked her up this evening she was right as rain, happy and ready to eat again!!

See I'm happy and good to go!!

Abbey's New Trick

I leave the house for 3 short hours today to enjoy a long over due day of pampering at Kimberly's Day Spa only to come home to find that our little girl has made a new discovery and I am saddened to say that I had not yet had the chance to teach this to her myself...she is however, Mommy's girl so it should come as no surprise to find that in just 5 short months on this earth she has discovered the one thing that all intelligent, successful and happy women learn, albeit some of us spend much more of our lives learning it...

Credit cards are a girls best friend...and Daddy's credit cards are our best friend!! So to all those women out there who are still their Daddy's little girl at heart and to those little girls out there learning the ways of the world, take a lesson from my dear little Miss Abbey... Big Spender Abbey

I'm a Big Girl Now...

I write this as my "big girl" lays screaming in her crib, obviously over tired and just plain ole miserable! Everyone has their moments I guess, I do wish there were opportunities for Mommy to trash around screaming at the top of her lungs...okay I get those moments they're just fewer than before baby came and now I'm jealous!

Anyway, I had a point to this blog...my big girl...we're approaching the six month milestone and in a hurry! Mommy is approaching the desire to throw the bottles out the window. I now know why women who breast feed exclusively are such proponents of it and if I had been better at producing milk and didn't have to work I'd be all about the boob still...although I'd be wanting to weaning off that too at this point.

So in support of little Miss Abbey's becoming a big girl we've begun the sippy cup...and she is loving it!

So we're really gonna do this thing???

Let me get my lips in the mood to tackle this sippy cup thing...

Okay, a little help till I can figure out what to do with this big pink thing!

Let me just say...I'm all over this people!

 Nothing like tippin back a cold one...lovin me the sippy cup!!

Can you say BIG GIRL!!

She doesn't like it...she really doesn't like it...

Well friends and fans we've finally found something our little Miss Abbey doesn't care for...green beans and we're also looking very carefully at bananas...every time we try these two foods we get the following face, followed by a lot of spitting, sputtering and sometimes just down right growling!

At least she looks cool in her AC/DC bib...Right? Yeah, I look COOL - or is that pissed off? Either way - Rocker Girl does NOT like green beans...

Working From Home

There is truly something to be said for working from home - even if it's only because we're experiencing a blizzard outside. Right now I'm manning a live event, doing a load of laundry, watching my daughter sleep, responding to emails/technical issues, watching Dr. Drew, cuddling with my dog, seeing the snow fall and writing this blog - all in-between running to the bathroom because my stomach is off today...I think it's safe to say that I'm taking multi-tasking to a new level here!

Breakfast First:

Then Playtime...Mommy would like some playtime as well but there is an event to run amongst the rest of this madness...

 As you can see our first born was not having as much fun as she once did without her "little sister"...

Although I know I'm going to be exhausted and happy to go to the office tomorrow to get a break I'm enjoying being home with my little one on her 5th month birthday today.  She's growing so fast and I feel like I'm going to blink and she's going to be walking and talking!! Since it's been awhile since we posted new pics (and Daddy's office is closed today) I was able to solicit some of the pictures we took the other day to post here for everyone's viewing enjoyment. Okay, really it was for my own enjoyment and so certain people didn't nag me about my lack of updates and pictures (you know who you are)... enjoy!

Fun in the Snow!

So the snow outside today reminded me of Abbey's first snow storm that occurred not too long ago, and during which we took pictures...Yes people, we too get busy and don't post regularly...so now I'm playing catch-up and you get everything all at once!! Little Miss got to wear her snow suit for the first time this season and potentially for the last time because she's already so big that she has no room to grow any longer otherwise her legs will be bent the entire time she's in the suit.

Looking at her laying on the floor waiting for Mommy to get dressed and take her out I can only think of one thing...  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HW4IZ0Flh3M - if Abbey could talk we would have had this same conversation! "Mmmmmmm, I can't put my arms down!!! - Put your arms down when you get to school!"

Child Restraints

Okay, so I'm about to be nominated for the bad mommy award but seriously I'm wondering if there is a legal and safe way to restrain a child? I don't mean those child restraints available in a car seat or on a carnival ride...although those might come in useful...what I'm really looking for is a way to keep my little one in her crib in one safe/central location.

Every night we place baby Abbey safely in the middle of her crib, head away from the baby monitor, wrap her snugly in her blanket and walk out of the room. For the first few hours she is what we lovingly refer to as "comma kid" - arms up, head to the left or right and legs down - still to the point you want to check if she's still breathing. We head to bed a few hours later and generally get a couple solid hours of sleep before the midnight wild rumpus begins.

It starts with some minor arm flailing, then the legs get going like she's kicking her way through the World Cup championships, the butt wiggle and eventually the roll - all movements combined and she's wadded into the upper corner of the crib, head shoved at an uncomfortable angel in corner, on her stomach and pitching a fit. Mommy or Daddy then drag themselves out of bed, followed by our not too happy puppy to reposition our little bed bug and then it's back to bed...this continues throughout the course of the night, last night we got up 5 times to preform this act which means no one got any sleep!!

So, I ask, would it be so bad to glue her to the middle of the crib?

Jumperoo Abbey

So as not to be outdone by the Steve Spielberg's of our day, Daddy's come up with a new video of our Abbey girl...This one is by far better then the raw footage I chose to post on my previous blog. So for all the Mommy's and Daddy's out there who need a little jumperoo time...enjoy!

Jumperoo Abbey
 

She just keeps growing...

Daddy's "Little Bit" doesn't seem like a little anything any more! January 12th and 5 months old is fast approaching...that said, we're already wearing 6-9 month clothes so someone I know better be having a girl this year because I've got a lot of stuff that I need to find a home for - other than this home!!

As Little Bit grows, so too do her play things. Our absolute favorite toy has become the jumperoo. I put the jumperoo together back when I was still home on maternity leave just to have a place to sit her down and know where she was...it has now become a favorite place to play (and a wonderful way for Mommy & Daddy to have 5 minutes of time together). It has also quickly become our nightly entertainment! The following are some videos...one of Miss Abbey at just under 3 months, stuffed into her jumperoo - far too small to actually enjoy it and the second one, at nearly 5 months...oh how much she has changed!!!


2.5 Months Old:

4.5 Months Old:

Good Bye 2010 - Hello 2011

Oh what a year 2010 has been for our family. So much to celebrate, so much to be thankful for.  Our lives have been filled with weddings, showers, pregnancies, new careers, small victories, major accomplishments and a few loses and set backs - you name it and we've been through it in 2010. All-in-all, I must say it's been the single greatest year of my life and I would wager Michael's life as well.

I can't image anything that could top the birth of your first child, and in our case, our only child.  With the addition of little Miss Abbey Jean we have completed our family and in some ways completed ourselves. There was a part of me that would never have been fulfilled without a child....a missing puzzle piece. No other accomplishment in my life will surpass the birth of my child. Not that child birth is something that's so impossible that nothing else I ever do physically will match popping out a nearly 7 pound baby but more the emotional, psychological, leaving a legacy type achievement I'm referring to. Come on people, I gave birth in a clean, fully staffed hospital not in a rice field somewhere :-) those ladies have both types of accomplishments to carry with them.

Michael and I have everything we could want in this life (minus the 242 million dollar mega millions that are still up for grabs...maybe 2011 could rank 2nd in the list of best years ever...come on numbers!!!)  Lotto winnings not withstanding, we are very blessed, we have a healthy, happy, beautiful baby girl; a beautiful, warm and inviting home; jobs that pay the bills; great family and friends to share our lives with; the best dog in the world; and a love that time only continues to expand indefinitely.  Truly blessed.

So to all of those people out there whom we call family and friends (and those of you we may have other names for), I hope your 2010 was equally as wonderful and if not, 2011 is now here so let's make the absolute most out of it!! Happy New Year Everyone!!