Abby at 9 Months

Happy 9 Months Baby Girl!
(I can pat my head and suck my thumb at the same time...can you?)

Abigail turned 9 months on Saturday! We just can't believe how big she's getting. Here are a few things she's up to:
~ She's still rolling EVERYWHERE. She will stretch really hard to reach something and then just end up rolling. It seems like she's getting closer to crawling...we'll see.
~ She continues to love her pacifier for naps and bedtime. I'll often just leave it in the crib for her, and she'll grab it and put it right in her mouth.
~ She must enjoy napping with bare feet because that's how I usually end up finding her. :)
~ She loves the freedom of her walker...and enjoys trying to keep up with with Caden.
~ Speaking of Caden...she still LOVES everything to do with him (though the feeling isn't always mutual).
~ I had almost 9 glorious months of changing her on her back...but now she flips as soon as she hits the mat.
~ It's getting harder to read to her...she loves to close the book on me and just look at the front cover. She also gets really mad when I don't let her put the book in her mouth.
~ She knows what "No mouth" means and will slowly pull things into her mouth, laughing the whole time.
~ We've discovered she can sit up, she just doesn't want to. She has more fun on her tummy rolling.
~ She just recently started giving hugs and kisses (right Uncle Randy?).
~ Her new favorite sound is, "ya-ya-ya".

~ She is still such a joy to be around...so happy!She just took her first bath sitting up. She's still a little unsure about it.

Tea Party

Welcome to our tea party!

Abby pouring a cup.

A Sock and a Plastic Container

Looking for some fun? Just pull of a sock and grab a plastic container. Abigail highly recommends it! She kept picking up the sock and holding it up high, but of course I wasn't quick enough to get that shot.

Gray Hair?!

Today we were talking about our hair color. Caden looked at mine and said, "gray". I said, "GRAY?!" Then he said, "No, red." I was wearing a gray shirt...that's where he got gray from, right??

Look Familiar? (again)

Yet another thing these these two both had fun with.

Abby - 8 1/2 months
(1/14/11)

Caden - almost 7 months
(10/9/08)

Look Familiar?

I guess Eeyore's tail is a fun thing to chew on when you're 8 1/2 months old!

Abigail
(1/13/11)

Caden
(12/3/08)

Preschool

Is it really time to look at preschools for Caden? Is he really old enough? The answers to those questions are sadly, yes! I used to think 3 1/2 was too young for school, but the more I talked with friends, the more I realized it was about right. It'll be good for him to learn from others, listen to others, and play with kids his own age. I started looking around at preschools at the beginning of the month, and really there's only one preschool in our school district that isn't a day care also...talk about making it easy! We heard good things about this school from our neighbors too. So, we visited this past Thursday, and he's officially signed up for the fall Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Fridays (there are a lot of Monday holidays we'd be paying for that he would have off) from 9-12. We walked in, he walked over to a woman and child and said, "Hi guys, whatcha doing?" I have a good feeling the first day of school will go just fine; I'll be the only one with tears :) While I was talking with the owner, he played with the other children. He watched me walk out of the room, and the teachers said he didn't even look up once while I was gone. I guess that makes me feel good??(I took this picture right before we left to visit the preschool.)

Abby's 1st Snow

Although it wasn't the first snow fall of the season, it was Abby's first time out on 1/12.

All ready to go!

Caden did not have an easy time getting off the deck :)

She wasn't too sure...

It was so cold that we were out for only 5 minutes or so. It took longer to get her in the suit.

We are just amazed at how much this child loves to be outdoors, any season. He did a face plant into the snow, on purpose, got up, wiped his face, and kept going.

Making a snow angel...he's pretty good at these!

Dry Underwear Day #1

We are very happy and excited to say that Caden had his first dry underwear in the morning this morning. He has been potty trained during the day for awhile but overnight has been tough. Then all of a sudden he was waking up with dry Pull-Ups for 6 days in a row. Yea! Something finally clicked :) We will be celebrating with Dry Underwear Day #1 muffins (not to be confused with Dry Trainer Day #3 - different flavor).

GBMC

Abby's 7 month addition to the GBMC (Grandma Book of the Month Club) was:

It's a sweet little story about the animals getting the manger ready for when Mary and Joseph come to visit their "house".

For her 8th month, Abby's addition was:

A touch and feel book, just the kind that Abby loves.

Thanks Mammy! Love, Abigail

Tasty Toes

She's been doing this for awhile, but I just finally was able to get a picture of it.

Caden

These are just a few things Caden says/does that put a smile on my face:

~ After watching Toy Story 3, at the end when Andy's mom is sad that he's leaving for college, I always tell Caden I'm going to be sad when he leaves for college. The other night he said, "I know, you can come with me to college!"

~ He loves playing with his "Humpback Racer" (you might know it as a Bounce Back Racer).

~ When standing at the top of the stairs, he discovered that he can make an echo. Today he said, "Listen Mom, I gecko-ed!"

~ Yesterday after I showed him that Daddy's car was still in the garage due to snow, he was really confused as to where Jason was. We were talking about different possibilities (like Daddy walked to work, or Daddy walked to the store to buy more bananas), he said, "When we're done here, we'll go upstairs to investigate."

~ Yesterday and today he pulled something out to play with, played with it, packed it back up, and then put it back where he got it from all without my saying a word! Amazing! I thought I would never see the day :)

~ If I'm upset with him, he'll say, "Put on a happy face" and then proceed to start singing the song - very hard to not smile!

~ At the end of his bedtime praying I'll either say, "In Jesus' name, Amen" or just, "Amen". If I just say, "Amen" he'll say, "You forgot the Jesus part" and then say, "Jesus' name is Jesus, Amen".

Bath Toy

This was one of those toys for both kids though Abby isn't anywhere near being able to take a bath in the big tub yet. At times Caden would fight us with baths, but not anymore!

New Year's Day

I'm going to go back a little to New Year's Day when my mom, sister, and grandma came to visit us for the day.

GG gave Abby her cereal.

Caden really missed his Daddy when I made sick Daddy stay in bed from Tues. evening until Fri. evening.

In case you don't know who it is...his name tag is hanging right there :)

He was looking for a ball that he apparently threw into the tree.

New Year dinner - pork and sauerkraut of course!

Thanks Marilyn for the Legos and table!

Me, Abby, Erin, Caden, GG, and Daddy

Mammy, Abby, Erin, GG, Me, and Caden

We then had what my family always called a "football supper" (meat, cheese, and crackers and some veggies) that evening in front of the TV...you'll never guess that we were watching football. Caden LOVED eating at the coffee table in front of the TV. He's asked a few times since to eat again there.

Abby had a good time playing while we ate.

Saturday

How do you go from this...

to this...(enjoying his first taste of hot chocolate)
to this in one day? (Caden is showing off his ER ankle bracelet and wearing a sticker that says, "I got an X-Ray" with a picture of a "stocking" a.k.a cast)

Surprisingly the first 2 have nothing to do with the ER trip. At lunch on Saturday Caden decided to turn his plastic spoon and bite on it. It then of course broke and he swallowed a little piece of plastic. It was a very small piece, but it was triangular in shape with a sharp point. I of course got scared, called a nurse, and then she suggested going to the ER. So we packed him up with a bag of toys and off Caden and Daddy went for the afternoon. I hated not going along, but we figured it would be best for me to stay at home with Abigail. As they left Caden reassured me with, "I'm going to spit it out when I get there, Mom!" They did take an x-ray, but it was too small to see. They sent him home with the directions to increase fluids, and that was all. When he came home he said, "The Doctors fixed me, Mom!" so I guess all is well! I have a feeling though this won't be the last trip to the ER with this child.

Side note - All his little Disney characters got x-rays and stickers today because they all had a piece of a plastic spoon in their mouths too.

Cardboard Box

All these toys for Christmas and I find him in a box.

A Visit from Cousins

Jason's sister, Justine, plus kids (along with Nana and Aunt Missy) came to visit us last week. The day before was Justine's birthday, so Caden decided to sing Happy Birthday to her using his new microphone...

and standing on his stool as a stage (his idea).

Checking out the toys from Aunt Ju-Ju.

Chris and Katie helped Caden put together his new alphabet floor puzzle from Mammy.

Easy Toffe

Here's another recipe from my mom that we make all the time (soooo easy):

1 sleeve crackers
2 sticks margarine/butter, melted
1/2 cup sugar
1 12 oz. bag chocolate chips

Line baking sheet with non stick foil. Lay out sleeve of crackers onto the foil. Mix melted butter and sugar together and pour over crackers. Bake at 325 for about 20 minutes (or until the crackers start getting brown). As soon as you take the crackers out of the oven, put chocolate chips on and then spread out over the crackers with a spoon. Refridgerate over night. Break into pieces of any size. Enjoy!

Mom Has a Fake Tree

I guess I could've titled this "Christmas at Mom's" but this is the first year she bought an artificial tree, and I just can't get over it :) I know, it's not really a big deal, but to someone who always picked out the Christmas tree to be cut down (including a really fat one that fell over once when I was in high school - thanks to my friend, Tiff, who caught it), it was strange to see an artificial one. I didn't realize it at first, and Jason even felt it and thought it was real. I noticed when I was nursing Abby and looking at the tree. I had never seen a real tree with a "hairy" trunk before...that's when I knew. It is a nice tree though...anyhow...we went to my mom's the day after Christmas and only stayed until Monday because there was a sickness floating around that Jason caught (he was in bed from Tues. until Fri. evening).

Abby's new teapot - so cute!
Caden enjoys playing with it too.

Caden's new microphone from Aunt Erin...love it!

"Moon Dough!!" from Aunt Erin (not sure that I like it, very different from Play-doh)

Abigail and her "Abigail" cup - something my mom has been wanting to get her ever since she was first born

Abby's new fish puzzle that Aunt Erin put together for her - looks great in her bedroom - nice work Aunt Erin!

"Yea - a new rattle ball! I love it Mammy!"

This was a gift for Caden and Abby - so Caden brought it over to her so she could open it too...he did that any time there was a gift for the two of them, so sweet!

Little People Manger Set - something I've wanted for awhile now :)

Caden got these keys from Mammy and wanted a place to hang them...guess he found a place all on his own.

A nice looking Santa at our Russell family Christmas Party :)

Real people...fake tree...