all about abs

Over the past several days, I've been making a mental list of things I want to remember about the daily antics of our Abby. And now, as I sit here, finally, I don't remember what they were. I'm hoping if I just start with something, the rest will follow.

1. The alphabet. Abby is a long way away from "knowing" her letters. But in the past several days/weeks, she's come leaps and bounds with her alphabet. At first, she just started saying 2 or 3 letters. Now she can sing 90% of the tune correctly and says about 8-10 letters correctly. It makes me happy, and I think it's cute that she still sings the notes for letter she doesn't know...she just plugs in a generic "da" for those. Her favorite letter is Y. She always says Y, never misses it. And if you, or the TV, or a toy is playing/singing the song, she'll always chime in "Y." when it comes to that part. Even if you don't think she's listening. I hear her singing the most in the mornings on the monitor. I think it's her favorite time to practice.

2. The word "No" I've been dreading this. Abby has been able to shake her head for a long time when she didn't want something. But in the last few days, she has started saying "No" to things. The main one being - wearing her bib. Won't happen, no way, no how, thankyouverymuch. I chose my battles, and I'm not picking this one. So far, she mostly only says No when she means it. As in, "do you want more blueberries?" or "do you want down?" She'll say no. But I just know we are seconds away from when she starts saying No to everything all the time nomatterwhat.

3. Dancing. She has the funniest little dance. She stops her feet real fast, raises her left arm over her head, grins and moves around the room or spins in circles.

4. Sidewalk chalk rocks, as do bubbles.

5. Anxiety. It comes and it goes. Abby has been clingier lately. Part of it may be the change of nannies, but I think most of it is just the typical phase. She wants to be held a little more often, she demands a little more attention. But at night is where we notice it the most. She loves her bedtime routine and most of the time is pushing us away, saying "bye-bye" and reaching for her crib. But lately, once we put her in the crib, she apparently realizes that we're going to leave and cries. A few nights, I've gone in and rocked her...this was for my benefit and not hers, but I enjoyed it. She still cries herself to sleep, but it usually doesn't last more than 20 mins max. Usually under 15. Still - I liked it better when she didn't cry when we left.

6. With the summer sun staying out later, we've been allowing Abby to go to bed at 7:30 or 8 lately. She seems to do ok, and it's nicer to put her down when it doesn't look like noon outside. This is the first time we've semi-routinely let her stay up late, but we're playing it by ear.

7. Along the same lines, I'm trying to move her nap later. She's been sleeping from 11ish-1:30ish for a while, but I'd like to get that start time moved to 12:30 or 1 and I think she's nearly ready.

8. Abby loves being outside. More than anything. We take walks everyday that its not raining. She thinks everything green is a flower and stops at every house to smell the "flowers"...which are usually bushes, grass, weeds, or leaves. The funny part is that no matter what she has just stopped to sniff - she always stands back up and makes the "mmMMMMmmm!" noise as if to say "that smells delicious!"

9. Abby says thank you when we change her diaper. How funny is that.

10. She can not stand it when I cook. Especially chopping vegetables - it's like torture. She spends the whole time clinging/pulling on my pants and whining and crying. It's because she wants to see what I'm doing and can't- and while I have chopped veggies with her on my hip - it's not easy.

11. Abby's vocabulary is pretty good, but for the life of me, I cannot get her to say "milk" She can make all the necessary sounds, but she won't say it. And it's not just that - she won't even start the word with an "m" sound. Instead, she calls milk "doh" I don't know why. But it is very clear that Milk is doh. Whatev. The kid said "elevator" the other day, so I'll give her a pass. It just confuses me.

12. You know what else she likes more than anything? Shoes. It's like her favorite word....well, maybe next to "bath" and "outside" but the girl loves shoes. We take her to target and let her walk down the shoe aisle and it's like a mini vaca to Disney. She points at every pair saying "shoes! shoes! shoes!" So - to Abby's future husband, just call me when you need a gift idea, I think I know just the thing.

13. Dirt. More than ever, thanks to the beautiful weather and time outside, Abby is filthy at the end of everyday. I have two thoughts on this. The first is that we're going to have to bathe her every day soon (we usually do every other day-ish). But the other is - this is a good thing. When I see her with dirt under her nails, lunch on her face, chalk on her hands, grass stains on her pants, sweat and sunscreen in her hair...with possible yogurt - I think to myself "I'm doing something right" Toddlers are supposed to be a mess, and to me, it means she had a really good time that day.

I think I'm going to start there. Obviously, remembering things didn't turn out to be the problem. This is a fun age - and it's also more work than previous ages, but the rewards seem even greater. We're having a good time between tantrums and I hope I'm taking the time to cherish things appropriately.