The bottle

Abby loves her bottle, at least that is what she calls it. Until a few months ago I was actually giving her a real bottle, until I found a sippy cup (the tall, skinny, Nuby kind that has the soft top) that she thinks resembles a bottle, so Abby loves to have it and still calls it her bottle. She loves it so much that I was even told by the pediatrician that she was probably getting too much milk per day so now I only try to give it to her at naps and bedtime.
Lately Abby has been waking up around 6:30 a.m. or 7:00 a.m. and crying, sometimes she will go back down and others she won't. If she won't go back down I will go in and I change her bum and every time she says "bottle" because she wants a bottle. So I have been giving in and giving her a bottle when I go in and change her because then she will go back to sleep until 9:30 or 10:00 which I love because I stay up late at nights working and don't mind her sleeping in that late.
Well on Friday night we ran out of milk and I didn't go and get any because I knew I would be going to the store on Sat. I was hoping she would stay asleep and not wake up and want a bottle but that was not the case. She woke up so I went in, changed her bum and she asked for a bottle but I told her she didn't need one and laid her back down to sleep. She cried for a minute but then I assumed she went back to sleep because I didn't hear anything out of her until 45 minutes later when she cried out again and she was mad! She wanted a bottle dang it and would not take "no" for an answer. Luckily I had remembered that I had a Pediasure drink in my pantry from awhile ago so I put that in her bottle and took it in to her. Well when I came into her room she was sitting up in her crib and when she saw the bottle in my hand she clapped her hands and said, "Yeah, you did it, a bottle!" I just started laughing, so I gave the bottle to her and let her finish it because I don't like to give it to her in bed, I made sure she burped and put her back down and said, "night, night" to which she replied, "bye, bye bottle." So apparently she is a wee bit attached to her bottle and we are going to have to break her of it eventually. But I can't believe how much Abby is talking and what she is saying is getting more clear and understandable, not to mention pretty hilarious!

Sleeping Sabbath Day

We had Jake's work Lagoon day last Friday, June 20th and my mother in law Chris volunteered to take Abby so we could stay late and ride the rides together. Then Chris decided to keep Abby overnight so we could take a motorcycle ride up to Logan on Saturday. (pics to come of our fun weekend when Jake gets back into town with our camera.) On Sunday I dropped Jake off at the airport and then went and picked her up. She had the best time with her Grandma and when I picked her up at about five Chris told me she needed a nap because she had taken a really short one earlier in the day.
So we went home and got settled, I fed Abby and then decided to lay her down so she could take a little nap so she wouldn't be a nightmare to deal with all night. Well, I put her down at 6:15 p.m. and went in to check on her at 7:30, I usually don't let her sleep so long, but when I went in to check on her she was totally zonked out, she didn't even stir at all which is rare. So I just let her sleep, thinking she would wake up any time. Well 9:00 rolled around, and I had decided I should wake her up, feed her something, let her play for a bit, and then put her down for the night. Well I went into her room again, and she was still sound asleep. I even had to get right up to her to check to see if she was breathing, because she was so totally out! So I thought I would just let her sleep and see what happens, which is always a fun gamble because she would either sleep through the night, or wake up at like 2 in the morning and be ready to party. At 11:30 pm she woke up and I thought for sure she would want to get up and play right when I want to go to bed, but I changed her diaper and as I was changing her she kept saying, "nigh, nigh" and reaching for her crib (night, night). So I gave her a sippy cup of milk, finished changing her and she went to bed again until 7 in the morning. My gamble had paid off, so I got her up, changed her, and she still wanted to go back to sleep, she was snuggling with her blanket with her eyes closed, so I gave her a bottle and she went back down till 10:00 a.m! That's right, my sleeping beauty slept for about 16 hours! I will be brutally honest, it was really nice---I could catch up on the millions of the shows I have had TiVo'ed for months and haven't been able to get to, and I had the house to myself, which again was a little treat. (I know, I'm horrible.) So for Abby, her Sunday was really a BIG day of rest!

Abby's 18th Month checkup

We went to see the doctor for Abby's 18th month checkup (we were a couple of weeks late) and things went great! She is in the 75% percentile for height and weight which is shocking considering the kid eats like a bird most days. But the best thing was when the doctor asked if Abby had a vocabulary of 8 or more words and I told him "yes", he then said, "can I hear some" and then I proceeded to go into Abby's whole repertoire of what she knew, so I said,
"What is your name?" Abby patted her chest and said "Abby". "How old are you?" She holds up 1 finger and says, "2." Then I said, "What does a cow say?" and Abby proceeded to tell me and the doctor what a cow, elk, cat, rooster, snake, tiger, dog, monkey, horse and donkey say. By this time my pediatrician is just laughing, and he said, "Aah man, that just made my day! I have a really great job and I just needed to be reminded of it, it's been so fun to watch her grow up into a little girl!"
So Abby charmed her pediatrician, but still couldn't get out of her shots, I forgot the camera, but she even handled those like a champ. I can't believe our little baby girl is becoming such a big girl! Also as a side story, I had my 7 year old nephew Broc with me at the appointment and when the nurse asked if Abby can walk backwards I said, "You know, I haven't really noticed, I think she can, but let me see if I can get her to do it." (which I couldn't) Then my nephew pipes up and says very officially, "I've never seen her do it." I thought that was so funny, he totally ratted me out and sounded so grown up!

Cute Carter!

Our friends Max and Jodie Wilson have a fantastic little boy, Carter, who is the sweetest friend to Abby. We just celebrated his 4th birthday with them and it got me thinking to how cute Carter is. He is a very bright and funny little boy ( I credit his parents for that) and he is probably too smart for his own good, but he makes up for his mischievousness with his handsome looks and hilarious personality. Max and Jodie joke that they want Carter to marry Abby one day, but the way it's going he loves her more like a sister. He always wants to give her gifts and kisses, and play with her, which is a big deal because he doesn't do that with everyone, and the Wilson's love to spoil Abby which is so kind of them! Countless times they have given her cute outfits that either Jodie or Carter have picked our for and brought them over, and they volunteer to watch her for us all the time, which makes us so grateful for their generosity. I hope the Wilson's and especially Carter know how much we love him, and boy does Carter love Jake. He wants to talk about baseball or hunting with him and practically treats Jake like his hero which makes Jake feel good. It's nice to have friends that we can enjoy their kids and they can enjoy ours!
Here are some pics of Carter when he camped with Max and Jake(notice his cute messy face), of him and Abby playing together, and the outfit that Carter picked out for Abby. So cute!