Abby at Two...

I can't believe that the last two years have flown by and Abby is two. I saw my cousin's little girl this weekend who is 16mths and she seems like a baby in comparison. I just wanted to list some things that are going on in Abby's life right now as we mark this occasion from baby to big girl.

Abby, a day in the life:

• She still is loving Gymnastics and I am glad that she's finally turned two since she's been in the 2yr old class for a couple of months.
• Elmo was replaced by Barney and now Barney has been replaced by Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. She watches MMC while holding:

1. A Mickey Mouse that my mom got her (I think Disney has kids coming out of the womb knowing who MM is?!)
   
2. A Care Bear that she got for her b-day
3. any of a number of babies that she has
   

• She also likes to watch Little Einsteins (I like it because they play the actual music vs the synthesized crap that Baby Einstein plays on their cds/dvds)
  
• While watching TV, she will talk to her posse on the couch and tell them to 'look' or talk to them about whatever is going on on the TV...it's too cute
• Her new favorite thing is her tunnel and tent that she got for her b-day. She has all her favorite books, pillows, a flashlight and a blanket in there and loves to spend time alone or with anyone who comes to visit
• Mommy is for some reason the only person not allowed in the tent.
• Whenever Chris and I are spelling something because we don't want her to know what we're talking about, she starts to say her ABCs. The best is 'LMNOP'...sometimes she starts substituting letters and rearranging them - it's cute. She also likes to count to 10, and most of the time will insist on a game of hide and seek to accompany all the counting. Once again, Thanks to Tucker for teaching her to count, and to Jessie and Kristi for the ABC fridge thing for teaching her the ABCs:-)
  
• She is talking up a storm...normally in sentences and it really helps to be able to know what she wants
• She is getting so grown up. For her 2 yr check up, she didn't cry and cooperated the entire time. She didn't even cry when they pricked her finger! Church and eating out are also becoming a lot easier because she's able to sit and be quiet for long periods of time. It's amazing how much calmer she is - but still very independent and confident - and not afraid of anything (which is sometimes very scary for us!!)
  
• Her favorite place to eat is....wait for it....COUNTRY'S!!! She LOVES the french fries and 'dip dip' (ranch dressing). She also loves their black eyed peas and butter beans
  
• Time out is our 'punishment' of choice. She's only had to sit in time out twice - but now all we have to do when she won't listen is say "Abby, do you want to do X, or do you want to sit in time out?" Amazingly she picks X every time:-) It really helps with getting her to pick up her toys, which is really the only thing we ever have to threaten to use time out for
• She weighs 36 lbs and is 37 1/2 inches tall - over 95% for height and weight. Hopefully she'll slow down the growing at some point??
• She LOVES blueberries and blackberries. Our Branch pres has a ton of blueberry bushes so my family went over and got a few gallons this weekend. Abby has turned blue from eating so many berries. Also, I bought a pint of blackberries from Publix and she had them eaten in a day. On Sunday, Dad, Chris and Uncle Jerry took abby on a blackberry hunt and she was eating the blackberries as fast as Chris and Jerry could pick them. It took three baths to get the stains off her hands, feet (don't ask) and face.
• Abby loves the water! I had her signed up for swim lessons but was luckily able to get out of it since they were $130!! Maybe I'll look into something next year, but not for $130 for 8 days!!
• We are really having fun being at home together - she loves to be at home with her things and going to visit our neighbor friends
• We go to story time with Ms. Lynn at the library on mondays, and then toddler aerobics with Ms. Kim on thursdays. she especially loves the parachute at the end that they all get to play under while the parents lift it up and let it fall down on them.
  
• Potty training is still a distant dream on the horizon. She started off with her Elmo potty like it was a prized possession, but now Elmo sits alone as a cold hard plastic monument to the failed dreams of mothering...LOL. My mom said it would take a while, and although I was so excited in the beginning that she was going to potty train in a week - I now realize that it's a process like everything else and that I will in all likelyhood have 2 in diapers!!
• Abby is finally and completely in her princess bed. Everyone that comes over gets a tour of the princess bed
• Abby LOVES music and LOVES to dance!! She has started this thing where she just waggles her butt. We're like, "who taught you that?" She said "Papa" (I would agree). We were walking in Lowes the other day and she was holding Chris' hand. Stevie Wonder was playing and she stopped, let go of Chris' hand, and then just stood in place for a minute and waggled her butt. When she was finished she took Chris' hand and started walking.
• When we got in to the car, Death Cab was playing, she said "No, Beck". I didn't think I heard her right so I said, "you want to listen to Beck???". She said yes and then got her groove on as soon as i changed to Beck's 'Guero' album.
  
• Everything is 'mine' or 'this is mines' - even when it's not. She sounds like the seagulls in Finding Nemo - I was going to look on U Tube and see if I could get a clip so you could know what i'm talking about, but i am sure most people reading this know without the clip!
  
• we work on sharing every day
• when she 'belches' or 'toots' she says 'skuuuze me', then laughs
• chris is trying to teach her to belch the alphabet. I hope this is the one thing she doesn't learn from him. Apparently while i was gone this weekend, Chris, Dad, Mark and Jerry were having a belching contest WITH ABBY - abby thankfully did not win:-)
• Abby is excited (ok, not really) to be a big sister. We read the "I am a big sister" book every night and when we ask her what song she is going to sing to Libby when Libby comes, Abby says "La La La Baby" (kind of to the tune of Elmos World)
• Abby says when Libby is born she is going to say "Hi Abby". We'll see on that one
• She is a tomboy, which is good, but also likes to get dressed up and wear a tu tu. I need to work on fixing her hair more often so she'll get used to it. I need my cousin Kimberly to teach me to braid hair!!!
• We just love her more and more every day. She is such a sweet little girl and Chris and I are grateful that she came to live with us and that we get to be her mommy and daddy!