This blog is inspired by my friend's post for Halloween on her blog The Red Humor. Of course, she posted it right before Halloween, which is far more interesting and appropriate, but at least I made it in before Thanksgiving. Here's Abigail's Halloween journey thus far.
The first year (2010) our Hallo-wiener spent approximately 8 minutes in her outfit.
Some happy smiles
Some moments of NOT being amused.
The second year (2011) I was very aware of how simple the costume needed to be for me to actually get her into it. She wore it three times--once for 10 minutes at a family party where we barely snapped a photo of all the little angels together; then for a Halloween daytime play group (one of our very first times meeting some of her current friends); and for an hour or two in the evening on Halloween. She went to three neighbors' doors and asked for hugs and kisses instead of candy.
Domino crossing
But her favorite part was handing out candy to other kids and tasting the outside of wrappers.
This is how it's supposed to work, right?
This year Abigail was in full Halloween obsession mode. There was a small pumpkin patch a few blocks from our house with jumping houses, petting zoo, and a witch that spoke when you touched her. Abigail couldn't get enough of this place and we spent $3 after nap time for about a week just to bounce around and laugh hysterically at the witch when her head lowered down and she cackled. She also visited the lawns of well decorated houses every evening to look at blown-up ghosts and a clown that took its own head off.
She and Jake call all witches Glenda
She knew about 2 months before Halloween that she wanted to be Sleeping Beauty. No waffling. No doubts. She saw a catalog with a little girl in a pink dress and was absolutely set on it. I was slightly disappointed. I had hoped to make her into a tractor, with a box and suspenders, something I could make and paint, with some sort of scoop hanging off the front. I was open to making her a princess driving a tractor - that would have been cool too. But she knew what she wanted, so I accepted that it was her decision. I did, however, determine that I was still going to make her costume. My family always made Halloween costumes, and that's my very favorite memory of the holiday. The creativity involved, from the choice of costume to the materials used to make it, were all part of the fun. While my favorite costume memories were inanimate objects (bag of groceries, bar of soap, drop of water), I thought that a toddler princess dress was probably not beyond my skill level. I would not attempt this on full scale!
Getting ready for the rockin' Halloween block party
Halloween party at Grandma and Grandpa's house in Riverside
The real deal--Halloween night
What's this, mama?
Her first M&M
I want to get diiiizy, mama
The perfect pair
As you can see, Abigail has worn this costume, and worn it and worn it. I have already mended it three times. Not pictured are a play group party, music class, AND Halloween lunch at school to which all the kids wore costumes. She literally wore this dress every single day for some reason or other from the Friday before Halloween through the actual holiday on Wednesday. I have to admit, I was very done with Halloween by the time it actually arrived. But she loved every minute of it, and I'm so glad that I made her costume. A few times since then she has decided "I want to be a princess", and this mommy is much happier to oblige when I think of the 20+ hours it took me to make a simple dress that probably would have taken a real seamstress 3 hours to complete. This Halloween was a big one for my little girl. She won't forget it soon, and I know she will love it again next year!
Well I don't have a real excuse for not posting in the month of October, but I do have some catching up to do. Right now we are all sick and I'm putting off coughing in bed to post a little bit about my angel, because sorting through the pictures since my last post made me smile.
Abigail owns two different tu tu skirts, neither of which I purchased. One was given to me at her baby shower and the other was a gift for Abigail's first birthday. She did not show a bit of interest in either skirt until a toddler friend of hers decided to put one on at an afternoon play date. Abigail's "mine" radar kicked in, and suddenly she wants to wear tool. While some families have an aversion to all things girly, I have never taken issue with this particular hurdle in raising my toddler girl. My princess allowances do have limits: I'm very practical, so it's unlikely Abigail will be wearing hard plastic princess shoes around town; I'm a firm believer in physical play, so as long as she is willing to get her dresses nice and dirty, I don't mind her wearing them; and I believe that anything in excess can be unhealthy, so Abigail has princess sheets with a plain peach-colored comforter, as one example. I do fully recognize the princess trap, now that I'm subject to its powers. Abigail is bound to like anything that has princesses depicted on its surface, leading to the purchasing of fairytale books and princess puzzles that are sitting in the garage waiting for Christmas. I will need to keep an eye on myself. But who could resist this little beauty, after all?
Some extra pictures of our girl:
Carrying her lunch box to school
It's finally fall at the beach
I love this face--eating raisins
Dressed up for fiesta night at her school--she had a blast dancing to the live music
It's gorgeous outside and Abigail is sleeping. This summer I've been plagued by her 1 pm nap time forcing me inside at the very best part of the day, though I suppose the fact that she and I are both really tan suggests that we are getting plenty of sun at lesser hours. More importantly, I think I need to accept that it isn't summer anymore. Three weeks ago Abigail started preschool on Tuesday and Thursday mornings. She's doing really well. I wouldn't say she loves it, but she enjoys the activities, participates, doesn't cry, and if you ask if she wants to go to school the answer is "right now". You won't believe how big she is, so I'll provide proof.
Delighted to be sitting on the door ledge and to match the American flag
Kissing her new baby (Tina), one of the many gifts in the never-ending birthday string--so sweet
Waiting to go sailing with the Bowen family on a sunny Saturday morning a few weeks ago
Dinner time with Da da
For the first time in the 7-or-so months that Abigail has been taking swim lessons, I finally brought my camera. Abigail swims twice a week for 30 minutes at a local swim school that is designed for infants and children. It's a great place, and she particularly likes her teacher, Zach. People often ask me what a two-year old does in swim lessons, and while I've come to learn that the answer to that question varies widely depending on the swim school, I can tell you that Murray Callan Swim School in Pacific Beach has an interesting and seemingly effective technique. Abigail can't swim on her own yet. She glides underwater (propelled by the teacher, but not being constantly held) from probably ten feet away from a step which she then finds and picks herself up. She can go the the bottom of a 4 foot pool and back up, feet first, holding her breath, with only assistance at the top and bottom. She can dive head first to the bottom to pick up a toy when pointed toward it, after which her ascent is solo and she is picked up when her head breaks the surface. Zach is currently teaching her to use her arms...1, 2, 1, 2, which she does by herself sometimes and other times he windmills her little limbs around for her. We are told that she is very close to moving in the water without any help. Kicking is the last thing they teach. Probably the most entertaining thing to watch is that she can climb out of the pool by herself, line up to dive, wait for a cue, and dive in. Zach then backs up and pulls her arms in the 1, 2 motion all the way across the pool. The kid can hold her breath.
Waiting her turn
Diving for a toy
Toes on the edge
Abigail's Uncle Dave-o gave her a slip-n-slide for her birthday, which is a total hit with the whole neighborhood. People are seriously excited when they see it, and even moreso when the adorable toddler army crawls the length in order to drink the spouting water and then fall on her rear-end. It's great fun. Here's the little miss enjoying it with a friend after nap time last week.
Lastly, we celebrated our 4 year wedding anniversary with a 3 hour dinner date in downtown San Diego. Yep, we spent 45 minutes waiting for a booth at the bar and then 2+ hours enjoying a luxurious adult meal. What a night. Love you, babe.
Lately I've been keenly aware of the fact that most things related to my life before Abigail exist in times when I really, truly should be doing something else. Right now I should be cleaning Abigail's cloth diapers (for the very last time, I might add), but I'm not. As I sit at this computer and read about old friends and look at my guitar, considering picking it up for the first time in too long, I feel pretty content. I wonder if it's way too hot outside to run, in which case I could enjoy a swim instead. I should do the laundry, make dinner, mop the floor (the floor really, really needs to be cleaned), but I'm getting better at not doing those things when I should. And if you know me, then by now you've probably figured out that this is a good thing. It's been a busy summer.
We started potty training Abigail on Friday. The experience has been nothing like I anticipated. The first day she had an accident on her window seat cushion right after Jake left for work. Then she didn't pee, not one drop, until 6 pm in the evening. I asked and asked and watched and checked. We played, distracted, tried out some new toys and activities that I intentionally didn't open after her birthday,
and she was in a good mood. But she just plain would not go. By evening she was pumped full of enough fluid that there was no way it was staying in, but she only had one real accident. Otherwise she would tell me "potty!" and I would rush her to the toilet only to end up changing her slightly-wet-big-bird-underwear. Follow that with one healthy wet bed and that's the end of day one.
Day two was filled with "Ma ma, potty!" followed by a mad dash to the toilet while she peed all over me and the floor and if we did make it to the toilet then she was already done -- change the clothes and clean everything up, praise her for telling me she has to go and move on. Oh, and she told me she needed to defecate and we almost made it (no poop outside of the bathroom and even some in the toilet, she cried). No wet bed at nap time; no wet bed at night.
Today she peed and pooped in the toilet, walking there by herself, three times. She doesn't always release when she says she has to go, but she definitely gets the concept, and she's very proud of herself. It never ceases to remind me of Jake when she glows with pride. He likes an audience in life, and I think she inherited his true joy in pleasing those he loves. It's adorable.
I'm amazed by her progress, but I realize this is far from over. We have yet to leave the house or wear clothes, so we are a long way from civilized just yet.
[After posting update: well, about 1.5 hours after I posted this Abigail expertly went on the potty again. She was so happy with herself that she wanted to get back onto the potty again, just because it's fun. The second time she was rocking side to side dancing very happily when she tumbled off of the potty and hit her head. She has a huge knot, poor baby, and we have to wake her up after 2 hours and 4 hours to make sure she is not concussed. Booooooo.]
Before embarking on toddler potty training we had an amazing week where two of my nephews came down to visit for a few days each. The boys are both teenagers, so it was fun to see how they interacted with Abigail and to try to entertain two completely different "children" at one time. I really treasure the memories, but I won't embarrass them too much by writing about it. Here are a few pictures, though neither of them were very cooperative with the camera.
Sharing in one of Abigail's favorite past times--popsicles on the car
He beat me at Monopoly every time
San Diego Zoo
Abigail's favorite -- the Skyfari
Izaak was on the keyboard non-stop, but would not let me take pictures
Teaching Abigail the ropes
We all convened at Abigail's birthday party when the visiting was through and everyone had a great time. This year's party was so different from her 1-year old party (which she mostly slept through). It was designed for her enjoyment and I'm so glad to say that it worked out. I was questioned by more than one person about why I would have her party at 10 am on a Friday, but I wish that her birthday was on Friday every year! We had a fabulous little party for her and all her friends at the park/beach. It was not TOO crowded, though it was busy; she was napping by 2 pm, and we had both days of the weekend to recover from the lead up and clean up of birthday land.
Someone was excited
Loved having her cousins there
The birthday girl in her "party dress"
Little friends
Singing happy birthday with purple cupcakes
Parting Videos:
1.) Present from her aunties Debi, Denise and Michele:
Over the weekend we drove to Cal State San Marcos where Jake was competing in a circuit bicycle race. I noticed on Google maps that the cycling start/finish happened to be right above the track, so I came prepared to attempt a new workout with baby, hoping that Abigail would play in the long jump pit sand with toys while I ran repeats. I told her that she was going to cheer for mama first and then dada. I warmed up with the stroller in lane 8 for ~10 minutes. Abigail was thrilled to see a tractor on the grass adjacent to the track (helpful), and she was also excited to take off her shoes and run into what seemed like a huge sand box. I opted for my usual in-and-out 200s and asked Abigail to tell me when to run fast. She can't help but yell "doh!" whenever a start time is requested, whether it be the blender, vacuum, or a running start. Repeats 1-5 went pretty well. I had to stop after the fourth 200m run to play in the sand for 30 seconds and distract her. She whined/cried mama during repeats 6 & 7 (despite telling me when to go each time), so I picked her up, cleaned off her hands, gave her some dried apples and decided I could only do 8 today. Not so bad. After a 15 min baby-jogging cool down we settled in to watch the bicycle race. I wish I had taken a picture of her on the track, but I left the camera in the car.
Hydrating
Serious spectator, with strawberry face
Go da da go = doh da da doh
She was too busy waving at her shadow to look at the camera
We came home for nap time and then headed over to a potluck in the evening. It was a really fun Sunday.
This morning Abigail and I were babysitting one of her best little buddies while her mother went to the dentist. She was gone for less than an hour, during which time the two munchkins mostly chased each other from outside to inside, from one bed to another (to jump, of course), all the while wearing socks on their hands as makeshift puppets and matching clothes (since Abigail was not yet dressed when her friend arrived and wanted to wear the same color shirt).
When the clean-toothed mom arrived back at my house her daughter proposed a beach outing, which Abigail quickly seconded, resulting in two toddlers and a basket of sand toys rolling down to the beach in our radio flyer wagon. We spent a good hour and a half getting wet, climbing rocks, shedding clothes, applying sunscreen, and generally enjoying the amazing La Jolla beach weather.
This summer has been incredible, and I can't properly express how much I love Abigail's beach play time. We meet friends there, walk down to waste an hour, stroll by in the evening just to walk off dinner. I love living at the beach.
