July update

I know it's August already, but I typically let my pictures fall a month behind, so these are July's pictures (and some of June's too. I was running behind, if you can believe that at all!)

In June, we attended a friend's wedding, so it was Abagail's first wedding and gave us all a chance to dress up. She was so well behaved during the ceremony and the reception. The best thing was seeing that little girl dance. We typically have the TV on when we're at home, so the only time she really gets to just listen to music is in the car. Evidently the kid loves to dance!

These pictures are actually from late May, but they were taken at daycare, so it took a bit to get a copy of them to share. No, I did not put that bow in her hair, but she does look pretty cute. Where she is raising her glasses? That's my favorite!

My mom had this high chair/booster seat that Abagail had outgrown to sit in comfortably, so she brought it back to our house. It hadn't made it back into the attic yet, so she decided she wasn't quite done with it. She initially placed her babies in the seat to feed them, but quickly displaced them. I guess she hadn't outgrown the seat like we thought. She's quite the little mother. She loves to feed her babies and put them to bed at the end of the day. Lucy is her current favorite. She puts Lucy to "night-night" every night on the arm of the chair as we read her bedtime story. Evidently her nurturing qualities extend past dolls though. Ms. Torsha, her daycare teacher, tells us that she is almost always the first one to try and bring something to one of her friends when they are crying.

We finally made time to have a playdate with our good friend Jennifer and her daughter Zoey. Zoey is exactly 1 year and 1 day older than Abagail. We had an amazing time at the splashpad, at the playground, then back at our house. They were getting comfortable in Dad's chair while Zoey was making a very important phone call.

I do have to say that we've got quite the bossy kid on our hands. Even though Zoey is older and much more articulate, Abagail bossed her around quite a bit. Sounds like her mama . . .

Bear is still not in love with his sister. Toleration is really the name of the game for the poor dog. She loves him though, to say the least. He is so patient with her, but I do feel bad for him when she lays all over him, pulls on his tail, or covers him with a blanket for a hat. She is just trying to love him though with the big "Bear" hug. She also loves helping us make his dinner and taking him his Milk Bone. It kills her when he gets to go outside and she isn't included!

Clutched in her hand is her Bible. Ever since she moved up to the toddler room at church, she gets a sticker for bringing her Bible. That means she wants to carry her Bible everywhere. But, as cute as that is, even more endearingly is if you ask her where Jesus is, she'll respond by tapping her chest and say "my heart." Awww . . .



She as always been very vocal, but in the last 4 months, it is getting more and more understandable. She will tell us in 2-4 word sentences to get her point across. She can correctly count 2 objects and she is starting to count and do her ABCs. Not accurately yet, but starting. Not to say she doesn't still make some of the cutest inarticulate sounds ever. She's got a habit right now, as you can see below with one of my headbands, of sounding out her extertion. It doesn't matter if she's trying to stretch that headband, open a lid, push a door, or whatever, she lets you know how hard she's working. She does this "arrrr" to vocalize her efforts. Sometimes she even shakes her little hands and arms. I'm not doing it justice, but it's so stinking cute!

George and I are sucker for bath pictures. And, she loves the water, so she's always cheesing it up in there. I totally see this picture or one like it, making it to the Senior Slide Show in about 16 years. Embarrassing your kid is one of the joys of parenting. Come on, am I right?

August and September should be big months for us. George and I are mattress shopping because we think she is ready to transition to a big girl bed. We'll see how it goes. I'm repainting a bench that she can use to get up and down, so between waiting on that and I haven't actually ordered any safety rails, who knows when it will actually happen, but we are getting ready anyway.

Her pee/poo cues are getting better every day, so when she moves to a new room at "school" in about 2 weeks, we're going to jump into potty training. We need our carpets cleaned at home, but I told George that even as overdue as they are, we aren't doing them now just to have accidents to clean up when we get into no-diaper territory. If anyone has any tips, let me know. And I'm not interested in the M&M or other food bribery methods--the kid gets enough calories as it is.

Her birthday is just over a month away. No one ruin the surprise, but the grandparents have gotten her a tricycle. I'm not worried about her balance, as she walks on her knees and jumps all the time, so I know that is all there. But, we'll see how she does with her short little legs!