Bubbles, bubbles.... and more of what Abi loves these days

 Lately Abi has been loving bubbles, and will say "bubb-oo" whenever she washes her hands, or flushes the toilet, or see the bubble bath container, or anything related to bubbles. She is so fun right now, and is learning to talk. I just wanted to list some things Abi is loving right now, and I overloaded this post with tons of pictures.

1. Bubbles, bubble baths, blowing bubbles. Will say "bye- bye" to the bubbles when she washes her hands

2. Loves waving and everything and everyone, and saying hi and bye to people

3. Loves giving other kids hugs

4. Loves being outside, playing in the dirt is her favorite, or playing at the park or with her slide with other kids.

5. Loves her Papa, and gets so excited when he is home.

6. Love ice cream, and all things sweet, including her vitamins, and toothpaste

7. Loves brushing her teeth. She does it at least 5 times a day. That is her reward for going potty.

8. Loves reading books and is becoming more interactive, will point to pictures, and repeat words, and will laugh at things she thinks are funny.

9. Love her giraffe and doggy (which she got for v-day from her admirers (aka parents))

10. Loves her thumb, and snuggling with us in our big recliner ( we just recently got off craigslist... it is awesome),

11. Loves to open containers, and put lids on things, and close doors, turn off lights when we leave the room

12. Loves to climb and jump. She will throw her self off of our piano bench and couch for fun. She also will spin and 'dance' if we ask her to. I think, unfortunately, she got my sense of rhythm. :)

13. Loves pulling out the cute hairstyles I slave over. It's like a sensory thing. She'll suck her thumb, and tug on her ponytails, until it comes out.

14. Loves textures, silky, soft, bumpy,

15. Loves doggies, but keeps her distance. When she see them or hears them she will bark like a dog.

In the middle

Here we are in the middle of a huge project.  At this point we have no furniture in our downstairs, and no light fixtures up. But the painting is almost done. We just have the doors and trim around doors and windows left. We decided to get new baseboards and use our old baseboards to frame the windows. So the new baseboards are painted and ready to go. We started removing our old baseboards, and on Tuesday Jeff's parents will arrive to help us take up our old floors and put in laminate flooring. Pictured on the bottom. We went with Revere Pewter for the walls. I think it turned out nicely. A subtle difference but I think the whole look will turn out nice. It's been nice not having to cover the floors. That would be a disaster I think, we are so messy.

Abi is our good little sport. We did alot of work for 3 days at night after Abi went to bed. But really it all came together on Saturday, when a good friend took Abi from 9-6. And then we kept working after Abi went to bed at 7:30 and didn't stop from sheer exhaustion until 11:00

The color of the floor is russet olive, and I am really excited about it. It is really good quality stuff, and I like how wide the boards are.

Taking the Plunge...

So, with the growing baby in my tummy, I've been thinking alot about how to transition my current baby into a little girl, to ease the burden come July. Like, toddler bed, and potty training. I don't want to force her to grow up, but I want the timing to be right, and to follow her lead. And so I've been reading about potty training, and about a month ago I decided that Abi definitely wasn't ready. So I was content to wait and take our time. Maybe in May I thought. Then about a month ago I started noticing that Abi was waking up dry! All night long, and waking up dry! Then a friend let me borrow their little toilet seat that fits on a big toilet. And so one morning I put her on the potty, and let her eat pretzels. She had no idea what was happening, but she went! And she went after her nap, and every morning for about 2 weeks. In that time, she started to make herself go, and started to tell me when she pooped in her diaper. Then on Sunday she told me before she pooped, and she pooped on the potty! So excited with all of these positive signs, I decided to just go with it.

So Monday I went to Walmart and bought underwear, and after lunch I put her new panties on her! Ahhh! It felt so crazy. I don't think potty training is ever easy... maybe it is for those non-worry types. But I was worried. Worried it was too soon, worried that she wouldn't catch on, worried that she would get frustrated, worried that I would get frustrated, worried that I wouldn't know what to do in every situation...etc.

But we plugged away. Monday, 3 successes, 3 accidents.

Tuesday, the real test. 8 sucesses, 9 accidents! This was a crazy day.

Wednesday, something clicked! 5 successes, 2 accidents!

Thursday...(so far) 3 successes, 1 accident.

She is learning! I am learning too, but I hope with time that she will take the initiative, and be proud of herself.

I am so proud of her. I am still worried about social situations, but we will take it one day at a time and trust our smart little girl that she will learn.


****Update:
 It is almost 2 weeks later and this little girl is pretty much potty trained!! She is awesome. We have traded diapers for a carrying around a gross little potty seat (on that sits on top of a normal toilet, the toilet seats are just too big for her little body), but that's ok. She still has the occasional accident, but it's mostly at night, and it's mostly #2. Ok, too much bathroom info. Good job Abi!

Milestones

Today, was a reality check day. Our little Abi is growing up. And fast.

Today she:

- Climbed out of her crib this morning.

- Went to Nursery at church for the first time. (Abi did great, but Jeff had a really hard time with it)

- Went pee pee in the potty 3 times

Sorry Abi for the most embarrassing picture ever:) We'll be sure to pull it out at just the right moment, like as your date picks you up for your Junior Prom. 

- Came up to me and said, "Diaper, poop." I checked her diaper and it was clean, so I put her on the potty and she pooped! For the first time ever.

-Wore her hair big girl ponytails. Heaven help me, and her, b/c I am not good at cutesy stuff.

 

It's exciting and sad at the same time. It's amazing to watch her take everything in stride, and see the gratification on her face when she accomplishes new "big girl" things.


Yet, we relish our little sweet Abi-girl moments. Wish we could onto them forever:

-Carrying her up to bed when she falls asleep in the car

-Watch her lay on the ground still for a few second/minutes and remember when that was all she did

Other Milestones:

Jeff turned 29!!!

We celebrated Blair-B-Q style! Jeff loves a good barbecue, and we couldn't have asked for better weather. Jeff is a guy worth celebrating. We really love him a lot around here.

A few favorite pics from the last month

Riding the Train at Brackenridge Park. She loved it, and acted so grown up. Didn't want to sit on my lap.

Where did my baby go? 

This girl loves to brush her teeth and cuddle after a bath