Splish Splash!

Saturday was Abbey's first time in a pool. We are starting a mommy and me swim class on Monday and I decided we should do a trial run today. I was so happy the little suit she received for her birthday fit perfectly. It was a wonderful first experience! She made friends with a baby who was loving the water and when he left another one came. They were great role models for Abbey. She sat on the steps for awhile and drank in the scene. Some young guys at the pool began throwing a squishy ball to her and then everyone was cheering for her because she has a good throwing arm. She eventually got all the way in with me and motored around the pool for a long time hanging onto a floating chair ring. Everyone was so nice to her and she throughly enjoyed every bit of it. Normally I would never dream of putting on a suit and getting in a pool, but that is just another way that Abbey has so enriched my life, and I had the best time. I feel SO blessed every minute of every day that I am with her.

Don't go wee-wee on the carpet

I am having so much fun with Abbey. She is just delightful and we are both loving spending time together! She seems to have had a developmental spurt this weekend. I had just told a few people last week that I had no intentions of introducing potty training until she was 2 and 1/2 or 3. I just don't see any reason to start sooner unless she was showing an interest. Well, I still feel that way and that is still my plan, but she has suddenly taken an interest so I am trying to go with the flow (or tinkle). We have been laughing every night the last week or so when she gets in the tub because one night she did a tiny wee-wee on the carpet and now we crack up every night when I take off her diaper for her bath. She goes over and points to the spot where it happened and just laughs and then I say, "Don't wee-wee on the carpet". I think it was the first time it really registered with her what was going on. Anyway, today she went and got a book off her bookshelf that someone had given her that was all about the potty. She seemed really into it so I went and got out the potty that was given to her at one of my showers. She was so happy to have her own potty. She sat on it for about an hour, which is really saying something for my busy little bee. Then tonight at bath time she wanted to get on it again for about 40 min. Nothing happened but she sure was excited about it all. I still don't want to really start trying, but I am happy to go along with her interests. She was so proud of having her own potty!

Climbing Like Crazy!

Wow! That's all I can really say about Abbey's climbing...fake rock walls, scary stair step things, tall ladders - she's into it, and very proud of herself when she tackles a new challenge. We went to a different park today and she was all over it. When I told her she was climbing like a little monkey she started making monkey noises and jumping around like one.

Abbey and Bun-bun

Hi Ho

Dinner on Father's Day with GranGene.

Word of the Week: backpack. Loves to say it over and over.

We are starting all kinds of fun summer classes/activities and are thrilled that Mommy is out of school for the summer!

First Father's Day

I learned a lot over the last couple of years on SingleAdoptChina about how other single adoptive mom's were handling Father's Day and questions that arose for their daughters. Abbey is young enought not to be very cognizant of the differences in families, but the other children in her daycare are preschoolers and they do notice. A week or so ago I talked to Abbey's caregiver and told her that Abbey could make a card or craft for her grandfather. I also brought in a great book, Families are Different, by Nina Pellegrini, that explains that although families may be different, they are held together with a special kind of glue called love. I wanted her teacher to be ready in case questions came up about "Where's Abbey's daddy?" We talked about the fact that although she doesn't have a dad, the Bible says that God is a father to the fatherless, Psalms 68:5. I want to take a preemptive approach to situations like this for Abbey, especially after hearing about awkward things others have been through that could have been handled much better. I don't think we always perceive sensitive subjects to depth that we will when we are the minority that it affects. Anyway, when I came to pick up Abbey on Friday she had made two cards and gifts, one for GranGene and one for me. Reading the card brought tears to my eyes,

Dear Mama,
Thank you for being brave enough to be my mom and dad.
I Love You!
Thank you for loving me and choosing to be my mama.
Love,
Abbey


So in honor of all of you who are doing the job of mom and dad...Happy Father's Day to you!

No, no, no

Now mommy is saying it too.

We have reached an unwanted milestone. Yesterday she figured out how to undo all the baby-proofing. She went around checking all the cabinets to make sure she could do it. Then she started pulling things out of the cabinets. Ahhhhhhhhhhh. It's not that there's anything unsafe, it's just the convenience of being able to keep everything where I want it (okay, it's a control issue).

And she has been intently studying the book Goodnight Gorilla. The Gorilla snags the zoo keeper's keys and follows him around to all the cages unlocking them after the zoo keeper bids each animal goodnight. I am having flashbacks of the Shawshank Redemption. She just pours over the pictures of the locks and keys and seems to relish the "no-no"ness of it all.

Clever. That's what her referral report said. Yes, mommy will be very busy now for many years.

I Want Zebra

Here we are at the movie star park You know all those pictures of celeb's and their kids in People magazine? This is the park in Malibu where they take them. We don't care, we just want to play. Speaking of stars, Angelina will be on Larry King Live Thursday night.

I am thrilled that Abbey is now starting 2 word phrases and she is using a pronoun. She came up with "I want" last week and is using it all the time. We are working on not saying it in a whine and adding the third word saying what it is that she wants.

Yo Yogurt

Goodbye tactile defensiveness, hello yogurt! She's conquered sand - went from sitting on the edge of the box to full covered in sand play. Overcame grass - from not wanting to step on it to now rolling around in it. And now her final conquest, soft mushy foods which at one point were unacceptable. Oh, and she initiated playing with the birdseed tub at daycare this week. That's my girl!

Toddler's Creed

If it is on, I must turn it off.

If it is off, I must turn it on.

If it is folded, I must unfold it.

If it is a liquid, it must be shaken, then spilled.

If it a solid, it must be crumbled, chewed or smeared.

If it is high, it must be reached.

If it is shelved, it must be removed.

If it is pointed, it must be run with at top speed.

If it has leaves, they must be picked.

If it is plugged, it must be unplugged.

If it is not trash, it must be thrown away.

If it is in the trash, it must be removed, inspected, and thrown on the floor.

If it is closed, it must be opened.

If it does not open, it must be screamed at.

If it has drawers, they must be rifled.

If it is a pencil, it must write on the refrigerator, monitor, or table.

If it is full, it will be more interesting emptied.

If it is empty, it will be more interesting full.

If it is a pile of dirt, it must be laid upon.

If it is stroller, it must under no circumstances be ridden in without protest. It must be pushed by me instead.

If it has a flat surface, it must be banged upon.

If Mommy's hands are full, I must be carried.

If Mommy is in a hurry and wants to carry me, I must walk alone.

If it is paper, it must be torn.

If it has buttons, they must be pressed.

If the volume is low, it must go high.

If it is toilet paper, it must be unrolled on the floor.

If it is a drawer, it must be pulled upon.

If it is a toothbrush, it must be inserted into my mouth.

If it has a faucet, it must be turned on at full force.

If it is a phone, I must talk to it.

If it is a bug, it must be swallowed.

If it doesn't stay on my spoon, it must be dropped on the floor.

If it is not food, it must be tasted.

If it is food, it must not be tasted.

If it is dry, it must be made wet with drool, milk, or toilet water.

If it is a car seat, it must be protested with arched back.

If it is Mommy, it must be hugged.


P.S. I did not write this, and I don't know who did. Thank goodness Abbey doesn't eat bugs or arch her back over the car seat. She loves to go wherever we are going. She also loves her stroller but does have to get out and push it 1/2 of the way sometimes. Everything else she does...and so much more. It's very fun and I am very busy!