The end of summer

Best pick in town:

Jonathan and Amanda are the bookends to summer--Jonathan's birthday falls on or around Memorial Day and Amanda's on Labor Day.  This year both were on the Monday of the those long weekends so, it made it a particularly exciting summer.  And now as this hot, sticky season comes to a close, we've uploaded pictures of the summer that was.  (Check them out, to the right)

The hot weather waved in pigtails for Abigail, berry and peach picking on Mama's birthday, writing (and smelling) with great big crayons, a trip to the Museum of Moving Image, dancing at a parade, blowing kisses (she's got the first part down--bringing her hand to her mouth but hasn't yet extended her hand out to send the kiss but, the sentiment is there) and plenty of PEEK-A-BOO time.

She still has a great love of flowers and is simply amazed at the world around her.  "Ooo" and "Mmmm" and "Ahhh" have become everyday expressions in her excitement of living each day to the fullest.  It's a joy to see her find wonder in water, going up and down again and again (while saying "updownupdownupdownupdown") and to just be in her jubilant presence. (even with her cold!)

Lu La, Lu La

Abigail loves to be sung to. She also loves to sing, "lu, la, lu, la" or "da, do," it's such a joyful melody to hear. She's just so happy to be alive when she does it, and makes all around her pretty happy too.

She's very into saying "more" and "up, up, up." Sometimes these are very obvious what she wants their outcome to mean, like if she's eating raspberries and has run out, she wants more of the fruit. However, sometimes she says "more" and we haven't even done anything yet and it is very unclear as to what "more" should be done. Once at the beginning of the bath she started to say more, so I put in more soap to make bubbles. "More." Sprinkle in a few more toys. "More"--and then she proceeds to reach for Mama's shoulder and push her closer to the water, asking her to blow more bubbles in the water, making a funny sound and getting very wet--just like Mama had done the night before. But how was Mama supposed to know more meant, "get your face in the water and blow!"--lots of guess work these days!

Another piece of detective work--"baffalo"--doesn't always mean babbaloo like we thought it did. She says it all the time, hmmmm.

She has turned into a hide and seek machine--we hide and she comes and finds us. A knee slapping good time.

She now likes to take the measuring cup out of Daphne's bin and feed the pup one kernel at a time. She's so considerate.

Sweet 16 months...where is the time going?

Lots of the time when she walks she does so on tippy toes--so her nickname: Twinkle Toes.

Somersault!

Our little lady did an incredible somersault on our big bed this evening! Actually about 5 of them, but one was dead-on: head tucked under and tumbled straight forward! No photo evidence but Grandma was there to witness it too. Abigail looked EXTREMELY proud of herself and as soon as she was done said, "more!" Did someone say, "gymnastics class?"

Disneyland

We had a terrific (albeit demanding) time in California!

We first spent some time in Hollywood with Nicole and her very wonderful dog Diggy. Abigail didn't quite get the whole time change thing and woke up the first few mornings at 2 or 3:30--she was just excited to start her vacation. Begrudgingly-bleary-eyed, we did too.

Though we did have a wonderful time exploring all the sights and sounds that Disneyland had to offer, it was watching Abigail walk back into our home that made it all worth it. She was in awe of seeing a monkey that hangs on our wall still there, she was thrilled to see all her old toys and took a stroll around the house saying, "da, do, da" pointing at everything with such glee.

Yay for vacations, double yay for the familiar.

Oh, something really cute: both of us heard Abigail saying, "buffalo," again and again. We couldn't figure out why this was now in her vocabulary. She saw a buffalo in books and possibly at the Bronx Zoo but, really, why would she be saying it again and again. Then Jonathan realized: she saying "babbaloo." (which we mentioned in a past post she loves to do on her belly, drum or anywhere else she can pound!)

Coney Island

Aunt Judie's birthday gift to Abigail was a trip to Coney Island!
And boy did we experience it. We ate hot dogs, fries, fried shrimp (some of us) and strolled the boardwalk. Abigail loved meandering between all the people, all the sounds, dancing along the way and saying, "hello!" We have no pictures of the time spent schmoozing on the boardwalk because it was just too busy and exciting but we got a few good ones of before and after none the less. It was hot as blazes so we were there for a short time, but a memorable one for sure.

So much to do

We looked at a picture we took of Abigail a year ago, when she had just begun to smile and now, she's nothing but smiles. We have one happy girl:


We visit the Botanic Garden probably two times a week, which such a wonderful place for her to really begin her life as a walker. She loves to walk through the garden, pushing her stroller and admire all the beauftiful flowers around her.

While we read Barnyard Dance, she loves to clap her hands just like they say in the book to do. She sits on our rocking chair, using the armrests as her desk, to read books on her own.

And she LOVES banging on a drum or anything else really, while someone says "BABALOO!" Hysterical.

We visited the Van Saun Park zoo in NJ--the same zoo Papa went to when he was a boy!

It's fun being one!

TODDLER!

We have a full time walker now. Or, should we say, a full fledged ToDdLeR. She's all over the place. She meanders in her step and gait, in her direction and her outlook on life. She could walk straight but why would she?! It's fantastic to watch. Particularly because she looks so pleased with herself.

She loves flowers. Loves them. We are so lucky to live a place where anywhere you look, you're going to find them. Plus we live by the Botanic Garden which we just visited today (we do at least once a week) and her interest turned to the big boulders and rocks around the garden. We turned them into drums and she had the biggest giggle while doing so. The water fountain in the Discovery Garden was pretty hysterical too. She thought it was so funny to drink from the stream.

She's growing into one terrific little girl.