All smiles!

Well, we were walking out of music class and couldn't go to the playground because of the rain falling on us so what did the Ettinger ladies do?  Get a new, shorter haircut for Abigail:

And she and the rest of us have a smile on our faces because we're so proud that Barack Obama has another FOUR MORE YEARS!  Abigail was watching for Barack last night on the TV and when she didn't see him asked, "Maybe Joe Biden will come on?"  That's our little political girl!

So...

So much has happened since we last wrote.

Abigail likes to say "So..." to start a conversation. "So, mama, I'm going to go to work.  You stay here and enjoy your house and I'll be back in a few minutes."  Then will proceed to walk away, check back a few times and then rush back, "so, how was work?" She'll ask you to remind you to ask her this question.  She can easily hold up her end and your end of any discussion.

We recently got back from Disneyworld.  She got to meet Mickey (and even posed long enough for a non-blurred picture to be taken), both Lilo and Stich--"he touched me!" She said after that encounter, Mulan and Ariel (who she loves but was a bit shy meeting).  Plus we saw animals everyday at our hotel and she loved to run ahead of us as we went down the hallway.  At the park that was a different story- she only wanted mama to carry her, not even sit in her stroller!  "I'm not going to sit" was a favorite phrase from this trip, making the first days a no-rides zone for her.  Luckily it is the most magical place on earth and she came to enjoy It's a small world and Peter Pan, along with some fun shows.  It was exhausting  and yet totally enjoyable.  So, basically, it was the day in the life of a two year old, just with a little more pixie dust than usual.

We returned back to our Forest School class, a lovely few hours in Prospect Park, which includes making mud, nature walks, singing, puppets--rain or shine!  Abigail has said, "this is a nice, wonderful day," during this class and says "I don't want to go," at the end it. We swim once a week too, she's loving jumping into the water and visiting the hot tub after class is done.  She takes a zoo class where she's touched a chicken named Pigeon and a turtle named Sleepy.

She loves to glue things and she LOVES to swing on bars.  There is scaffolding outside our apartment and those bars have become a playground.  She first just swung backwards and forwards and now she whips up her legs, folding herself in half, puting her straights legs over the bar, then bending her legs over the bar. She has not yet let go, but, that's the next step!  It's great but it can make but it makes our hearts skip a beat!

Other news is we will only be the Plaza Street Ettingers for another few months.  Where we will be after that, well, do you know of anything?  Send us a line if you have any leads!

From Mama

Abigail, I love listening to you.  You use big grown-up words for sure, like when you say, "I am a women" when you insist you're not a little baby anymore but I also just love listening to you talk in your own language, which you just started to do again.  I  won't call it baby-talk because it's not babble, it's got a ryhthm and sing-song quality to it, mixed with a lot of laughter and sweet banter.
You have a lot to share with the world.

I love watching you play.   A hula hoop becomes a magic oversized ring when you let it twirl around your body.

I love to watch you dance.  One arm swings up and the other locks in a perpendicular way and you ask, "mom can you do this?" and I can never get it just right but we still laugh seeing mama try your unique dance.

I love to watch you be Abigail Rose Ettinger.  You create yourself new everyday.  And it's a wonder to be around you.

Today is my birthday and I celebrate you.

"Join us!"

There are several phrases Abigail says lately that we want to remember she said at this age.

"That's incredible!"  as she bounces off a slide.

"Join us!" as she joyfully said as we searched for clovers.

We talk about Daphne as our dogness (dog and goodness made into one word).  Well, she likes using that word and then created her own: catness!  She LOVES her Fink.

And she loves singing "Wheels on the Bus."

She is so full of life (please read: exerting her independence) and exploring her world every second of every day.  No wonder we're all so exhausted every night!

What a joy

While Abigail eats she will ask questions like, "Papa, do you want some?"  And sometimes she'll even give you the thing she's offering and sometimes she'll pull a "psych!"

We're adjusting to life now that "Mama not go to work."  She loves this idea (and so does Mama) but really doesn't understand when she still goes to daycare (and it's simply because after all the crying she does have a good time and we're all paid up through July!).  She has a new favorite song she calls Blue, Blue, Blue.  She told us about it one evening and much to her dismay (which led to our dismay) we didn't know which song it was.  We played songs that had to do with Blue, no.  A Laurie Berkner song that says Moon, moon, moon; a very exasperated no!  How about Bluebird on my Shoulder--oh goodness no!  Finally, a few days later we asked the woman who runs her daycare and she sent us the lyrics which led us to a YouTube video of a very sweet song.  "What color is the sky? It's blue, it's blue.  What color is the sun?  It's yellow, it's yellow.  The sun is yellow, the sky is blue, it's blue, it's blue, it's blue. (and so forth with other hues).  The kid knew what she was talking about and thankfully we now know too!

We also got to visit Jones Beach (above picture and more here) and its pool.  She is a water baby.  In the foot deep pool she threw herself around and pretended to be Ariel swimming under the sea.  It was such an incredible pleasure to see Abigail have such a joyful time in a pool Amanda had visited as a child.

It's been incredible seeing Abigail continue to blossom, now into an inquisitive, strong, opinionated little person of the world.  What a joy. 

"One day"

Abigail now is saying "one day" in regards to doing things when she's older.  One day she'll be able to change a light bulb and stand precariously on top of counters like Mama does or climb up onto the air conditioner to look out the window...when she's tall enough, when she's big enough, when she's a "big girl."  She's our amazingly independent, carefree, loving, little girl.

Who's 2 today?!

Happy Birthday Abigail!!!!!!!