That's right

It seems that Abigail's stranger anxiety is tapering off! YAY!!!!!!!! She still does not care for swimming. You take the good with the bad.

Reaching, pulling, climbing!

Our girl is getting stronger each day. She is pulling herself up on us, on her toys, in her crib. We found her in her crib on her knees, trying to pull herself. With a little assitance from us, she did make it into a standing position!

She looked so very proud of herself.

And so are we.

She's also pushing herself up from a laying down postion into a sitting position!!! The first time was on Aunt Betty and Uncle Ronnie's bed--3x in a row! And then did it again the following day, and today, the third day, she's already done it before 9am!

What an exciting time in our house!

First word and much, much more!

Abigail's first word is MILK! She has consistently signed the word milk while drinking from a bottle and even has asked for it when she was acting a bit fussy. The milk sign looks like squeezing udders.

She's also recognizing her name! It's so amazing to see her look toward you after saying, "Abigail." She also recognizes when the door opens in her room--she looks toward it and greets you with a grin (lights us up everytime).

She's got a tooth! (really this time) It's on the bottom, right, center. Drool and lots of gum rubbing have ensued, but really happy all the same.

She no longer minds (much) to have her face wiped clean. This is fantastic news! Whenever we wiped her face after it was covered with whatever it was she was eating, she would complain as if the world was coming to an end. But now, like a champ, we can, wipe, wipe, wipe! Which brings us to things she likes to do for herself. Wipe her tray clean and feed herself. She likes to take the spoon away from the feeder, or guide their hand into her mouth. So independent!

She just recently again started to look at the pictures of a book. She used to do this all the time as an infant, but then she decided chewing on books was better than looking or hearing a story and now she's back to sitting back and enjoy its words and pictures. She also likes to climb up onto the bookshelves and hold herself up--she's so strong!

She went to her first, 1st birthday party of a friend. It's such a joy to see her with other children--she reaches for them, smiles and laughs. Which is basically what she does a good portion of most days.

And it's hard to believe but, tomorrow she will be in our lives for 8 months!

She likes to move it move it

Top Three Things that get Abigail On the Move:

#3...Paper - She's drawn to magazines, newspapers, wrappers, et al. Perhaps she'll grow up to be a writer.

#2...Daphne's Toys - Particularly when they're currently being chewed. And she's the only one of us who can get Daphne to "give."#1...Fink - The girl loves, loves, loves Fink the Cat. Loves to laugh at her. Loves to grab her fur and tail. Loves to scoot across the floor after her. Watch out Fink...she's gonna getcha.

3 years!

Life sure has changed from where we started.

With Abigail responding to her name now and pulling a cover off her head when playing the "Where is Abigail?" game, could life be any better? And still, the best is yet to come...

Life is Good

We feel bad that we haven't been writing as frequently or as lengthy as we used to do. However, we don't feel that bad because that means our girl is that much more on the go! And boy is she ever! She pulled herself over the saddle of her new door into the living room this morning--she's just that strong! She occasionally wears an eyepatch to help strengthen her eyes and the world has opened up to her even more. She tugs and pulls at Daphne (who seems to just like the attention) and laughs at the sight of Fink curled up on a pillow. She shakes her rattle and her body all day long, she squeals with delight over anything and everything.

And, we didn't think it possible but, love her even more than we did yesterday.

Life is good.

Much to be thankful for

We are so thankful this year for the new life Abigail has brought upon us.

She's scooting now--most days she will be in a sitting position, lean forward, manage to sweep her legs behind her, be on her belly and then...scoot!

We spent Thanksgiving in New Jersey surrounded by loved ones--who could ask for anything more?