Ramblings of a Frazzled (But Still Blessed) Mom

Sweet girl, I have stored up lots of treasured memories of you since the last real "baby book" entry. So here are some of them that I can remember...

1. We went to Panera for "babels" recently & you climbed right up in an empty booth & said "hi" to a grandpa-looking man enjoying his coffee & bagel alone on the other side of the table. He chuckled and was thrilled with your friendly greeting. I think you made his day.

2. Mama was dragging out of bed slowly one morning recently (ok, more than one morning!), so you went to the kitchen by yourself & came back with a banana that you had begun to eat, peel & all! You bit right through the peel to get to the banana. Mama was very glad she splurged on the organic bananas!

3. Nine is your favorite number. You say it all the time, out of the blue.

4. You love eggs. One Saturday, you & Dad went to pick up breakfast tacos while Mama got to sleep in... by the time I woke up, you had eaten not only your taco, but both of Mama's tacos... so you & Dad had to go back out for more.

5. You give REAL kisses now, with sound effects & all.... Mmmmmmwuh!

6. Yesterday I asked you to please eat another bite of your chicken, to which you responded by leaning over & kissing your chicken. Mmmmmmmwuh!

7. I found a mountain of salt on my kitchen floor last week. I still feel it stick to my feet, even after lots of vacuuming.

8. Mama is having a hard time remembering that you are getting taller by the day, which means you can reach things you didn't used to reach...

9. Your favorite playground is Mama's or Dada's car, doors wide open. Whenever we drive into the driveway, you start jabbering a million miles per minute telling me how excited you are for Mama to let you play in the car in the backyard for awhile.

10. You still love to build towers with anything at hand...bowls, cups, etc.

11. I found Blankie in my fridge last week and a toy car in it this week.

12. Elmo! is your first pop culture hero. The first time you announced your love for Elmo, we were at CVS buying you a new toothbrush. While I was comparing toothbrushes, you suddenly announced "Elmo!"... of course, decision over... you had an Elmo toothbrush in your hand, so Elmo it was!

13. You put your bowl (empty thankfully) on your head & said "hat."

14. You are "in" to "school" (MDO) these days. Miss Minnie told me that you raise your hand & say "here" when they call your name.

15. We have entered into "Water Battles, Part 2." Only this time the battle centers on Sharpie permanent markers instead of bath tub water. Even when Dad & I think we have put them all out of your reach, you seem to find one. We did not realize how many we owned before you came along! Not too long ago, I walked into my office & found you coloring your face on the blog on my laptop screen with a black Sharpie... talk about panic! Dad gave Mommy grief about "leaving Sharpies where Abby can reach them"... to my credit, I have to say it was in the pen holder on my desk, right next to my laptop... 30 minutes later, Daddy let you play in his car while he worked in the garage... not long after, he came in to get rubbing alcohol and muttered sheepishly that it turns out that there was a Sharpie marker in the side pocket of his car afterall... the rest is history.

16. We went to K Charles for your first haircut. You loved it until the stylist put you in the chair & pulled out her scissors. Popop let you put stickers all over his glasses and nose to distract you long enough to get a few of your hairs trimmed anyway. When we checked out, they politely told me there is a kid-friendly hair cutting place down the street.


17. What does the fly say? You know and you're happy to tell anyone who asks. You acquired this info when Mom was trying to swat a fly while you were eating dinner... it kept zooming past you in your chair & you would point it out to me & then I would swat... although I did not realize it, I must have been growling in frustration when I would miss, because you soon began to growl every time the fly zoomed past you. When anyone asks you what the fly says, you say "grrrrrr."

18. "Hi" is in your top 5 favorite words. Not only do you greet everyone we see in stores & restaurants, but whenever you know you are in trouble & Mom is heading toward you to address you, you start saying "hi" over & over in a very soft voice.

19. You rush to help Mama when you hear the dryer door open...

20. You love shopping at Whole Foods. They have toddler-sized shopping carts. Now that you know, we can't go NEAR the market without you excitedly jabbering & pointing toward the carts. Then you make a bee line to the kid's corner for your free treat.

21. You are into major backseat driving! You amazingly know your way around town (or at least the 5 miles around our house) & you grunt, whine & cry whenever I take a turn that is outside of your plan... your plan is always to go somewhere other than home! When we arrive somewhere exciting to you, you cheer, but then whine if my circling the parking lot for a place leads us away from the desirable destination... even after I pull into a place, if I have to back up to straighten, you protest thinking we might be leaving.

22. You say "amen" in the middle of evey meal... we always take it as your reminder to pray at breakfast and lunch, not just dinner. When we all hold hands to pray, you hold on tighter when we end the prayer & try to pull away to eat.

23. I have to double knot my shoes now. When I am trying to get ready to go, you think it is hilarious to untie my shoes. As I tie one again, you untie the other, and so on! You also love to close the closet door so that the light automatically goes out when I am picking out clothes... I rarely was on time before you... but now I have no hope!

24. When I get down on the ground to clean the floor or baseboards, etc. you follow behind me pulling my shirt tail down to cover my back when it shows.

25. One of the sweetest things ever... you put Baby to bed in her crib last week, pulled your Blankie through the bars of your crib to cover her with, leaned over to pat & kiss her, said "Amen" and then turned to Daddy & me & said "shhhhh". I treasured it so much that I went to get the video camera, pulled Baby back out of her bed, handed her to you, & told you to put her to bed again. Of course, you have never done it that same exact sweet way ever again.

26. Here is one of my favorite memories... I was making dinner for Daddy's birthday... I put the full trash bag by the back door to go out, & it fell over. Before I got over there to take care of it, you went to the drawer where I keep kitchen towels, took one out & then proceeded to wipe up some soup that had spilled out of a soup can in the trash onto the floor. I was stunned!!!

27. You love the vaccuum cleaner & mop. You follow me around when I am spraying wood floor cleaner on the floor and say "shh, shh, shh" like the sound of the cleaner pumping out of the container. I caught you last week pushing the vaccuum attachment around our room, saying "shhhhhhhhhhhh" like the vaccuum.

28. Always the delegator... last year at this time, you were into taking an adult's finger or hand and making them do what you wanted...

like pointing at something in a book...


or getting someone to clap for you...


or opening your presents at Christmas...


This year, you holler "Dada" when Mama is singing or dancing & you want Dada to join in... or vice versa. We have a hilarious video on Dad's birthday where you supervised Mama, Dad, Popop and Grandma in dancing to your favorite song...you would point and holler at whoever fell down on the job.

29. Yesterday, we were keeping your little cousin Hudson, so I had gotten the Bumbo chair out of storage for him. Later in the afternoon, you hollered "MM" from what I thought was your potty (we give you one M&M if you sit on the potty).... when I came in to your bathroom to see, you were sitting on the Bumbo right where your potty had been & your potty was nowhere to be found... apparently, you had swapped them out. You're right, afterall, they are both seats to sit in.

30. I have learned not to tell you when we are going to Popop's house until we are in the car... otherwise, from the moment I tell you, you holler & whine at me.. "Bye-bye, Popop..." over & over.

31. This morning, from the moment you finished breakfast, you have been wandering around restlessly, saying "Mama, bye-bye"... "Dada, bye-bye" & you throw yourself down on the ground with plenty of drama when we don't go. You keep pointing at my feet, saying "shoes" since you know we need shoes to go. To buy me some time, I asked you to go find my shoes... you are off looking somewhere.