The Art of Being a Toddler

Abby's got toddlerhood down, it seems. Do I have Mommyhood down? Not so sure some days... here are some of this week's highlights:

1. Abby is into the "ing" form of every word, including nouns! Yesterday, she said "Abby booking"... apparently, meaning that she wanted to go read books with Mommy. This morning she said, "Abby Jack-ing"... as we were pulling up at EZs to meet her friend Jack & his Dad for lunch today.

2. Abby took us on a treasure hunt this week... for Mommy's credit cards & driver's license! Our AC went out & several contractors came to inspect. While I was talking with one, Abby got to my wallet & removed ALL of its contents without my notice until a few hours later when we stopped to get some gas. Talk about panic! I suspected the culprit was Abby & not any of the contactors, but was not 100% certain. Everytime I would show Abby my empty wallet & ask her "where are Mommy's cards", she would say "room" & lead me into her room. But to no avail. 48 hours later I was beginning to suspect the AC contractors...we had turned everything upside down, looking in every hiding place we could imagine... until Jake picked up his guitar to look behind it for the 5th time & we both heard something clunk... sure enough, she had stashed all of my cards in the hollow inside of the guitar... now it seems so obviously an ideal place for Abby to choose... she loves putting things inside of other things... whew!

3. She has fits at "ABC" (aka "HEB") if she doesn't get to ride in the mega shopping cart... urgently insisting, "Abby riding" "Abby riding" "Abby riding"!!! I think Moms need special training & licensing in order to navigate the store aisles with one of those things... and, come to think of it, even more so, to navigate the tantrums of a toddler too!

4. This is the full conversation she has with almost everyone we see in any public place these days... "Hi! Abby! (introducing herself) Mama! (pointing at me) Daddy bye-bye! Daisy home! Daisy poopoo! Papi for night night! Airplane bump, bump, bump! (on the way to Seattle the airplane's bumpy landing scared Abby, so Mimi told her "it's ok, airplanes just go bump, bump, bump"...so now she repeats that randomly all the time)".

5. We have finally mastered the art of persuading Abby that paci (or "papi" as she calls it) is only for sleepytime. We just give her a choice when sleepytime is over... she has to voluntarily place papi on her crib rail before we will set her free from the crib. It works beautifully, since that puts the decision into her hands. One day this week, we were coming home past her bedtime & she was fussing in the backseat. In frustration, I gave in & handed her papi & said "happy birthday!" sarcastically... well, she now says "happy buthday" when I give her papi for sleepytime.

6. The first thing she says when she wakes up every morning now is her opinion of the agenda for the day, which usually sounds like this... "Abby ABC, gym, painting"...all of her favorite things.

7. Most of her words sound pretty close to the real word, with two very big exceptions... "napty" means "milk"... and "toofrie" means "cookie". We have no idea where she came up with these words, although Mimi suggested maybe another kid at her mother's day out said "nasty" when given some milk & Abby picked up on it... who knows?