Playing with Daddy and His Shoes

Today Abigail is 17 months old, just a month shy of a year and a half! I guess she's decided to have a slumber party with herself to celebrate because she's been in her crib for bed for an hour and I can still her her talking ;-)

It is the weekend, which means plenty of opportunities for Abigail to play with her Daddy. I thought we'd share a few pictures showing Abigail having fun with Dad.

Here is Abigail taking a ride. This is the first time Mommy wasn't hunched over to make sure Abigail didn't fall off.


Here is Abigail being made into a cute little bundle of love by her Dad and striking a pose:


Finally, the other day while Jonathan was at work Abigail decided to walk a few steps in his shoes. She actually did pretty well considering they are way too big for her ;-)

She'll Try Just About Anything

Just to clarify-I am not talking about food. While she does seem to "try" different foods, she will mostly just give food a chew and let the food fall out of her mouth.

When I talk about Abigail trying just about anything, I am referring to playtime/amusement. I've caught her attempting to walk around the apartment with her eyes closed. She also likes to move toys from one area of the apartment to another. Lately she has enjoyed trying to climb into different sized boxes/baskets around the apartment. Here is a picture of her in one of her canvas toy boxes. This seems to be a good fit compared to the pencil box she tried stepping into this afternoon ;-)


I mentioned before that Abigail can start a DVD on her own. She can also turn the TV on using the power button on the TV. Other buttons on the TV are a little harder to reach. However, the other day I caught Abigail trying to reach this once out-of-reach buttons:

New Jersey

This past weekend Abigail and I joined my parents on a road trip to visit my brother James in New Jersey. We left Friday before noon and hit a good bit of traffic during the drive. I'm not sure how long it ended up taking though. All I know is that Abigail was very excited to be free from her carseat. She loved roaming around her Uncle James' apartment. She especially loved chasing his cat. This was the first time she's seen a cat up close and personal. She did everything she could to get to the cat, named Baby. At one point she tried giving the cat one of her toys and tossing her toys at her. I wish I had my camera. James got some video of it-if I ever get a hold of the footage, I'll try to post it.

On Saturday we went to the Jersey shore. As you should know by now, Abigail loves the water and couldn't get enough of it! At one point we made her a wading pool in the sand to give us a break from walking with her in the waves. James' fiance Dawn joined us and was a great help!

Abigail got very fussy towards the end of our beach visit and ended up falling asleep as Nonna walked her along the boardwalk. We took a break before dinner in the hotel. We got creative trying to keep Abigail entertained.

We had dinner with Dawn's parents after our break. It was really nice to get the chance to meet them. They also welcomed us into their home for breakfast on Sunday. After breakfast on Sunday we headed to another boardwalk area (Point Pleasant, I think). The plan was to go to an aquarium. However, it seemed like everyone in the state of New Jersey was at this particular boardwalk-so we drove off in search of something else to do. We ended up getting soft serve at Jersey Freeze and then went to a local mall.

The trip back home started around 8:30 AM and went by much more quickly than the trip down. We had a great time getting away, but are happy to be home. I am especially happy to be able to put Abigail to bed in her own room. She ended up going to bed close to 10 each night because of evening activities and the excitement I having three other people in the room.

Thanks James for welcoming us and showing us around!

What will Abigail be when She Grows Up?

Abigail has taken to brushing Mommy's hair lately with her own brush. Today she decided to comb her Mommy's hair with her own comb. Before she did any combing though, she decided she wanted to chew on the comb-yes folks, we still aren't over putting everything in the mouth (but I think we're getting there). I was amused by the final product. I'm not sure if Abigail will be a hair stylist when she grows up. What do you think?

Grandpa's 80th Birthday Celebration

Today we got together with family to celebrate my Grandfather's 80th birthday. Today was such a beautiful day to get together and celebrate the life of a wonderful husband, father, grandfather, great-grandfather, uncle, and brother! My Aunt was very creative in putting together a carnival-themed party. She went all out with a popcorn machine, cotton candy machine, caricaturist, candy table, and more.

Abigail had a great time playing and running around. She also spent a good deal of time in the pool. Did I ever mention that she loves the water! It is hard to tear her away from it sometimes! Abigail was definitely worn out by the end of the day and fell asleep soon after we were on our way home. Here are a few pictures from our day:

10 Weeks - AAAAAHHHHH!!!!

If you notice, off to the right of this post is our little baby ticker. We only have 70 days left until Sarah is due. I am a bit overwhelmed because I do not feel ready at all. I need to relax though. As my Mom has reminded me a number of times, I am not the first person to have to little ones under two. Breathe Diana.

This weekend we spent a little time decorating the girls' room. Now that we know we'll have two girls we are free to make the bedroom as girly as we want. Even though it will be a while before both girls are in the same room we thought we'd give the two of them their own "spaces" in the room. Here is how things are looking so far in Abigail's "space":

I thought it would be fun for Abigail to see what it was like to lay in her big girl bed. I think she got a kick out of it. We're hoping to transition her to it when she's 19 months old or so. Don't worry, Papa Kapaldo is making a bed rail to ensure she doesn't roll out ;-)

Sarah is doing well. She is still moving around and kicking me all day long. I think she is still in the head up position because she isn't kicking up top. I'll know more at my 30 week appointment this week.

Wanna Get Away?

Abigail enjoyed her normal morning ritual: breakfast followed by a shower. Wait, it was a bath for Abigail, and a shower for Mom and Dad (she's a splasher sometimes ;-). Anyway, we got her half dressed when she decided she wanted to run around and play rather than have us put her shirt on. Thankfully, she was outnumbered and Jonathan and I managed to get her fully dressed. Abigail was not happy. She threw a little tantrum-the kind where she wanted to be near me but did NOT want me to touch her.

A few moments later I heard a scratching on our front door. I went into the living room and this is what I saw:


I think she may have been trying to escape. Thankfully (1) she had the wrong key and (2) she's just a wee bit too short :-)

Caught on Camera - Almost

Abigail was a bit bored this morning while I was getting breakfast together. She managed to find another DVD and set off on the difficult task of getting it to play. This time she remembered the Eject button. She spent a lot of time opening and closing the tray and trying to put the DVD in. It wasn't until a few moments into it when I thought "hay, I should try and get a picture of this". By the time I got back into the living room the movie was playing ;-)