Often during bedtime Abigail will call for me. She'll want us to help her with her covers, get her water, etc. Last night I asked Jonathan to take care of her. I could hear them talking in her doorway. Here is a loose paraphrase of their conversation:
A: Mommy's sad.
J: No, Mommy isn't sad.
A: Mommy's sick.
J: No, Mommy isn't sick.
A: Mommy's tired.
Jonathan reassured her I was fine. Then Abigail went ahead and declared, "Mommy is sick and tired."
This morning Abigail came to get me out of bed. She was comparing my features with hers. She concluded that we both have brown eyes while Sarah and Jonathan have blue ones. She then went to describe my hair as "big hair" then went ahead and said my mouth was big. Though she also noted that she had a "big mouth" too. I'm going to have to agree with that one :-)
Oh, and a helpful hint for those of you who have or plan to have a young one. If their birthday month has arrived, don't tell them, "Hey, you know what? Your birthday is this month!" This is especially important if you are telling them at the beginning of the month and their birthday is at the end of the month. Abigail is often telling me we need to get party hats and cake and balloons. I have to keep explaining to her that her birthday is a few weeks away (though now it is finally coming up)!
Whenever we ask her what she wants for her birthday she'll go ahead and talk about the decorations and type of cake she wants. So then we have to ask a different way, "What kind of present do you want?" She'll quickly and consistently respond, "A green one!"
Abigail is two-and-a-half years old today. She has grown and developed in so many ways.
Girl Talk
Abigail starts talking as soon as she wakes up in the morning and does not stop until she falls asleep at night (well, she does take a break during nap time too). She likes to observe out loud, pointing out trucks, trees, motorcycles on the way to Grandma's and telling me that "red means stop" and "green means go". She likes to tell Sarah to "come here" and I hear her say, "no Sarah" quite a bit too. Abigail also likes to burst into song during the day, which is really cute.
Playtime
It is so cute to watch Abigail play on her own. She takes good care of her stuffed kitty and baby dolls. She also throws birthday parties for her tub-toy ducks. I love seeing her imagination at work. Sarah's her little shadow. She would rather play along with Abigail instead of watch. Abigail hasn't gotten used to the idea of playing together yet. Though, they do like to play, I'm Gonna Get You where they chase each other around the room.
Testing the Waters
Abigail is always pushing the envelope. She is feisty and very vocal when it comes to what she wants. I'll tell her "no" and she gives me a look before doing exactly what I told her not to do. She gives me the same look when we are out and about (with no doors/gates/fences) right before she runs off.
In six short months Abigail will be three-the thought of this blows me away. Ahhh! I was looking through old pictures the other day and came across this one (taken in May 2009). I can't believe she's grown so much! No more baby talk, baby rolls, baby steps.
Saturday was Jonathan's big day-the day he turned 30. Jonathan started his birthday the same way I did mine-he slept in. We then had a special breakfast of buttons and bowknots. Abigail serenaded Jonathan with the Happy Birthday song. If you listen carefully she includes herself in the birthday greeting.
The main event for Jonathan's birthday was our annual trip to Smolak Farms for apple picking. Auntie Laura, Uncle Nick, and Bridget joined us. This was Sarah, Bridget, and Uncle Nick's first apple picking experience.
We were able to make great use of our new wagon. During apple picking each of the girls gave Jonathan a special "apple"-a brand new iTunes gift card. Abigail did enough apple picking to fill our bag and the Hanks' bag. Sarah spent most of the time inspecting our apples.
After we picked a few pecks of perfect apples we ventured off to the pumpkin patch. We then went to the playground briefly. I didn't want to spend too much time there because it was so crowded. However, every time I suggested to Abigail that we check something else out she would say, "No thanks" or "I wanna play". I am constantly amazed at the new phrases that have come out of her mouth lately!
We did end up leaving the playground and headed back to the pumpkins for pictures. After that we went back to Nonna and Papa's house.
I planned on making pizza for dinner at my parent's house. Let's just say, though, that the execution of my plan was anything but flawless. I ended up burning the pizza. My excuse is using an unfamiliar oven. Jonathan made his own birthday dinner by ordering pizza.
We had Jonathan's favorite-German Chocolate Cake for dessert. I modified the frosting recipe by omitting nuts (in case Abigail got a hold of it). It was actually pretty good! For his birthday a group of us chipped in to get him AppleTV. Because I could only pre-order it I ended up wrapping a deck of cards and made it look like a TV with an apple logo on it. I think Jonathan was pleasantly surprised.
We ended our day with pictures of the girls in their jammies before heading home for the night.
All-in-all we had a great day celebrating Jonathan's birthday! Happy birthday to such a wonderful husband, father, and friend. We love you!
Abigail is still talking about her trip to the museum. It's exciting that we've been able to have little conversations about it, though it's the same conversation over and over:
Abigail: George say
Mommy: What does George say?
Abigail: Oooo Aaaah!
[Now picture a huge smile and little two year old arms reaching up]
Abigail: George sky! [referring to the inflated George hanging from the ceiling in the museum]
Mommy: Yes, George was in the sky. What did you say to George?
Abigail: Bye bye George [on the way out, of course]
She is just too cute!
