9 months old!

Our sweet little Abigail is nine months old! It's hard to believe that we've been enjoying Abby now for as long as I was pregnant; what a very different - and much more enjoyable! - nine months it has been.

At her nine month well-check with the pediatrician today Abby weighed 19 lbs. (50th percentile) and measured 29.25" (95th percentile!). After going over Abby's nine month developmental questionairre (asking questions about communication, motor skills, problem-solving, etc.), the doctor said "this looks like a 12 month-old's questionairre!" Her comment reinforced what we already knew: Abby is working hard to keep up with her big brother! She already wants to be able to do everything he does, whether it be playing with his trains, eating his snacks, reading his books, or walking (she regularly straightens her legs while crawling, trying to stand up and walk).

A little bit about Abby as a nine-month-old...

She loves her brother,

loves to laugh,loves sucking her thumb (usually her left; I'm hoping she'll be a lefty, like me!) loves playing with the cute baby in the mirror,

is really enjoying her new mobility (crawling and pulling up on furniture),

and sometimes you can really see my G-Ma (from whom she gets her middle name, Lila) when you look at her.

She also loves to "talk" - babbling and shrieking happily (especially in "conversation" with the rest of us) - but that's a little difficult to get a picture of . :) Abby is starting to sign a little. The two signs she has defiinitely learned to use are "more" and "all done."

In my admittedly biased opinion, that's a pretty darn acurate sign for a nine-month-old. :) Eli is really into learning sign language, and I'm definitely learning a lot more because of him.

Our sweet Abby is such a joy to us all (as is our wonderful boy)! Happy 3/4 birthday Abigail!

San Diego

We had a great trip to San Diego with Ryan's basketball team following Christmas. Needless to say, I couldn't wait for some Southern CA sun! I am really blessed to be good friends with one of the other coaches' wives, so we rented a van for the two wives and four kids for the week. It gave us a lot of freedom and allowed us to make the trip really enjoyable for ourselves and our kids when the guys were busy with basketball. It was nice to be able to do our own thing while also supporting the team.

We spent the first afternoon just settling in, and first thing the next morning headed north to Disneyland. Eli was very excited!Even waiting in line was fun for Eli. So much to look at and ask about! Abby wasn't quite as into it...she was still recovering from being sick. I carried her (in the Ergo) all day, and she actually slept a lot. We let Eli lead the way all day, choosing whichever rides and attractions he wanted. As it turned out, Eli's absolute favorite ride at Disneyland was the Teacups. He and Ryan rode it three times together, and he had this look on his face every single time! A close second for favorite was the car ride. We had a really fun day together, and Eli loved every minute!
One of the other great times we had together was our trip to Old Town. Ryan had a free afternoon so we all rode the trolly together and just walked around enjoying the atmosphere. It was very relaxing and enjoyable family time.
Of course, you can't go to San Diego without going to Sea World - so we went, and went back, and went back again! Eli has gotten really into maps lately, and actually still has this Sea World map. Who knew the free park map would become a treasured souvenier?!We found it really amazing that they're able to herd their flamingos and let them hang out outside of their pen. The beluga whales were my favorite thing to see at Sea World, and this is probably my favorite photo from the whole trip.I was really surprised by how attentive and interested Abby was at Sea World. The two things she was completely awed by were the Shamu show and the shark tunnel. She was literally turned upside down watching the sharks swim over us in the tunnel. The sharks were definitely one of Eli's favorite things there, too.Eli was so well-behaved this whole trip, and I decided to reward him with an ice cream treat. Needless to say, he was thrilled with this!
Sea World has a really cool Sky Ride that takes you on a trip over Mission Bay. I have to admit that I was pretty terrified going up, but enjoyed the second half. We had a great time at Sea World...and a great trip to San Diego!

New Year Interview

Last year my friend, Brooke, started this awesome tradition with her kids that I knew immediately I wanted to do with ours. It's a New Year interview, to be done each January, and is such a fun way to keep track of what the kids are like each year. Unfortunately I cannot figure out what I did with last year's interview answers. Ugh - darn mommy brain! I think I'm going to need to get a journal to record them in or something - hopefully I won't lose that, too! Anyway, without further ado, here is Eli's interview.

What is your favorite...

• Color: yellow and blue
• Food: rice krispy treats (Mommy's note: I think his favorite food is actually fruit leather)
• Toy: all the sings [things] that I have (Mommy's note: his favorite toy is definitely his train set!!)
• Restaurant: La Casita (our local Mexican restaurant)
• Holiday: Christmas
• Cereal: Cheerios
• Vegetable: carrots
• Fruit: banana
• Drink: vanilla milk
• Book: (Mommy's note: he gave no answer to this, but I'd say it's any Berenstain Bears book)
• Game: Cariboo
• TV Show: Clifford
• Place to go: KidsQuest (local Children's Museum)

What do you love about...

• Abby: hugging her
• Daddy: wrestling on him
• Mommy: tackling you and giving you tackling hugs
• yourself: nothing! (Mommy's note: this is the point at which he was tired of answering questions and started being silly)

If you could change your name, what would you change it to? Eli

Where would you like to go on vacation? the sledding hill (more on that in a later post)

Who do you like to play with? you and Gracie

What makes you feel...

• Happy? nothing!
• Sad? nothing!
• Scared? nothing!

What wishes do you have for this year? another puzzle

Eli is such a fun kid - we are very blessed!

Water play!

So what do you do when it's soaking wet outside? Get soaking wet inside, of course! Yesterday after removing Abby from Zoe's bowl for the umpteenth time (I always thought that was the weirdest phrase when my G-Ma used to say it; I bet she's smiling right now!) I realized that the only redirection that was going to work would have to involve water. So, out came the vinyl tablecloth, beach towel, two tubs of water and a bunch of cups and spoons. Boy did the kids have a blast! It started out fairly benign...But after awhile they were both soaked! I love the look on Abby's face here:But as you can see, she was having a ton of fun! (And I love that you can see all four of her cute little teeth in that big smile!)Eli decided he wasn't getting quite wet enough with the cups and spoons, so took matters into his own hands with the help of a squirting fish bath toy (recognize that, Aunt Nat?)Think maybe he was having fun, too?It was a fun day. And I love this shot of my baby's baby blues!

Christmas!

We had a great, multi-day Christmas celebration. We started the day of Abby's dedication so that we could celebrate with Ryan's grandma while she was here. This first photo was actually taken a couple days prior to that as we enjoyed a ride on the Christmas train at Redmond Town Center. Abby and Eli both really connected with Great Grandma during this visit, which was really exciting to see!

Eli got really goofy that evening, and we all had a lot of fun! Ryan and I decided that our family should celebrate Christmas on Christmas Eve since we were getting on a plane early on the 26th. It was a great decision! Santa even came early so that the kids would have some time to play with their new toys before heading to San Diego. Christmas is definitely totally amazing with kids - we had such an awesome day together, and it made for a really relaxing and fun Christmas day, too. Rather than try to go through all the wonderful details, I'll let a few photos tell the story...well, with a few captions at least. ;)

Santa's little helperThe stockings were hung by the chimney with careSanta brought Eli a train table (the cool track set was from Dada and Mama)Santa brought Abby a play houseAnd both kids got tons of amazing gifts from our wonderful family near and far

Every year Ryan and I each take Eli shopping so that he can pick out a special gift for each of us from him. This was the first year that we gave Eli total autonomy during these shopping trips, with no hints or direction from us. For me he chose toothbrushes and for Ryan a package of Red Vines! :)I had to include this photo stricly for those wonderful cheeks!I also discovered a cool feature on my camera that I'm really enjoying!This is quite possible my favorite photo from this Christmas :)