Fun with Cousins

Last week my sister, Lynette, came over with her kids Sammie and Christopher. Abby had a great time watching the kids play. She loved it when they talked to her or played near her. Here are some shots from the day...

The kids decided that Abby might like to play with ALL of her toys at the same time and they loaded her up. She wasn't sure what to play with first.

Wow, it is challenging getting 3 little kids to look at the camera at the same time!

Sammie is 3 1/2

Christopher is 2 1/2 (His birthday is 6 days after Abby's)

Marc got home from work in time to spend some time with his niece and nephew!

My Little Dandelion and Stranger Danger

We have been trying to take Abby out into public more because she has developed major stranger anxiety. Anytime someone talks to her she will burry her head in my shoulder and cry. If she is in her stroller she will cry as soon as someone bends down and makes eye contact. She leads a pretty sheltered life just hanging out with Mommy all day. So, we are trying to work on getting her out more.

Saturday afternoon we took her to the mall. She does great as long as nobody stops to talk to her. Well, two ladies approached us to tell us that Abby's hair is just like one of their son's hair when he was a baby. They used to say he looked like a little dandelion. I thought it was very fitting. Her head definitely looks like the top of a dandelion. Her hair looks like it could just blow away in the wind.

And yes, as soon as the two women bent down to talk to Abby in her stroller she started crying. Let's just hope she grows out of this phase quickly.

Here is a picture of my little dandelion

Abby's Nicknames

I thought it would be fun to share the many pet names our little girl has....

• Bean - My little jumping bean in her jumparoo
  
• Muffin - I started this one right after she came home from the hospital, not sure why


• Muffin Top - Daddy started this one because her belly hangs over the top of her diaper


• Muffasa - Somehow Muffin morphed into this


• Baby Bird - Kristina gave her this one


• Turkey Bird - Because she is one


• Little Wolf - She gets a little restless and cranky right before and during the full moon


• Barracuda - For the way she would ferociously latch on to eat when she was a newborn


• Baby Bear - She can be kinda grizzly sometimes

VIDEO: Fun with Daddy

I took this video of Abby and Marc playing on the floor. It is about 5 minutes long and not all that exciting, but I love to watch my baby and her Daddy spending time together. Abby is also playing with a pacifier. She has never taken a pacifier, but now that she is teething she LOVES to chew on the soothie pacifiers. At least we are getting some use out of them. You will also see at the end that she has learned to get around quite well by rolling. She can get across the room pretty quickly if she wants to!

Grma and Grpa visit

Grpa and Grma Bryand had a nice visit. Grpa was her for a week and Grma for 10 days. Abby had a great time with them. Grma took her in the pool almost every night and she loved it. It was very nice for me to have company all day long. It can get a little lonely at times with just me and Abby all day during the week. I am sure the house will seem very quiet and boring next week when Marc is back at work.
Abby watching TV with Grpa Abby loved playing in the pool with Grma

Happy 4th of July

The 4th of July has always been one of my favorite holidays, probably because of all the years I spent it on the beach with my brother in California. I always looked forward to it. Haven't been to the beach for the 4th in a long time, but I sure do miss it. Maybe when Abby is a little older I can resume the tradition. The 4th is always a lot more enjoyable in a different state where it is not 120 degrees outside!

Family Photos

We had pictures taken yesterday. I had been trying to do it for a few weeks and just hadn't gotten around to it. So, yesterday we finally decided we needed to do it now or never! It was pretty last minute so I am not all that thrilled with how they turned out, but better to have something than nothing! Abby, being the sensitive child that she is, was not thrilled with the whole experience. She does not respond well to strangers or anything that 99% of babies would smile at. Every time they tried to get her to smile she would just stick out her pouty bottom lip like she was about to cry. I guess considering the circumstances the pictures did not turn out all that bad.

Abby in the Pool

Last summer I bought a kiddie pool for our backyard when I wanted to work on my tan before a trip to Minnesota for work. It is pretty funny because our backyard is still all dirt. So, there is a big dirt lot with a little pool in the middle of it. We decided to set it up again this year so we can take Abby out there in the evenings after the sun goes down a little. I don't think she was really sure what to think about it. Maybe she was thinking it is just a big bathtub! She just kinda sat there with us. She is not really into splashing with hands yet, so I think once she it and once she can sit up by herself she will enjoy it a lot more. Either way it was fun to get some nice hot fresh air.

Shots

Poor baby Abby had her 6 month check up and shots yesterday. She hates going to the Dr. already, so she wasn't happy about being there even before they gave her the shots. She always cries for a couple minutes after shots until someone distracts her enough or she is put back in her car seat where she feels safe. She also always cries when the Dr. looks in her ears or mouth. Yesterday, they had a tough time keeping the rotavirus vaccine in her mouth because she squirls medication away in her cheeks and then spits it out. After all the excitement at the Dr. we came home and she was pretty grumpy for the rest of the day. She was running a fever. She took a 2.5 hour nap in the afternoon, which NEVER happens around here. We usually only get an hour out of her. She seems to be feeling a little better today, but still not quite herself. She weighed in at 20lbs 12oz and she is 28 inches long. No more shots for another 6 months!!

Abby is 6 Months!!

Happy half birthday baby girl! Hard to believe it has been six months since our little princess joined our family. She is really starting to laugh a lot now. Sometimes she will just crack up at the weirdest things for no reason. She is really into our dog Layla. She loves to watch her and always smiles at her. She is also starting to show us her independence and stubbornness. Mostly when it comes to naps. She is really giving us a hard time and many times will not sleep when we put her down for a nap. She will lay in there for an hour and not sleep even though it is obvious she was tired before we put her down. We will get it figured out one of these days. She does gives us a full nights rest though, so no complaints about that! Today she tried squash for the first time. As you will see by the pictures, she was just not that into it!

Abby's Room

I had a request for pictures of Abby's room, so here they are....

Thanks for your help putting up the fan Grpa!

Lunch with Grammy

Here is a picture from earlier this week when Abby and I had a wonderful lunch with her Grammy. Thanks again Grammy.

VIDEO: Over She Goes

Abby has finally learned to roll from her back to her tummy. She is a little behind the curve, so we were happy to see her accomplish this task yesterday for the first time. Now we cannot get her to stay on her back. She rolls right over to her tummy. She has a harder time rolling back over to her back so she get frustrated after she rolls on to her tummy!

Grma and Grpa are coming!

So it looks like Grma and Grpa Bryand are coming for a visit again. The last time they were here was a few months ago when Abby was only 11 weeks. They are definitely looking forward to seeing her. We always have lots of fun when they are here. They will be here in the beginning of July. Here is a picture from their last visit.

Things I HATE in my neighborhood

For those of you who don't know, Abby is the lightest sleeper ever born. It does not take much to wake her. So as I sit here praying nothing will wake her before she has been napping for at least an hour I decided to make a list of all the things in my neighborhood that raise my blood pressure because they wake Abby up.

• The neighbor who starts their loud vehicle every morning at 4:45am which means that Abby is up every morning at 4:45am (and therefore so am I).
• The recycle truck on Tuesdays (Twice- once down the other side of the street and then 15 minutes later down our side of the street)
• The garbage truck on Fridays (Twice- Same as above)
• The guy who has been using power tools in the backyard two doors down all day long for the last 3 weeks.
• The UPS truck
• The FedEx truck
• The little yipper dog in the yard behind us
• The barking beagle in the yard next to the one above
• The pool guy that always slams the tailgate of his truck shut
• The guy across the street who is always scraping a shovel on the bed of his truck and tossing rocks, dirt or brick into a wheelbarrow.
• Oh, and lets not forget about the sun beginning to show its bright and shiny self at 5am if she actually sleeps though number one on my list.

I am sure I left plenty of things out, but you get the idea. I wonder what it would be like if Abby actually slept like a baby! I think it is funny when people can take pictures of their kids napping in their beds. Abby wakes up just from me turning the doorknob!