Rainy Walk

Abby's Baby Shower!

What's more fun than a baby shower?  ...a baby shower with the baby as the guest of honor!  On Saturday, my sister threw me a shower to honor Abby.  It was also a great chance for me & the girls to see family that we hadn't yet gotten to see since moving back to the east coast.  It was a tremendously special day spent with family and a few friends, and a great way to celebrate the beginning of Abby's life.  Thanks to all who came, and thank you to my big sis for making me feel so special and loved.

Hurricane Sandy

The girls & I were visiting my parents for the weekend, and in lieu of Hurricane Sandy, we decided to extend our trip. We still have power... But the worst of the storm should be here between 8pm and midnight. But, should we lose power, my parents still have a propane heater & fireplace. We have an abundance of diapers- we are all set for a few days, and hopefully the worst side effect would be cabin fever?!

Here are a few pictures of our day. No walks for us today, so we had to keep the toddler entertained other ways!

Abby is One-Month Old!

October 28th has come and gone, and our little Abigail is one-month old!  This little report is coming to you from Gram & Papa's house.  We are here to ride out Hurricane Sandy as she passes through! 

 



 

Here are a few observations about our little girl:

- Abby is a good eater, nursing about every two hours around the clock.  Sometimes she'll stretch out to three hours, but that's rare.  She's looking very healthy and full, which makes the frequent nursing well worth it!  And, the sooner she gains weight, the sooner she'll start to spread out her feeding sessions.  Mama is tired, but no complaints here!

-  We think that Abby's vision is improving.  (Ya know, when babies are itty-bitty, they see everything in black and white, and they can't focus on too much.)  Abby is starting to turn to respond to light and voices.  Very exciting!

-  Abby's big sister loves her very much.  Susan is now starting to engage a little more with Abby, and expresses interest in holding Abby from time to time.  With a little help, Susan enjoys cuddling with Abby for a few minutes each day.

 



 

Happy One-Month Birthday, Abby.  Girls, thanks for letting us take care of you.  We love you!



This Little Girl is Four Weeks Old!

'I See You!'

...is Susan's new favorite thing to say!

Unseasonably Warm

The weather was beautiful here today! Temperatures in the 70's! I am getting braver at taking both girls out by myself. Today I went to the Boalsburg Museum with them; it was the first time in a month! I've missed it, and today was a beautiful, warm fall day to revisit it.

22 Months on the 22nd

Yesterday marked Susan turning 22-months old.  In other words, she's only two months shy of being a two-year-old!  I was thinking about what I could write to describe Susan and where she's at with her growth and development; there are dozens of things that I could share about her.  But these are all that come to mind at the moment:

• Some of Susan's favorite activities are: washing her hands, coloring with markers, watching Elmo's World, and building with Duplo Lego blocks.  We read with her before nap and bedtime, but she prefers to do more active things than just sit and look through books.  I'm hoping that'll change...?
• A few months ago, I made this post which detailed the words that Susan was saying.  Holy moly, she's started talking a lot more!  She's even putting together two and three word sentences.  
• Susan will spell her name!  If you ask her, 'how do you spell your name,' she will clearly (and loudly) respond, 'S, U, S, A, N!!'  She learned to do this by sitting with me and coloring, and I'd write her name at the top of each page.
• Susan knows other letters, too.  She can identify about 23 letters in the alphabet, if she sees them capitalized.
• I am grateful that Susan has been taking a solid afternoon nap.  I can usually count on her sleeping from 1-3 each day.
• Most of Susan's socialization comes from time at the nursery at church during Bible Study, or with her cousins, who are 4.5 and 2.5  It's so much fun to see her interact with other kiddos.  Generally, she plays well with others, as long as there's an adult there to mediate sharing.
• Susan is very caring and compassionate towards Abby.  Each morning, as soon as Sus gets up, she asks for Abby.  A few nights ago, she woke up when we were changing Abby in the middle of the night.  Susan heard Abby crying, and Susan started crying out from her crib, 'Abby!  Abby!' It was very sweet; Susan wouldn't go back to bed until she saw that Abby was okay.
• There is nothing more that Susan likes to do than go for walks.  (Well, it might be a toss up between going for walks and watching Elmo's World.)  I am SO GRATEFUL that we have a playground literally right outside our door.  These are pictures that I took today when we went outside.  After a rough morning, the fresh air was good for all three of us, and Susan had a great time!

(I had to get a picture of Little Sis dozing while Susan played.) 

Last Day With Grandma & Grandpa

In honor of Bob & Robyn's last day with us, this post is dedicated to them! All of these pictures are from Robyn's camera.

Playground

Arboretum at Penn State

Today, we took Eric's parents to the Arboretum at Penn State.  We wish we would have gone before the first frost... it got cold this last week, and it really wiped things out.  But we were able to see some nice flowers and get a feel for how beautiful the arboretum could be!

Not pictured:  Abby.  She was in her carseat/stroller, and I didn't think to snap any pictures of Baby's First Trip to the Arboretum.  She was with us, though, and she did great.  (It was warmer today - 73 degrees, so it was nice to get some fresh air without risk of freezing the newborn!)

Abby had her 2-week appointment on Friday, and she is doing GREAT.  At two weeks, they say that the baby should be back up to birth weight.  Well, Abby has exceeded it!  She was born at 6 lbs 14 oz, and she is now 7 lbs 9 oz.  She nurses every 2 hours, and it's nice to know that all of our hard work is paying off.