Thanksgiving in pictures: driving to NY

Abi’s 1st Thanksgiving

It was so great having Abi and her parents visit for Thanksgiving weekend.  We had so much fun playing with her and for the first time I felt that I understood her rhythms – playful, tired, hungry, etc. – which made it that much more fun.  Abi is such a delightful baby – so expressive, so observant, and she even slept in the new crib that Grandma and Grandpa got her.  (Wish she slept more though!) Abi’s Great Grandpa Bill and his friend Carolyn think that she is a living, breathing doll. They enjoy being with her so much and they talk about her all the time.  Even Cousin Steven seemed taken with her – now that’s an accomplishment.  Too bad she had to go back to Arlington – wish she was here all the time.

Grandma enjoying Abi

Abi waved at someone today

The person was waving at her.

A glimpse into Abi’s teenage years, part 2

Today, Abi was sitting on Daddy’s lap in the office.  She started whining. Every so often, she stopped whining, and then twisted her neck around to see if Mommy had entered the room in response to Abi’s call.

Abi has Mommy on a very short leash.

A glimpse into Abi’s teenage years

Abi woke us up at 3:30AM yesterday, and so Mommy decided to take a nap after returning home from the H1N1 clinic. Mommy went to lay down in the bedroom.

Abi, however, had different plans for Mommy.  She wanted Mommy’s attention.So, a few times, she tried to crawl from the living room to the hallway adjoining the bedroom door, so that she could sit outside the bedroom and whine “ma ma, ma ma” – which is what she does when she wants Mommy to come out from behind a closed door.  Each time, Daddy grabbed her by the leg as she tried to crawl into the hallway.  Eventually, Abi started playing in the living room with her toys.  Every so often, she wold look up to see if Daddy was paying attention.  She crawled as fast as she could toward the bedroom door whenever it looked like Daddy wasn’t paying attention. Unfortunately, for Abi, part of the living is not carpeted, so Daddy could hear whenever she approached the hallway.

Abi got her H1N1 flu shot (and so did we)

Our pediatrician’s office has yet to receive the H1N1 vaccine, and so we decided to make the trek today to a public clinic in Southern Boston to get her the shot.  It was a 30 minute drive, and we got there around 7:30AM.  Our queue numbers were in the 700s (they only had 1100 doses).

We then went to Dunkin Donuts.  We returned by 8:30, and people were being turned away since over 1000 people had gotten in line by that time.  We were able to get inside (to another part of the clinic) and someone eventually took pity on us and let us “cut” the line because we had Abi.  It’s really great that Abi is so cute – opens doors for us figuratively and literally.  Anyway, we were each innoculated by 10:15ish AM.  Abi cried a little when she got the shot, but stopped criying as soon as she started nursing (she was nursing as we walked out the clinic and to the car).  She was a little crankier than usual today, and really wanted to be around me in particular.

She’ll need her H1N1 booster in a month, so we’ll need to repeat this once more in December.

I’m just glad we each got the shot, even though most people recover from H1N1 infections with no long-term problems (i.e., only about 1 person dies for each 5,000 infected).  I remember reading that the initial shot gives kids about 70% immunity, so I wonder if it is safe to now take her on public transportation.  Sounds like a question for the doctor.

Almost 2 weeks of almost normal sleep

Well, for almost two weeks now, I have been sleeping at least 5 hours at a time.  I finally feel like I am starting to make some progress on “life” now that I am no longer horribly sleep deprived.  Thus far:

• Finished babyproofing, except for the TV area.  It is none-too-soon since Abi is very curious and active.
• Signed contract for new windows & siding.  Work will probably start the week after Thanksgiving.  It is much overdue since our windows are very drafty, and we pay a fortune for heating in the winter.
• Got Abi (and us) an H1N1 flu shot (described in separate post)
• Got Abi an appointment for her seasonal flu shot booster
• Got the yard cleaned up so it no longer looks like crazy people live here
• Am starting to lose weight again at a faster pace (my weight loss significantly slowed down around the time that Abi started waking up every 2-3 hours – though fortunately I did not gain weight back).  Thus far, I am 24 lbs lighter than my pre-conception weight, and I have another 25 lbs to go.  I hope to get to my goal weight in September 2010.  (My goals are not particularly ambitious since weight loss might be harder in the winter, and I want to have a sustainable diet.)
• Am making serious progress on my driving lessons

I could list other accomplishments, but I’ll stop here for now.  Bottom line: it’s great to sleep more than 2-3 hours at a time, and even better to feel some sense of progress / accomplishment in addition to the sleep.

Who looks like Aunt Barbara?

Good times!

Abi & Mommy sharing a laugh

Abi discovers the bathroom mirror

She actually discovered it a while ago, but I did not have a camera handy then.

A second tooth broke through

It is the other front, lower tooth.  No top teeth yet.

Abi & her duckie

Checking her duckie's gender

Holding on to her duckie

Shaking her duckie

Kissing her duckie

Just having fun

Grandpa wants to know when Abi will get her first heels

Grandpa, the answer is around the time that she’s 20.

Abi is so fast that it can be hard getting pictures of her

Abi has started her 9th month of life

Another question for the relatives

Abi has only received her first flu shot (she should also get a booster) and has not received her H1N1 flu shot or booster.  Mommy cannot find any place in MA that has these shots available.  Is the situation any better in NY?

Question for the relatives

Dear Relatives,

Abi’s hair is falling into her eyes. It is getting really long.  Should we get her a haircut?  I don’t really feel competent to do it myself, but am concerned about taking her to a salon because I doubt she will sit still while her hair is being cut with sharp scissors.  It also feels too early to put hair clips in her hair.

Any ideas?

Mommy

A few firsts

Today, Abi:

• Crawled into the kitchen, and pulled herself up against the freezer
• Splashed in her bath, and even got the floor wet

She also says the word “ma ma” a lot – particularly when she is hungry and close to Mommy.  Today, Mommy was working in her office behind a closed door.  Abi crawled to Mommy’s door, and said “ma ma, ma ma”.  Judging by the amount of food she ate soon thereafter, she was pretty hungry.  Daddy just pointed out that she clearly has object permanence since she knew I was behind the closed door.

So, there you have it folks, we now know Abi’s first word.  (She was saying it before, but it was not clear if it had any meaning for her since kids normally interchangeable call both parents “mama” and “dada” for a while.

We’ve also started her on sign language.  We are working on a few basic words, include “eat”, “drink”, “sleep”, “diaper”, “more”, “all done”, “stop” and “hurt”.  Daddy is working with Abi on “chicken” because he particularly likes the sign for that word.

Abi was very vocal today

She had lots to say.  She also took two very good naps, and slept pretty well.