Ok. I really should be asleep, so I’ll make this quick.
What have we been up to? Well, Abby got her first haircut! Bangs in your eyes will make anyone cranky, so away they went.
We’ve also been taking advantage of the spring weather here. Ahhhh, North Carolina. We love you (until about June 1st, when we’re all moving to Nova Scotia.) We did some art outside and planted peas in the garden. Is it really January? Hard to believe. Abby is very excited about seeds and gardening. Last week we planted seeds inside. Abby loves to water them and turn their light on in the morning. She also likes to say things like “We plant teeny tiny seeds in the dirt, and then they grow, and grow, and grow until we eat them up”. I’m very much looking forward to lots of gardening fun with Abby.
Here we are having some fun art time outside.
And here we are celebrating our pea planting by pretending to be monkeys in the garden.
This week we made a play kitchen out of legos, blocks, our wood chest, and a cardboard box. It’s a HUGE hit. She now spends a considerable part of each day in “Abby’s kitchen”. She mainly makes soup, but has been know to branch out into bread and pizza making.
In other kitchen news, Abby just got an apron and kitchen accessories from her Aunt Liz (we also got a beautiful apron in the next size up from Aunt Liv and Uncle Yaya for Christmas.). Abby really likes the apron and the rolling pin, and was super jazzed the other night when we put them to good use in the “big kitchen”.
And of course, behind every good kitchen is a big compost pile. Here we are taking advantage of some nice weather to collect some leaves for the compost bin. Abby finally fits her boots and loves them – now if it would just rain so we can splash in some puddles!
What else have we been up to this week? Puzzles, puzzles, and more puzzles. And books, books, and more books. She can’t seem to get enough. Thank goodness for the library! We’ve also been playing a lot with her imaginary tiny blue elephant (sometimes I also get to play with two larger imaginary elephants). This is entirely Abby’s creation, and it makes me so happy to watch her imagination run wild. She’s also decided that two of the toes in her foot puzzle are “mama toe” and “baby toe”. They nurse together (rocking, of course, in a tiny imaginary chair), read books together, give each other hugs and kisses, and sing songs. It’s kind of hilarious.
Wow. It’s been a long time since our last post and we’ve been busy! I’m not really sure where to start . . .
We’ve been having lots of fun with friends and family. Before Christmas, Abby and I went over to Zoe and Meredith’s house to make Christmas cards with some of our play group friends. Despite hanging out with all of our lovely playgroup friends at least twice a week, we don’t have very many photos. So, here is a photo of Abby making holiday cards with her friend Fredrick, baby Theodore, and Mama Michelle. Abby really loves hanging out with all the other moms and kids in our play group. She refers to all the moms collectively as the “mommies” although she also knows them all by name. In December we hosted three Thursday playgroups at our house, which I think really helped Abby feel more comfortable with all the kids.
Abby, Ben, and I have also been having lots of fun playing together. Abby loves playing with her dolls and cooking. Here she combines two of her favorite activities for a soup party.
And here she is fixing her truck with the new tools that her Granddad Rick gave here for Christmas. She’s also really fond of fixing the roof on her dollhouse.
And here she is having fun with her new mirror (garage sale score!) and a great hat that she made.
For Christmas we headed to Oregon to see my family. Elijah and Liv couldn’t join us, but we had lots of fun with Granddad, Nerissa, and Valory. Here we are making some pancakes for breakfast Christmas morning. Abby declared these the “best ever”.
Abby enjoyed both getting and giving gifts for Christmas. Here are some photos of the unwrapping festivities.
We also had time in Eugene for a trip to the park and some walks around the neighborhood.
I still really dig the fire hydrants in my dad’s neighborhood. Here’s one of Abby’s favorites.
And then we headed off for a trip to the coast with everyone. The weather was REALLY stormy the first two days. All of the wave action created some pretty impressive sea foam. It looked like it had snowed on the rocks at the water’s edge. Abby liked looking at all the “bubbles” and watching the big waves roll in.
On our second coast day we headed up to the Oregon Cost Aquarium in Newport. This is one of my favorite aquariums and it was really fun taking Abby there. The aquarium features several large “walk through” tanks, amazing outdoor exhibits, and a “pet the starfish” exhibit.
We especially enjoyed watching one of the puffins goofing around. Abby thought it was hilarious.
The weather finally cleared for our last day on the coast and we had a really amazing hike at Heceta Head beach and up to the Heceta Head lighthouse (and beyond).
(I really love the photo of Ben and Abby).
We’re glad to be back home (although we’re contemplating all the trips we may or may not take in 2011). There are two tough things about travel these days. First jet lag. Yikes – this is not fun with a toddler! Second, Abby really misses people when we have to say goodbye. It’s awesome that we get to see everyone as often as we do, but in Abby’s opinion it’s not often enough. We spend a lot of time these days talking about who she misses and where everyone is and when we might see them all again. It started with talking about missing Uncle Yaya and Aunt Liv. This has been going on for more than a month. Now it includes frequent conversations about Dada (Granddad), Aunt Sa, Aunt Valval, Tata, Grandma Julie, and most recently, Mama, Abby, Papa, fork, candles, and really anything she can think of. It’s become quite the running joke, but I think it’s pretty indicative of what’s on her mind.
