Fourteen Months

It is so much fun to watch Abigail learn and discover her world.  And her personality is definitely different than Hannah.  She is MUCH more determined and not nearly as cautious.  She has no problem taking off to the back of the house to play to the toilet, or pull her night light out of the wall, etc.  Hannah only ever wanted to play in the same room as us.  Abigail not so much!


Abigail is a firm believer in the "what's mine is mine and what's yours is mine." philosophy!  She always wants whatever Hannah is playing with and will scream, cry, and lay her head on the floor in a mini fit if she doesn't get it.  Hannah is SO sweet and passive she usually just gives Abigail whatever she wants.  We are working on making Abigail say please before Hannah gives her the toy.  The other day we were listening to music and Hannah was shaking a maraca to the beat, we have two maracas so I got one for Abigail too.  Abigail shook hers for a few minutes and then tried to take Hannah's. We told Hannah not to give it to her because she already had one.  Abigail got VERY mad and we just let her throw a fit.  After about 5 minutes Hannah decided she was done so she gave her maraca to Abigail.  The crying stopped, she shook the maraca, crawled across the room to get other one.  She shook both maracas and got a really big smile on her face.  I think we may be in trouble with this one.  =)

She can say  hi, baby, bow, yeah, ah duh (all done), doh (door), ba (ball), no no (and shake her head), ni ni (night night) and she tries to say peak-a-boo and sticker.  She makes a roaring sound at the lion from the play zoo.  Hannah laid on the floor (on her back) the other day and Abigail got all excited.  She said something that sounded like "tickle" and wiggled her fingers on her own tummy.  Then she crawled over to Hannah and tried to tickle her.  She still doesn't totally get tickling another person, but she tickles herself all the time.  Funny! 

Abigail can also point to her head, her ear, and her belly.  And she recently discovered her belly button.  =)  She can "help" brush her hair and turn off the light switch if you hold her up to it.  We've recently started brushing Abigail's teeth (and gums since she only has two teeth).  Every time we go in the bathroom Abigail says "eee'' and puts her finger in her mouth like she's brushing.


Both girls have always loved music and bounce and dance when they listen.  Hannah asked me the other day to sing the Hokey Pokey.  Abigail stopped what she was playing with, got up on her knees, stuck her arms out, and moved from side to side like she as trying to turn around.  She even clapped her hands when I sang "that's what it's all about."  So adorable!


Still not walking yet, but really wants to.  She will happily stand up and sit down all day long.  If she's really motivated she'll take one or two steps, but then she sits back down and crawls.  And she LOVES to hold your finger and walk around the room.  She's just not quite secure enough to let go and do it by herself.  Just in the last few days she has just started taking more steps.  Yeah!

2/12/13

Hannah is definitely a three year old.  Most of the time she's very sweet and cooperative, but she most assuredly trying to test her boundaries.  =)  She really is a sweetie and is usually a very good helper.  She likes order and actually enjoys cleaning up her (and Abigail's) messes.  Hannah has also enjoyed helping my mom with her last few photography challenges.  Don't you just love this!

Sadly, her sleep issues haven't really gotten much better.  She will occasionally sleep all through the night, but more often than not she's up once to go potty.  Of course the nights she sleeps Abigail is up crying or the phone will ring at 2am (really annoying!)

I know I've said it before, but Hannah is such a great big sister.  Abigail ADORES her and follows her everywhere.  And in typical one year old fashion she wants to play with the toy Hannah has.  For the most part Hannah is REALLY REALLY good about sharing and will usually give the toy to Abigail and go find something else.  (And Abigail will then want that toy too!)  Hannah loves to give Abigail kisses and now that Abigail is trying to walk Hannah likes to hold her hand.  Is this not the sweetest thing!



Hannah still loves to learn and has recently started spelling out letters on things.  Of course she doesn't know she's spelling, she just says the letters, and then asks what the word says.  I think there are only 2 or 3 lower case letters she doesn't know and she known her capital letters for a LONG time. 

Hannah is also fascinated by Bible verses (can you hear me shouting HURRAY)!  She is constantly asking us to tell her what things say and read them to her.  If she finds out the words are a Bible verse she will ask us to read more than normal.  And her ability to remember things AMAZES me!  Our church recently launched a big program to get everyone reading scripture daily and not just on Sundays.  They've developed an app and everything.  Each reading plan is 40 days long and we're doing 8 plans throughout the year.  Each plan will also have a theme verse that the church staff is encouraging everyone to memorize.  They have business cards with the verse on them to assist you.  I put my card by my computer so I would see it everyday.  We are working on Colossians 3:16 and my plan was to memorize a phrase a day.  Hannah noticed the card (she notices everything) and asked what it was.  I told her it was a Bible verse and then read it to her.  Well she asked me to read it 5 or 6 times a day for the next week.  Needless to say that DEFINITELY helped me learn it quicker.  And by the end of the week she could hold up the card and "read" it to me.  I think this makes verse number 8 that she has memorized.  I could go on and on about how much this excites me, but I'll stop (for this post anyway).  =)  Nathan video taped Hannah saying this verse so click you want to watch.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=whWebX7yeZo

Thirteen Months

Sweet Abigail is doing new things all the time, trying to imitate Hannah.  =)  If you give her a hair brush she will hold it up to her head and try to "help."  She also holds a pretend phone up to her head, near her ear
(and backwards).  If you say "hello,"  she will give you a big grin.

She's not walking yet, but I I'd call her a stander.  She pulls up and lets go, looks proud and then sits back down.  She usually pushes off of something or someone, but only with one hand.  Every once in a while she'll stand up without holding on to anything, but it's not her preferred method yet.  =)  She's tried a few new foods, but not many since she still only has one tooth.  We've had blueberries, sandwich (torn in very small pieces), Kix cereal, and peas that are not pureed.

 

Abigail is much more interested in talking than in signing.  She "talks" while she plays and looks at books.  Most of what she says is Abigail speak, but I will catch real words occasionally. She has started signing "milk" and will put her hands on her chest if you say "please."  Her new real words are kitty and bye bye (along with a wave).  She will also sometimes say "aaaa bi g" like she's trying to say her name.  She also knows that monkey says ah ah and cow says moo, but won't always perform if you hold one up.  =) Nathan has always given both girls bubble beards in the bathtub.  Hannah now tries to give herself or her toy beards after we finish washing her.  Abigail has now started patting her cheeks and saying "bu bu."  Super cute!

She still loves music and dances right along.  She LOVES patty cake and wants to play over and over and over.  She also likes 'If You're Happy and You Know It' and will clap, throw her hands in the air for hurray and put her hands on her face.  Really cute to watch!  And sweet Abigail ADORES her big sister.  She follows Hannah everywhere and wants to play with and do whatever Hannah does.  Love this sweet moment my mom caught!



We did finally get some sunny weather to do smash cake pictures with Abigail.  I really thought she would enjoy this because she LOVES to eat and wants to get into and touch everything.  My mom and I spent a LONG time setting up the background, got Abigail looking cute in a big bow and bloomers and set her down in front of the cake.  She eyed it suspiciously, crawled up, and grabbed a fist full of frosting.  She shook her hand and was very upset when the frosting wouldn't come off.  She tried to crawl towards me and then started crying.  I kept picking her up and putting her next to cake, but she would have nothing to do with it.  After about 15 minutes of mostly crying we gave up, threw her in the bathtub and gave her a big hug.  Got some cute pictures, though not at all what I was expecting.  And happy to report that she still plays happily and isn't afraid of my mom, the camera, or food.  Don't think we traumatized her. =0