Awe And Wonder (And A Kitty)

I looked out the window this morning and saw this out in the yard!


Abby and I went out on the porch to enjoy this natural wonder before it disappeared. She thought it was pretty amazing - and "biiiig!" (her favorite word these days :). She was a little confused about we call it a rainbow - it didn't look anything to her like the bows we try to put in her hair.

One of us was still in our cupcake pajamas. :)

While we were outside, Chocolate Puff the kitty came bounding up and wanted some love. :)

Growing Up!

You know, when you see someone every day sometime's it's hard to see changes, because change usually happens in really small increments and we get used to it. But lately I've been noticing a bunch of little things that remind me of how much Abby has grown up in the last ten months.

For instance - gymnastics. The first time we went to gymnastics, she was quite fearful. Now when we walk in the building, it's like she doesn't need me anymore. :) She knows what she wants to play with, and where to go, and what "Circle time" and "Warm-up" and "Stamp time" means, and interacts with her teacher nicely, and just generally sees me as a tagalong. In fact, I think she'll probably do terrifically if she takes the next level class since that's all teacher and no parents/nannies and she absolutely LOVES it when she gets some one-on-one time with the teacher.

She's so much more coordinated now - she climbs up and down off the equipment and even falls onto the mats once in a while and just isn't fazed. She climbs up the slide herself and slides down and loves it - I remember when I used to have to coax her to try the slide, and then she'd do it only if I lifted her on to it and held her hands while she slid down, lol.

She's still pretty freaked by the bars... I encourage her to try one bar activity per week, which she'll usually do, but that's about it. But today she scrambled up the bars at the playground for the first time without so much as batting an eye, so hopefully that will translate over soon!

Today we went to a playground that we'd been to at the beginning of the spring. I remember when we went for the first time, it was fun, but I literally had to be at Abby's side every second to lift, help, catch, etc, and thinking that the toddler area still seemed so HARD. There was practically nothing she could do without my assistance. And I was definitely climbing all over the equipment with her. I remember that even though she was terrified of slides, there was one really big slide at the playground, and she asked to go on it, and I thought, "Kiddo, I can't convince you to go down the 2-foot tall slide without screaming in terror... what makes you think you want to go down THAT slide?!?"

Today Abby scrambled up most of the equipment confidently without waiting for me and wasn't afraid a bit. She even slipped once onto the nice spongy recycled-tire surface and wasn't upset at all. And she pointed to the big slide, the huge slide, and asked to go, and it just didn't look so crazy to me anymore. I stood on the ground and kept my hands around her waist while she climbed up the ladder to the top, and then I caught her at the bottom. No hesitation, no wails, no tears, and I swear when she reached bottom she pumped her first in a gleeful celebration. I did not teach her that, but I did tell her "You go, girl!" as we high-fived. :)

She's always had a strong personality, but it's so amazing to watch it kind of unfurl with all the talking and new skills. :)

Fishies, And All Sorts Of Fun :)

Woke up this morning to MORE RAIN. I swear, I cannot handle any more rain. It rained last week, but it broke over the weekend to give us two days of the most glorious (albeit muddy) weather. This morning? More rain. Apparently three more days of rain. Ee!

I couldn't take the idea of being stuck indoors on such a sleepy bleh-y day, so Abby and I picked up Maggie and headed off the explore the local aquarium. Abby has been with her mom, but I've never been inside, so it was a great way to spend the day indoors and warm (although we did duck out for a little while when it ceased drizzling to see the otters and the lighthouse).

They have a "paleontology pit" where the kids can sift/dig through the sand to find bones, fossils, sharks teeth, shells, etc, and get to take one home with them. Abby would have been happy to stay here all day, I think, though she was much more impressed with the shells than the shark's teeth Maggie and I kept finding and handing her. :)

My little archeologist. :)

They had this huge mega-something skeleton hanging in the first display hall. They also had underwater sound effects playing, and an underwater light display. It definitely felt a little like being underwater, and Abby got a little freaked by the size of the shark. But so long as someone held her hand, she agreed to get a picture taken with cousin Maggie. :)

The true fun, in Abby's eyes, were the fish. She started saying "Fish! Fish!" the second we stepped in the door, and ran up to every display saying "Hi, Fish! Hi!" This museum is really kid friendly... everything is either low to the ground, or has nice carpeted steps for little folks to get to watch. I didn't have to lift her at all in the display hall.

She loved the bigger fishies.

Whenever a fishie swam close to the glass, she would wave frantically and start saying "Hi!" again.

She liked the shrimp, too, though I think she thought they were some sort of insect. She wasn't really sure they belonged in the tank with the fishies.

We tried to show her the Blemys hiding in the oyster bed, but she didn't seem very impressed.

I loved the displays showing local habitats.

Abigail, fascinated. :)

We loved the crabs! Crabs are a big thing here in Maryland. As soon as she saw it, Abby started doing her "crab claws" and saying "pinch, pinch." :)

Maggie helping Abby do "crab claws".

One feisty looking crab!

"Hi, Fishie!"

The otters, Bubble and Squeak! Maggie and I love the otters... We read too much Brian Jacques as kids. :) Abby seems a little confused by them - furry fish?

We went to one of our favorite Mexican restaurants afterwards, as Abby was starting to get tired. She was super-loving at lunch... I think it might have had something to do with the fact that her favorite cake-ball-making coffeehouse was next door!

Eating a macaroon (they were out of cake balls) with Cousin Maggie. :)

Mom's Morning Out, Take 2

So I was kind of nervous today for a couple of reasons... For one, Abigail refused to say she liked it last week, or had fun, or anything positive. If I asked her a direct question - "Did you play on the playground? Did you like your teacher?" etc - she would answer "yes!" but if I asked her something more general - "Did you have fun? Did you like it? Do you want to come back again?" - nothing. Blank stare. Also, she's been super-tired and sort of cranky this week. She and her parents went to the beach over this weekend, and I think she just tired herself out having fun and maybe had a harder time getting into the swing of things this week. Yesterday she was looking for a particular book in the book bin, and when it didn't come free on the first tug she started crying - not "I'm angry" kind of crying, just big tears and some whimpers. She almost never cries! Especially not at something like a stuck book... normally she would just turn to me and ask me to get it for her. So I knew was a little out of sorts and we did all sorts of extra snuggling and loving yesterday. And took a long (3+ hours) nap. :)

And she cried when I came in this morning! My heart broke a little. :( She never cries when I come in - she's usually really excited to see me, I walk in the door and I can hear her little voice saying "Huh? Huh?!" as she waits for me to come in. But this morning I heard her daddy say "It's Sarah!" and she started crying and indicating she didn't want Daddy to go. Yesterday she found a picture of her daddy mid-day and started crying, too, but she was obviously not herself so I figured it was just the day. Anyway, I sat down on the floor next to her and Chris hung out for awhile, and by the time he left ten minutes later she'd moved on to wanting yogurt and not really caring who stayed so long as someone fed her. In one way, I think this is kind of normal - she's a daddy's girl, lol - but I hope this doesn't become a habit.

Anyway, on to Mom's Morning Out...

I told her we were going to school. No response. We got dressed, I told her she could show her new shoes to her teacher and she seemed to like the idea. We drive to school, and I'm kind of worried because she's almost lethargic - just sitting in her car seat, and I couldn't tell if she was sad or tired (or both). We pull up into the parking lot, and we're a little early, so we sit in the car and sing along to our CD (Veggie Tales "On The Road Again"). Abby doesn't point to the building, respond, anything. Finally I ask her if she's ready to get out, she nods, and we start walking up to the building.

We see the window to her classroom, and her teacher is there, and she waves, and suddenly Abigail smiles and waves back.

We get to the hallway, and Abby sees the playground, and she smiles and points. "What are you going to play on today?" I ask her, and she tells me without a pause, "Slides!"

We stand outside her classroom waiting for them to open, and Abby starts jumping around, doing the Tigger bounce impatiently. The door opens, her teacher says "hi" and Abby is off like a shot. Didn't even turn around to wave goodbye.

So I guess we can declare MMO a success. I'm not sure why Abigail won't admit she likes it, but clearly the playground, if nothing else, makes the rest of the day worth it. For my part, I'm thrilled she likes it, mostly because I don't think I could take it if she didn't. :)

Mom's Morning Out

Today was the big day - Abby's first day of Mom's Morning Out! I figured she'd be okay but knew I'd be a wreck. :) I really, really, really wanted her to like it, because if she didn't - if she cried or clung to me or whatever - I knew I'd fall apart.

So I've been talking to her about it for awhile now, telling her how much fun she'll have, how she'll love playing with the kids and going on the playground and reading stories, etc. Today especially I ramped it up - I'd bring it up every hour or so, until she seemed excited, too.

We stopped by to look at the playground before we went to her classroom. She wanted to go play in it immediately but I told her her teacher would take her with her class (I wanted to create the desire to be with her teacher/class). We went and stood by her classroom door, and she seemed nervous - kept putting her hands in her mouth, asking to be held, etc, but I just kept smiling and asking her, "Oh, aren't you going to have fun?" and she kept nodding yes.

The moment of truth came - time to drop her off! - and I think my plan worked, because when I asked her, "Are you ready to go with your class?" she nodded and let me bounce her like Tigger over the baby gate. Her teacher picked her up to give her a hug, and she looked back at me, very content, and I waved and said "Bye, Abby, have fun on the playground!" and she froze. And I realized that she had no idea that this whole thing included me leaving.

I bailed and I ran.

And then, because I am a wimp, I flattened against the hallway wall, out of sight, and listened for sounds of crying, sobbing, etc.

Nothing!

And her teacher didn't call me back, either, so apparently she was good.

So, I imagine she was kind of unhappy that I'd left, but apparently not enough to let it spoil her playground fun. I'm hoping when I pick her up she'll have had a good day with no tears or sadness!

I feel like a traitor, but I'm really glad of two things: one, I never told her I would stay (as I always do if we're going someplace she's nervous about), and two, I didn't sneak out. I didn't tell her, "You'll be fine, I'm right here," wait for her to turn her back, and run. Hopefully this will ease some of the transition.

Anyway... big milestone.