new camera!

Dad got a new camera this week and he's been busy photographing Abby, me, and, well, the back of Anna's head (she's still not so hot on cameras). Here are a few of our favorites:

Sightseeing and home repair :)

This past weekend we checked out the natural history museum. Anna's favorite was once again the dinosaur exhibit. Abby liked the huge model elephant best. Abby also enjoyed:

the insects!

and everyone enjoyed a special hands on exhibit about bones. Anna & I learned how to recognize a male and female skeleton and determine someone's age by their teeth. Then we put together a skeleton puzzle:

fun!

walking to the car :)

Also this weekend Daddy and Anna completed a special project to patch the dry wall beneath the railing on our stairs.

nice work Daddy & Anna!

more teeth

In the past few weeks Abby has gotten her 4th, 5th, and 6th tooth! It looks like she won't follow in Anna's footsteps of spending a month as the little wolf.

DaDaDaDa and other things

For a long time Abby has been Mommy's girl: crawling to Mommy, huge smiles when Mommy comes in a room, and gripping Mommy when I'm about to put her down. But recently, Abby has turned into Daddy's girl. She proudly yells, "DaDaDaDa" in connection to Matt, gets incredibly excited when Matt comes home, cries when he leaves for work, and lunges toward him so he will take her from me. Here she is with her "DaDaDaDaDa."

Matt says this picture looks just like a picture of cousin Jonathan at about the same age - taken in front of the door at Nana's house. What do you all think?

Mommy, Anna, Woobie, and Anna's favorite PJ's - Mini Mouse!

Last night I explained to Anna that when the weather got warmer she might not want to wear these flannel pajamas to bed anymore. Anna was not so sure.

sqashface!

Nana visits!

This past weekend Nana came to visit. We all had a great time. Matt, Anna, & Nana visited Matt's office in Washington DC after picking Nana up at the train station, we had lunch at Famous Dave's and Five Guys, and we took advantage of some warmer weather by playing outside. Nana and Anna also had a lot of fun with the Curious George cards, princess bracelets, and playing doctor.

looking healthy, Nana!

lunch at Famous Dave's

playing princess bracelets

Thanks for the great visit, Nana!

Unbelievable!

Even though I see Abby & Anna everyday, I still can't even believe this video:

When did Abby get big enough to go in a riding toy?? When did Anna get big enough to push her??

Okay, so Anna really is big enough to push Abby in the car. However, Anna is not big enough to babysit Abby. Everytime we drive by some basketball courts near our house Anna tells me the following story: "One time Mommy was a teacher and Daddy was playing basketball and I stayed with Abby." Really? Daddy hasn't played basketball since the fall and Mommy hasn't been a teacher since 2008. How did you create this story?

Grandma & Grandpa visit!

This past weekend Grandma and Grandpa came for a visit :) We all had a great time spending time with them. Anna & Abby played a lot of toys and games with them, Anna went on a special trip to have breakfast at their hotel, and Mom & Dad got to go on some special dates. Thanks for the great visit!

Anna's version of Go Fish

A few weeks ago we bought Anna a set of Curious George card games. The set came with three packs, one to play Go Fish, one to play a version of Rummy, and one to play a version of Old Maid. She can play an easy version of each of these games and has enjoyed playing them quite a bit. Just like the books that Anna "reads"* and the puzzles that she does**, she has also created her own way of playing with these cards. She pulls out her favorite cards from each deck then asks you if you want to play Go Fish. She then leads you through a number of steps involving choosing cards, trading cards, and making "matches" (none of the cards in her set of favorites actually match). At the end both you and her count your cards and a winner is determined. It's so cute to watch her creating her own rules. It's cute to realize that from her perspective the rules to this game make just as much sense as the games we have taught her.

* Anna spends a lot of time "reading" her books. In some instances, she has learned the story almost exactly and she retells it almost word for word. In most instances, however, books contains elements of a many stories she has recently heard. For instance, in the most recent reading of Curious George and the Parade, there was a birthday party in the middle of the parade!

** Anna loves doing puzzles. However, sometimes, she chooses a favorite part of a puzzle and only does that part. She might do this favorite part 3 or 4 times in a row. Then she might take the pieces from the favorite part, put them in the lid of the box and carry them someplace else. This can be a little difficult for me to keep track of, but I find it cute. When it gets to be a little too much is when she starts taking her favorite pieces from multiple puzzles and putting them in the same box and carting them around - like up to her room for a picnic - ahhh, this level of entropy can be a little too much for me to handle.

Happy Birthday, Abigail!

Today is Abby's 9 month birthday. She went to the doctor this morning for her 9 month appointment. She is now 17 pounds and 27 1/2 inches long. Matt & I had to fill out a survey about her last night to bring to the doctor and the doctor said she "excelled" on the survey. So I guess that means she's doing great or her parents have rose colored glasses - ha, ha. In all seriousness, though, she is doing great. Currently, she loves to stand up while holding onto something. For a while she would actually cry if she wasn't close to anything to pull up, but I think she has figured out just to crawl somewhere and pull up. In the past couple days she has even started letting go. I don't think she is necessarily trying to "stand." She just gets busy playing with something and lets go so she can work with both hands. She falls immediately, of course, but she keeps trying.

She is following Anna's footsteps with her love of Matthew Van Fleet books. Her favorite book is probably Cat because she likes the cat toy that squeaks. As soon as we start reading the book she just starts slapping the part of the book with the squeak toy even before we get to the squeaking page. She also like the books, Dog and Tails, also by Van Fleet, and any other books where there is cool stuff to touch.

At the dinner table she is busy learning to pick up food by herself and put it in her mouth. Right now Cheerios are a little too hard for her to chew, but she loves rice krispies. She's also been eating little pieces of pear and sweet potato. She has a little picture of a dog on a piece of plastic that she plays with at dinner. Sometimes she hides behind it and peeks out at us. She gets so excited when we say, "peek." And this morning at breakfast she and Anna played a game of "peek" using the rice krispies box.

Happy Birthday, Abigail! We love you so very much!