Eating like a big girl

My goodness, Abby and I are still not 100% better yet.  This little cold or whatever it is has really kicked our butts.  It is a miracle that Bryce isn't sick yet considering all the kisses Abby has given him.  You can hear Abby's voice is hoarse when she talks in the video - poor baby. 

Abby has been able to feed herself for quite some time now but I finally got a video of her eating her morning oatmeal with her spoon.  I must admit, due to neatness, I spoon feed Abby quite a bit so I was so happy to see her eat neatly on her own.  :)  Yes!  My master cleanliness plan has worked (so far)! 

Close call

One of my first non-Abby posts in a long time.

Those that know me, know I love my 1996 Volvo 850.  When Bryce and I were dating, I told him that if he ever wanted to marry me, he'd have to marry the Volvo too (I married his mustang in return).  That car and I have been through so much together and I just love, love, love how it drives.  From the slow acceleration, stiff steering and low ride to its excellent mileage - I love the whole package.  She's only at 176,000 miles so in Volvo terms, she's just a teenager.  I joke that it will be Abby's first car and she'll probably be the only kid driving a car from the 1990's. 

What I love about the Volvo is that my dad, and now I, have kept it in great condition.  After all, any Volvo owner knows that if you treat them well, they will last a lifetime.  I'm proud that everything is still OEM except for a few fenders, bumpers and headlights from when I was the victim of car accidents.  Well, yesterday Bryce discovered a crack in the radiator and today, I attempted to drive it to my mechanic's but didn't make it far before my temp gage hit red.  So I immediately pulled over and had to get my car towed to the mechanic but I was terrified that it was too late and that I had overheated my engine.  So for about 6 hours today (while I was at home nursing yet another migraine), I finally got a call from my mechanic and he told me I could stop worrying because my engine did not suffer any damage.  WH-EW!  So I'm just getting a new radiator with associated accessories, a tranmission fluid change as well as an oil change. 

I know that one day I will have to part with my Volvo but I really wasn't ready to lose her today.  I'm not big on surprises so this close call was very unexpected.  This story has a happy ending and we're going to pick her up tomorrow evening.  I can't wait to bring her home!

Monkey see, monkey do!

We give Abby horse back rides so we peed-our-pants-cracking-up when we found her giving her froggie a horse back ride too!!  Oh, the tears were streaming and I wish I got more pics but I was too busy laughing and trying to catch my breathe!

I've mentioned before how she's going through a shoe phase and here she is wearing my mom's shoes around the house.  Too cute!  She likes the sound it makes on the wood floor.  I'm so proud of her!  :)

Hooray for beautiful weather!

We finally get to do fun outdoor activities!  Abby and I are both still under the weather but we're powering through it and still finding time to enjoy this much anticipated {a-choo!} autumn weather. 

Back home and enjoying my grapes.  Yum!

Abby is 17 months old!

I'm one day late but our little Abby is now 17 months and 1 day old.  She has grown from a little baby to a little girl right before my very eyes.  My nephew Elliott is a constant reminder for me of my baby Abby and I hope Ruby is really cherishing every moment now, while it lasts.  I completely see why mommies want another baby when they see or hold new babies. 

We've had yet another jam packed week - hence my week long hiatus.  There's no better place to start than the beginning so here goes!  :)  First of all, we were finally able to capture a Longhorn family photo! 

GO HORNS!

I've mentioned before that Abby is such a little girl and this is just more evidence.  She has been going through a shoe fetish phase (maybe it will last a life time just like mommy!) where she likes to wear anyone's shoes around the house.  Well, turns out she made "shoes" out of her rings as well.  She pranced around like this for a good 30 minutes - too funny!

Elliott was also baptised this past Sunday and we were so proud of him - he did so well.  :)  I'm sure Ruby will post more pictures so I'll just post my favorite from the bunch.  Elliott is wearing the same outfit Matt wore when he was baptised too - so sweet.  :)

Abby and I spent the week with Lao Nian and Lao Yie again so Ruby and Elliott came over on Wednesday again and we got more cousin bonding time!  I can't get over how big Elliott has gotten and he's just 3 months old!  Abby just adores him and can't stop kissing him - even his little feet!  :)

Mwa!

Lao Yie reading to Abby.

Unfortunately Abby got sick (again) so I spent the second half of the week taking care of a UBER CLINGY baby.  This is the worst one yet.  She's always just had a fever with no other symptoms but now it's a fever and runny/plugged up nose.  Poor thing can't breathe well and I've spent the last few days just cuddling/consoling my poor little baby.  My back is killing me but as long as Abby is comfortable, I'm OK.  :)

Because of the illness, we stayed an extra night and this was the subsequent outfit we came home in.  Nothing matches but at least she's still well enough to play and eat!  :)

Hopefully this illness passes quickly as I'd like my happy-go-lucky baby back, please!  :)  On a side note, she can now say "jo jo" (aka Uncle Kirk) but it sounds more like "do do" and she is starting to learn the alphabet and knows "a, e, m, r, o and q." 

Attempted outdoor fun, Tooth #12

My poor baby has 3 pre-molars all coming out at the same time.  Tooth #12 is working it's way out now too - top left pre-molar.  She's such a trooper!  She's a little fussy but as other mothers have told me, Abby's fussy is nothing compared to the real deal.  I will admit Abby is a super mild mannered baby who doesn't ever really cry, per say.  But she sure knows how to whine or girly grunt if she wants something!  I'm pretty sure she got that from me.  :)  I have a low pain tolerance, for sure. 

Yesterday was only in the lower 90's so we made our first attempt to go for a wagon ride around the block. 

We are ready to go! 

Hat - check!

Water - check!

A toy for each hand - check!

A candid live shot.  Just look at that lower lip!  :)

Then we got out to explore.  I proceeded to be the main course for the local mosquitoes so we called it quits and headed back to our safe air conditioned home.  I got bit THROUGH my shirt and shorts!  Who has 3 mosquito bites on her back?  ME!  >:(  But most importantly, no bites for my Xiao Xiao.  :)

Fun Monday

We had more family fun time this past Monday.  :)  But we were missing Jo Jo - if only he could play hooky for work......  :P  I really enjoy seeing the joy grandkids can bring to our parents.  It's so surreal to think we brought that much joy to them as babies/kids too. 

Proud Grandparents.  :)

Elliott has gotten SO BIG!  He's taking a nap where Abby used to nap too.  Lucky Ruby, he's sleeping through the night already!

Abby is just fascinated with Elliott's infant car seat which is clearly too small for her.

Once again trying to squeeze herself in.  She's just as stubborn as I am.  Either that or she likes trying out chairs just like I do.  Either way, I'm pretty sure it's my fault on this one.  :P

How does Elliott look in pink? Sorry dude, that's all we have in this house. :P I have the cutest nephew ever!

On a side note, I made my first diaper cake for a shower yesterday.  Bring on the babies because I'm getting good at this!  :)



Tooth #11

I didn't even notice until today that tooth #11 came out too!  It's her top right pre-molar.  We are on our way to exploring more new food soon!

Play, play, play...

Oh, to be a carefree child again.  Days full of eating, sleeping and play, play, play.  :)  I can't wait for the weather to cool off so we can do more outdoor activities.  Her poor wagon has been collecting dust in the garage since her birthday.  She hasn't even been to the zoo yet!  We'll fix that in a month or so.  For now, it's more indoor fun for Abby.  She LOVES playing in the Galleria play area. 

Then the obligatory hard core nap after an afternoon of eating, shopping and playing.  :)

On Saturday morning, Xiao Xiao and I met Lao Nian and Lao Yie in Chinatown for some delicious breakfast!  I was so excited for Xiao Xiao to eat "you tiao" (Chinese oil sticks) and drink "dou jiang" (soy milk) and try a "dan bing" for the first time.  Unfortunately, she didn't devour it up like usual but at least she gave everything a try.  We'll try again when her pre-molars all come in. 

This is an Ode to Daddy.  His favorite way to watch Sunday night football.  :) 

Noteable milestones again:

Her 10th tooth made an appearance as well.  It's the bottom left pre-molar.  Go Xiao Xiao!  :)  And she learned a few more words.  She can say "bee" (referring to her Bee Pillow Pet), she can say "bow" (which I keep putting in her hair because she desparately needs her bangs cut again) and she tries to say "mei mao" which is eyebrow in Chinese but it comes out as "ma mao" - again, close enough. 

Adding to her vocabulary and Labor Day weekend

In the last few days Abby has added several new words to her vocabulary again!  :)  I kept a list in my purse so I wouldn't forget and here they are in list form:

1.  She calls Grandpa Bill "Bam-pa" - close enough.  :)
2.  She says "a-yi" everytime she sees Ruby or even a picture of Ruby. 
3.  She learned to say "mei-mei" (yet another character of Ni Hao, Kai Lan).
4.  She calls Baby Elliott "baby" now!  It's so cute!  And everytime she sees him, she'll say "ssshhh!!" because that's what we are always telling her since he sleeps a lot. 
5.  She can say and point to an apple now too, only it sounds more like "up-ball" - again, close enough! 
6.  And most importantly {drum roll, please}, she just started to say her own name this morning!!  I was soooo excited!  We called Da-Da at work and he heard it too.  "A-by" - oh I could listen to that all day.  We're so proud of her!

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Boy did we have a jam packed Labor Day weekend!  We started off Saturday with a tailgate and going to the UT vs. Rice game held here in the Reliant Stadium.  We had a great turn out at the tailgate and it was soooo great to see old friends again (yet another reason why I love football season).  AND, we were on TV for a millisecond during the 3rd quarter!  Our seats were awesome too - 20 yard line, row M. 

Bryce cooking up a storm, as usual.  Everything was delicious!

Sangeeta modeling the UT Young Alumni t-shirt.  :)

Most of our tailgaters.

Remind me to thank the random dude next to us for taking this blurry picture. 

The view from our awesome seats.

Our celebrity sighting!  Roger Clemens, Kasey Studdard and Mario Williams!

Then on Sunday we went to Grandma and Grandpa's to celebrate Grandma's birthday a few days early.  We tested out Abby's new floaty and she seems to like it but has to get used to it still. 

Then on Monday we went to Lao Nian and Lao Yie's for more family fun time.  :) 

Abby sure loves petting the "mao!"

She likes playing with Lao Yie too. :)

Baby Elliott looks so comfy on Lao Nian!

Abby likes riding on Da-Da's shoulders!

Here she is entertaining herself with her many books.

Then we finally got home and had some of our own family fun time.  :) 

 

The Great Wall of Dolls...oh, and Da-Da too.

And last but not least, 2 more non-crib sleeping baby pictures.