Monday, July 28, 2008

A first for Abby

So we had a FIRST last night and it was NOT walking or saying Mama....we got Abby undressed for her bath as we always do and she was crawling around "nakie" in her bedroom while I grabbed her towel from her closet. Jason was next to her and all the sudden he goes, "Oh my god! Come here now!" And I come over and there are TWO HUGE TURDS where Abby was!!! She literally pooped on her floor in the 2 seconds neither of us were looking, and she had just had a poop about 20 mins before! And there was a little bit of pee as well. It was all good - the poop was solid (thank goodness) and we have Nature's Miracle stain/odor remover from Sadie's accidents so we sprayed some on the carpet and it was gone. But Jason and I were cracking up, it was too funny. I guess there is a first for everything with babies!

Thursday, July 24, 2008

Planes, Trains & Automobiles

Last weekend, I embarked on a new adventure: taking Abby on a plane by myself. I knew it could be tricky to have her in my seat with no other help, so I planned accordingly: lots of snacks, a DVD player, 3 DVDs, a book, toys and a prayer that she'd take a nap.

On the way to Chicago, we were very lucky that the flight was on time, and while there were no empty seats so we could spread out, she did pretty well on the flight. She was curious and wanted to play with the man next to us (who was trying to sleep) and played with/munched on the American Airlines menu, in-between lunch and playing with (not watching) her DVD. [Oh, and note to self: do not bring anything with red sauce for food on a plane, as it will end up on the seat, window and clothing. Oops.] She didn't nap but of course she did fall asleep in her stroller when I was waiting for my rental car at the airport. Oh well.

We had a lovely weekend, seeing family & friends and going to a work event. Abby had a lot of fun exploring her Grandma's apartment and checking out her new surroundings.

And then we had to leave. As it was, I was dreading the trip home alone - the way there wasn't terrible but it wasn't terribly easy, either. We boarded the very full plane on time, taxied out to the runway....and sat there for TWO HOURS while we waited for good ol' LGA to let us fly out. OMG. My worst fear had come true. And of course they don't tell you it's going to be 2 hours, they let you think that it will only be "30 minutes" or "15 more minutes" which we kept hearing over and over. The plane was hot and crowded and Abby did not want any part of sitting in a tiny seat on my lap. She wasn't crying but she wasn't exactly having a ball, though either was I, as I tried to give her snacks, play her DVD and entertain a 13-month-old in a 4" x 4" space. She didn't want to nap and did, however, enjoy touching the guy next to us with her messy little fingers.

Alas, we took off 2 hours late and both of us were exhausted. My little munchkin fell asleep on my lap 3 hours after we first boarded the plane, and not a moment too soon to give mommy a break. She was so wiped out that she didn't wake up for those annoying "flight attendants, prepare for landing" announcements, the actual landing or when the seatbelt sign went off. I had to wake her up so I could get my bags together and get off the plane.

We then had to wait while daddy and Sadie made their way through Sunday night traffic to get us at the airport, with me feeding her dinner in her stroller. She finally went to sleep around 9:45 pm and like my child, slept until 9:15 am the next day! I wish I had done that, too, since I needed a vacation from that day!

All in all, she was such a good baby but I learned a valuable lesson: spend the extra cash to buy the baby his/her own seat when you are traveling alone (unless they are really tiny) - it's worth it to be able to spread out and not have to hold him/her on your lap for hours! Our next flight with Abby is in late September, also to Chicago, but this time daddy will be doing all the work!

Monday, July 7, 2008

All done!

This weekend was the Fourth of July, otherwise known as spending 4 wonderful days with Abby.

On Thursday, Jason and I took her into the city (NYC, that is) for some Central Park swing action, a visit to Grandpa's office and dinner with Grandma, Grandpa and Great-Grandma. Abby was so exhausted that she passed out in the car on the way home and when we got home, she was changed and went right to sleep. We were "all done" as Abby now likes to say - after spending the day in hot and muggy NYC, it was nice to be back home and still have 3 more days to chill.

On the 4th, Abster slept until 8:30 (yay!) and we took her and Sadie on a little hike at the Rockefeller estate near our house. There are hundreds of acres of trails and we explored a few of them (pictures below), with Sadie sniffing her way along and Abby "moo"ing at the cows and laughing at the horses we saw on some of the trails. It was so nice and we would love to go back there again for a longer hike, now that we know what to expect. It must have wiped Abby out because she then napped for 3.5 hours (!!!) before we headed over to Aunt Julie and Uncle Peter's house for a July 4th BBQ.

Saturday brought some errands (Bloomies and Target, to be exact) and a dinner party at Carrie & Gary's apartment with two other babies (Jake is 2 and Judah is 9 months). Abby and Judah had a little "thing" going when she went to give him a kiss and he embraced her in a hug!!

Our last day of the weekend started when Abby woke up at 9 am (could I have a better child?!) and we took a trip to Stew Leonard's (our fave grocery store) where Abby laughed her way around the store at the Chiquita Banana lady dancing, the dairy cow moo'ing, the 3 dancing cows and the fishy fisherman doing gymnastics. In the afternoon, we went over to Auntie Clay and Uncle Brad's house for a little BBQ with our neighbors. Speaking of neighbors, we were excited to find out that Abby has a new next-door neighbor, Madeline Joy, who arrived yesterday morning. Congrats to Madeline's parents Melissa and Raph!

All in all, it was a fun and fairly relaxing weekend, with Abby practicing saying "All done" and "Hi Daddy" (but STILL no mommy) and pointing out cows and horses along the way. Is it Friday yet???