Our Little Trickster

Last week, Abster had a little trick up her sleeve...somehow, when our nanny Gaynell was cleaning up lunch in the kitchen, Abby quietly made her way up the flight of stairs to the 2nd floor, then toddled into our bedroom and up another flight of stairs to our loft! Jason heard a little voice say "hi" and turned around to find her at the top of the stairs but Gaynell was nowhere in sight!

When Jason brought her downstairs, Gaynell was horrified to find out what happened. Luckily no one got hurt and it was a good lesson learned and a reminder to check and double check the gates in our house, which are there for good reasons!

In other news, Abby is now saying her name ("Ab-by") and points to herself, which is so cute. She also knows the name of our friend's daughter, Maddy. Every day we hear a new word or name and it's just amazing to watch her development as she approaches 17 months in just 2 days. We have no doubt the best is yet to come with our little girl!

Poor baby

After several rough nights of Abby waking herself up coughing this past weekend, we finally took Abby to the doctor today. As it turns out, the little sniffle and cough she has developed into her very first ear infection! I guess we're lucky that she is almost 17 months and this is her first one, but it's sad nonetheless. It will also be sad for us to have to give her antibiotics twice a day for 2 weeks. Hopefully she'll be on her way to a full recovery soon because I am exhausted!

In other news, Grandma Sheryl came to visit us this weekend and we had a low-key but very nice time together. And I'm probably 10 lbs heavier due to the chocolate cake, pizza and BBQ that we ate when she was here!

Oh, and let me not forget: Happy 60th Birthday to Grandpa Michael today!

Proud to be an American

For the first time in 8 years, I am actually PROUD to be an American! I am so excited and proud of this country for embracing such huge changes and I can't wait to see what the next 4 years will bring. I am happy Abby is growing up in this era and that I am old enough to understand and appreciate how historic this is. Amazing!!!

I've been trying to teach Abby how to say "Obama" but so far she just says "mama" :). Maybe by Jan. 20, 2009 she'll get it!

Halloween

Abby's 2nd Halloween proved to be a fun adventure! She was dressed up as Piglet from Winnie the Pooh and we set off in our neighborhood around 5:30 pm. By 7:00 pm, we had received enough sugar to fuel a car and she was so wiped out that she slept until 8:45 am the next day. She had a great time and even learned how to say "thank you" when someone gave her candy!

Now the problem is that Jason and I are stuck with too much candy. The leftovers will be coming to work with me this week and left for the office to devour.

And now on to the next holiday - Thanksgiving! We're still debating over driving or flying to Chicago. We shall see.....

Success!

I am SO happy to report that the first official week of our new nanny was a success! Gaynell was great and Abby loved her. She was on time, professional, responsible and totally picked up on things (including taking Sadie on walks!) right away. She even babysat for us on Saturday night and survived a short blackout at our house. And my neighbors' two nannies adore her as well, especially since she's been driving them home at night!

Hopefully all will continue in this positive direction because she is so nice and Abby is definitely taking to her. I can hopefully breathe a sigh of relief now.

This past Saturday we took Abby to see Sesame Street Live. I didn't know if she'd be able to sit through the whole thing but she LOVED it! She was so fascinated by singing, dancing Sesame Street characters (esp when they talked about Abby Cadabby!) and was beyond excited when she got a $10 Elmo balloon at intermission. Geniuses, I tell you.

All in all, it was a successful week for everyone, and it was very much needed.

A Fresh Start

Today begins Day One of our new nanny, Gaynell. She did a trial day on Friday and so far, all went well. Hopefully as each day goes by, she'll get more comfortable with Abby and with us and we'll feel more at ease with her. It's just such a strange thing to let a stranger into your house to take care of your most precious goods and to trust them with your child, house and car. I really hope she works out because I can't take another nanny interview at this point! Good luck, Gaynell!

And as for Abby, she turned 16 months yesterday and she is a full-fledged walker and talker. She repeats everything and says so many words, it's crazy. She really has developed so much in the last 2-3 months, it's unbelievable. I cannot believe she'll be 1.5 years in just 2 months! Each day is something new and more fun with her. We're so lucky!!!

Happy Birthday to ME!

I am so not one to tout my own birthday - after all, who really wants to announce that they are a year older?? But today is my birthday and it's been quite a lovely day so far. It started with a box of Munchkins from my neighbors on the train ride to work, then I received a cake, a necklace, flowers, a gift card and a bracelet from work people, and numerous calls/emails from friends. Tonight Jason has arranged for a mint chip ice cream cake to be shared at our house, so I'm looking forward to that - mostly to seeing what Abby thinks of mint chip ice cream, which I'm sure she'll love as much as her parents do!

On the nanny front (aka "saga"), we didn't have to worry about firing our temporary nanny who we increasingly hate each day because she did it herself! She told us she was going back to school 2 days/week and could work for us 3 days/week. Sorry but it's a full-time job! And unfortunately things didn't work out financially with Rebecca (the nanny from last week who I was excited about), so we placed another ad on Craigslist.

We (ok, I) interviewed 4 more people in person and spoke to countless others. We made an offer to one woman on Saturday and she is going to do a trial day with us this week and pending all goes well, she'll start with us next week. Please cross your fingers for us that she is great! I know that's one thing I'll be wishing for over my ice cream cake tonight!