Li'l McAbbie Had a Farm...

Since Abbie was born, we've been reading her stories and talking about various animals - ducks, sheep, pigs, goats, horses, etc. And we've been having fun teaching her the sounds that various animals make. It's wonderful how well she's remembered them and can name animals from photos and movies as well as imitate them.
However, she's only had limited exposure to live animals. Mostly the little ponies in Middleburg, kitties behind the glass at the local PetSmart, and of course Shelby.
A local farm had a "kids day" last Saturday. The weather was perfect and so we packed up and headed out, excited that Abbie would finally get the chance to see and touch many of the animals she'd learned about.
As soon as we got there, her eyes lit up. She began pointing to the different animals, jumping up and down, and shouting their names: "COWS! HORSEY! DUCKY!" She wanted to touch and pet each one. Fortunately, many of the animals were used to people handling them, and they'd come right up to her. She'd reach out her little hand and pet them - "Nice... nice..." she'd say.
One of the highlights for her, though, seemed to be when we put her on the giant tractor. Once she sat down in the big, ripped, vinyl seat, she began twisting the giant steering wheel. She had a blast - so much that when we finally lifted her down, she put up a terrible fuss. She was not happy having to leave the thing. For as much as she wanted to "drive" the tractor, I thought we could put her to work on the farm.
Finally, especially after seeing her friend William, she calmed down enough to see the rest of the farm. She and William had a fun showing each other what they'd found, especially when we wandered into the big barn with the baby goats. One of the men there told Abbie that the baby goats were born in February, so they were only 2 months old. She was amazed at these little animals whom she towered over - the only animals there smaller than she.
All in all, I can't tell who had more fun - Abbie seeing all the animals, or us watching her. By the time we left she was exhausted, but I know she thought about the farm a lot after that. She was mooing in her sleep that night!! We're hoping we can take her back there again to see all of her animal friends.

WWF Abbie

Abigail is an animal lover. She loves all animals, she finds all of them interesting, and is curious about all the little and big creatures that she sees.

For one thing, having a dog has facilitated her propensity to like animals. Shelby has not always been the most accepting of Abigail throughout the last 18 months. But she is warming up to the idea that she no longer is "the baby" -- or maybe I should say that she has resigned to it -- and has randomly shown some affection toward Abbie.


Abigail, however, unawares of any jealousy issues, thinks of Shelby as her pal, her best friend. Shelby's is the first name she will call (after mine) when she wakes up in the morning: "Shebby!!", and once in a while, when Abbie chats, you can clearly identify the word "Shebby" here and there. At times, with a tinge of facetiousness, I will say to her: "yeah yeah, 'Shebby', Ford, Buick, Pontiac, whathaveyou!" and Abbie will smile at me. When we get home from being out, Abigail invariably runs to the front door and starts knocking while I fumble to find the keys, and calls the dog: "Hi Shebby! Hi Shebby!!". She looks for the dog around the house, "Oh Shebby?". She pets Shelby, hugs her, and gives her kisses on the snout. Abbie has also taken to holding Shelby's leash whenever we go out. She won't let anyone else do that, heaven forbid one should even try.

Also, Abigail loves kitties (chichis), and horses (hoses), and birds (beeds). Last week we took her to see the kitties at Petsmart. Abbie's eyes got big and wild with excitement and happiness, and she started jumping up and down and yelling "Chichis!!! Chichis!!", laughing wholeheartedly, and pointing at them. Eventually, she gathered enough courage to check them out up close and personal. And, just like that, she started meowing at the cats in their cages: "meowwww! meowwww!". I was really surprised at that: I have been trying to teach Abigail for a while what the animals say -- the sheep, the cats, the horse, etc. She will only respond when I ask her "what does the cow say?" -- she'll say "moooooooooooo!". But when I ask her "what does the kitty say?", she will always answer "chichi!", never "meow". So that was a revelation, for me: she knows what the kitty says -- and talks kitty language to them!

She then saw the fish, all sort of little, colored fish, and shouted "feeeeessshhhhh!!!", smacking her hands on the glass. Then we took her over to see the birds. Oh boy, that was something! Abbie was mesmerized: "cheep cheep!", she'd say to them, "Cheeeeep! Cheeeeeep!!". She does that with the birds she sees on the street by the house as well: running to them, she will call them in their own "language".

And of course, as already posted on this blog, Abigail loves horses -- ponies, to be exact. She loves her friends Yang and Yin, in Middleburg. Recently we took her to see them again -- we make regular trips out there just to see the ponies. Here are a few sequences of some videos we took. She's calling the ponies over to her, "poooey!!! poooooeyyyy!" barely able to contain her excitement, and petting them fearlessly -- she has never been afraid of them. "Pooeys here", she says at one point. And lastly, she tries to kiss pony: she puckers her lips to smack him with a kiss, but not being able to reach him, she lays her kiss on the fence instead.

If you pay close attention, you can probably hear her call Shelby as well! Of course: who else?