Abbie at the “Airplane Store”

Finding new and suitable places for Abbie to burn out her seemingly endless supply of energy has become increasingly challenging. Fortunately, the older she gets, the more “self-sufficient” she has become. The activities her mommy and I choose are slowly becoming of more interest to us as well as Abbie. And Virginia has a wealth of interesting and historical places.

I’ve been itching to take Abbie to the Udvar-Hazy Center –- an annex of the National Air & Space Museum.  It’s a large aircraft hanger building near Dulles International Airport which houses many aircraft, helicopters and space exhibits.  The Udvar-Hazy Center contains some notable aircraft such as the SR-71 Blackbird spy plane, the Enola Gay –- the B-29 Superfortress which dropped the first Atom bomb on Hiroshima -- and one the last Air France supersonic Concordes.

I knew Abbie wouldn’t understand the historical aspects of seeing the exhibits at the NASM, but I thought the open spaces and neat, shiny airplanes would really get her going. And of course, I hope it will, later on, spark some interest in aeronautics and space which I’ve grown up with.

Upon entering the enormous facility, her eyes opened wide as she pointed to one of the first airplanes she saw. “AIR-PANE!” she shouted. “That’s right, Abbie” I replied. “There’s many, many airplanes here… and SPACE SHIPS!”

As soon as I put her down, she tore off, running from one plane to the next. She’d occasionally stop in her tracks, making little 360 degree turns as she took in everything around her. Since we were one of the first ones there, she had almost full run of the place.

At one point, acknowledging all of the aircraft around her, she exclaimed, “AIR-PANE STORE!”

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After strolling around and taking in all the historical aircraft, we ventured over to the Space Exploration annex. She was beside herself at seeing such sites as the various rockets and the cornerstone of the exhibit, the real-life space shuttle  Enterprise. We ended up making two trips to the Space Exploration section.

Later in the morning, we took the elevator up to the 10th story Observation Tower where we could see a 360 degree view of the surrounding area. Naturally, she leaned over the glass overlooking the parking lot to find “Mammy's car”. After that, we went down to see the “control tower” exhibit with the sights and sounds of a real control tower.

By this time, she was worn out. We made our second trip to the Space Exploration annex before heading home.

It was a pleasure not only seeing the Center for myself, but watching her simple joy and wonderment at all the amazing “Air-panes”. I’d love to take her back some day where she can appreciate the historical meanings of all the exhibits.

Uh… Hello?

During the last few weeks, Carol and I have been teaching Abbie our first names. She asks her, “Abbie? What’s daddy’s name?” and Abbie replies, “CHREES-o-fur!” When I ask her mommy's name, she whispers, “CAH-rol”  She whispers it because when I first started to teach her, I would whisper it into her ear as a hint. However, she thought that’s how you had to say it… in a whisper.

I should have known, since she does that with other hints I whisper to her.

Anyway, I’ve explained many times here before how much I love to tease her. It’s hard coming up with fun and silly ways to tease her because… well, she’s just a chip off the old block… she’s always two steps ahead, and it usually backfires on me.

So tonight, during our usual nighttime routine, she sat in my lap comfortably while I fed her her bottle of milk.  While she was quietly sipping away, I thought I’d close my eyes, make little snoring sounds and pretend I was sleeping. I wanted to see what she’d do.

I cracked my eyes open a little to see her. I saw two bright eyes looking at me, blinking. After a few seconds of her studying my face and watching me “sleep”, I heard her little voice whisper with the bottle still in her mouth, “CHREES-o-fer… blabble, flabble, wabble, flooble, habble… brush-a-TEEF!”

Apparently, she thought I was really asleep and that I’d forgotten that, after her milk, I was supposed to take her in to the bathroom to brush her teeth. The little pipsqueak was gently waking me up and reminding me.

Good thing she’s looking after me!

Word Games

Abigail is becoming more and more vocal, and has been able to communicate in semi-full sentences for a couple of months. I am amused and ever surprised at the things that she comes up with!

Anyone with kids knows that, well, 'kids say the darndest things', and certainly Abigail is no exception. Thanks to her father and his twisted sense of humor, she's also been learning such colorful (and not socially acceptable) expressions as "fart", "burp" and a few others. I have been trying to re-route her to more "kosher" definitions, like "passing gas", or "toot", "break wind" for example.

Tonight, after dinner, I suddenly detected that Abigail may have gone number two. So I asked her, as I usually do, "Honey, did you make a poopie?". She looked at me straight in the eye, and with the most serious look in her face, she responded: "Abbie toot a poopie!". A close examination of her clean diaper revealed that, in fact, Abbie had simply "toot a poopie".

Another thing that she's been saying lately, in perfect English, is "Mamy (or Daddy), sit down, I'll drive". She says that while opening the car front door, which she is now able to do by standing on her tippy-toes and pressing the unlock button on the door handle. She invariably bursts out laughing because she really does think that she'll drive. At the first sign that she will be sitting on her car-seat, after all, she changes her tune.

Yesterday, another funny one: Shelby started barking loudly out of nowhere while Abigail was quietly playing on her own. Abbie got reasonably upset, and ran to me, saying: "Mamy, Shelby scared the baby! Shelby scared the baby!! Oh no, Shelby, oh no!" Of course, right after that, Abbie turned to the dog and told her "Kiet, Shelby! Kiet!".

Indeed.

Lights dimming on Sesame Street (classic Abbie)

Two days ago I walked into my daughter's bedroom to find a rather unusual, if not slightly disturbing, sight: all of her Sesame Street pals (the ever-ubiquitous Elmo, Zoe, Grover, Big Bird, Snuffy and Cookie Monster) were laying face-down/fanny-up on two of her bookcase shelves, as depicted below:


I was really puzzled -- the scene was obviously not the result of chance, but rather of a carefully planned design. It was, well, purposely done! I called Christopher at work to find out what he knew about it, since he was playing with her in her room the night before while I was preparing dinner.

He said, "Oh, yeah, *that*!", and chuckled, "Your daughter did that -- I told her that it was time to go 'night-night', to say goodbye to her little friends, who were going to bed, too. So, one by one, she picked them up, and laid them down on the shelf, on their tummies, saying to each of them: "Cookie Monsteh sleepin'; Emo sleepin'; Yowe sleepin'; K-nuffy sleepin'; Goovah sleepin'; Big Burd sleepin'!"!"

I looked at Abbie, who was putting stickers on Shelby, and I could not stop laughing. So much for a sinister display -- and I hurried to take a picture of it!

'I Love You'

My little girl told me that she loves me, today: "Ai ouwe you too!"
Oh, what a glorious day!

Abbie & Co.

Abbie had a great day today: she went to the park, where she met her little buddies William and Max (Weeam and Maxxxxxx).  She enjoys the company of her friends, she loves playing with them, following them around, and being close to them.

Right after our little park outing, we went to Sweet Life Cafe, in old town Fairfax, where we all sat down for lunch. While there, Abigail exchanged sweet hugs and a couple of kisses with William, and Max also got sweet with her. He started poking her and yelling "tickle!!! tickle!!!". Abbie thought that was the funniest of things. It really stuck with her, because when we got home, she starting poking my leg and going "ticke!!! ticke!!!", laughing out loud when I pretended to be tickled by her little finger jammed on my thigh. Later on, at dinner, she said "Maxxxx, ticke!!!!" And then went on, with the sweetest of smiles, "Weeam, day, fun!".

Yes, it was.

Hobo Abbie

The sweet little town of Clifton, VA has been mentioned here before.  It's a favorite place to take Abbie for us because of the quiet neighborhood, the fun playground in the park and the overall hometown feel of the place.

At the North end of Clifton, a railway runs through. Clifton arose as a railroad town, afterall.  The rails are still used as Amtrak and freight trains thunder along them, even though they don’t stop there anymore.

Next to the tracks is an old red caboose. They have left it available for people to climb on to get a faint taste of what the railroads meant to America.

I have a lot of railroad blood in me.  My great grandfather was a brakeman for the railroad for some time.  One of his sons, my grandfather’s brother, also worked for the railroad in his younger years as a welder. Another son of his had a love for trains, emphasized by an elaborate model train set which dropped down from the ceiling in his basement. Finally, my own grandfather -- who passed along his love for trains to me by taking me to a park in downtown Salt Lake City to play on the old steam train there. I can also remember seeing the Bicentennial Amtrak train with him when it stopped in Salt Lake City in 1976.

The Americana in me also comes from my other great grandfather who was a "hobo" during the Great Depression, walking the highways and jumping boxcars across the country three times.

So naturally, some of this railroad blood runs in Abbie.  While her mommy and I were with her in Clifton today, I wanted to get a few pictures of her on the tracks. Abbie had no reservations about walking the rails and ties, studying the rocks on the ground and the wooden planks which held the tracks down. She too loves trains. She has a couple of trains made of wood or plastic which she loves to play with. When we are in Clifton, she first heads straight to the “choo-choo” in the playground. And, of course, at seemingly random times in the car, she’ll shout out, “Choo-choo twain!”

One day I hope to share more of that railroad Americana with her by getting her a little electric model railroad, build on a sheet of plywood like the one I had when I was her about her age. There’s a wonderful fascination she has with trains that I hope she never loses.

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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.

More Bitty Abbie

Abbie’s absorbing everything, and it’s not that she’s just repeating what she hears, rather she’s fitting her world together in context and joining words together.

For example, she and I were out at Babies-R-Us getting another load of diapers. (Just a side note, she’s a great little companion most times – she loves to trot along ahead and help her Mommy and Daddy at the store.)

While we were perusing the choices in diapers, a little baby somewhere in the store started to cry. Abbie heard this, looked around and said, “Baby crying... Baby crying.”

I said, “yes, honey – there’s a little baby and she’s crying. But Baby’s OK.” Abbie, satisfied that the baby was not in trouble, went back to choosing her diapers.

While we waited at the check stand, Abbie insisted on helping me by holding one of the packages of diapers. She stood there proudly, hoping everyone saw that she was helping her Daddy. When it was our turn at the register, I told her, “OK honey, put the diapers on the table so she can scan them.” Without resisting, she hoisted the packages up and tried to put them on the belt.

When we got to car she still wanted to hold the diapers. The package she chose was the nighttime diapers with a picture of a sleeping baby boy on the front. She looked a the picture, then turned to me with a smile and said, “Baby sleeping. Shhhhh!”, putting her little index finger to her lip. Finally she looked back at the picture and said, “Boy baby… boy baby…”

It was a perfect little outing that went without a hitch. One of those moments that I look forward to having more of in the future. I can’t wait to have my little helper and friend go with me to turn the most mundane errands into fun excursions.

Rarities and Oddities -- Part Deux

Abbie does a lot of little things that crack me up.  I don't want to forget any of them! Here's a short list of the things I can think of, more coming! 

1) When she eats, she has to have her "Rabbitt" bib sitting on the table next to the plate.  She'll talk to it and try to feed it, too. 

2) If you take a bite of her food, she'll start feeding you and would seriously give you everything on her plate simply for the pleasure of seeing you happy.  She smiles all the way. 

3) She says "cah-foh!" (careful) each time that she does something she *knows* I won't be happy about.  She anticipates my warning, looking at me as if saying "See? Don't bother, I said it for you" -- not defiantly.  She really does it to save you some time.  

4) She'll walk backward and slowly lower herself on to anyone's lap.  Even strangers. 

5) She barks at dogs: "Ruff-Ruff!!!" 

6) She makes silly faces when looking at herself in the mirror. 

7) If you tell her "Abbie, I love you", no matter what mood she's in or what she's doing, she'll slowly break into a sweet smile. 

8) She can dance.  Anywhere, any time, to any music or lack thereof. 

9) She bursts out laughing out of nowhere and for no reason apparent to anyone else but her. 

10) She'll recognize the letter "W" anywhere.  She loves to say "w".  She actually loves many complicated words, such as dinosaurs, hippopotamus, octopus, alligator, rhinoceros, etc. 

11) She loves to say "more coming!" when I am feeding her.  She anticipates when more food is coming :) 

12) She *has* to hold Shelby's leash when we go for a walk. 

13) She insists on helping me "clean" when she sees me doing household chores.  She'll say "Mammy clean", take the broom from me and actually sweep the floor. 

14) She will drink water from a regular glass, holding it herself, and no other way. 

15) She loves to smell flowers.  She brings any flower she sees to her nose and takes a whiff.

Abbie's Vocabulary at 19 Months

There are quite a few words that Abbie understands and appropriately uses, and for the sake of not forgetting what she would talk about all day long at this age, I decided to make a list, along with her personal pronunciation (which is the most important of all!) :)

Objects:

Car/s

Truck/s

Choo-Choo Tain (train)

Twee (tree)

Flourit (flower)

Powwy (potty)

Haus (house)

Baoon (balloon)

Bib

Book

Chair 

Pussle (puzzle)

Wee (slide)

Sing (swing)

Ball

Shoes

Jack-t (jacket)

Coat

Socks

Agoo (her Aquadoodle)

Cads (cards)

Gasses (glasses)

Tool (stool)

Daper (diaper)

Hatt (hat)

Cupp (cup)

Fon (phone)

Piwwo (pillow)

Boxx (box)

Picture (for a regular picture/frame or when she wants me to draw something for her)

Animals and Animal Sounds:

Apposus (Octopus)

Cow : moooo

Horse/Horses : ney

Cat : meow

Chi-chi (kitty--though occasionally she will say "Kitty") : meow

Dog : ruff ruff

Doggie: ruff ruff

Duckk (duck) : quack

Chiken (chicken) : cheep

Frogr (frog)

Bids (birds) : cheep-cheep

Rabbitt (rabbit)

Sheepp (sheep) : baaaahhhh!

Dager (Tiger) : raaaaaaaaaaah!

Tuh-tle (turtle)

Beer (bear)

Feesh (fish)

Pig

Pidgeon (pigeon)

Puppy

Foxx (fox)

Fies (butterflies -- bugs in general)

Mouss (mouse)

Whal (wale) : woooooooo!

Danasore (dinosaur) : rawaaaaaaa!

Chick : cheep-cheep

Ewefan (elephant)

Rinos-ah (rhinoceros)

Zea (zebra)

Giaff (giraffe)

Hipomous (hippopotamus)

Alliatar (alligator)

Mankie (monkey)

Lien / Ion (lion) : raaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!

Foods:

Food

Cheese

Appe (apple)

Peas

Meet (meat)

Cheeken (chicken)

Wadit (water)

Juice

Melon (melon, watermelon)

Soup

Patta (pasta)

Auacado (avocado)

Cookie

Cackes (crakers)

Muk (milk)

Bins (beans)

Pizza

Beis (berries)

Eggs 

Banas (bananas)

Toast

Yogurt

Grapes

Bred (bread)

People / Terms of Endearment:

Mammy / Mama

Daddy

Wee-yam (William)

Becca (Rebecca)

Mies (Miles)

Iulia (Julia)

Sammm (Sam)

Nana (grandma)

Kisseen (Christine)

Shelby/Shebby (Shelby)

Emmo (Elmo)

Jack

Abbie

Abigail

Santa

Mel

Honey

Suit-ha (sweetheart)

Dowwy (Dolly)

Mack

Boo-Boo (one of the characters in her books)

Dick (from "Dick and Jane")

Noopy (Snoopy)

Doss (Doze, one of her stuffed animals)

Poopie (same)

Mama-Beer (that's what she calls an old stuffed bear that used to be mine)

Activities and Misc.:

Jump

Run

Sheet (sit)

Ca-foh (careful)

Hott (hot)

Down (as in get down)

Kiet (quiet-- to Shelby)

Again 

Do it

Peas (please)

Hepp (help)

Toys

Shaow (show)

Dish! (for "this! -- something she wants)

Mennicine (medicine)

Walk

Good 

Moon

Sun

Stah (star)

Sky

Shadow

Dance

Color

Open

Cose (close)

Bat (bath)

Baby

Noss (nose)

Mouth

Eye/s

Ear/s

Hair

Head

Arm/s

Hand/s

Feet

Foot

Tummy

Knee

Shoders (shoulders)

Back

Beboo / Buttonn (belly button)

Pee-pee

Poo-poo

Up

Awie / boo-boo (hurt)

Buh-bows (bubbles)

Eat

Hi

Bye-Bye

Ciao-Ciao

Wow!

All Done!

Beach

Claus (clouds)

Reed (read)

Dinnens (dinner)

Ovah (oval)

Quare (square)

Cih-cle (circle)

Damond (diamond)

Reh-tangle (rectangle)

I know I'm forgetting something, but this will do for now.

Things Abbie says

I once wrote a post about how the learning processes of young minds amaze me. And, once more, I got surprised by the things Abbie picks up along the way -- things I never even dreamed of teaching her, but that she nevertheless grasps from her daily experiences.

A few days ago, while I was getting Abbie ready to go out, she went nuts. She started calling out her typically loud “dish!” (this) pointing at something on the table. She didn’t have any toys up there. I wasn’t particularly interested in figuring out what’s going on in her little curly head, I was in rush and trying to get her shoes on. But she wasn’t letting up, and finally I realized that she wanted my key holder, with my house keys and my car beeper.

"Dish, peas? Dish, peas?” (this please)

I offered them to her, “Abbie, Is this what you want?”

Abbie stretched her hands and paid me back for giving her the coveted keys with the biggest grin and happy eyes.

While I put my coat on, I watched Abigail silently inspecting the keys. Finally, clicking the buttons of the car beeper, she looked up at me and said:

"Cah (car). Kees (keys). Beep-beep!!!!!"

Abbie the Girl Scout

As we all know, children at Abbie’s age are sponges for what they hear. Especially for things we tell them directly.

Lately, Abbie has picked up on the word “Hot”, mainly from when we are feeding her and we caution her something is hot. Now when she experiences something remotely warm, she’ll repeat back, “Hot! Hot!” letting us know what she’s thinking.

And since we’re the cautious, ever-protective parents of hers, the word “careful” has also entered her vocabulary.

So today, Abbie and I went out to Clifton park, a nearby park with fun things for Abbie to run around and play on.  One of these things is a large wooden train which Abbie likes to climb on and sit in.  The top of the train has a black top which, when sitting in the sun as it does, collects heat and is warm to the touch. While sitting in the train, Abbie reached out and tapped the outside of the train. She quickly pulled her hand back in and said, “Hot. Hot. Cah-fol! (Careful).”

I asked her, “is that hot? Be careful touching it.” She responded, “Cah-fol! Hot”

A little while later we had migrated to the swings. While Abbie swung back and forth, another little boy and his father came to the park to play. Abbie watched the two of them as they walked toward the train. As the boy began to climb onto the train, she yelled out to him, “Cah-fol! Cah-fol! Hot! Hot!” At first, I didn’t know what she was talking about, but after she began to point to the little boy on the train, I understood her intent.

I was so proud of her and her concern for someone else. Here is the video of the event which I managed to capture once I realized what was going on.

Potty-Time

I know it sounds cliché, but having a child really does change your outlook on life. It’s wonderful how the smallest things can mean so much. Reaching the top of a mole-hill is really reaching the top of a mountain, especially for an 18 month old.

One of the next big milestones for Abbie will be potty training. Now usually, doctors estimate that children are ready for toilet training at around 24-30 months. That is about the time that children are both mentally and physically capable of determining when they need to go, and have the muscles to hold on until they can go.

But Abbie is a true go-getter. She doesn’t know the meaning of the word “can’t”. So she loves to push the envelope of her abilities.

Knowing this milestone is approaching, we decided to get Abbie a little training toilet. It sits on the floor and has a cute little padded pink seat for her. We put it in the bathroom next to the real toilet and explained to her that it was her potty – for when she needed to pee-pee or poo-poo.

Knowing that it was hers, she loved it right away. She was proud of her little potty, even though she wasn’t sure what it was for – other than for a comfortable sit.

I somehow got into the habit of asking her, “Do you have to go potty?” every time she’d get ready for her bath at night. It didn’t take long before she actually got fussy with anticipation while she got undressed, yelling, “Powwy! Powwy!” She'd run over to it, lift the lid, and position herself squarely on it. There she’d sit, swinging her legs with a big proud grin on her face. She looked so natural, I later decided to give her a little book to read while she sat on it.

Now I didn’t logically expect anything to happen while she sat there. I know she’s still too young to “go” on command. But there was a tiny part of me hoping to see a little golden treasure in the bottom of the potty when she got up. Each time she stood up, she and I would peek in the bottom but see nothing but clean plastic (I’m not sure what she expected to find). But, that’d be OK and I’d praise her using her potty.

Tonight after her bath, as usual, she sat on my lap while I dried her off. She saw her little potty and yelled, “POWWY! POWWY!” She was a little more anxious about it than normal. When she was dry, she hopped down and scooted herself onto the seat. After a few seconds, or so, I could have sworn I’d heard something going on in there. When she finally stood up, we both peered into the little bowl. There, in the bottom was a little pool of piddle. I couldn’t have been more proud!

“YAY!” I said. “Abbie went pee-pee in the potty!” I squeezed her, kissed her on the head and pointed at the bowl. “Abbie went pee-pee in the potty! YAY!” Abbie got a big grin on her face and I think she was even surprised herself to see something there. Then she turned and ran into her bedroom to do a little dance.

It may have been a fluke. Or she may really have had to go. Time will tell. But she loves it when she knows she did something good. She may not understand it, or the gravity of the situation. But she is definitely eager to find the next taller hill and get to the top before you know it.

Puppy Love

"Wee-yam!!!!", "AbbieAbbieAbbie!!!!"

Before now I never once thought I would soon be witnessing a love life for *any* kid of mine, let alone one still wearing diapers.

That was before William and Abigail fell in puppy love...

Believe me, though William's mom is a good friend and a central staple of our social circle, this was in no way an arranged relationship. It sprang naturally, budding in the tender consciousness of two toddlers. By the time Abigail even knew the names of anyone except her own and Shelby's, before she really knew many words at all, she would ask for 'Wee-yam', complete with an impressionistic accent on the 'yam'. 'Wee-yam' constitutes a high percentage of her babyish utterances.

It's been since before Christmas that Abbie kisses William's picture with the utmost delight. I'm told he does the same. It's been months that Abigail picks up the phone, starts babbling in it and fitting "Wee-yam" here and there in her imaginary conversation.

It's sweet in all its innocence. In fact, though they are both cheery kids, the sunshine gets kicked up way high when they get into one of their fits of calling each other's names, when they run after each other, hold hands while jumping on the couch, or laugh together while one leaps and the other dances at Mainly Music. When I strap Abbie in her car seat and tell her "You are going to see William", her lovely face literally gets illuminated by the happiest of expressions. "Wee-yam!!!!", she chirps.

My daughter already gave her first love kiss away, you guessed it -- planted it on William's soft cheek at Wegman's... She already got hugged by her first little special friend. My heart melted, and I so wish I could have taken a picture of those unique moments... But like most special things, they just sneaked up on us. Oh, sure, there's been the occasional lovers fight, when one of the baby kissers gets confused and plants a bite instead... But that's nothing compared to the radiant joy of being together! They enjoy the company of their other friends, sure, but everyone knows they share a special rapport.

As I write this, I can't help but wonder: what does it means for a toddler to "love" another toddler? Heck if I know. I mean, for all their calling each other and laughing together, they're still at the parallel play stage: they want to play with the same exact thing at the same exact time (monkey see monkey do still applies), but aren't ready to share with one another. It makes it for an interesting love conundrum. Love can be cruel and we don't use rose-colored glasses, here.

All logical assessments aside, when they part, or see each other again after a three-day hiatus, I can only describe their plaintive or effervescent "Wee-yam!!!" , "AbbieAbbieAbbie!" as anything but a distinct recognition reserved for an extraordinary friend, not just any buddy.

(to my little love)

I had an itty bitty heartbeat inside me, and now I don't. Abbie's little sibling (I always felt he was a boy, though we'll never really know) didn't make it. At only 7 weeks, he's gone. I think it sounds so strange, to say "I lost my baby". Though I feel the loss, the emptiness, the void, the blackness of it all, I can't bear to say "I lost my baby". I didn't lose him... he's gone. My baby is gone.

Not long ago I saw his beating heart in the monitor, and I heard it. It was fast, strong and undaunted, though they never gave it much of a probability of life. It sounded as though it was saying "Oh yeah? I'll show you". And I thought "Ah! He'll show them, he will!", while carrying a doubt in my heart. When I went to get the sonogram today, after bleeding, I just couldn't stop crying even before they told me that there was no heartbeat. I knew they were looking, and looking, looking for that rhythmic sound as if it were hidden somewhere in the never ending world of my short-lived pregnancy. But with every second that went by, I felt as if I were in the middle of a big, empty field when it snows: chillingly quiet... colorless... aseptic. I knew there was no life, because a few days ago my own heartbeat slowed down. And I knew.

Abbie doesn't understand why her 'mammy' cries so much today. So I want you to know, when you'll be able to understand: today I had to say goodbye to my other itty bitty one, and it's hard, it's hard. I had a dream I loved, a glimpse, and it's gone. And I thank God forever more for you.

Imitation... sometimes the silliest form of flattery

Abbie's been in that stage for a while where she imitates everything she hears. It's great because it really gives you an insight into what she's thinking - about her world and how she understands it. Children are so unique in how they process life around them.

Just an example from my own life: when I was 5 or 6, I remember riding in the back of our huge 1970 Chevrolet Impala. I studied how my mom was driving on the freeway - navigating back and forth from lane to lane. I finally had to break down and admit to her that I would never learn to drive because I could never remember all of those places to change lanes!

Anyway, Abbie has been giving us lots of joy and funny moments like this as she absorbs and responds to what's happening around her. The other day I was walking her and Shelby outside our home. A man and his dog came around the corner about 40 feet in front of us. Now usually I can spot these potential trouble incidents with Shelby before she notices. When Shelby sees people or another dog, she barks and barks and tries to charge at the offending human or animal. She doesn't want to attack, just... well, who the heck knows WHAT she's thinking? But if I can spot these things in time, I can steer her in another direction in order to avoid the confrontation.

But this time, as is sometimes the case, the confrontation was unavoidable. Shelby saw the man and the dog and began to bark and lunge at the "intruders." Seeing Shelby do this, Abbie decided she needed to take action as well and follow suit. So she stopped in her tracks, clenched her fits and began to yell, "Roof roof roof!" at the man and his dog in her tiny little voice.

I couldn't help but laugh. I can only image what the man must have been thinking - let alone the dog!

When all is said and done at the end of a long day with Abbie, it's the moments like this - and there are many - that make it worthwhile.

Evolution of a Beautiful Mind

The recesses of my daughter's mind are too much to grasp, sometimes. Though I am so much older than she is, have collected experiences with people and situations, I have to admit that Abigail has the power to amaze and surprise me, unlike most everything in this world. She's an open book in her innocence, but so much of what's written in it, the artifacts of her developing consciousness, is still a mystery to me. Mostly, I think, because she is absorbing and learning so much, and the way the human mind works is absolutely fascinating.

Abbie's creativity and understanding of basic things is quick and at times more complex than I would expect. Those who have never watched a kid grow will not be able to understand what I mean. But those who watch their babies develop and evolve, day after day, one amazing step after the next, know why I marvel at the dazzling complexities of human imagination and understanding.

I don't know how to appropriately depict what I am trying to say. Every day, Abbie does or says things that I immediately want to write about. I wish I could, because I don't want to forget any of these little, gigantic milestones, and how happy and excited they make me feel.

Today, for example, Abbie learned the first two letters of the alphabet, A and B. We were playing with her alphabet puzzle, and while she was putting the pieces together, I was naming the letters. "A", "T", "W", "G".... Soon she got bored, and went to play with her bear, but when she saw me getting the puzzle pieces off the floor and back in their box, she grabbed the letter A, and, handing it to me, she said "A". Just like that. "A". I said: "Are you calling this letter "A", Abbie?" And she said "A!". Then she grabbed the letter "B", and dropping it in the box, said "B". I was laughing so hard, she laughed too, though I doubt she knew why. I felt so proud.

A few nights ago, while having dinner, another surprise: she patted her chest and triumphally blurted out: "ME!". She did it several times, "Me! Me!" -- she pointed at her dad and said "Daddy!", then patted her chest again and said "Me!". Not Abbie, as she normally does, rather "me". Her eyes reflected the ecstasy she was feeling at having grasped such a concept, she was absolutely lustrous with her own achievement. That was another great moment, for us, in all its simplicity and charm.

The funny part of it all is that I have no idea where she picks up some of the things that she is learning. The alphabet is something else, because I do show her the letters and name them to her. But something like identifying herself as "me" falls into a different category: I don't go around the house thumping my chest and calling myself "me". To me, it's simply amazing.

It's something out of this world, the conceptual blending, the mental mechanisms that suddenly seem to bind together and integrate all these elements into complex ideas. It's the evolution of my daughter's mind, and I utterly love it.

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?

Daddy's little dancer

Today I had the great fortune to go to Abbie's Mainly Music class which her mommie has been taking her to for several months. Up until now I've only been able to watch the pictures and videos of how much fun she has there.

Abbie has always loved music, and since she's been able to teeter on her two little legs, she has danced and swayed instinctively to music. It makes me so happy to see how much music (literally) moves her.

So taking advantage of my day off, I went with Abbie and mommie to her class. I didn't mind that I was only one of three guys there in a room full of mommies with their little angels. I was all about seeing my little girl twirl and jump and enjoy herself in one of her favorite activities.

I can tell already that we're going to need to save up for dance lessons! I can't wait to go back with them again.