It's hard to believe, but our Abigail celebrated her 1st birthday back on March 9. We were fortunate to be able to spend her birthday with my side of the family in Minnesota (where my eldest sister & her family live). Abigail thoroughly enjoyed opening her presents (what kid doesn't like gifts, right?). She very much disliked her birthday hat--as it was pulled off in a matter of seconds. And the cake? Well, she at first was quite adverse to it (as you'll see below), but after much cajoling, I eventually convinced her to at least open her mouth to try it!
Happy birthday to our sweet Abby-cadabby! We are so enjoying every facet of who you are, and we thank God for your beautiful life! Mommy & Daddy love you!
Having two children always gives such a fascinating perspective as
parents. We are daily amazed at how DIFFERENT Josiah and Abigail
are--besides just the obvious boy/girl differences. In fact, we often
find ourselves shaking our heads in wonder saying, "wow, Josiah never
did this...." or "Josiah wasn't this.....". Not that we are purposely
trying to compare our children to some imaginary standard or compare
them against one another. Not at all. In fact, I think if truth be told,
Bryan and I often find ourselves wondering what exactly we've gotten
ourselves into, but in a good way, mind you. We truly believe children
are a blessing from the Lord--it's just sometimes that blessing comes
with some sweat and tears from the dear parents!
Case
in point. Abigail is fast. She RARELY sits still. Both of our kids
were early walkers, but Abigail seems to have a little extra "ummphh" to
her. And quite frankly this scares us! You see, Josiah already is
quite intense. Though Josiah has a strong sense of justice and is
motivated by "right & wrong" (which can make it easy, at times, to
parent him), he is physically strong, physically active, emotionally
volatile, and verbally alive (that is my euphemism for the kid just
won't stop talking!). So we can't but help compare what Abigail does
now through our lens of how Josiah has grown.
Take
today, for instance. Abigail already gets into way more than Josiah
every did at this age (Abby is 11 months). She also started crawling
before Josiah and climbed the stairs before he did. Josiah, though he
mastered physical developments early, was still a very cautious kid.
Abigail seeems (at least for now) to throw caution to the wind. When she
sees something out of reach, she figures out how to make it within
reach. (if you'll remember, her pseudonym is Elastigirl). She uses any
means possible to reach items that are not suitable for children under
the age of 3 (let alone under the age of 1), and she often succeeds.
This
is Abigail reaching for something on our TV stand. These picture don't
do it justice. Abigail is notorious for adding inches to her height by
standing on the tips of her tippytoes. Is she taller than our TV
stand? NO! Can she even see what is on our TV stand? NO.
And
here is another climbing adventure. Abigail, not wanting to miss out
on the full experience of piano playing, figured out how to climb onto
our blanket basket. Yes, that basket is about a foot tall. Does she
even need this basket to reach the keys? No. She can reach them just
fine by stretching her arms--though she wouldn't be able to actually see
what she was doing. And so, she figured out how to make herself
taller. And here's a video to witness it yourself. No fear. No
concern about how to get down. No fear of falling. None. (Thankfully
she had Mommy and Daddy within reach!)
