Playdate with Owen

My sorority sister from University of Illinois, Christine, lives in Chicagoland and has a son, Owen, who is Abigail's age. We have enjoyed getting our munchkins together for playdates, and this latest one was staged at an outdoor mall. So, here they are at the outdoor play area on a rather cold day:

Aw - how cute!

Um, Abigail, don't choke your friend!


We began the playdate at Pottery Barn for Kids' story-time. As you can see, Abigail had tons of fun playing at this store:

Giddy-up!

Hanging out on the adirondack chairs with a big dollie:

Tea-time with Miss Bear:

Before, During and After Church

Abigail, all bundled up at the end of April, ready for church:


Cousins slept over at Grandma's last night, so Nicea walked Abigail to the car for church by way of the garden:

Did I mention that these girls are just two little peas in a pod?
BBF for sure!


Abigail really enjoys the church we have been attending while living at Grandma's (Willow Creek North Shore). The format for her preschool class is playtime, children's church, playtime. Works for her! Its amazing how much Abigail gets out of the lessons and worship time; she even remembers and sings some of the songs to us and tells us the main idea of the lesson. Here's our high-heeled fireman when we went to pick her up:


There were some animals available after church today for a little petting zoo. Of course, our outgoing animal lover had a blast!

All By Myself

One of Abigail's favorite book series is the Little Critters by Mercer Mayer. The characters are so cute and she can really relate to the stories. Anyway, one of the books is called All By Myself and that gave me an idea for a blog posting...
Here is "Little Miss Independent" herself -


Velcro and slip-ons are pretty easy for Abby to do by herself; she also gets dressed - socks included - with minimal help.


Besides supervision for safety, Abigail entertains and washes herself quite well all by herself!


One night in particular, Abigail seemed to have trouble settling down and going to sleep. When I peeked into her room to check on her, she had gotten her ballet purse down from the shelf, was wearing the Christmas hat from her recital and was struggling to put on her ballet shoes. I had to laugh. How could I get mad?

After calling to Justin so he could see our goof-ball, I put away her ballet things, tucked her into bed for a second time and promised my toddler that she could practice her ballet in the morning.




If you have kids, be sure they get to read the Little Critter books as well (see http://www.littlecritter.com/); I think they will like them as much as I do!

The Grove

Mom and I took Abigail to The Grove, an outdoor nature center, which she loved. You can see Abigail's outgoing, adventurous personality shine through these photos (even with animals!)





FYI: If you click on the title of this blog "The Grove," it will take you to that website for more information!

My Park

Abigail here, and I'd like to show you around the park I frequent as often as a big person will take me. It is only a block away from Gramma's house, so really, between Daddy, Mommy and Gramma, don't you think that I should get to go everyday? Unfortunately, the weather doesn't cooperate as frequently as it did when I lived in Hawaii. Anyway, let's get along with the tour!


Here are the musical chimes where I make pretty sounds -


I'm getting pretty good at the rock climbing wall -


One of several slides -

I REALLY like the slide!


Lastly, here I am riding one of those bouncy rides -

Maybe next time I will include the swings on our tour, since I love that part of the park too. I'm even starting to use the big girl swing with a little bit of pumping action. Mommy says it's going to take awhile for me to get the hang of that, though. I still like the baby swings too since I get pushed really high. Byebye for now!

Driving, Riding & Sleeping

After "helping" Daddy clean out the his big, red truck, Abigail enjoyed "driving" as a reward.


While Gramma gardened, Abigail rode her tricycle in the rain. (Mommy sat comfortably in an easy-chair complete with a blanket and a magazine while it rained - how silly!) We really miss our possessions (in storage) as of late, but especially the outdoor toys as the weather improves. Gramma's stash from various rummage sales and such does prove helpful... Plus there is always chalk, bubbles and bouncy balls!


Have I ever mentioned what a great sleeper Abigail is? She goes down around 8:30, wakes up about 12 hours later and still naps 2-3 hours in the afternoon. This is a fabulous characteristic in a toddler which is no doubt entirely spoiling us as parents so that we will be taken quite aback by our next child's sleep habits. Oh well, for now, we'll take it!

The bedtime routine includes: 1) going potty and washing hands, 2) brushing teeth, 3) reading a Bible story or two, and 4) tucked in with blankie and Tami (Abigail's Cabbage Patch Newborn).