The F Bomb

Of course, Mama and I have spent the last several months admonishing each other about our language in front of Abbey. "Ooh, pretty soon she'll be repeating us". We'd laugh and think of that distant but still in-the-near-future moment when our kid would repeat every word we said, even the naughty ones. We guessed it would be later than sooner - after all, she's only 15 months old.

So the other day one of us said "What the f&*k". We were angry, frustrated, maybe a little of both. Then, this smiling, innocent girl sitting between us looks up with her beautiful doe-like eyes and says "Uck".

Jaws agape, we both stared. "Uck", clear as day, she says it a second time. Smiling. Proud of herself just for repeating a big person's word, oblivious to its true meaning. Man, we laughed, but took heart that the time had come when our little girl emulated all we say and do. Best behavior only for 2008, I guess!

All I want for Christmas is...my cold to go away

Both Mama and Abbey are sick, sick, sick. Abbey's been having a hard time sleeping because of the gurgle going on deep inside her nasal passages. Mama had the same cold -- aches, pains, head like a marshmallow, etc. I can only imagine how uncomfortable it was for the little kid.

Lately she's been up at 4am, unable to sleep any longer. Mama's not getting up -- she's sick. Granma's not getting up either. Who does that leave?

The cat. (He's DEFINATLY not getting up! In fact, he sleeps when she's up and gets up when she sleeps. Bastard.)

TJ. Yep. Up an' attem! I used to think hearing 'Reverie' at 4am would be my worst nightmare (sorry all you military folk reading this!). Kid crying at 4am takes the cake.

But despite my cranky and somewhat cynical rant, Abbey's been a trooper through it all. She's absorbing information like a sponge, she's playful, and actually cultivating a silly side. I think the whole thing has brought the family closer this holiday. Of course, I'd still prefer we were all healthy, but when life gives you lemons...

The 12 days of Christmas

For the last several days Abbey has enjoyed opening one gift a day from Bachi and Grandpa Kopcha. She's getting the idea pretty fast -- she looks among all the gifts, and selects the one that looks most interesting to her. She sits in Momma's lap and savors the gift-opening process. She's getting pretty good at tearing the wrapping paper to reveal the gift inside.

So far she's gotten several tree ornaments of ... her favorite ... Bumble Bees! She shrieks with joy "Bum Beeeee!!" every morning when she sees them hanging from the branches. Her other prize is a small clock personalized with her name and ... her other favorite ... Elmo!! Christmas with kids brings back all the magic!

Life with a toddler....

Life with a toddler. Like I was saying she doesn't know what she wants and we don't know what she wants either. Sometimes she ends up frustrated and expressing herself in ways that are less than desirable. However, most of the time things are really fun with her we love watching her explore her environment and explore it with her new found toddler vision and toddler brain it's really exciting... listen

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Abby is a toddler. For...

Abby is a toddler. For the first time in her life and ours we're experiencing Toddlerhood. Abby wants us to help her and when we do she gets mad because she wants to do things on her own. She's as confused as we are in fact I think she's more confused the poor thing never knows which way is up and sometimes neither do we. listen

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Today, Abby said tree,...

Today, Abby said tree, just she didn't say tree though, it's really cute how she says it, she says DWEE. listen

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It is so exciting to...

It is so exciting to have our first Christmas where Abby understands what's going on, technically this is her second Christmas. Last year, she was so small she had no idea what was going on with the lights and the festivities, this year not only is she enjoying the lights, she's enjoying learning the names of all the things that hang from the Christmas tree. It is a great year. listen

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Abby said "peacock"...

Abby said "peacock" this morning. Peacock of all things, there was a picture of one in one of her books, you know the exotic bird, very odd. listen

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Words are forming everyday....

Words are forming everyday. Abby has a new word, it's(?) not(?) 3 or 4 words everyday. Today she said bagel. She's never said bagel before in her life. Yesterday she got some Christmas tree ornaments in the mail, now she's calling me [...] by name. She's very impressive when it comes to her vocabulary. listen

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Add a Christmas Tree...

Add a Christmas Tree shop looking for ornaments and ribbons and bows that will go with our new tree. Getting rid of our old theme which was angels and replacing it with something new. What will you replace with? I don't know. listen

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We just picked up the...

We just picked up the tree. The Christmas tree is on the car. Abby is excited as are the parents, and we are taking the tree home to set it up. It's an exciting holiday at the [...]. listen

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