On our way home from Pigeon Forge we stopped for a quick lunch. Abigail napped a good portion of the drive and we thought BK would be a decent enough place for her to stretch her legs and play a bit. We enjoyed two overly friendly siblings climbing and playing while we ate lunch, and Abigail enjoyed watching them and babbled at them. The climbing area is still a bit big for Abigail, she received some help from Daddy to get on the slide.

Abigail Loves Pancakes

Flapjacks, Red Rooster, Apple Barn, Old Mill, and Pancake Pantry are just a few of the breakfast restaurants you can find all around Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg. And Abigail really enjoys some yummy pancakes! Whether they are banana pancakes, strawberry or blueberry, she likes them all. If you're wondering if I'm allowing, syrup...take a wild guess!

We had a great weekend in Pigeon Forge. Plenty of pictures and more video will be posted soon!

Skills

It's interesting when I take Abigail to the Pediatrician and the nurse asks me a bunch of questions. The questions seem completely random and/or silly to me at times, or very basic stuff I never realized was a skill she was supposed to learn. The skill that sticks out most in my memory is bashfulness. At Abigail's 6mo well visit, the nurse commented that she wasn't supposed to be bashful until 9mo...so simple, but a behavior that is tracked.

Recently, motor skills has been a topic of conversation among my mom's group. Different Pediatric offices seem to track skills in their own fashion. My office asks set questions for each well visit, while another office asks mom to review a form until they answer 'no' to five skills. The conversations made me wonder what upcoming questions might be at our next 15mo appointment, which (eek!) is this month! I found this wonderful chart below at BabyCenter.com.

RED - Abigail does.

GREEN & YELLOW - I have not started or attempted yet or encouraged, depending on the point specified.

Child's Age	Mastered Skills (most kids can do)	Emerging Skills (half of kids can do)	Advanced Skills (a few kids can do)
13 months	• Uses two words skillfully (e.g., "hi" and "bye") • Bends over and picks up an object	• Enjoys gazing at his reflection • Holds out arm or leg to help you dress him	• Combines words and gestures to make needs known (A) • Rolls a ball back and forth
14 months	• Eats with fingers (B) • Empties containers of contents • Imitates others	• Toddles well • Initiates games • Points to one body part when asked (C) • Responds to instructions (e.g., "give me a kiss")	• Uses a spoon or fork (D) • Matches lids with appropriate containers (D) • Pushes and pulls toys while walking
15 months	• Plays with ball • Uses three words regularly • Walks backward (E)	• Scribbles with a crayon (F) • Runs • Adopts "no" as his favorite word (G)	• "Helps" around the house (H) • Puts his fingers to his mouth and says "shhh" (I)
16 months	• Turns the pages of a book • Has temper tantrums when frustrated (A) • Becomes attached to a soft toy or other object (J)	• Discovers the joy of climbing • Stacks three blocks • Uses spoon or fork • Learns the correct way to use common objects (e.g., a telephone) (K)	• Takes off one piece of clothing by himself (L) • Gets finicky about food (M) • Switches from two naps to one (N)
17 months	• Uses six words regularly • Enjoys pretend games • Likes riding toys	• Feeds doll • Speaks more clearly • Throws a ball underhand (O)	• Dances to music • Sorts toys by color, shape, or size • Kicks ball forward (O)
18 months	• Will "read" board books on his own (P) • Scribbles well	• Strings two words together in phrases (A) • Brushes teeth with help (Q) • Stacks four blocks (R)	• Throws a ball overhand (O) • Takes toys apart and puts them back together • Shows signs of toilet training readiness (S)

(A) Combines words and gestures to make needs known., Has temper tantrums when frustrated. & Strings two words together in phrases. - It seems like yesterday when we were using Dunstan Baby Language to translate Abigail's cries. It has also been gratifying for Matt and I to see Abigail learning and using sign language. She picked up a few words quickly and her vocabulary continues to grow. While Abigail's frustrations turn into little tantrums, it's quite amusing to watch (I know, so wrong!). I'm not sure if one word and one sign count as stringing two 'words' together, or two signs back to back. (Example: Says "chez" then signs 'please'.)

(B) Eats with fingers. - She LOVES eating cheese, but it's so fun to watch her eat shredded cheese! She'll pick up a couple shreds using that wonderful pincer grasp and place them carefully in her mouth. It's funny when she finds one large shred, and she's then do it one at a time. Last Saturday, she actually fed her cousin, Gavin, some of shredded cheese!

(C) Points to one body part when asked. - Abigail can find eyes, nose, ears, tongue and belly button. It's so cute watching her look for her own belly button, because she'll pull up her shirt and poke out her belly. It's also cute when she sticks out her tongue when asked. For a while, when we asked where her eyes were, she would only blink her eyes instead of pointing to them.

(D) Uses a spoon or fork. & Matches lids with appropriate containers. - I'm going to have to bite the bullet and start letting her feed herself. She has been trying to put lids on containers, but I'll have to find her some kid-friendly containers for her to fine tune this talent.

(E) Walks backwards. - Another skill I didn't really think was a skill. Lately, she'll walk backwards into my lap when I'm sitting Indian-style. She's also been spinning around without encouragement.

(F) Scribbles with a crayon. - Abigail enjoys holding the crayons much more than putting them to paper. She has not figured out how to put pressure on the crayon, so the scribbling is very faint.

(G) Adopts "no" as his/her favorite word. - I try very carefully to not overuse "no" throughout the day. I will say "no ma'am" or "I don't think so" and "hot" or "dangerous" where appropriate. Abigail, like other toddlers, is so curious and I could be saying "no" all day. If I'm not saying "no" to Abigail, I'm saying it to Toby so Abigail does hear it. Thankfully, I have yet to hear it from Abigail's mouth!

(H) "Helps" around the house. - I'm not sure exactly what this means. Abigail will "help" us pull clothes out of the dirty and clean clothes baskets. Daddy loves when she pulls his folded boxers and undershirts out of the dresser (daddy doesn't always close the drawer all the way). She also will take a wipee and "clean clean". I don't believe any of this is Abigail thinking she's "helping", rather playing.

(I) Puts his fingers to his mouth and says "shhh". - Abigail demonstrated this talent on February 21 to her daddy at our small group. He was trying to quiet her down and was shocked when she shushed him!

(J) Becomes attached to a soft toy or other object. - I'm really not encouraging attachment. We've been pacifier free since late January. Abigail had her moments where a pacifier (or earplugs for me) would have been helpful but we pushed on. She hasn't shown any constant interest in any specific toy either. I honestly think I'm too forgetful and absentminded for this...we'll see how this plays out in upcoming months.

(K) Learns the correct way to use common objects (e.g., a telephone). - I still smile each time she picks up my cell phone, opens it, holds it up to her ear (or mine) and says "ah-lo." She also does fairly well pushing buttons on the remote at the television and holding her toy camera up to her face.

(L) Takes off one piece of clothing by himself/herself. - Abigail loved/loves taking her socks off. She's most proficient at taking her zip-up hoodies off. She will, over a bit of time, pull the zipper down then wiggle it off her arms. Occasionally, when her pants are too big around the waist, she'll fool with the waistband so that might be the next piece of clothing. It is really cute to watch her attempt to put her shoes on!

(M) Gets finicky about food. - This is a tough one. Abigail's eating habits seem to change regularly. Some days she seems to love something, then the next day she's not interested. Off the top of my head, I think meat is the only thing she consistently doesn't like. It's too chewy for her, but occasionally will eat in very tiny pieces.

(N) Switches from two naps to one. - This transition was SO difficult! At first this was much more difficult on her because I was putting her down for two naps a day and she would cry it out (CIO) every time! After almost a week of this, I asked my mom's group about it and they all told me their kids transferred to one nap around 12-13mo. Now it's much more difficult on me because not only is she down to one nap, she's also waking up 1.5-2hrs earlier each morning! I'm still adjusting to Abigail sleeping 4-5hours less each day, I feel a lot less productive!

(O) Throwing and kicking balls. - Matt has recently helped Abigail learn to throw. I'm not sure if she throws over hand or under hand; I haven't paid that much attention to it, not realizing it was a skill she should be learning. We also have a large ball (the diameter is maybe a foot and a half) and she'll roll it and kick it. She has also seen other children kick a ball, but this really isn't something I want to encourage just yet.

(P) Will "read" board books on his own. - Abigail enjoys picking out her own books, turning the pages and will babble to herself. She does have a long way to go, currently it only takes two page turns for the book to be over. She also babbles to herself when she plays with the lift-the-flap books.

(Q) Brushes teeth with help. - She showed interest in my toothbrush sometime in January so I bought her a toothbrush of her own and fluoride-free toothpaste. She does not like it when I help her scrub any of the eight teeth.

(R) Stacks four blocks. - Abigail and I have been stacking blocks a lot lately and she's much better at it than I expected. I flashback to Jenga when we stack, mostly because the blocks teeter so much. She also enjoys knocking the stacks over!

(S) Shows signs of toilet training readiness. - While I've enjoyed taking each day at a time, I am almost looking forward to potty training! I might have a completely different opinion when we're in the mix of it, but until then it's slightly exciting. I'm not even sure why, because I don't mind changing her diapers!

Abs & Evie

Abigail and I went over to the Cook Residence tonight. Matt's out of town and Adam was working late tonight, perfect opportunity for the moms to chat and the girls to play! Abs and Evie did have lots of fun playing, and not always with the real toys! One of their most favorite 'toys' of the evening were coasters (yes, the small flat frisbee looking things you place your drink on to help contain condensation). Not sure how this started, but I ran to get my camera as quick as I could!

The boo-boo was from hitting one of the bones of the couch. In normal drama princess fashion, the tears were turned off with a quick hug from mom. (Did you notice how Abigail turned around and backed into my lap? She's been doing that for a while, it's so cute!)

Overall we had a great night, just the girls!

Tuesday Morning

Here I sit, it's Tuesday morning and I'm ready for my 2nd cup of coffee. Matt left this morning at 8am to head straight to the airport as the snow started to fall. I haven't been too excited for Matt's trip since Abs and I are stuck here at home. Not only are we home alone, we're without Toby and now the yard it beautifully white so we're wont be venturing away from the house. Today might be a really long day.

Abigail ate only half her breakfast then enjoyed playing with Cheerios. Yes, I said playing not eating and most of the Cheerios are now on my living room floor. While she wasn't shaking the Cheerios out of her snack cup, she kept wanting to sit on my lap and play a bit on the couch. I was looking up some upcoming events online for my mom's group and not too long ago Abigail actually fell asleep in my arms while I was typing away.

Abigail must have been really tired because this never happens, besides when she's feeling crummy. I didn't want to put her in her crib because she's so darn cute. Eventually, I did let her sleep in her room because my leg started falling asleep.

In transferring the picture from above from camera to computer, I realized I never uploaded pictures from a playdate last week or the video from yesterday!

Abigail and Sabrina always have fun playing! They enjoyed climbing in and out of the cart pictured below, and in and out of the baby swing. Sabrina would hold Abigail's hand, and Abs would get confused ans slightly frustrated with this. Sabrina's little sister, Christina was rolling all over the place and Abigail needs to learn to share better with Christina (Abs and Christina are the same school age). It's fun to see the girls playing and growing together!

Yesterday, we hosted a small playdate for our MOPS group. It was nice seeing Abigail interact with other kids so close to her age (all within months of each other). In hanging out with some of these kids lately, one little boy in particular has been a very bad example for Abigail because he loves climbing stairs. Abigail was taught to not climb our stairs. Beyond her climbing on the first stair once or twice, she normally stays clear of the stairs...until yesterday. She didn't realize I walked down the hallway to put some clothes in the dryer and managed to climb up to the 5th or 6th stair. When I saw her, I was disappointed and asked her to get down. She immediately started crying, the sobbing crying kind. Every time I asked her to get down, she started crying again. I had to grab my camera, while she didn't cry a lot once I started the video it still took her another minute and a half to obey.

I know what you're thinking, 'it's time to gate the stairs.' (My mother has be saying this for months.) I still do not want a gate though. We attend playdates and visit family that do not have gated stairs and she needs to know they are off limits regardless.

I cannot believe it's still snowing! The snowflakes had decreased in size and intensity for a while but are falling larger and faster again. Matt's flight was delayed, after they boarded the plane, so hopefully he'll have a good flight (esp since it's a long flight!). If you remember, it snowed on March 1st last year (see picture). The cold weather has me craving Potato Soup, but I don't have any potatoes and I'm sure not going to venture to the grocery store in this weather. I might have to treat myself to some stuffed crust pizza delivery tonight. Maybe Abigail and I will make it outside for some pictures when she wakes from her nap. It's going to be one long day of being stuck indoors without the anticipation of 'daddy's coming home.' I honestly don't know how military wives or even two of the families in our new small group 'survive' where the husband is out of town every M-F for business! I'm sure it's like everything else, it's something you get used to...but I'm sure glad that's not us. While I love spending my days with Abigail, it is a blessing that Matt arrives home every evening and we get to spend that time with him. (I don't think I've ever thought of it like that, as a blessing, before knowing these two families in my small group.) I'm already anxious for Matt's return Thursday night and for our little anniversary weekend getaway to Pigeon Forge this weekend!

Picking up the Camera Again...

(Abigail playing Peek-A-Boo)
It's Tuesday evening here, and the house is just a bit quieter now that little miss Abigail is down for the night. With no wild little girl running around both Jill and I try to enjoy a little down time before we too call it a night, and lately it's been spent trying to catch up with the evenings broadcast of the Olympics. Of course, it also provides a chance for us to blog, and tonight I figured I should take lead since I finally broke out my camera after a 10-day hiatus.

So, why the camera drought? Well, I guess I've just been overwhelmed with work and stuff and for those who don't know, taking photos like I do usually requires a lot of time processing afterwards. With Abs sick most of last week, taking photos was the last thing on my mind. And with Anita and Wayne here this weekend, I honestly just didn't get a chance since the weekend seemed to absolutely fly by. Just ask them. They arrived on Thursday evening, and before we knew it Sunday morning had arrived and they were headed back to Tampa. Abby had a great time with them, though, including a trip to the Georgia Aquarium on Friday. Here's some photos they took:

Alright, the initial reason I dusted off my camera and began taking photos was because I had to shoot a self-portrait for my professional bio. You see, I at first tried to find a photo I already had that could work, however it seems Matt here likes to only make faces at the camera instead of just simply smiling. Now I know that may not be all that surprising to most of you, but I really did think I could at least find one. Sure, one of our wedding photos became an option, but it would've been a little cheesy to use one of those with me all dressed up...not to mention it was nearly 4 years ago. :-)

And no, this one didn't make the cut, but I figured I'd post it anyways...

Okay, enough about me. I know most of you want to see Abby photos, so keep scrolling and you'll see photos from two separate sessions. One was us playing in the sunroom before dinner, while the other set is of the silly girl making faces and playing peek-a-boo in her high-chair after dinner.

Silly Girl

We had a great visit with my grandparents over the weekend! Abigail had a runny nose the entire time and since Monday has had off and on symptoms that I'm not sure where the fault should lie, a cold or teething. Abigail spent all day Tuesday sleeping on me! I wont lie, I did enjoy it a good bit. Abigail was just so sad and pathetic, it's no fun when she doesn't feel well and even worse because she cannot explain what's wrong.While she still felt slightly feverish yesterday, and slept on Matt for almost 2.5hrs while I went to an evening Zumba class, she's almost back to 100% today. Abigail is eating better, but not as well as she normally eats. I will allow a lot more when she's not feeling well, which is why I allowed her to climb in and out and bounce on the baby bouncer today. Until I realized...I was shocked! I should not have been shocked, Abigail is a climber. After I grabbed my camera (which was right next to me) and took a quick pic, I asked her to sit and she obliged. What a good girl!


Upon downloading a video from Saturday, I realized there were a few pictures I never downloaded from my camera. Enjoy!
Mommy's Sunglasses, December 16th

Abigail, The Shredder, January 26th
The last time Abigail was 'sick' I allowed her to shred some tissues because she had fun and wasn't being whiny. Like I said above, I will tolerate/accept much more when Abigail doesn't feel well. Turns out she wasn't sick, she had two new teeth breaking through.

Abigail Loves Bananas, February 5th

Playing with Evie, February 7th
The girls had so much fun playing together before the Superbowl. Abigail really liked the shopping cart and actually climbed into it! She lounged in it as if it was a recliner, and I pushed her around the house while she was in it (probably not the best example).
Crazy Hair with Daddy, February 15th

Weekend Recap - Snow, Family & Olympics

Happy President's Day, everyone! Oh yeah, in case some of you have forgotten or just didn't really celebrate this day a whole lot, I'm reminding you. It's an easy reminder for me since this is a public holiday according to my company and therefore I get today off. Anyways, I figured I should do a little recap of our weekend since we did have an adventurous one with both the arrival of Jill's grandparents (Abby's great grands) from Tampa and also several inches of snow to the Atlanta metro area.

On Friday, Grandma & Grandpa Henriquez got in town a little before lunchtime and the girls headed out for pizza in Marietta Square. Meanwhile, my lunchtime was spent having a business lunch with potential new employers in Buckhead, which went great by the way. Still seems to be a few more meetings shy of working out the details, but things are progressing forward as the road to my office closing March 31st grows shorter. Speaking of interviews, I have a 2nd opportunity calling that will have me leaving the house here shortly for that at 4pm. Okay good, but let's go back to Friday. So as I was walking out of the lunch I noticed the snow coming down, so I hit the road and after a little bit of traffic issues thanks to the weather I did finally make it home. Once home, we all got to really enjoy the snow that was coming down fast and heavy, and it wasn't long before the kid in me was ready to head outside to have some fun. So after a little bundling up, especially for Miss Abigail, we trekked out into the snow....me, with camera in hand:

02-12-10 from Jill Barnes on Vimeo

The snow eventually ended later that evening, so we all had a home-cooked dinner and enjoyed watching the opening ceremonies of the Winter Olympics in Vancouver. On Saturday morning we woke up to a gorgeous winter wonderland with snow blanketing everything. Add in the bright sunshine and blue cloud-less skies and it made for a photogenic morning worth capturing. And I'm glad I did take several photos before we headed out for breakfast because the snow began to melt fast and by later that afternoon our front yard was almost entirely snow free.

As for the rest of the weekend, it really seemed to fly by. On Sunday we made a trip over to Buford to visit with one of Grandpa's cousins, then made a stop at the Dekalb Farmer's Market before heading back home. That evening my parents (Nana & Poppa) made the drive up and we all went out to dinner at the famous Marietta Diner, which is really great by the way. Anyways, the weekend came to a close last night, but did stretch into today since I was off from work. Grandma & Grandpa Henriquez left for Pigeon Forge this morning after breakfast and the day has flown by since. So that's a wrap I guess. Snow, family and Olympics were the highlights to a great weekend. I know Abigail had plenty of fun with her great grands, and I know they enjoyed every moment they had with her, too.

Daddy's Turn to Blog (Photos Galore)

Hello, my name is Matt (Abigail's daddy). Why the intro? Um, well, can you remember the last time I blogged? I couldn't, but thankfully Jill has kept this thing rolling along over the last several weeks. And for the sake of all you out there in blog land who love to know what we've been up to and see photos of Little Miss Abigail, I'm back to blog a little today.

So, in case some of you out there don't know, it's been one heck of a wild rollercoaster for my professional life lately. I've been working on a consulting project with my Philips Design team since October that has all but consumed my work mind, but when you're playing a role in redesigning the packaging for a national fast food chain, I guess it's okay to be dedicated. Of course, I've also had to deal with the news that my office will be closing and I will be left without a job after March 31st, so it's been a little bit of a double whammy lately. When it comes to my job, I'm not usually up for blogging about it, but with it being the source of our livelihood, you could say that it is very important. And since my days at my current employer are numbered, it's definitely weighing on my mind these days. Yet when some doors begin to close that usually means others are soon to open, and in my case it seems that I may have doors both closing and opening simultaneously in the coming weeks thanks to me having a really great interview with a company here in Atlanta. Without spilling the beans and/or jinxing myself, I'll just say that I will be meeting with the general manager of that design center over lunch on Friday where we'll be discussing my career a bit further. So for right now, I just ask for your thoughts and prayers that this could be the right fit for me and things will just "work" out. I know God has a plan for me and us, and I'm always amazed at how he continues to bless us. If it's his will, then this could be a really great move for my career in a very precarious time. :-)

Okay, so of course my intention was to update you on the job situation first in case any of you were wondering and I haven't had the chance to speak to you about it. My second objective in this streamlined blog I'm putting forth is to share stories and photos of Little Miss Abigail. After all, she's the light of our lives and everyday brings new and exciting things as she continues to ride her incredibly fast-paced learning curve. I'm just amazed at how much of a little girl she's become. She's so smart and even showing more independent enthusiasm to figure things out on her own. Not to mention the words she's beginning to learn and speak. Of the words she does know, I would say her most used would be "UP", which she says often to indicate that she would like to be picked up to see what's at our eye level and maybe point out what she wants. The other cute thing that she's doing is brushing her teeth, especially when she notices Jill and I brushing our teeth. Hopefully, we're creating good hygiene habits early and I know her Nana, the dental hygienist, will appreciate knowing that her granddaughter is learning the ropes at such a young age. As for other stuff, well, it seems like there's just too much to write about. When it boils down to it, Abigail is just growing up and becoming more and more of a little kid by the day. I know I'm really looking forward to Spring so we 3 can get back outside and play more, and of course give me more opportunities to snap photos. Ha!

Okay, so over the last few weeks we've been fairly busy. I'll start off with the most recent photos I have, which would be from our most recent trip to the GA Aquarium. As some of you know, we asked for moolah for Christmas so we could buy season passes to local attractions in the ATL, and the aquarium was definitely high on the list. And so Jill purchased season tix and we got to use the back on January 30th while our good friends Garrett, Danitza and baby Vicky were in town.

On January 22nd, the two of us had a little fun in her new tent gym in our woodsie room...

On January 18th, it was meal time, which was then followed by bathtime...

On January 16th, we had a long day that began with us hosting a pot-luck brunch and having both old and new friends over to the house including Julie, Shawn & Desmond...

And later that evening, we had the Barnes family Christmas finally, that had been delayed quite a bit due to an incredibly busy December...

Day 3: Paci Free

I'm not sure if it's actually Day 3, it might be Day 4 but 4 and free do not rhyme. Matt and I haven't been good at keeping tabs on the six pacifiers within the last couple weeks. Sometime last week, I needed to boil the pacifiers but couldn't find all of them at any given time. Since I didn't have a clean paci, I wasn't offering a dirty paci to Abigail. She hasn't seemed at all bothered by the lack of paci, so I haven't offered it at all. Looks like we're well on our way to being completely Paci Free!