Vacuuming

I've decided that I would really like to be able to get more housework done while Abby's awake so that I can use her naps to do things that I would like to do (like work on my ever-growing list of projects) or things that I really can't do with her around (like folding laundry - we're good as long as there are things to pull out of the basket and hand to me, but once those are gone she starts going for the things I've already folded and we just end up in a never-ending cycle). For the most part, it's working out pretty well. Abby really likes to help me with the cleaning, and she's loved cooking for quite awhile. The one thing that we haven't been able to do yet, though, is vacuum. She's just terrified of the vacuum. If I take it out of the closet she just starts to cry and run away from me. She's not even a big fan of seeing it when I open the closet to get out a coat. So I thought that maybe we could use a little desensitization therapy (thanks Psych 100!) to work her up to the vacuum.

Adam's grandparents gave us a little electric sweeper for Christmas a couple of years ago. So I started running that this morning and then asked Abby if she wanted to try holding it. She gave me a terrified look and told me that Gingham was a little bit scared. So I turned it off, and she informed me that Gingham was going to be a big, brave lion and let Abby hold the sweeper. She pushed it around for a few minutes and then asked me to turn it on. She then proceeded to run around with the sweeper for about 20 minutes, and only stopped because it was naptime. So maybe there's hope for the big vacuum in the near future. And it's nice to know that I learned at least one useful thing in college.

Working hard



Rocking the fake smile with the vacuum

A Short Update

Everyone's sleeping in this morning so I thought I would post a quick update. There hasn't been too much going on in general. Abby's been feeling a little sick the last day or two, Nora has started to become very playful. She coo's and smiles a lot when you're playing with her.

Now for some pictures. Abby seems to be very concerned that Nora stays warm on cold days so she helps Mom with the blankets.

Abby's also been working on her fake smile. I'm not sure why she decided to work on it but now every time we try to take a picture she makes sure to fake smile.

Fun Firsts

Abby's had a couple of fun firsts lately. Last week, we got a few inches of good packing snow, so on Saturday we went out to shovel and play in the snow while Nora was napping (and by "we," I mean that Adam shoveled while Abby and I played). Abby's pretty much decided that playing in the snow means swinging, so we headed right over to the swingset. But I decided that it was too good of a snow to let go to waste, so inbetween pushes I started rolling a big snowball to make a snowman. When Adam saw what we were doing, he came over to help, and we built Abby's first snowman!



In a nod to Abby's love of raisins (and the fact that the snowman's head was WAY too small for charcoal) we used raisins for eyes and buttons, and a baby carrot for a nose. Add in De-da's hat and we had one first-rate snowman.



And of course, the best part of playing in the snow is having hot chocolate and marshmallows when you come back in. I had a spoon in my mug, so Abby decided that she needed one too.



On Tuesday, we had another fun first - Abby's first cookies! We made De-da's favorite - chocolate chip. Abby helped me pour the ingredients into the bowl and stir it all together, and she threw away all the eggshells and chocolate chip bag. And she discovered the fun of eating the raw dough - digging chocolate chips out of the bowl after they were stirred in. And now we've all been having a great time eating cookies all week.



We may have missed the bowl with a cup of sugar:



And she was all smiles when we had our first taste of our handiwork. Notice the chocolate smeared above her eye - chocolate chip cookies are a messy endeavor!

Always Growing Up

I was just emptying the camera, since we had no space left after we took two pictures of Nora's birthday last night, so I scrolled through some of our older pictures on Flickr while the new ones were uploading. It just seems crazy how much the girls change so quickly. Abby's definitely slowed down from when she was Nora's age, but even now looking at pictures from just a few months ago is like looking at a different kid. Especially any pictures with a good height reference in them. She just keeps getting taller and taller. Things that I thought were safe keep ending up in her hands. And she's now tall enough to bonk her head on the bottom of the dining room table. Luckily, she hasn't done it too hard yet, and she thinks it's pretty funny. The first time she did it, she was a little startled and unsure what to think, but then she decided that it would be better to make it a game than to cry about it, so for the next hour, Two Little Elmos kept bonking their heads and sitting on Mommy's lap while she asked "Are you okay, Two Little Elmos?"

We had a similar game with Gingham a few days later. Abby loves to cook in the living room, and one evening she brought out all of my skillets and set them up on the couch to cook dinner for her guys (which is what she calls the current selection of stuffed animals). One of the skillets was rotated so that the handle overhung the edge of the couch, and when she dropped her spatula and bent down to get it, she caught the handle with her eye. That one definitely led to some crying and general unhappiness, but soon enough she was back on the floor cooking, and poor Gingham kept slamming his face into the skillet handle.

I suppose it's not too big of a surprise that those events became little games for Abby. Her current favorite activity is just playing life. Usually she's me and Gingham is either her or Nora, and she just re-enacts whatever we've done recently. A couple of weeks ago I finally took her to get the second half of her H1N1 vaccine, and Gingham has been going to the doctor to get shots ever since. My parents gave her a shopping cart for Christmas, so she absolutely LOVES taking her guys to the grocery store to buy coffee for De-da. She also spends a lot of time rehashing everything that happened the last time we went to the indoor park to play with Jonathan and Julia and Salem. (It's always those three, and sometimes one or two other kids thrown into the mix, regardless of who was actually there.) And just a couple of days ago she started playing Adam. She ran into the corner of the kitchen by the door, then came out shouting "I'm home from work! Gingham, I'm so happy to see you!" It's pretty cute to see her playing life, although sometimes the snapshot she shows you of yourself doesn't make you too proud. I always feel bad when I'm changing her diaper and she says in an exasperated voice "Abby! Keep your legs down! You need to stop it!"

Nora's changing at lightning speed, too. She's getting big, for one thing. She had her two month checkup this morning and weighed 10 lbs 12 oz. And she's learning how to suck her thumb! Sometimes when she starts to get upset, she'll stick the side of her hand into her mouth and suck on that to calm down. She's also getting strong. Look at how high she can hold her head up!



And she's a smiler!



She's also getting pretty good at rolling over. She did it for the first time when she was 5 weeks old, and then about 5 more times throughout that week. Since then she's been a little streaky, but she's probably rolled over 20 times so far. We're not sure if she's going to be as competitive with Abby as I was with Jenn, or if she just really hates tummy time. It's good for her, though. The doctor told me this morning that she has a very nicely shaped head. Apparently if we didn't do much tummy time she would be deformed.

Abby and Nora like to have tummy time together. Here's Abby showing Nora how to roll over:




Nora's favorite position for sleeping:



I don't know how it can be comfortable to arch that far back, but it's definitely her position of choice.

And finally, a cute one of Nora and Daddy together.