5 teeth and walking!
I’m sorry once again that it has taken me SOOO long to update the blog! I will really try to do better. Our little Abigail refuses to stop growing up, it’s so wonderful to see her progress though. Here’s the low-down.
Mobility: The princess stood up on her own for a long time on March 3rd. Then Abby took her first stumbling steps in front of daddy on March 19th. Mommy missed it (was at a Relief Society activity), and cried. Then on March 27th, she started taking her first real steps (I didn’t miss it that time)! So she’s a 10-month walker 
We were so proud! She started out slow, needing a lot of encouragement, and still only doing it every now and then. But about a month later she started walking more and more, standing herself up on anything she could reach, and then of course stumbling after a few steps. Now she’s practically a pro! She’s walking everywhere, from room to room without falling! And today was the first time she stood up with no help from furniture or a wall, just went from her hands and knees to standing up! She’s so big!!
Teeth: Abby cut her first tooth (top left) on March 23rd – almost 10 months old – the same week she started walking! It was so painful for the beautiful little darling dear 
There was a lot of not sleeping, painful screaming, diaheria, sore red bums, Tylenol, teething tablets, teething gel, the works. And it was actually her bottom teeth that we’ve been expecting since January because we could see the whitish gaps in her gums. So we were surprised her top tooth came in first, it only took about 3 days from when it started really bothering her and we saw it swelling up, ’til it broke through. It broke my heart, but the one tooth was adorable! Two weeks later, on April 4th, her bottom right tooth came in. This wasn’t nearly as painful for her. Then April 8th, her bottom left came through, again not too painful. Another week later, April 16th, her top right tooth showed up. That one was as painful as her first, with the same 3 day story. So within one month, Abby went from no teeth to 4 teeth!! And we had an adorable 4-toother walking around here for about another month, then May 11th came her 5th tooth: top left. Again, it seems like it’s her top row that’s much more painful for her. Yes, she still bites when she’s done nursing. Yes, it kills! Yes, I’m working on weaning her, read on for details on that.
Food: Abby has mood swings with her eating habits. What can I say, she’s female! Sometimes she’ll eat really well, sometimes she won’t. These mood swings can fluctuate throughout the week, or within a day. This is part of the reason I’ve had a hard time cutting out breast milk meals, because I’m afraid she’s not getting enough other food, and I want her to get all the nutrients she needs. Again, more on that later. She’s come around to jar food more and more lately, but she’s always a fan of something she can pick up with her fingers and feed herself. So cut up bits of food from our plates always seems to go well. The thing we’ve noticed with her is that she’ll go from “mmm, nummy nummy food, gimme more” to “I don’t want to have anything to do with this, get it away from me” in one second! No warning, like slowing down or anything. And she won’t just turn her head away and not open her mouth if she doesn’t want something, she lets you know. She waves her arms about, slapping food away or throwing it across the room, while screaming!
Her first success with the sippy cup was on Feb 5th. She started drinking straight from a cup on her own on April 16th! (We’ve given up on the bottle, and we’re moving on). The princess will take juice and water from cups, sippy cups, juice boxes with straws, cups with straws, etc. but will not take breast milk from anybody holding any of the mentioned devices. She will only take breast milk straight from the breast. I’ve tried leaving the room, and leaving the house so she doesn’t smell me – as all the articles advise – but it doesn’t work. So within the last month I’ve really been trying to feed her more solid foods and juice and water to fill her up, taking away a few breastfeedings. She has breakfast, lunch, and dinner at the same time we do, then a snack before and after lunch. It’s like she all grown up *tears*!
Sleeping: I think I mentioned in the last post that Abby has been sleeping in the “family bed” since January when she got all thrown off her schedule from the Utah trip and when she started getting fussy with teething and separation anxiety. She would go to bed in her crib at 8 PM, but I would bring her into our bed for her 2 AM feeding and be too tired (or fall asleep) to put her back in her crib. Well that lasted a good few months. Weaning her off of the family bed was tons of fun! (Sensing the sarcasm?) Of course her 2 AM feeding was just a comfort, so I started just giving her a snuggle and a binky, putting her back to bed, and letting her scream. This was especially hard for Joe. As he says, “I’m weak!” She’s got him wrapped around her little finger!! But it wasn’t too long before she stopped waking up at 2 AM all together, yay! Now that I’m starting to wean her, I’m trying to cut out her 10 PM wake up, and just sticking with her 5 AM. And ever since we got rid of the 2 AM wake up, no more family bed! I’m glad we only let that last a few months, rather than a few years.
Weaning: Because Her Highness, The Princess Abigail May, doesn’t take breast milk from a sippy cup, bottle, or regular cup – from anybody, under any circumstances – we thought we’d have to wait until she was officially one year old and could have cow’s milk as a replacement. Well I’m cheating: We gave her cow’s milk for the first time yesterday May13th, and she actually took it! I figure two weeks before her first birthday isn’t going to kill her. Like I had said earlier, I’ve been afraid to cut out breastfeedings because she sometimes doesn’t eat a lot of solid foods. But I’ve been talking to a lot of people, and the thing I needed to hear, I heard Tuesday from my friend Sarah, “She’s not going to starve. If she’s hungry, she’ll eat.” So true! Now, people have said this to me before, but this was the perfect time to hear it, and it finally sunk in. Because the thing is: when she’s been nursing the last month or so, it’s barely anything! Now, she’s always been a light drinker (tee hee), but now it’s only one side, two minutes each feeding! And the biting!! I’ve had it! Also, it’s been extremely rare that we’ve been able to go on dates alone or go to the temple since we can’t leave her for very long with anybody, which is really hard. I love that I’ve chosen to nurse her the whole first year, it’s been so rewarding for both of us, and I will miss it, but it’s time. As of a couple days ago, she was nursing at 5 AM, 8 AM, 10 AM, 2 PM, 5:30 PM, 8 PM, and 11 PM (she’s almost one, this is crazy, I know). I have already cut out her 8 AM, and her 5:30 PM. She’s taking cow’s milk during snacks for now, then I will start replacing her remaining breastfeedings with cow’s milk. I just have to cut down her number of feedings first. I’ve read that doing it like this will also prevent me from getting engorged, and Abby should barely miss it. I’m optimistic that she’ll be weaned by her 1st birthday, but won’t set my hopes too high. Wish me luck!
Terrible Two’s: The past few weeks, Joe and I have noticed that Abby’s officially a toddler! It’s like out of nowhere her cries went from sadness, pain, or needing something, to brattiness, wanting her way, and frustration! It’s super funny to watch sometimes, but not too fun other times. She’s not very good at sharing. She’ll take other kids’ toys (like the boy her age that I watch twice a week) just because they have it. Then if she gets it and the other kid gets something else, she’ll scream until she steals the next toy from their grasp. Rude! My dad brought up a good point the other day: “terrible two’s” start after the child’s 1st birthday because they’re going into their 2nd year at that point. Makes sense, and Abby’s just about there. You can take my word for it, that girl’s got quite the set of lungs! And she’s a good actress, she’s great at the fake crying – that’s what’s funny to watch. The fact that her hair is so long also helps make her look older. I can put it in pony tails and pig tails, and she looks 2 years old! Oh, our little goose!
Snuggle Bug: During this time of tantrums and attitude from the little one, there’s also been a new wonderful snuggly side to her. She just comes up to you and lays her head down on your back or lap (if you’re sitting on the floor), or on your foot or leg (if you’re standing up), or on your head or tummy (if you’re laying down). IT’S SO DARN PRECIOUS!! I just love that she’s a lover and loves loves. She just comes up and gives snuggles and kisses and coos while she does it, so cute!! And she takes it just as well. I’m so grateful she’s such a loving little girl.
Nick-names: By the way, the “goose” nick name came from a long while back. I would call her a silly goose so much, then I would just tag goose at the end of everything. Like, sad-goose, happy-goose, silly-goose, strong-goose. I don’t know why. And now we just call her goose a lot. Other nick names include: scooter, lovely, baby, your highness.
Abby’s big into waving at everyone, unless she gets shy – then she’ll waive after you leave. She has such a little precious princess wave, it’s so cute. She’s working on blowing kisses, but so far she just puts her hand to her mouth – and sometimes she’ll do the whole tribal song thing, when you sing and put your hand over your mouth over and over. She started clapping the first week in March, and she does it all the time – recently she’s added a really cheesy face and a chin tuck to it as if she’s bashful, haha! She’s developed a fake laugh, kind of like a pity laugh. I think I have some of those on video, you have to hear it! Her wide range of laughing is just so hilarious! The chuckle, to the deep inhale, to the high-pitched tee hee hee’s, it’s great!
I need to get to bed, but I will be back to post pictures soon. And update you on what’s been going on in our lives other than Abby’s development. (I just had to get my version of Abby’s journal writing in).
Love you all!