Little Abby

Despite the lack of pictures, Abby has been quite the attention getter in our family lately. She is at the age where her personality is starting to burst forth, the exciting time when we are parents are learning more details about Abby's innate self. I remember just marveling at Hannah during this age and find myself doing the same with Abby.

So, who is Abby? That is not a question easily answered -- partially because she is just really learning how to express herself positively and partially because she is just very complex (must be the girl in her).

Abby is a charmer. Her smiles normally produce a chain reaction of more smiles. She is adored by all she meets, especially Hannah's friends, little boys just slightly older than her (yes, something to be concerned about....) and church ladies. I think because she plays hard to get (sometimes refusing non-Mommy or Daddy people) it makes it so much more special when she decides to bestow some love.

Abby is a talker! Proving to be a lot like her sister in this area, she is very talkative (I might even venture to say more than Hannah). As I was taking these pictures, at one point she kept saying "okay, all done" and trying to get away from me. Recent quotable quotes: "yeah for swinging" and "who's that? Grammie?" when I hung up the phone after talking to, yes, Grammie.

Abby is mellow. Now, put her in a side by side comparison with a truly mellow child and she might not get this title. Put her next to her sister and we marvel at her even keeled temperament. Honestly, she might be classified as "spunky", the milder cousin to Hannah's "spirited" (terminology from the great book, Raising Your Spirited Child), but I find her mellow. She loves cuddling, sitting on your lap for story times (always cutely suggesting "just one more?") and can actually watch a half hour show, something that took Hannah at least a year or more longer to master.

Abby has her own ideas. I chalk this up to her age -- the pre-2 year old stuff. She knows what she wants and she lets you know, sometimes loudly. Heaven forbid you add milk to her cereal without her requesting it, but be prepared to jump when she asks for milk. Knowing her own mind has caused some conflict with big sister, who thinks she knows best and Abby is her own personal play thing. Abby normally goes along fairly happily, but when Hannah (or "Ha" as Abby frequently calls her) pushes to far, Abby digs in her heels.

Abby loves a good giggle. She is starting to like jokes and goofy things, even act goofy. Normally this comes out during her play time with Hannah, but sometimes it is just her insisting that a wash cloth is a hat or pretending to go to sleep on her floor.

Abby is becoming a big girl. Kevin and I mini-fight over this one. I keep insisting that Abby is my baby (even trying to teach her to say that) and Kevin keeps pointing out that she is changing into a big girl right before our eyes. She wants to do everything big sister does (would gladly take Hannah's place in the swim lessons Hannah is hating), with "me too!" often echoing around our house. Still, as of now, in this pre-2 age, I stick to my story that she is my baby.

Obviously, I could go on and on. Marveling at Abby is just one of my favorite things to do. However, for your sake, I'll leave it with the above descriptions and the picture below.

Although, I do want to hear feedback comparing Abby's pictures to pictures of Hannah. Kevin and I do not think the girls look alike, mostly I guess because they are such different individuals and Abby's coloring could be classified as positively light when compared with Hannah's. However, I think we might be wrong...

These ones of Hannah wearing the same outfit of Abby is when Hannah was about 16 months old (although Hannah at 16 months equals Abby in size at 20 months)

These two pictures are of Hannah at about the same age as Abby.