Feeding Times

Feeding is getting interesting with new attempts to feed herself. This was a meal of avacado, rasberry, tomato and cheerios. She is doing some semi-successful attempts using a spoon too. We don't have food on the ceiling or walls yet, so I think that's a good start. I strip her down and know there will be a clean-up. This one ended with avacado in the ears, hair, legs, hands and obviously, the face. She is learning to hold a sippy cup. Overall, I would say were're having sucess. I lay down a plastic table cloth from the dollar store, but things have stayed on the tray or mouth for the most part. We've had to "encourage" her to not throw the undesired food on the floor, but she has responded well.

A Day at the Park

From left to right: Lucy, Elena, Emma, Abigail and Will. The cousins were together for the first time since Christmas. Fun times.
The caterpillars were a definite hit at the park.

Eleven Months

We're reaching close to a year. Wow! Abby is 29 inches tall and 22 lbs. She has been going to bed later and still has a couple naps. She has been sleeping in since the cruise. She has been doing a lot of self-serving finger foods lately and is still eating well. She self-corrected her clapping and is quick to smile, wave and say "hi" to everyone. She also says "bye bye," "Abby" and "baby." There are definitely attemps to say, "Here ya go!" and "Amen," which warms my heart. She can take steps now...up until about 12. She can go backward down stairs. She is super chatty. My current descriptive words would be talkative, social, squirmy, independent, inquistive, joyful and likes attention. I love this kid.

Mexico Cruise

We celebrated my parent's 40th Anniversary with an amazing bottle of wine and a wine label with their wedding picture and a wine-type description of their marriage on the back. It's so wonderful to have parents still commited and in love after 40 years.
It was crazy windy on the boat one day.

Cabo San Lucas

The whole crew after the cruise.

Michelle, our wonderful host in San Diego.

Our family on the beaches of San Diego.

This picture makes me think my little one looks like me.

Mini-golf on the cruise.

Our daily nap time on the cruise.

Daddy swinging our naked baby on the beaches of Cabo. This was after a wonderful Sangria and quacamole with chips at a delicious restaurant. We sat there, ate, drank and played cards with Shannon and Nate. Rough!

The last couple of evenings our family got into candy poker. I played awful.

The original Kern clan.

Abigail travelled like a rock star. She was so easy and fun. The staff loved her, which meant for great treatment all around. It seemed like everyone knew her. She flew well and sailed well. She was a joy. We had to cut a few nights short, but overall, we were so impressed with our baby.
In Ensenada, the Baja 500 was getting under way. It made for a fun atmosphere in the town and some eye candy for the men in our group.

The cruise was an amazing time. We had such a great time with the family. I felt like we had great group time, alone time and time with individual couples. The weather was wonderful. Oh...A highlight was MY DAD BEING HYPNOTIZED. See video of that on my sister's website: www.emmaandelena.blogspot.com

Ten Months

Here's Abigail at 10 months. She's attracting attention wherever she goes because she is so social and will ham it up in front of everyone. Her current big word is "thank you" (more like "tank ooo"), which she repeats after us. She seems to try and say "Abigail" and "too cute" also. She seems to be very verbal, and you can see her trying to mimic speech. She is a squirmy kid who likes doesn't like to sit still much. She is self-entertaining but likes to be around people. She is still very easy to be around. She eats well and doesn't reject much. She's tried raisens, blueberries, salmon, whole grains, flax seed added to pureed food and whatever else we are eating. She claps her hands (up and down), dances, gives high fives and waves on verbal or observational cues. She often responds well to things that are off limits but sometimes tries to push the limits. She is so fun!