Tahoe For The First Time

And from Sacramento, we went on to the beloved Tahoe. Oh, how I love Tahoe!

We missed the annual trip last year due to Abby and her upcoming surgery (which wasn't scheduled yet). I remember asking the cardiologist if we could go and he gently said, "Your daughter is in congestive heart failure. I would stick close to home." Yikes. At the time, I thought we'd be doing pretty good with an ounce or two gain in a week, we'd go into his office and unknowingly, he'd bring reality back in a big way. Congestive heart failure. What i heard was, "your daughter might die." No wonder those office visits were traumatic for me! ANYWAY, Tahoe was magnificent. Abigail had a great time sharing high chair time (and food!) with her cousin Abram (2 months younger)...


Playing with her shadow down at the lake...


Trying to crawl to the water by herself...


Sharing watermelon with Abram....


Hiking with Daddy...


and Mommy, Aunt Stacey, Uncle Ryan and Abram...


Finding rocks after a lunch of chicken and yam fries...


Going on walks every morning even though Red was back in Sacramento...


Figuring out how this key unlocks the door to the pool...


Floating in the freezing water with Daddy...


Going out to dinner and eating gelato for the first time...


Swinging on an old ski lift chair with her cousins and Uncle Bill...


44. Tahoe
45. Cold Mountain Nights
46. Unexpected old college friends mere minutes away
47. Loving our family
48. Abby sleeping in another room
49. An ear that finally "cleared" after 3 days

Nor Cal Part 1

Whomever said that babys sleep in the car are wrong. We planned our entire exit plan on the fact that the little lady who hates her new car seat would at least fall asleep post In 'n Out and be out for most of the trip up north. We got some relief when I finally let her gnaw on my watch (never a good choice)


and ultimate relief came when we let her watch a video (waaaaay too close to her face, propped up on a pillow) while gnawing on the case (which probably was made in China and has some nasty stuff in it).


Around 9pm, she finally fussed her self to sleep with her little bunny over her head. Poor girl. At that point, I texted Grant in the front. We were worlds apart with coolers and baby gear separating us. So much for bonding during the drive.

But once we got up north, life was grand. She insisted on walking while holding someone's hands and would resort to crawling only on the grass, tried to catch bubbles, go on walks, swim and splash, eat cheese and love on her stuffed bear and baby.









We even got to see cousin Katy, Uncle Kev and Aunt Christi (who always makes Abby laugh). Surprise...they got to "walk" her outside when she was getting restless. Her new favorite activity. Seriously. She won't bend her legs to sit down. Those knees are locked. She just dances in place and fusses until someone will grab her hands and go. Thanks, Katy, for being a great "walker!"

Duck Love

Will she ever walk without the ducks? It's unlikely. I picture her walking up to Rieber Hall at UCLA, pushing the ducks as she registers for classes.

Stacking

Two days ago, Abby and I worked on this...


I haven't seen her touch them again. Until today. And it looked like this....

41. new skills
42. cool summer nights
43. air conditioning thanks to an electrician who goes above and beyond...coming back a second day just to double check his work

The Awful, No Good, Very Bad Day

First, our air conditioning went out (along with a slew of other very important devices like our stove). Then, Abby found a new thing to do. She gets stuck every time. Not so fun for either of us.


Here she is, later, at the mall (a nice, cool place to go) before the "balloon meltdown" which I'm very sorry I did not get a picture of. This is actually her in a "happy place" regarding the balloon.

She freaks when she sees balloons. Once she gets one, however, she can't handle the ... excitement? It pops out of her clenched little hands and even thought it's weighted, hanging right beside her, she bursts into tears and can't get her act together enough to grab it again. I finally left it in the middle of the mall and carried her off, screaming, to her first carousel ride.


Whew. We flew past the scene of the crime later and saw a cute little boy playing with the balloon. Win, win.

And on a good note, she does still love herself. No one needs to worry about that. And love means giving kisses. And getting caught doing it.



37. Abby sleeping in until 7:15 after a week of 6am crying
38. electricity!
39. The hope of vacation around the corner
40. The ability to laugh at the hard times, knowing God is in control

Steam

If you're in need of a pick me up... try to watch this without laughing. It's from some months ago, but it's worth watching. At least in our house. Again and again.

The Case Of The Missing Turkey Baster

Wow... lots of new things are going on these days. At the moment, there is a spoon on the floor in the hallway and a turkey baster stuck in the couch cushions. Ahhhh.... life with a 14 month old!

Abby loves to put things in and out and to open and close just about everything she can. Here she is, throwing open the front door and then going in and out 12 times.

There are two cabinets that she's allowed into in the kitchen -- one with a zillion plastic bottles that we no longer use and another with pie tins and a strainer. I usually pick up the mess that this makes about 5 times per day. Talk about open and closing, putting in and out... and messing things up! She loves it! Unfortunately, these two cabinets are right under my feet when I'm throwing her meals together. She also loves her nesting toys which double as bath toys. Suddenly, she can figure out which ones go inside the others. When these things happen overnight, it seems like magic.