Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

.Just wanted to take a quick moment to wish all of our loved ones a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.  Abby has been talking about Santa- she knows what he looks like- but not about his awesome gift-giving power.  ;)  It should be a fun holiday season- Abby is such a little character and has already had some experience with unwrapping gifts (we let her open one early when she was sick with the stomach bug last weekend) and she also offered to help her teacher Miss Katie open the gift that we had given to her (in fact, she also offered to keep the gift).  ;)

I am planning on taking a break from everything- working, the internet, email, the computer, wearing clothes instead of pajamas during the day, commuting, brushing my teeth and hair (ok, ok, I'm getting a bit out of control now) the main gist is- I'm planning on enjoying my family and winding down, moving slowly, waking late, giggling, and loving my dear husband and sweet daughter.  It's been a hectic haul as of late and we are oh so thankful for this time off together- both with our extended family- and with our little perfect family.  :)

Merry Christmas to all- we hope your holidays are bright and cheerful and full of joy and little miracles.

...and Happy New Year to all!  Here's hoping 2013 is the best one yet.

We love each and every one of you and will see you all in the New Year (either virtually or in living color) :)

The Wheels on the Bus, A day at the Farm, and the quirks or toddlerhood ;)

Prepare to be impressed, folks- Abby knows the song Wheels on the Bus.  Not only does she know the main chorus, she knows other verses such as "the babies on the bus go wah wah wah", "the mamas on the bus go shhh, shhhh, shhh" and "the wipers on the swish, swish, swish"  She even knows the dance moves that accompany the lyrics.  Yep, absolutely adorable.  We've yet to catch it on video but don't worry, we'll keep trying. :)

Last weekend Leif and I took Abby to Drumlin Farms in Lincoln, MA.  My mom and dad used to take me there as a kid and it was so neat to return.  We visited with a bunch of sheep, chickens, goats, cows (even a baby born in September!) horses, a couple of white tailed deer.  It was wonderful.  The most wonderful part of Drumlin Farms is how kid-oriented it is- with learning stations by each animal exhibit.  Abby was able to collect eggs, groom a horse tale, carry a milk jug, weigh herself as the pigs are weighed, and run WILD.  :)  Here are some pics from our adventure:

 Abby and daddy in the pig barn

 Collecting rocks by the chicken coop

 Toddler on the loose!

 Drumlin Farm aftermath (nice long nap)

 Mama and baby cow

 Collecting wooden eggs

 grooming a horse tail

 Riding a horse

 collecting milk

 weighing herself on the pig scale

she's still a piglet!  ;)

And finally, some Toddler-Abby quirks that I get a kick out of:

Abby currently refuses to wear jeans of any sort.  Stretchy pants are fine, jean pants are torturous.  ;)

Abby refuses to wear a hood, hat, or anything that could possibly keep her head warm on a cold New England day (we're hoping this changes soon...)  ;)

Abby's eating habits are sometimes a bit quirky too- she'll love something one day and then decide that it's the worst thing she's ever eaten the next.  We've learned to give it three days before we stock up on an item... ;)  

Sending love to everyone!!!

xoxoxoxo :)

Happy Halloween!! :)

Well Hurricane Sandy has come and gone now- we were fortunate to have weathered the storm well- we didn't lose electricity, any of our trees, or our sanity.  ;)  Our thoughts and prayers go out to everyone recovering from this tremendous storm- we feel so fortunate that our experience was mild in comparison.

Happy Halloween!  Abby is dressed as a lady bug for the day.  :)  She will go trick-or-treating with her daycare this afternoon and will also be heading to the Alzheimer's unit in the daycare's building to participate in some games and activities with the patients.  We hope to take her trick-or-treating around Lexington this evening after work as well.  Here is a pic of our lady bug baby bug (and I'm sure we'll have more this evening after the festivities)

On Sunday we took Abby to the annual halloween parade in Woburn.  The weather was a bit misty with Hurricane Sandy just around the corner, and it was downright raining by the very end, but we had such a wonderful time.  Last year Abby slept through the entire parade, but this year she was present and engaged!  :)  Her favorites were the multiple Elmo sightings (and the Elmo balloon that her daddy purchased for her), Sponge Bob (they're on a first name basis, evidently, as she calls him "Bob"), the fire trucks and ambulances (they recently had a visit from both at their daycare during a lesson about policemen and firemen) and the marching band who ventured far off the beaten path and played LMFAO's Party Rock Anthem (which reminds me, I don't think I ever mentioned this in the blog before but Abby is obsessed with that song- it is the one thing that made our drive down to Florida last March successful).   Here's a link to our newspaper with a couple of pictures from the parade this year:  Halloween Parade pics!

Abby is singing A LOT right now- she loves to sing her ABCs and also loves the Baby Bumble Bee song.  She performed her rendition of the Baby Bumblebee song at our local Chinese restaurant last night to the table next to us.  They totally ate it up.  :)  Here is a little video of her musical talents:

Abby Singing

Here is a video showcasing Abby's new toddler slide too.  It's a definite hit in the Dugan Household.

Abby's slide

There are a couple of cute videos that I still need to upload to Youtube (they're on Leif's phone right now) but I'll get them up shortly.  :)

We carved a toddler-themed pumpkin this year for sure- one of Abby's favorite characters, Elmo.  :)

Also, Abby's hair is finally long enough to put in pigtails.  It's not an easy task though- Abby requires complete distraction before she'll allow me to touch her hair.  ;)  Here is a pic from a recent dinner at a local Mexican restaurant (side note: Abby LOVES salsa- even when she was showing us that her mouth was getting too hot, she kept dipping her chips in it...)  ;)

Leif and I are finding that time is short, life is good, and Abby is larger than life.  She is so much fun, full of so much happiness, laughter, and entertainment, and we're just smitten.  :)

Sending love to all and happy halloween!! :)  xoxoxoxox

The stats on the bean

Sometimes I call Abby a bean, and sometimes it's a peanut, or a sweet pea...  hopefully she doesn't really think she's some sort of a food.  ;)  Any who, it has been a long time since I've posted- mostly due to the fact that my coworker has been out for 2 months now and I'm doing both of our jobs at once and it's left me with little play time to post cute pictures of my daughter.  Can you believe that?  The nerve...  ;)  Just a quick little entry to say that Abby had her 18 month check up yesterday and is still doing great.  She's 27 3/4 lbs, 34 1/2 inches- 90% in each group.  :)  She remembers Dr Andonian well and started hysterically crying and saying, "nooooo" when she saw him.  The poor guy has the odds stacked up against him since there are always shots involved in her visits right now. :)  He was able to get her to stop crying at one point by counting with her- something that Abby now loves to do.  She can make it all the way up to 6 on a good day. :)  She loves practicing her ABC's as well and can currently get through H though is working hard to get to J for her dear great aunties in MN.  :)  Dr Andonian was wildly impressed that we can get Abby to sleep without the aid of a bottle and said, "Now is the time to pack them up," and my kitchen cabinets will be pleased with this assessment.  :)  He said that Abby is doing really well, ok, actually, he said the one thing that parents want and need to hear so badly- that Abby's parents are doing a really good job.  ;)  Abby doesn't have to see Dr Andonian for another 6 months now- she'll be two when we reenter that office.  It's hard to believe.  As I made her next appointment, the receptionists gave Abby stickers to make her smile.  Abby is very much in to stickers these days so the gift was much appreciated.  She said, "thank you" and they just ate it up and asked Abby to say it again.  :)  Then they gave her more stickers.  Turns out manners can get you some pretty awesome glow-in-the-dark stickers. :)  One of the receptionists even took Abby to another doctor's office to see their fish.  This is reason 8,234 why I love our doctor's office.  They take the time to get to know their patients.  :)

We've been taking Abby on a bunch of camping trips this fall- we've made it up to our favorite campground in Maine (Lake Pemaquid) twice now, and we did a family camping trip with our friend Danielle and her son Micky to a state park in New Hampshire as well.  Abby loves being outside- we're thrilled.  She also still loves to draw and color.  We bought her a swing that might be her favorite toy in our place right now- she will often point to the door, say "outside" and then explain further "wee" to tell us that she'd like to go wee on the swing.  It is adorable- and we indulge, weather-permitting, each and every time. :)

Today was another first for me and Abby.  When I dropped her off at daycare, today was the first day that Abby did not cry hysterically.  I have been waiting for this day for a long time as drop-offs have been so heart-breaking (though she is fine 2 minutes after I leave).  Well, it was bittersweet this morning, of course, and I had to remind myself that she loves "school" and that is a great thing.  :)  I am trying to see everything in a more positive light these days so this was good practice.

Here are a couple pictures of Miss Abby from some of our adventures: camping, swinging at the playground, playing on the playground with daddy, and going to the Pumpkinfest and regatta in Maine this past weekend.  Sending love to all! :)

Weekend Fun

We had another wonderful weekend despite the hot and humid weather!  :)  Abby and I spent Friday night hanging out with Mandy.  :)  I captured a cute video of the two of them playing:
Abby and Auntie

On Saturday Abby and I braved the humidity and visited the Old North Bridge in Concord, MA.  This is the site where the minutemen from Concord, Acton, Bedford, and Lincoln stopped the British advance and turned it back toward Boston during the Revolutionary war.  I just love Concord- passing by the former houses of Emerson, Hawthorne, and Louisa May Alcott is always exciting to me and walking along the dirt paths that hold so much revolutionary history is such a treat.  Abby walked over the bridge by herself (well, with the help of my hand) and walked much of the hiking trail by herself as well, waving to others on the path.  I noticed that she was more likely to wave at the runners and bikers and shied away from the walkers who wanted to stop and talk to her.  :)  Abby and I walked up to the visitor's center and looked at mannequins dressed in Minuteman and Red coat attire.  She pointed to each man multiple times and asked me, "Who's that?"  I think she's going to be a revolutionary buff before we know it.  :)  We also stopped at the garden by the visitor's center and Abby smelled all of the blossoms in the flower beds.  Here are some pictures from our morning adventure:

 After our trip to the Old North Bridge, Abby and I returned home for some sensory play (my current obsession).  I had frozen blue sprinkles in to some ice cubes.  I filled some containers with luke warm water and plunked the ice cubes in to them.  We played with wooden and measuring spoons in the water and Abby really enjoyed playing with the ice cubes.

Video of sensory play with Abby

Leif and I then took Abby to my cousin Jen's house for her son's birthday party.  Abby was particularly impressed with the buffet of fruits and vegetables set down on her level (on a coffee table).  I have never seen her eat so much!  She helped herself to everything and almost single-handedly ate the tomatoes in the veggies platter.  ;)  Her favorite this time was the grapes though.  Unfortunately I don't have a single picture from the party.  It turns out that watching an active toddler in a party setting like this takes all of your time and energy.  ;)  It was really wonderful to see my Stander family though.  Abby really enjoyed her second cousin Paul too and Paul had cleaned off a lot of his toddler toys for Abby the day before to give her.  He had explained to his grandpa, my uncle Paul, that he wanted the toys to look as nice as they did when he had them as a toddler.  How sweet is that??  :)

On Sunday we had a clambake for Matt.  Happy 30th birthday, Matt!  The clambake was Curious George themed.  This theme was completely conjured up by Mandy and it was impressive!  We had balloons, grab bags, lots of decor, and of course wonderful company.  We had a wonderful food spread and were all stuffed by the end! :)  Abby wasn't a huge fan of lobster this time around but she really enjoyed the Spicy Ketchup potato chips.  I was impressed because the chips were quite spicy! :)  Here are a couple pics of the spread. :)

Leif and I are DYING to get through this week!!  We fly out for MN on Sunday and both could sorely use a vacation!!! :)

Sending love to all!!  xoxoxoxox

Curious George and Cooking :)

It has been a tough couple of weeks for Abby for teething.  Her molars are coming in and boy are they giving her trouble!  Though she's almost always ridiculously pleasant to be around, we've had some meltdowns, middle of the night snuggles (like last night, for hours...  this mama is exhausted today!) and a lot of gnawing on anything in sight.  :)  For the past two nights we've begun a bit of a ritual to put Abby at ease before going to bed and that ritual involves a lot of Curious George!  Abby was introduced to the PBS show through her PBS app on the iPad and it was love at first sight- literally.  I found a used copy of Curious George's program on amazon- this is a particularly wonderful collection because all of the episodes have to do with sleeping.  At night, we snuggle up under a blanket in the living room and watch an episode or two.  We're usually not in to bedtime tv for Abby but we decided that she needed an extra treat while suffering through the emergence of these darn molars. :)  To add to the ritual, I visited the Curious George shop in Harvard Square yesterday.  This store had been my favorite toy store but unfortunately went through financial hardships and had to close.  They recently reopened but with a very limited supply of merchandise- but it was perfect for Abby.  I found a cute little Curious George stuffed animal and gave it to Abby last night.  She hugged her monkey and watched the show all snuggled up with us and I couldn't help but snap a picture of the cute scene.

Abby was also kind enough to cook dinner for us last night.  ;)  Here are some pics of her new kitchen. We think she's a foodie-in-training.  ;)

We're looking forward to a fun weekend!  We have a birthday party for Abby's cousin Paul (technically her second cousin) tomorrow.  Abby has loved Paul each time they've met and we're all excited to see the Stander family- including my cousin Keli who is coming all the way down from Portland, ME!

On Sunday we're hosting a clambake for Matt's 30th birthday.  Last time we took Abby out for seafood, she gobbled it down, so it'll be fun to see her with lobsters and clams this time around.  ;)  There is also a very appropriate special theme to the birthday party that will be revealed through pictures after the weekend. :)

Summer is speeding by and we're really looking forward to starting vacation next week and visiting our wonderful family in Minnesota.

Sending love and hugs to all!! :) :)

Budding Artist

Abby has been VERY in to coloring lately.  She has a wonderful new easel, art table, and apron that her Grandma Carol got for her and I bought her some dry erase crayons to use on the easel and paper.  She has been coloring to her heart's delight (and at times on any surface around her- the floors, my clothing, her clothing, the baby gates, she even tried to color daddy's beard last night!)  :)  Luckily the crayons clean up really easily.  Here are a couple pics and a video of the budding artist.  :)

 Yep, she's wearing two hats here, folks.  She asked for both to be put on her head- makes the creative process more efficient!  ;)

This week she worked really hard on a get well card for her Great Grandpa Earl!  (and we're nearly finished with some cards for the MN family- should be in the mail any day now!)  :)

And here is the video of Abby that I took last night :)  Abby the Artist

Here are a couple more pictures to show you a bit more of a day in the life of Miss Abby:

 Our dear friend Amy (A-mom) gave us this awesome collapsible cloth storage bin that Abby fits perfectly in.  ;)  She had a great time sitting in it the other evening.

And lastly... this is the dinner-time scene in our house every night.  You'll notice that Orion is strategically hanging out under Abby's chair.  When Abby is through eating, she likes to throw her food on the floor.  Orion, of course, is happy to clean up her scraps.  ;)  Yesterday we did have some BBQ chicken painting on the wall...  and quickly moved her chair away from the wall... ;)

and......  a couple pictures of Orion (we fondly call him Fluff)

Life with a toddler is unbelievably exhausting as well as unbelievably fun.  We are sooooo enjoying this age and all of the surprises that comes with it. :)

xoxoxoxo!!!