baby playdate

Robert is still putting in long hours at work and Abigail hasn't seen her Daddy for several days now. I wish he could see how cute she looks today. Thanks Grandma Z for the adorable outfit!

Washcloths are the best toy ever, didn't you know?

I had my first day of teaching back at Polk State College yesterday. We found a great sitter for Mondays -- her name is Meghan -- but I still felt a little anxious on Sunday night about leaving Abby at home with someone new. When I opened the door yesterday morning to let Meghan in, Abby instantly had a huge smile on her face. I felt so relieved! Abby took to Meghan right away when we had her come over to meet her a few weeks ago. It turns out my worry was unnecessary because they ended up having a great first day together. Apparently even nap time was easy. One of the things I like most about Meghan is that she was a vocal major and she spends time singing to Abby. She told me that she's never met a baby who was so responsive to music. I loved hearing that, although I'm not terribly surprised considering Abby heard music all throughout my pregnancy. Poor little girl had a French horn bell pointed at her for 9 months!

Today, Abby and I went to a baby play date at our friend Helenka's. We have been attending play dates with this group of first time moms and their babies since Abby was about 6 months old.

Helenka set up a ball pit (er...pool) for her daughter Maya. How fun is that?!

Diving right in.

Here is Helenka's daughter, Maya, who you might remember from our trip to the Thai Food Festival. Maya is just two days older than Abigail and they enjoy checking each other out. I was struggling with the lighting, so sorry these pictures are a little blurry. 

Here's the whole gang. :)

What are they looking at, you ask? Why, it's all of their mommies clapping and yelling and trying to get their attention. Too bad I don't have a picture of that because we looked completely ridiculous!

Babies going everywhere!

Videos: Abby walking & playing peekaboo

Robert has been crazy busy with work lately. He was at Ft. Sill in Oklahoma Monday through Thursday last week. Then yesterday and today he put in long weekend hours back in Tampa...today's shift was 14 hours! Boo. Abby has been my little buddy all week and I couldn't ask for better company. Here are two new videos of her walking. She's getting much more steady on her feet. 

She's always finding new opportunities to play peekaboo. Here she is using the washcloth I got out to clean her face after breakfast. Goofy, goofy girl!

owl jammies

Robert and I couldn't get over how big Abby looked this morning. My mom picked up these adorable owl jammies for a birthday present but they didn't make it to October. They are size 18 months! There's something about the little t-shirt that makes us so happy. When did our baby become a little girl?!

She has my camera lens cap in her mouth.

Just chillin.

Watching Abby play is one of my new favorite things. I recently bought this "fill and spill" birdhouse from Manhattan Toys that has 4 cute little birdies that go inside. There are three openings to the house but it seems like Abby prefers opening the velcro roof the most.

Amazing! Look what I found!

Birds are so exciting!

This may be a new favorite.

We love you, baby little girl!

Pam's Visit

Our friend Pam drove down from Memphis on Sunday evening and stayed with us until Thursday morning this week. We loved having her visit! Pam is another one of our Cincinnati friends with whom we have a particularly strong bond. I met her in the Horn studio 11 years ago and I'm so glad we've remained friends ever since. 

Unfortunately, I did a poor job of documenting Pam's visit. We took her to some of our favorite Tampa restaurants including Square 1 Burgers (Abby was a big fan of my buffalo burger!) and the foodie diner Daily Eats. We also finally made it to the Taco Bus in downtown Tampa. We've heard great things about it for awhile now and the praise definitely held up. 

What a boring food summary without any pictures!

We cooked two tasty meals at home, as well. I highly recommend the red lentil curry from allrecipes.com and the portobello fajitas with fontina queso from one of my favorite food blogs, "how sweet it is."

On Tuesday, Pam and I had a nice, relaxing evening on Madeira Beach in St. Pete. Robert stayed home with Abby for her 7pm bedtime. Note to self: avoid the traffic and chaos of Clearwater beaches and always head south to St. Pete! Even though the day was sweltering hot, our evening on the beach was cool, breezy and wonderful.

We're so glad Pam got to meet Abby! Unfortunately for Pam, she mostly enjoyed playing with her hair and pulling on her earrings. Ouch!

Soooo excited!

Thanks for the fun visit, Pam! It was great seeing you. I love that we can always pick right back up where we left off. Old friends are the best!

10 months old

Happy 10 months (yesterday), baby girl! So much for the monthly sticker...it was such a challenge trying to keep that thing on. So much for sitting still and smiling for the photo shoot like past months, too. This little girl is on. the. go. I had to call in Robert for help.

And...we're walking!

I think this is the one I'll use for the baby book.

There goes the sticker.

She's getting such great balance.

Bend down and...

...stand back up!

How about those legs?

Fun time with Daddy.

Point those toes!

And kisses from Mommy.

random fun pics

Our little puppy dog is back!

Of all her toys, the laundry hamper is her favorite.

I realized I don't have many pictures of Abby standing up. Seriously, when did she get so big? I love these sweet little cupcake jammies.

 Abigail's first PB&J! (and strawberries) She is a big fan!

What show has Abby recorded this time on our DVR? Why, it's "Afternoon Relexation" for dogs. "Content that is designed to relax your dog, reduce stress levels and keep him calm through soothing music, sounds and visuals." Hahaha!!! We didn't even know we had a TV channel for dogs. Silly girl!