Abigail's first swim lesson

Abigail seemed to enjoy playing in the water this morning. They did a good job making this class fun for little ones. We sang songs, blew bubbles in the water, and splashed around. 

She practiced floating on her back.

And "swimming" after a rubber duck.

Kick, kick, kick!

Most pale momma in the pool!

8 months old

Oops, I'm a day late again this month...Happy 8 Months, Miss Abigail! One fun memory from this past month is Abby's new fish face, which has been impossible for me to capture with my camera. Also, it sounds like she's been saying "Mama" for awhile now. It's more "Mum mum mum mum mum" but Robert insists she says it when she's looking for me. We've had a lot of tumbles and falls and head bonks this past month as she practices standing up. I usually react by saying "tough cookie!" with a big smile on my face and more often than not she is a tough cookie and doesn't cry. 

We've attended all kinds of fun classes and activities lately, too. Summer programs started up at the Y this week and we had our first Tiny Tots gymnastics class this morning. The class is for 6-12 month olds and there were 5 other babies there. We played with a big, bright parachute and Abigail went and crawled right into the middle of it while everyone else was sitting around the edges. They had stations set up around the room where the babies could climb cushioned ramps or crawl across trampolines while following after a ball. The instructor ended the class by blowing a bunch of bubbles for the babies to grab. It was very cute. Tomorrow morning, we start her swim lessons at the Y.

Baby Bungalow was closed today so after her morning nap we headed across the street for Baby Yoga at the library. This little girl is getting a good introduction to all kinds of things, isn't she? I'm so impressed by all of the activities we have available to us -- and they're all free!

Here are the photos from our monthly shoot. I was sad because I ordered the cutest little flower hair bands for her and she will not wear them anymore. She yanks them right off. It was also a challenge to keep the sticker on her onesie because she kept wanting to pull it off and crumple it. Ornery little girl! :)

Playing peekaboo in the curtains with Daddy.

Love these cheeks!

This is a face I've never seen before. Sheer determination?

I feel like it offers a glimpse of what she might look like when she is older.

Then we went outside and played a little before my student showed up.

 Can you hear her giggle in this last one? 

Love you, little girl! 

Standing up!

Our little girl isn't wasting any time...she's ready to move! Enough of this sitting and crawling business. We now prefer to stand. 

My apologies for these slightly blurry pictures. I took them on a dark and gloomy day when Tropical Storm Andrea passed through. We got a lot of rain and some gusty winds but otherwise it wasn't bad at all.

Those chubby legs!!

Are you watching me, momma?

Yay, daddy's home!

She continued practicing yesterday.

Sliiiiiding down...

And then helped mommy with the laundry.

This morning, she watched Robert make strawberry pancakes.

I'll leave you with a picture I meant to post last time. Our blue eyed beauty!

 Whew! That's a lot of pictures. I'm due for a more substantial written post -- next time!

Jessica & Akahi

Abby and I went to the park today to meet up with Jessica and her son, Akahi. Jessica watched Abby on Mondays for several months when I returned to Polk State to teach my horn students. We have missed seeing them! Akahi and Abby have their own special language with each other. Unfortunately, Jessica's husband has orders to Japan so they're in Tampa for just a few more months. I'm grateful Abby had such a sweet first babysitter. We are sad to see them go.

When we got home, Abby decided it was time to practice pulling herself up. She does this all the time now. When we put her in her crib for naps or bedtime, we hear multiple thumps from her head hitting the crib while she tries to stand up. Eventually she gets tired and lays down.

Standing on tiptoes!

Mischievous little girl...

See my two teeth?

VIDEO: Abby demanding more bananas

This girl doesn't mess around when she wants more. :) I guess it's time to teach her some sign language that's a little more polite. You'll also notice that she's very vocal when she eats. Those grunts show appreciation, right?!

Mornings with Cora

Poor Abby! We put up two baby gates last weekend and Cora has figured out that she can be close to Abby while still being unreachable. Abby gets so excited when she sees her kitty cat! 

She's practically taunting her in this one.

It's getting harder for me to keep up with this little stinker. She gets into everything. The curtains and our DVR are her favorite new "toys." We put a big rug in the middle of the room and made a little play area but of course she prefers to crawl into any little corner she can find.

The front of our DVR has a touch screen (never knew that until now) and Abby has recorded all kinds of different shows for us. Both Robert and I wanted to be meteorologists when we were kids and it looks like Abby is following in our footsteps because the show that gets recorded the most often is the Day Planner from The Weather Channel. Ha! I guess we're going to have to get some kind of gate to put around the TV.

    

In other news, we usually go for a family walk around 6:30 each night and I'm happy to report that stroller time isn't always "serious time" anymore. Look at that happy smile from our happy little girl! Love you, munchkin.