Little Miss Independent......

Abby has become quite the independent little lady as of late. She is really beginning to develop her own personality and tell everyone how things are supposed to go!

It was an adventure of a week.

We began by having an Earthquake. No significant issues other than gramma's nerves! Gramma was quite shaken up but she grabbed Abby and her phone and made it outside! Good job Gramma!

Next, we braced for Hurricane Irene. I am convinced that because we all made plans for power outages and backup food, Irene was a bust! However, I'd rather have a bust than be out of power for a week! Hopefully all of our followers have survived with minimal damage and get their power back soon if they lost it.

Abby is moving up into some bigger size clothes. Her 3 month PJ's are a little snug so we are moving to the 6 month. Its so funny how different clothing lines sizes can vary soooo much. Mom's excited to break out the next batch of clothes so we did some rearranging this weekend to have our 6 month stock all set up and ready to go.

I also got out a lot of our 6 mo+ toys. Abby is really starting to enjoy playing with toys on her own. Since she is sitting so well she will sit and play for a good long while. It helps to tire her out in the evenings too!

We are soooo close on the crawling. She can get up on all 4's with a little effort and looks around like hmm....what can i do from here. Mom is bracing for the quick baby proofing that will have to occur as soon as she's on the move.

SWEET POTATOES!!!

Abigail LOVES sweet potatoes! I started with a jar of organic baby food sweet potatoes to see if she would like them and to give me an idea of consistency. She loved them so I decided I'd make a batch of my own. I think I did pretty well if I do say so myself! It was relatively easy so I think I'll try my luck and work on Apples next. They may be a bit harder but we'll see.

Abby has been sleeping for longer stretches lately. Cross our fingers that this continues! It might be because mom and dad have "spiked" her last bottle of the evening with a bit of rice cereal to help fill us up!

We have our first "professional" photo appointment on Thursday. Hopefully Abby will be all smiles and giggles! Speaking of photos, I finally had a bunch of pictures printed up and got some of the frames for them. I think I have a good batch of Christmas presents going already! Its so hard to choose when there are so many pictures you love! Dad has his work cut out for him hanging all of these new frames.

Football starts next monday so dad spent the weekend making a carrier for the back of the car since we will now have tooooo much stuff to fit it all inside. Dad was extremely pleased with himself as he learned how to weld. Good job Dad!!

Up next: Apples....stay tuned!

Abby rocking her first pair of jeans!

More bathtime. You will see why below!

Sweet Potatoes!! YUMMMMMY

Abby loves to help feed herself.

Finger licking good!

Daddy learning to weld!

Abby ready for the Hurricane!

Abby had her first "ride" on the Motorcycle.....it didn't go anywhere! :-)

23 Weeks!

Our latest trick this week has been demanding to hold our own bottle. She has on occasion held her own bottle but this week it is a must and Abby will get mad at you if you try to help her. She still needs a bit of assistance in holding the bottle high enough for the milk to come out but boy has her independence really come out this week.

Earlier this week Abby got to spend some time with Grandma Mauriello who came to babysit on Monday. Abby was fantastic that day. On Tuesday Aunt Chelsea came to watch Abby and well Abby wasn't such a good girl. It was a fussy day to say the least.

This past week we ventured into the world of Bananas. I can't say that Abby loved them. I think it was a mild dislike. Up next: Sweet Potatoes. Stay tuned!

Abigail has grown a significant amount this week. We are weighing in right around 13 lbs. Every time I pick her up she feels just a bit more heavy to me, which is a great thing! That carseat / baby combo is getting quite heavy.

Uncle Kris visited from NY this weekend with his friend Lisa so Abby got to meet some more new people. Abby loves new people, they keep her entertained AND she gets to throw her nap schedule out the window for play time. Not so great for mom and dad but she LOVES it!

Football season is quickly approaching which means mom and dad have to get ready for tailgating! Dad is convinced that Abby is going to LOVE tailgating and we are going to have a fantastic time. Mom is slightly less convinced. I think it will be an adventure but mom has decided that she and Abby will be skipping the really late games for an early bedtime! :-)

We have had a slight regression in our crib sleeping. We did great for a week or two and now we are back to sleeping in our crib for 3-5 hours and then we are up and want mom and dad. So she spends half the night in her crib and the other half in our bed. It is amazing how much space a 13 lb baby can command in a king size bed. Mom feel like sometimes she should just sleep on the floor!

We will have our 6 month check up in September so we will see how big and tall we have gotten then. Hopefully we will make a leap up on the growth charts! Abby is still in 3 month clothes and we are thinking by winter she may make it to 6 month. She is starting get too tall for some of her pajamas but certainly not to chubby!

Here are a few pictures from the week. Enjoy! :-)

Bathtime! Loving my new toys!!

Mom decided its time to move up to the high chair for feeding time.

Abby is not so sure she agrees.

Abby playing in one of her many toys with Aunt Laura

Abby and Uncle Rob.

Growing Growing Growing

Well we are quickly approaching our 5 month birthday! Mom has been holding out a bit on introducing more food until we are at least 5 months old. So what should our first food (other than rice cereal) be?? We have a few choices in the fruits and veggies category.

Fruits: Apples, Avacado, Bananas, Pears

Veggies: Sweet Potatoes, Acorn/Butternut Squash, Green Beans.

I think we are going to try the veggies first so we can teach her to eat her veggies! haha I really don't think this will have one bit of influence but we will see. I think we may start with some sweet potatoes and then maybe some avacado. I've decided I AM going to make my own baby food. I'm thinking this weekend we will do a little testing to see how things go. Cross your fingers!

Abigail weighs right around 12 lbs. 5 oz. now. Its amazing how big she has gotten from when we first brought her home until now. We took out her newborn car seat insert the other day. She's just such the big girl now!

Abby has been doing a FANTASTIC job sleeping in her bed. Her grandpa and Uncle Ricky installed the new AC and let's just say mom and dad are freeeeeezing now. But it makes sleeping much more comfortable. In fact last night Abby slept in her bed from about 9:30 -4:30! Then from 5 - 7 when daddy had to wake her up. WOHOOOOOO. While you would think that mom then got great sleep too, sadly this isn't the case as I kept waking up worrying about her and making the occasional trip to make sure she was okay. Eventually, I think this will get easier, at least I hope so.

I have the sneaking suspicion that Abigail Elizabeth Mauriello is developing a slight case of separation anxiety. She does fine with Gramma as she spends a good chunk of her time with Gramma. The other day Aunt Rennee was watching her for a bit and she did okay at first but then got quite a bit upset but then as soon as Daddy arrived all was right with the world. Daddy was very pleased with himself!

This little girl would be on the move if her head wasn't just a bit tooo big for the rest of her body. She is rolling over like a pro. She is sitting up quite a bit without support. She has her moments where she loses her balance but a lot of the time she is able to correct and keep herself from falling over. Her new thing at Gramma's is to sit in her pack n play and play with her toys. Reaching for things and keeping herself entertained.

We took a trip to the lake this past weekend. Abby does very well with changes to her normal routine. She enjoys seeing all the new things and meeting new people.

Abby and mommy are going to get to spend a few days together while Gramma goes on her biker trip with Grandpa and Aunt Terri and Uncle Barry. We hope they come back safe and in one piece! Mommy is excited to see what fun she and Abby can get into!

Here are a few pictures from the week.

Abby & Mommy. This is Abby's new favorite spot to sleep.

Abby is really enjoying sitting up and playing with toys

She can't quite push it enough to get it to spin but she gives it her best shot!

Abby LOVES daddy's face. Any time she can get close enough she is reaching for it and trying to put his nose in her mouth! Its quite entertaining.

Daddy's Girl.

She is the toy queen these days.

Abby enjoyed her wind blown hair look from the boat.

I think she also enjoyed the freedom of not having to wear all her clothes on the boat!

She is beginning to develop an attachment to her toys. Mommy used to have a glow worm that was her absolute FAVORITE toy. Abby now has one too!

Playing!

Milestones!

It is so amazing to see the changes from week to week, even day to day! She continues to amaze me everyday! She has hit so many of her milestones and some of them early! Mom is hoping we have one smart cookie on our hands!

This morning she amazed mommy with her ability to pass her pacifier from one hand to the other like it was no biggie. She is doing great working on sitting up by herself. Mostly still supported but she has a few "moments" where she can hold herself on her own. She is enjoying the new freedoms that rolling has brought to her. Tho, I think she enjoys it for a while and then when she gets tired she lets you know she is not in a position she is enjoying and she is too tired to fix it for herself.

I can't wait until she can talk and walk but then I tell myself, yes, yes, you can wait, it will be here soon enough. We are extremely excited to see what her first word is going to be.

Knock on wood, she has done better the past few nights with her sleeping stretches. Dad has been the one to put her to bed and something is telling me that is helping but I'm not exactly sure why. It is time to make the transition from bassinet to her crib but mom is having a hard time plus it has been extremely hot in our house lately (the cobblers children never have shoes but Gramma assures me that the cobblers grandchildren will), Abby's room is especially warm so it isn't quite comfortable enough for her to sleep in there just yet. I think we are going to have to break down and get that fixed here soon.

Abby is doing well with the rice cereal. I think she is enjoying it for the most part. Jack really enjoyed helping to clean up the other night as you will see in some of the pictures. I am not sure what food we will venture into next. I think we will still wait a few more weeks but I'm also thinking I might try and adventure into making my own baby food. I don't think it is terribly hard but I need to do a bit more research and find some good recipes.

Sadly, we had to stop going to gymboree. They changed the class time without telling us and it doesn't quite work with mommy's schedule. Hopefully we will be able to find something that works for our schedule soon.

This weekend was spent finishing up uncle Robby's new apartment in the basement. There is still a bit to do but there was A LOT of progress! We had a few helping hands from Uncle Ricky, Gramma and Grandpa and the awesome Uncle B & Aunt Terri. Abby was so excited about all the comings and goings that she passed on most of her naps for the day. So that made for one cranky Abby saturday night, tho she did sleep fairly well. And let me just say the napping on sunday was wonderful, and thankfully the sleep sunday night was fairly uneventful! Oh the joys of getting a baby to stick to a schedule.

Abby has been doing a bit of tugging on her ear the past 2 days and has had some unusual cranky moments so we decided we better make sure she doesn't have an ear infection. So we stopped at the doctors this morning and she said no ear infection, but she is pretty sure we are going to see a tooth very soon! While that doesn't help the crankiness, it certainly is better than an ear infection!

Abby tends to get distracted by the camera while eating.

It is amazing how she just knows what to do!

Jack is never far when Abby is eating at the table

We are really beginning to enjoy bathtime and splashing with our feet.

Mom fed her and well...we really made a mess!

Abby tried to help clean up......

but she really needed Jack's help!

I'm not sure who had more fun with this process, Jack or Abby

Robby's Apartment

Coming along nicely. For those who know uncle Robby,

you know it will never be this clean again!

Summer Heat!

This week has been quite the HOT one around here. Abby is not a fan of the extreme temperatures. We came home from work on Friday and she was just so hot and uncomfortable she was pleased to let me know! So we sat for a while in front of the fan to cool down and relax. The heat has made it a hard adjustment to sleeping without being swaddled. Abby is a big fan of the swaddle but it has been just TOO hot so it has made for some rough nights but I think she is getting used to it now.

Abby had a quiet 2 weeks of growing but after having gone to the doctor for our 4 month check up she is now up to 11 lbs. 7.5 oz. So we are hoping the big gains continue!

I had some video's to put up but I can't for the life of me get it to work. So maybe I'll try to get my computer savvy husband to figure it out! Cross your fingers!

Jack and Abby are becoming best of friends. Abby has developed quite the sense of where Jack is and when he is not paying attention to her, she is not pleased. If he walks away she is looking all over for him. They love to "play" together. Jack would lick her feet and hands all day if we let him. She loves it as well and it will really get her giggling at times. We are pleased with how Jack is handling Abby, he will let her kick him in the face and he will just keep on licking her not phased at all. He will even let her reach out and grab his face and pull and he won't have a reaction at all. I think the two of them are going to be just fine hanging out together!

She really does love sitting in her stroller putting her feet up. Its hilarious.

Daddy had Abby try out the Jenny Jump-up while mom was not around!

Abigail Learning her first instrument..

Kicking the Dog

Abby's First Solid Food!

Well we have ventured into the land of solid food. If you can really call rice cereal solid food. It was an adventure. Abby did remarkably well. She was even reaching for the spoon with her mouth, it really was amazing. We tried 3 nights in a row and mom felt that Abby was quite a bit more fussy after having eaten so we held off for the next 2 nights to see how things went. She was a little more calm so we are not sure if maybe the rice cereal made her a little fussy. We are going to take another stab at it tonight to see how things go. Jack waited patiently by the table hoping for anything that might come his way. I think he will have to wait a little longer but eventually Abby will be sharing food with Jack for sure.

Of course my mom is hotter than your mom! No question! ;-)

After the first bite Abby dove for the bowl!

She really wasn't sure how she felt about it at first.

Hmmm......

This is mommy's new favorite picture! You can just see the excitement about this new texture in her mouth!

Open Wide!