Highlights of Month 11

Month 11 for Abigail was a blast. She continues to make us smile and laugh and marvel at her ingenuity and cleverness. I am hopelessly behind on the blog, so this one will have less commentary in hopes of catching back up!

A few things Abigail learned how to do this month: blowing kisses, blowing raspberries with her tongue, pointing at things, feeding herself yogurt with a spoon and actually getting some in her mouth, signing all done,  and standing on her tip toes.

The big deal for Month 11 was our trip to Hawaii. We left MN on February 28 for the long-dreaded 4+6 hour flights (we had a stopover in LA) with an 11-month-old! Abigail did really well. Not to say that it wasn't completely and utterly exhausting (especially the flight back which leaves at 9pm and arrives in LA at 5am - she slept almost the entire time but I was holding her and trying to keep her asleep, so I didn't sleep at all!), but she really did do well. She was pretty content, except when we absolutely had to be sitting down, in which case Cheerios usually did the trick. It was tricky though, since her attention span is about 3 minutes maximum! Abigail started full-on walking (she had taken her first steps earlier in the month) in the LAX airport, which is fine by me! I would much rather have her walking than crawling around the airport!

Glad to be there!

And grateful for all of Grandma's hard work and thoughtfulness about getting everything ready to make us comfortable!

Abigail loves brushing her teeth with Daddy

First morning - sunrise

We had a fantastic time with my family in Hawaii. Abigail loved spending time with Grandma and Grandpa and Aunties Mari, Michelle, and Vicky and Uncle Matt. She was the star of the town! We ran some errands with Grandma so that everyone could see little Miss Abigail that they have heard so much about (because Grandma previously wore the crown of star of the town!). 

Abigail was exposed to many new sensory experiences in Hawaii! With the ground in Minnesota still covered in snow, and her being a tiny babe last summer, this was the first time she experienced grass, stones, sand, and a whole host of other things - all of which, her immediate reaction was to try to taste! In the beginning, she hated the grass. We knew she hated it when she tried to chase the kitty (whom she loved) but stopped when the cat moved out onto the grass. Unfortunately for Abigail, Lassie (the cat) quickly realized her safety zone, so Abigail spent a lot of time pointing to the cat in the distance!

"Grandma, can you make that cat come back here where I don't have to touch the grass?"

It was actually quite the party trick the first few days showing Abigail's aversion to grass. We would walk her to the edge of the stone patio, her toes would brush up against the grass, and she would immediately back up. When you would try to hold her hands and walk her towards the grass and she would sit back on her haunches and put all her weight (about 18 pounds!) into staying away from the grass! She eventually came around, but the other funny thing she did in the beginning was that when you would put her on the grass, she would lift up one foot like a flamingo so less of her skin was exposed to that crazy stuff!

Another funny anecdote from the trip was our times at the beach. Each time, Abigail would get sleepy-eyed and often napped. It was pretty funny when I realized that the tune we use on her white noise machine is the ocean waves track. I guess we know our sleep cue is working!

We also threw a practice birthday party for her, since everyone was there. It was very fun, even though she wasn't too sure about the cake at first!

Dancing to Grandma playing Happy Birthday on the ukelele!

It was clear that Abigail is such an outdoor baby - she would stand by the door and point until someone took her out! She had lots of nice walks in the carrier to nap and lots of snuggles with everyone.

Loving those snuggles with Grandma!

She loved the tour of the gardens with Grandpa and was appropriately appreciative of his hard work!

Grandpa blowing kisses to us inside

Abigail blowing kisses

Just chillin' like a big girl!

Clapping with Grandpa

Looking good in her new Hawaiian dress from Grandma

Checking out her shadow

Having a blast "watch" Grandma at hula

Poor little girl had to leave Hawaii and lots of doting aunts, uncle, and grandparents to be back in the "real world"! :) We came home and she started fussing and throwing herself to the ground in child's pose with giant crocodile tears when she wanted to be held but we were in the middle of something and couldn't pick her up!