Abby is 15 months!

Abby is 15 months! We went to the doctor today to get 3 shots and update her stats.

Height: 31.5 inches (grew 2.5 inches in 3 months) = 75-80%

Weight: 23 lb, 15 oz (gained 2 lbs 3 oz in 3 months) = 90-95%

Head: 48 cm (up 0.5 cm in 3 months) = 80-85%

Diaper: 4's. We're using night diapers now too.

Eating: Pretty much everything! She still takes a bottle at night. She constantly hums while she's eating.

Clothing: 12 -18 months.

Sleeping: Sleeps 12 hours at night and takes 1 nap (1.5-2 hours). Grant and Abby napping at the same time = BLISS!

Talking: Mama, Dada, Bubba, Lola, Mmmm (more), Mmmm (moo), and her favorite word is definitely "ROAR!" She says it for lions and dinosaurs. She still hasn't said "no", so the fun hasn't even begun! She signs for milk, more and please. Please is her go-to sign. In the evenings, she whines at my feet, makes me follow her into the kitchen, stands by the cabinet with the bottles and signs "Please" over and over. Then she walks to the fridge where the milk is and either whines or signs until she gets her milk!

She also seems to sing "Twinkle, Twinkle." I think she started this at 1 year, but I thought it was a fluke. At her doctor's appointment for her 1 year checkup, the doctor even commented. "Was that 'Baa baa black sheep?'" - I told him no - it was Twinkle, Twinkle. ;) Since it's happened more than once since then, we're going to go ahead a call this her first song.

Teeth: Molars are in!! Teeth brushing is sometimes fun and sometimes torture.

Milestones: Still waves goodbye, gives kisses, and mimics all sorts of noises/movements. After her biting spell, she now seems to have turned a corner. Now she only bites Grant and pulls my hair. She throws full-on toddler fits when she doesn't get her way. Face down on the ground, arms and legs hitting the ground. She now responds to "How big is Abby? SOOO big!" And she knows "up" and "down". She loves light switches (Grant loved them at this age too... and with Abby's recent fascination, he's drawn to them again). She also honks noses and can point to her head and toes.

Guaranteed Smiles: She's still a mama's girl - reaches for me all the time. She also LOVES to play peek-a-boo. This helps at night when she's getting in her PJs.

Guaranteed Crying: Her toughest time of day is getting into PJs. We thought she had ringworm on her back, so we treated it with Lotrimin. It got worse! The doctor said it's probably eczema and gave us some samples of steroid creams. Since I'm back-dating this blog, I can tell you it is working SO well! BUT because her back is still itchy, she scratches her back as soon as you lay her on her changing table.

And here are Grant's stats from his 15 month post.

San Antonio

Other construction attorneys had RAVED about the construction law CLE in San Antonio, so I thought it would be worthwhile to go. Then we decided to make it a quick weekend get away! And as an added bonus, Clint and Shauna did too. A quick weekend away without babies!

My cab arrived at 4:30 a.m. on Thursday. Yikes. Highlight of the early flight: seeing the sun rise over the clouds. A first for me and quite breathtaking.

I spent all day Thursday learning and took advantage of some adult time in the evening when I met another attorney, Janet, at a bar. Service was terrible, but the conversation was great AND much of our meal was comped. YEAH!

Friday was another all-day affair. Seriously - we even had class during lunch. I switched hotels and snuck in a nap before Derek, Clint and Shauna drove up.

Friday night we went to Ritas on the River. Derek and I remember it for their KILLER beef fajitas. The fajitas were still good, but the margaritas were NOT! We saw the Alamo, remembered it, then headed back to the hotel for a night cap in the hot tub.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch... The kiddos enjoyed a big breakfast, cousin time, and ice cream!! Grant cried once after he ran over his sister... Papa can have that effect!

Abby tried to drive the Ranger, then tried to drive the one-seater John Deere toy.

She also got some time with Coco!!

Saturday we enjoyed breakfast in bed (free thanks to our Groupon!), then the boys worked out while the girls chatted over coffee. We had lunch at Chris Madrid's Nachos and Burgers (which were paired with delicious Mango Margaritas).

And keeping with the healthy menu, we headed over to Lulu's for their famous 3 pound cinnamon roll! In case you're wondering, the cinnamon roll won.

We needed to walk off the food coma, so we headed over to the La Cantera Shops. We took advantage of child-free shopping and walked away with boots (me) and watches (me and Derek).

Derek and Clint had reservations at a winery for us on Saturday night. There was also a charity event going on with a photo booth. I eyed it early in the evening and schemed to sneak into it for a memoir of our evening. Sure, the waiter wanted us to spend $40 on wine to take home as a memoir, but I like the free one better. Plus, it's a rule that was broken without any consequence.... which I just love! Once we got back to the hotel, we capped off the evening (again) with a night cap in the hot tub.

Today, we had breakfast (with complimentary mimosas) and headed out by 10. We maximized our child-free shopping again at the San Marcos outlets (look for my $9 BCBG dress at the wedding this coming weekend!!!) and Cabelas. But the highlight of the day was seeing this when we drove up to Grandma Rose & Papa's:

I melted right then. I hadn't seen these boogers since Wednesday night. Truth be told, I even missed Lola and snapped a shot of a Jack Russell that appeared in a Victoria Secret window ad when I was missing her! Abby wanted me to hold her (and not let her go) and Grant continued to play with cars.

It was so funny to hear the grandparents' take on the kids. According to them, Grant is smart, sweet, and sentimental, and Abby is spoiled rotten! She runs away when you get out a Kleenex, tackles Grant, holds her hands up at Grandma Rose's feet to be held, and throws herself on the ground in a full-blown toddler fit when she gets mad. I blame their ages... and birth order. I'm sure it's not MY fault!!

The weekend away was refreshing. This weekend a facebook friend posted a photo from a date with her hubby. The caption from her photo rang true for our weekend away. "You say it's fun. I say it's NECESSARY!"

Minnesota

I had to travel to Minneapolis on Monday, so when a co-worker mentioned that the Mall of America is on her bucket list, I thought I should make a stop there before getting down to bid-ness on Monday.

So I left Sunday for the Mall of America. But not without sending a text to Grant:

With the message: Mama is going to ride on this BIG airplane!

I got cold just looking out the window:

The MOST impressive part of the the Mall of America?!

The Lego statutes!!

Seriously. It was the best part. All these guys (and the helicopter) are made of Legos. And the big robot guy is over 2 stories tall. The traditional Lego guys (one on the horse and the other in the hat) were the size of a person. Other than that, it was just a mall.

The rough part was missing out on my annual Oscars party and Kennedy's 18th birthday! It sounds like Choctaw was cold though and thankfully Anna and I texted during red carpet. Almost the same as the parties. If "almost" means "not even close." And Derek caught this shot of Abby in party mode holding her (hand-me-down) Toms:

I got to see some friends in Minneapolis on Monday night and was back home by noon on Tuesday. Only to pack up and leave again bright and early Thursday morning...

February in Instagram Photos

Lots of fun in February!

Playing Joker with the Gabriels

Quick visit to Big Gaga's. I love swingin' with my baby!

Watching Woody... you can see Abby back there with her bottle.

ROSES for Valentine's Day!

My monkeys! Abby asked for curly hair.

My first time to wear my Christmas bling - on our Valentine's date to the pop-up dinner for LUCK. They open in June or July in Trinity Groves. Everyone needs to go when they do! My co-worker's husband is the chef.

Craft night with my bffs before Lolly moves! :(

Anger management

Abby has anger management issues. She bit a "friend" at school every. single. day. last week. Saturday was great! No biting! But she bit Grant on his stomach on Sunday. To be fair, Grant stole her toy after Derek told him not to.

I thought we were in the clear this week. Abby didn't bite anyone on Monday or Tuesday!! (although her teacher said they interfered right before she did). Apparently she can only go 2 days without biting though - she bit a "friend" again on Wednesday because they were fighting over a Lego.

And Grant was even on the receiving end of a (errr - second) bite this week. A "friend" bit him and actually cut through the skin. I didn't realize there were vampires in his class! But thankfully Grant can tell us who the culprit is. We're training him to tell the trouble makers "Be nice or go home!"

Now what do we do when he says that to Abby.....

Let's go for a walk

Last weekend we walked to Farmer's Market on Saturday. It was pretty brisk - our ears were hurting when we got there, but the kids were bundled up much better than us. Our loot? Soup, pie, pork butt, and pork sausage. Yummm.


The kids got to see Uncle Towel too! We met up with the Gabriels for dinner and SOMEONE was overserved.

On Sunday we went for a walk before naps to the park. I took my good camera. See?


Just love seeing my babies play together:

And I love seeing this boy grow. Learning to climb:

After naps we headed to Big Gaga's.

January in Instagram photos

I was a terrible blogger in the month of January, so I'll let Instagram tell my story.

January 8th we finally packed up our Christmas gear. I got the kids' handprints to add to our tree skirt.

Abby fell asleep on me. Instagram text: Hightlight of my day. She never falls asleep on me anymore!

After Abby's bath, I really played up the curly hair. Can you tell?!?!

On January 12th, our daycare had parents' night out. A friend from high school plays with Emerald City now and they were playing nearby. So we headed out and had a night full of dancing with my parents, siblings, and some of their friends. Derek's night was MUCH longer than mine!! Instagram text: Dancin' shoes!

But before we went dancing, Grant ran into his cousin. He's got quite a shiner here. Can you tell?

Last weekend we played with the Dacuses all day. This included a trip to the park.

And just this past Thursday, Erin and I went to the Perot Museum of Nature and Science. It was a great event - the museum wasn't crowded at all and they served delicious appetizers and cocktails. We learned a lot on the 2nd floor about the human body while we stalked the kitchen to get dibs on the appetizers.