Halloween!

This year Lily was very interested in Halloween. Initially she wanted to be Dora, then she thought maybe a butterfly, then we saw a dinosaur costume in the store and that decided it for her. She's a dinosaur fanatic right now, so this was a perfect fit. Abby wore Lily's old mouse costume since her dinosaur costume got mixed up in the mail. It finally arrived 3 days after Halloween. Oh well, she made a cute mouse too.

We actually had pretty good weather. It was in the mid-40s when we went out around 6:30 PM. After one year in New England, this feels brisk but not too cold. We haven't even broken out the jackets yet. What a difference a year makes.

All ready to go.

We went trick-or-treating with Lily's two best buddies and their families, Avery and Skylar. Unfortunately, Scott stayed home to get some work done, but the three of us had a good time. We did about two blocks or so and almost filled one plastic pumpkin, so it was a successful outing. Abby enjoyed sucking on her costume and watching the kids.

Lily the T-Rex with Skylar as Tigger and Avery the monkey.

Lily was excited and actually said "trick-or-treat" and "thank you" at most of the houses. She wasn't so crazy about the houses that had strobe lights as a part of their decor and I had to carry her to the door of a house that had a spooky tunnel leading up to it. She also wasn't so fond of kids in masks, especially the Scream mask. I don't blame her really, that kid was scary.

She had a ton of fun though and thankfully she isn't too concerned about the candy yet so one Dum-dum sucker was enough for her for the night.

Abby's 5 months old!

We're quickly approaching a half year old already. I feel like Abby has grown up a lot in the last month. She's gotten so big for one but she's also definitely a baby now and not a newborn at all. I mostly welcome this change. I love her smiles and laughs and I love her talking. I love seeing her personality start to come out.

I think she's going to be our musical child. She loves music. She especially loves when we sing to her. She prefers our singing to listening to CDs, although she does like listening to those too. Lily and I spend a lot of the day singing songs and she really likes that. She especially likes her lullaby Give Said the Little Stream and this often makes her stop crying when she's upset. Other favorites are the ABCs and Twinkle, twinkle little star. She's also a burgeoning percussionist. She likes to use toys to drum on her high chair tray and sings along with her "music".

She has a very ticklish tummy. She loves to have it tickled and it makes her laugh really hard. She also likes playing games. She's figured out that if she drops toys off her tray someone will keep picking them up for her. She also plays a game with me when she's getting her diaper changed where she's kicks me in the stomach and then I say "Ow!" She starts laughing as soon as she starts kicking me and before I even react because she knows it's coming. But Lily has the easiest time getting her to laugh. Lily plays a little roughly with her and she loves it. Abby likes to keep an eye on Lily to see what she's up to and can keep her entertained for quite a while (long enough for mommy to take a shower). This has come in pretty handy many times.

She's also decided she doesn't care too much for sleeping. We've tried to establish a more structured bedtime routine where she gets dressed in her PJs, then she gets in Lily's bed with Daddy and Lily to read bedtime stories, then she nurses, then she gets in her crib to go to sleep. So far this hasn't worked extremely well yet. She'll stay in there for a little while but she hasn't actually gone to sleep yet. Her pediatrician said we should keep up the routine and she might get it eventually. We can hope. So we end up rocking her to sleep, often hold her until we go to bed, and then sometimes she'll sleep in her own bed for a few hours, or sometimes she'll just sleep in our bed the whole night. She's given up the co-sleeper. She's pretty much as big as it is now, so I don't think it's all that comfortable for her any more. Unfortunately she's not all that crazy about napping either. She's great at falling asleep in the car but she doesn't sleep as well at home. In the past week she has napped some in her crib so it's just something we have to continue trying and hoping soon she'll figure it out and decide it's OK to sleep there.

Milestones:
Wearing 6-9 months or 12 month clothing
Wearing size 2-3 diapers
Rolling from back to tummy all the time
Puts up with being on her stomach for longer and longer stretches
Can sit up for about 30 seconds unassisted
Loves being in her high chair or Bumbo chair
Talks a lot, often loudly
Has babbled once (ya ya ya ya ya)
Sometimes sings along with mommy
Really likes her feet and pulling off socks and playing with her shoes
Loves toys and sucking on them
Is sucking on her hands less than she used to, but still often
100% breastfed, but we plan on introducing solids this month
Loves a little stuffed lamb Lily picked out for her
Likes to scratch things to feel their texture

Abby helping pick apples

The whole family in New York City

Abby watching her sister at the Peabody

Abby is 4 months

She's a big girl. She's definitely getting enough to eat. She has lots of chubby rolls on her legs and arms. She's a really good eater and a decent sleeper. We've run into a bit of a rough patch where we're trying to figure out what she needs. Some days it's difficult to get her to nap at all. We had a few days in a row where she only slept for 45 minutes throughout the whole day (WAY too little sleep!). She falls asleep well in the car but when we get somewhere she wakes up pretty quickly. She likes motion and she likes background noise. Although the day after one of these 45 minute days I laid her down in her crib and she went right to sleep on her own without any fussing. So we're going to try that more. If she's tired but not too tired it might work more often. Generally she still likes to be shushed and bounced to sleep or nursed and rocked to sleep.

I am the center of her universe. I know this won't last much longer so I'm enjoying it now. She pretty much always keeps her eyes on me. If she's leaning against my chest while we're sitting in the glider she'll tip her head all the way back so she can see my face. If I'm not holding her she'll keep my eyes on me wherever I am in the room. Sometimes it's a little suffocating but it's nice at the same time. Pretty soon she'll be refusing to give me a kiss before she goes to bed at night like someone else in our house, so I have to soak up the attention while I can.

She has an extra ticklish tummy and it's pretty easy to get her to laugh. She really likes noses rubbed in her belly. Or anything Lily does. Lily is second only to mommy. Perfection for her is when mommy is holding her and Lily is jumping around entertaining her. She also loves bouncing around and flying through the air. I think she might grow up to be more of a daredevil than her sister. She's a little bit coy and flirty. While she's nursing she'll stop, look up at me to make sure I'm watching her, smile, then go back to eating. In general she just smiles and laughs a lot and is a very happy baby.

She loves music and she loves reading. She prefers Lily and I to sing to her. If she starts crying in the car Lily and I sing her songs and it often calms her down. Reading books also surprisingly calms her down. Even if she's upset she'll listen to a book. She likes to look at the pictures a lot and will pay attention to several books in a row.

She drools a lot and always wants to have something in her mouth. It's often her hand but she also likes to chew on burp rags and toys. I don't feel any teeth close to coming in so I think she just likes it. She seems interested in food and I think she's going to like eating. We're pretty committed to waiting until she's 6 months old to give her any solid foods, though we might move that up a week so her first meal can be Thanksgiving. Thus far she hasn't had anything but breastmilk. She's definitely thriving and she's finally eaten off all mommy's baby weight.

Wears 6-9 month clothing.
Wears a size 2 diaper.
100% breastfed!
Over 15 lbs (official weigh-in 10/14).
Rolled from her back to belly (9/30/10).
Smiling & laughing constantly.
Loves her sister.
Pays attention to her grandparents on Skype.
Starting to talk & practice making different sounds.
Lots of drool.
Starting to sit up, but quickly bends forward so her head touches her toes.
Loves looking at the trees outside.

Typical Abigail: happy & laughing.

The girls at a river/lake in Connecticut.

Aunt Kellie was here for most of Abby's 4th month. I think they both had fun.

3 months

It's hard to believe Abigail is already 3 months old. Now she's starting to get into the more fun stage since she's smiling and laughing some now. Her sister gets the biggest smiles. She LOVES watching her sister. She'll keep her eyes glued on Lily wherever she goes. And if Lily smiles at her she almost always smiles back. And Lily is so funny, she loves being a little mommy and she repeats everything I say to Abigail in the same sing-song tone I use to talk to her. "Where'd your smile go Abigail? Are you talking to me Abigail?" It's pretty funny and Abigail loves it.

Abigail has the sweetest smile and laugh. She has a squeak on the end of her laugh just like she has on her cry. It's adorable.

She's still an excellent sleeper. She's slept through the night once (August 15 - 2.5 months old). But she consistently sleeps from about 10:30 PM to 6 AM. I'm pretty thrilled with that. At 6 AM she just wakes up to eat and then goes back to sleep until 8 or so. Sometimes she even eats again and sleeps even later! But 8 is about the time we're all up and heading downstairs so she usually wakes up for a little while at that time. She's still not really on a nap schedule at all. Her afternoon nap is starting to get more regular and she frequently sleeps when Lily sleeps for a couple hours (Lily is still sleeping for 3 hours every afternoon). I guess I'm too boring for her. Sometimes she'll take that nap in her crib, more often she takes it downstairs with me in her swing or bouncer, or if I'm unlucky, in my lap while I rock her (like today, when she needed to be held all day long). She still sleeps through a lot so I can usually get things done even if she's sleeping in the same general area. It's nice to be able to get things done.

She's still eating only breast milk. She a champion nurser and loves to eat. I think her sensitivities to dairy have mostly passed. She still has occasional spit-up but nothing terrible and she certainly doesn't spit-up every time she eats. It may have just been her immature digestive system and nothing to do with dairy. Whatever the case, I'm glad to have dairy back in my life. She's taken another bottle successfully so I'm hoping she's decided she's OK with them now. Up until now I don't think I've been away from her for more than and hour and a half. Which is fine, but it would be nice not to have to worry about her screaming from hunger while I'm away. And Aunt Kellie is going to be here next week so I might be able to convince her to babysit for a night while she's here.

She's a major hand-sucker. She likes to have that thing in her mouth all the time. And if something gets in between her hand and her mouth--like a burp rag or a bib--she'll suck on that too. She doesn't use a pacifier, so this may be a replacement for that. She also drools quite a lot. Her shirts are always soaking wet. Not just a little wet--drenched. She usually has a bib on and that will be wet and the shirt under it will be wet. I'm glad it's summer and not freezing in February.

It was a really busy month for Abigail too. Her Bauby and Papa Jim came out to meet her. So she got a lot of cuddles and presents and attention--all her favorite things. Then we went on a road trip and she got to check a bunch more states off her list (Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana and Illinois). So that puts her up to 8 states in her first 3 months of life (she'd already been to Connecticut-clearly, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and New York). We may not be world travelers but we've seen a lot of the United States. Both girls got to meet all the Chicago relatives, many for the first time--more on that to come hopefully. We all had a good time.

Lily at 3 months-by comparison

This was one of those mornings she wanted to sleep in.

First night in a hotel.

How we spent about 30 or so hours of her 3rd month.

In front of touchdown Jesus (University of Notre Dame campus).

First time swimming in a pool.

Cruising with Lily. This is how we roll.

Taking a bath with Lily. Lily liked it more than Abigail.

Smiles

2 months!

Abigail is a really good baby. Overall, she's very easy. Her most difficult trait is she prefers to be held all the time. Most of the time during the day, she likes me to hold her. Sometimes she'll lay down in her crib to take a nap or sometimes she'll sleep in her bouncer. But mostly she likes to be held, or even better, rocked. She does enjoy laying under her jungle gym/mat and listening to the music and she's just starting to reach for toys.

She's an excellent sleeper. She can go to sleep on her own. When she goes to sleep for the night, she usually has a bit of a hard time and likes to be rocked and cuddled and sung to or shushed. She's pretty good at waking up briefly and and going back to sleep on her own.

She's an absolute joy. Her little smiles are starting to peak out and it just melts your heart.

At 2 months Abigail is:
-Growing out of size 0-3 months clothing (need to get the next size out and washed).
-Wearing size 1-2 diapers.
-Is 100% breastfed.
-Has drank one bottle well and refused to drink one (we're working on this).
-Sleeps most nights from 11 PM -6 AM, eats then sleeps 2-3 more hours, eats again, then sleeps for 2-3 more hours. She usually gets up for the day at 11 AM.
-Is allergic to dairy. Her pediatrician says that this might just be a sensitivity so if I just eat/drink less dairy Abigail will probably be OK. So I've tried added a little bit of dairy and it seems to be OK for now.
-Smiling.
-Loves her big sister so much.
-Just starting to coo.
-Starting to look at toys and try to touch objects. Her arm movements are very jerky still but she's trying to control them to go to a specific place. I can see the wheels in her head spinning as she just soaks up information.
-Loves her mommy most and can be soothed just hearing mommy's voice.
-Likes to be moving. Still hates red lights. Loves bumpy car rides. Loves when Daddy bounces her.
-Doesn't cry much. Fusses when she's hungry and usually only cries when she's tired and is having a hard time falling asleep.
-Loves to be outside and looking up at the trees.
-Always warm and gets especially hot and sweaty in her car seat.
-Has fuzzy hair that sticks up in the back when she's recently had a bath.
-Likes to suck on her fist (a lot!).

Sisters

That little green bundle is Abigail. This is how they spent an hour or so many afternoons while Lily was napping & mommy was getting shower/alone time.

Abigail hanging out in her tent at the beach. She was awake and content to just hang out in the shade.

Lullabies

I often sing or hum songs when I'm rocking the girls to sleep. Obviously Abigail more than Lily now, but I still sing Lily her song if she's sad, or tired, or just needs some alone time with mommy.

Lily's song:

Daisy Bell

Daisy Daisy,
Give me your answer do!
I'm half crazy,
All for the love of you!
It won't be a stylish marriage,
I can't afford a carriage,
But you'll look sweet on the seat
Of a bicycle built for two!

I, of course, change "Daisy" to "Lily". It's not a real lullaby at all, but it's on a children's CD she has and it was the first thing that occurred to me to sing with her and it stuck. This is only the chorus, but this is the only part I sing to her. I don't think Lily knows why but it does still calm her when I sing it now.

Abigail's song:

Give said the little stream

Give, said the little stream,
Give, oh, give, give, oh, give,
Give, said the little stream,
As it hurried down the hill;
I'm small, I know, but wherever I go,
The grass grow greener still.
Singing, singing all the day,
Give away, oh, give away,
Singing, singing all the day,
Give, oh, give away.

This was as song I sang in church growing up and I noticed my mom humming it to Abigail when she was here right after she was born and now I sing it to her as well. She just stares at me when I sing it.

1 month!

Abigail is a month old already. I would have sworn we just got home from the hospital.

At one month she's:
Around 12 lbs.
Wearing 0-3 month old clothes.
Wearing size 1 diapers.
Likes to be held.
Likes to look out the living room window at the big tree out front.
Likes to be in her car seat if it's moving--hates red lights.
Loves to be in the wrap (& this makes me feel like I'm still pregnant).
Goes to sleep "for the night" at around 11:30 PM and sleeps until around 9:30 AM (just briefly waking up 3-4 times to eat).
Spits up, belches & farts a lot.
Has a really cute squeak in her cry.
Is often fussy in the evenings before she falls asleep for the night.
Loves to be held. Doesn't really like to sit on her own.
100% breastfed (& no bottles yet either).
Loves to take baths a have water sprayed through her hair.
Grunts a lot. She will grunt back to me when I talk to her sometimes.
Has an occasional hint of a smile.
Can roll up onto her side to eat while laying in our bed (since ~1 week old).
Can move around by wiggling.
Loves looking at our big wedding photo on the wall by the glider just like Lily did.
Sleeps in the co-sleeper next to our bed at night and in her bouncer, swing or on someone during the day.

Abigail is a joy as we expected. She still sleeps for a large portion of the day but this also means a lot of cuddling time, which is so nice. She's a big eater. It's nice being the only one that can calm her sometimes (although I'm sure that's frustrating for everyone else at times). The plan is to pump some milk so other people can feed her if necessary. It would be really nice if Scott and I could go out at least once while my mom is still here (but we only have 10 more days). I can't even remember the last movie I saw in the theater. I know we haven't seen one since we've been in New Haven and that's been 8 months. (An aside: a friend told me to see a lot of movies before Lily was born because I probably wouldn't get the chance as often. I didn't realize how good that advice was. We never saw a lot of movies in the theater before kids but now I miss it.)

This should be a post about Abigail, but I have to mention Lily briefly. She loves her sister so much. This may all change soon, so we're enjoying it now. She wants to hold Abby all the time. She soothes her when she's crying. She uses the same nicknames for her that we do ("sweetheart", etc). Although occasionally she does tell me to put her down in her bouncer if she wants to do something with me or needs my help with something.

Being a family of four is definitely different and definitely more difficult. Abigail gets neglected at times; much more than Lily did. I'm sure she has to cry more than Lily ever did because sometimes I have to attend to Lily at the same time. But hopefully we're a little better at parenting this time around so maybe we're a little better at soothing her and figuring out what she needs. Our car is a lot tighter on space now. We only have space for one extra person now and with our new double stroller, the trunk space is really limited. We'll have to upgrade at some point. But it's wonderful having a baby around again. And seeing Lily as a big sister. And having this little person in our lives that we're getting to know.

I should mention that we haven't really had to adjust to two kids completely yet. My sister, Melody, and niece, Bella, were here for Abigail's birth and a week or so afterward. Unfortunately for her that meant she was here when I was really huge and uncomfortable and then when I was recovering from childbirth so she got to do a lot of hanging out and not much fun stuff. Shortly after she left my parents arrived. My dad for a week and my mom for a whole month. By this time I was feeling more myself so we were able to do a few fun things while my dad was here. This also means I've only done a couple loads of dishes since Abigail's birth and barely any laundry. Obviously I'll have to figure out how to fit these things into my routine once my mom leaves. Maybe the biggest help has been with our morning routines though. Abigail doesn't go to sleep until around 11:30 each night, which means I usually don't get into bed until around midnight and then I'm up every 3 hours to feed her. She is willing to sleep in each morning, but Lily isn't so much. Lily is usually up some time between 7:30 and 8:30, but thankfully I haven't needed to get up that early. Lily gets up and plays with Grandma for a couple of hours while Abigail and I sleep in. And even with all of this I'm still tired, so I can't imagine what I'd feel like if I had to get up with Lily every morning. I foresee morning cartoons in mommy's bed in our future (after grandma leaves). This has also been a big help to Scott. He finished one fellowship application right before Abigail's birth and it working on another now, so he's been leaving a little after 8 every morning and hasn't needed to come home until later since I've had help cooking meals and doing other things. Cooking was difficult enough with just Lily, especially since she's at the age where she likes to help with everything and our kitchen really isn't big enough for this. So we've been really lucky to have my family here to make the transition easier. And the grandparents on the Pope side will be out at the end of the month to help out even more.

All the girls hanging out in bed.

Team 1 in helping mommy.

Day trip to Boston.

First bath. Look at those bright eyes!

Abby's first bath

Abby's sleepy noises.

Then and now

Then (August 2008):

And now (June 2010):

Funny how we still think this toy is pretty exciting, although we haven't seen it in about a year and a half.

Great-Great Grandma Flora Cora Smith April 25, 1912-June 17, 2010

Four generations - July 2008.

Abigail and Lily's great-great grandmother passed away on June 17, 2010. She was 98 years old. She was born in 1912, the same year the Titanic sank. She saw Mount Lassen erupt as a young child. She was a major part of my life growing up. Outside of my immediate family, she was probably the most influential person in my childhood. When I was young, she lived (with my great-grandfather) on an 80-acre cattle farm in Cottonwood, CA about 25 minutes from our house. Us kids visited often and spent many weekends there. We spent a lot of time in her huge greenhouse re-potting and watering plants, taking walks to the end of their property to look at Cottonwood Creek and eat figs from the trees, feeding the baby cows with huge bottles or the bigger cows crab apples that had fallen to the ground. She had an organ in her den that I don't remember ever playing and Pac Man on Atari that we did play once or twice. We sat on the floor in her dark, stuffy living room and were so bored watching Jeopardy and other game shows. We sat at our kid-sized table with our tea set at the end of the kitchen counter. We stretched our imaginations playing in an old truck camper shell that was on the ground in the yard. We climbed bales of hay up to the ceiling of the barn. We even briefly had a pony that bucked us off and then soon after found a new home. We had our own room where we slept on a daybed with pictures of sailboats on the walls. We went to early dinners at North's Chuck Wagon where they charged kids by how much they weighed (maybe not so PC these days) and loved getting to choose what we wanted to eat from the buffet (hand carved roast beef!). We did all the things that kids should do with her.

We played games. Grandma Smith loved to play games. I'm pretty sure she gave me my competitive nature. She never threw a game just because you were younger than her, she wanted to win just as much as anyone else, but never in a mean-spirited way. Right up until 98 years old she played games with us. I remember her playing pinochle with her friends weekly when she lived with my parents (in the late 1990s and early 2000s) and being on a bowling league well into her 70s. She loved to play dominoes with us kids and RummyKub and Phase 10. But she was always willing to play any game and was deeply offended if she wasn't invited to play. I'm sure this helped keep her mind sharp until the very end. She was also a big baseball fan. She loved the Braves, but I don't recall her having any ties to Atlanta. We went to many Giants games in San Francisco growing up and she often came along to see the Giants play the Braves. She also liked the Lakers, which never went over well in our house. But she enjoyed watching all sports.

It is for all these reasons that we chose to name our second daughter in her honor. Abigail and her great-great grandmother share the middle name Cora. Growing up in our family she is sure to be a lover of games like her great-great grandmother. I'm sorry that they were never able to meet in person but I know she's still here in her daughter, granddaughter, and 4 great-granddaughters. And we'll make sure her great-great granddaughters know her.

Meeting Lily for the first time - July 2008.

Lily and Grandma Smith - September 2008.

September 2008 with Lily.

Christmas 2008. Lily helped her open her stocking and tried to pull out her earrings.

the BIG sister

Lily is a wonderful big sister. She's very concerned about Abigail. She imitates everything we do to soothe her ("It's OK Abigail." while shaking her bouncer). She holds her hand when they're in their car seats next to each other. She'll also tell me if she's sleeping or awake in the car. She's very proud of herself if she can get Abigail to take her pacifier or if she gets her to stop crying. She's also a little jealous. If Daddy rocks Abigail, Lily needs Daddy to rock her. She likes to be called a baby. She needs Daddy to feed her sometimes (despite having been eating on her own for at least 6 months). She will tell you she is NOT a big girl. She is a baby. We heard this would happen. This was one reason we didn't try to potty train her yet because we thought that might regress too and I didn't want to potty train twice (or run up the stairs to the bathroom 80 times a day at 9 months pregnant). So we'll cut her some slack. She's only two. She always seems so much older but she's two and right now she needs some babying. That's OK. The whining though, oh the whining. Hopefully that doesn't last long.

On all other accounts she's doing wonderfully. I'm convinced she's a child genius. :) She is speaking in sentences pretty much all the time. She drops a few words here and there and we try and repeat the full sentence back to her. Her memory is amazing. We can tell her something once and she'll remember it. This can also be a bad thing. Once her Aunt Melody told her she needed to brush her teeth because she had bugs in them (just joking around with her) and now she's convinced there are bugs in her teeth.

She's still very sensitive. If she gets in trouble, she often cries, it seems more like tears because she's sad about being a disappointment (which is really sad to see). She is sometimes afraid of her Papa Jerry (like when he pretends to be a monster). She was nervous about her grandparents in general for a little while. She hadn't seen them in person in 6 months (only over Skype) so it was a little weird for her. But after a few hours she warmed up and let them pick her up. She's so good at sharing. She'll share toys and snack with her friends without being asked. She gets confused when other kids take things away from her though. If it's a prized toy she gets upset and cries but mostly she's just confused.

She can count up to 13 and is working on getting up to 20. She knows her alphabet and she can identify all of her letters and numbers (1-9). Although sometimes when she's saying the alphabet she goes back to A again after P but if reminded about Q she'll finish the remaining letters. She knows all the basic shapes and some not so basic (like rhombus). She basically knows her colors but sometimes still gets some of them confused (red and green). She knows a ton of animals, she must know at least a hundred or so. She's way beyond, cat, dog and rabbit (she knows flamingo and toucan and cheetah). She loves dinosaurs and visiting the "dinosaur museum" (Yale Peabody Museum). She loves books. She reads 3-5 books every night with her Daddy before bed and we probably read a dozen more throughout the day. She likes books about dinosaurs especially right now. She still likes Elmo and Sesame Street a lot.

She's beginning more imaginary play. She makes her animals and toys do things and she narrates what they're doing. She can occupy herself for longer periods of time playing on her own. She mimics what she's seen other people do. For example she was walking around holding her stuffed rabbit over her shoulder bouncing up and down saying, "it's OK, shush, shush, shush," like she hears us say to Abigail when she's crying. She is a parrot 100% of the time. She repeats anything anyone says. Literally every word. We have to start watching what we say and also make sure we're speaking grammatically correct if we want her to. She always wants to know where things or people are, even if they're still in sight. We're not sure if she's hyper-sensitive about losing something or if it's just a phase. If I go upstairs to go to the bathroom she'll say, "Where'd mommy go?" at least three times. Even if I told her where I was going. It was particularly sad after her aunt and cousin left when she asked where they were at least a dozen times the whole day after they left.

Lily pitching to daddy.

Lily and Bella hanging out.

Doing ring around the rosies with cousin Bella, they unexpectedly "all fell down" on top of each other.

Holding her baby sister for the first time.

Lily holding Abby's hand.

Lily's best buddies, Avery (yellow) & Skylar (running), at Skylar's 3rd birthday party.

Walking the balance beam at gymnastics.

Doing a "v-sit" on the balance beam.

Getting her medal and certificate for completing gymnastics.

Making biscuits with grandma. She tasted all the raw ingredients & decided raw biscuits don't taste very good.