that's how it goes in everyday America

It's been a while since I've just written and chronicled the everyday going-on's of life. I suppose it's easier & quicker to just put up a few pictures of the last family outing and be done :) So while Abby's napping and Ryan's at preschool, perhaps I can think a little clearer than normal - at least my normal, not normal normal.

Abby's sitting up all by herself now. She started getting the hang of it about a month ago. Within the last two weeks she's gotten really good at it and I can sit her down & walk away and she'll stay there until she decides the grass is greener somewhere else and then she lays down & takes off. She's very close to crawling. Of course she can get anywhere she wants to go by rolling. But she's also trying very hard to crawl. She gets her belly off the ground and kinda rocks back & forth on her hands and knees. Recently she will actually move forward an inch or two before falling back on her belly. It's amazing how she picks up all the physical milestones so much sooner than Ryan did. Nice for Mommy too - it's so helpful that I can sit Abby down when I'm trying to keep up with two kids! Abby's also got her first tooth - not so nice for Mommy if you know what I mean :) It broke through probably three weeks ago. Just one so far and it's the bottom right one. Food is still a long, slow battle. Ryan definitely did the food better & faster. I was going to say she eats solids twice a day, but I suppose it'd be more accurate to say we attempt to feed her twice a day. She eats rice cereal & apple juice in the morning and a veggie in the evening- green peas this week, carrots are next. She makes a huge mess of everything by mushing it up in her mouth and then letting it drool back down her chin. The only way she consistently swallows is if she pushes it down with the three middle fingers on her right hand. At first we didn't like that, not really a very ladylike socially-acceptable way to eat. But that's about the only way so we've given up and said why not. Hopefully we can break her of that habit sooner than later.

Ryan is doing great, being a wonderful big brother ninety percent of the time. He is finally potty trained, yay! That was a long three- four months, but we've been accident free for well over a month now. I've never actually said that outloud, so I sure hope I didn't jinx anything :) He's also starting to overcome some of his fears. He slid down an enclosed tube slide for the first time two weeks ago and he's been loving them ever since. Last Friday we went to Chickfila and he kept talking about the playground and the slide and sure enough he went right in & slid down. Of course, he's picked up a few other fears in the meantime. Despite me consciously not using the word scared, he has certainly knows that word. His biggest fear seems to revolve around loud noises. He loves airplanes from a distance, but up close they are too loud. The other afternoon he ran back in the house when a low flying plane went by claiming it was going to get him. And he won't stay outside if Daddy is mowing, or even the next door neighbor. Not sure where this is all coming from, but I sure hope it passes quickly! His current favorite toys are still cars and blocks. For his birthday his teachers gave him a "little baby dinosaur in egg" Ryan plays with baby dinosaur every day - he's the perfect size to drive the cars. He particularly loves the cars and trucks that can pull things. He also loves to watch tv, although I limit that as much as possible. We have Nana's netflixs on our wii, so he can watch all sorts of fun stuff - he loves "Kipper Dog," Caillou, "penquins," & "backyard." (those last two translate to Pingu (I think it may be a British show?) and Backyardigans).

Our weeks are falling into a routine of preschool on Tuesday & Thursday and now that Ryan's three he's in speech at the local elementary school on Monday & Wednesday afternoons. He goes "real quick" to "my big kids school" and "see Colin." Weekends are the typical crazy busy fall weekends. Although November seems to be calmer than October was. Hard to believe it's already time to think about Christmas again! Anyways, off to the Children's Musuem down in Atlanta after we pick Ryan up from preschool, so time for me to get back to being productive :)