Chess

Ryan got a no-stress-learn-to-play chess game for his birthday.  We've been playing multiple times every day since we returned from our roadtrip last week.  It doesn't come as much of a surprise to me that Ryan is really, really good at it.  But so is Abby!  At two years old, she can set up the board correctly.  And she can name all the pieces too.  Or at least I thought she could.  She named the rook, bishop, king, queen, and then cow.  Well there went that thought.  But then I realized that when she said cow she was holding the knight.  Which is a horse.  And while she can set up a chess board, Abby still doesn't correctly differentiate cows and horses.  So in Abby-world, she did correctly identify the knight  :) 

While we [myself against Ryan, with Abby "helping" me] were playing earlier tonight, Ryan captured one of my knights.  Without missing a beat, Abby looked at me and said "you're okay. you have another one."  So cute!!  And so smart too.  She knew without having to look and think about it, that there are two knights and that I still had my other knight out on the board, I was impressed.

We all know Ryan is super smart.  And Abby is a free spirit.  But I'm realizing more and more, that I need to be careful about the so-called boxes that we put them in.  I have a feeling Abby is going to be just as brilliant as her brother.  She may not be as "intellectual" or as detailed-oriented, but it's definitely there. 

the girls

Chloe and Abby have been sharing a room for the last week or so.  They've done wonderfully at night.  Abby hasn't napped much recently, and honestly I rarely even lay her down anymore.  Having her run around her room for an hour or two and then having to clean up her messes just isn't all it's cracked up to be.  But I am happy to report that today she actually asked to go to sleep.  And thus both girls are asleep at the same time in the same room during the day!  I'm very excited this sharing rooms thing seems to be working so well!  For now at least, Abby loves having Chloe in there, hopefully it will last forever [or at least another 18yrs or so!]. 
And I loooove having two sleeping girls  :) 

Sisters

Abby has a new roommate!  Chloe finally moved in on Thursday night.  Tonight was the big test though.  We put them in at the same time, both awake.  And they fell asleep, yay!  We weren't sure what to expect, but they did just fine.  Abby has been very excited about having Chloe share her room and hopefully that will continue.  She's been cute saying things like "I share my old crib with Chloe."  Abby is a great big sister! 

And ps, yes, Chloe does sleep through the night!  She started doing so at maybe two months old, but then she got a little off schedule when she was at Scottish Rite and then again last week on our trip to Massachusetts.  But on average she sleeps about 9pm until maybe 8am.  It's wonderful!! 

Conversations with Abby

Abby continues to amaze me with her speech and conversation skills and development.  I have to remind myself sometimes that's she's just barely two and a half!  I suppose it's that combination of being a girl and a second born.  She speaks full sentences and can hold her own in any conversation.  It's an interesting combination : her speech is so advanced, yet she still doesn't know all her colors and has only recently started counting [she makes it to six in correct order, then messes up seven & eight, before counting nine to twelve].  With Ryan we could see the wheels turning, but he couldn't get the words out; Abby gets carried away and talks up a storm, guess it's a female thing :)  I can't keep up with all the funny things she says, but here are a few recent ones that I scribbled down:

A while back we were driving and she took her socks off.  When we got home, she picked them up, and asked me: "You help me remember we can wash these?"  Yes, Sweet Abs, don't I always wash your dirty clothes?!

A week or two ago we were eating apple slices when Abby excitedly announced "there's apple juice in here!"

And perhaps my favorite Abby moment was last week when I went to free her from yet another failed nap attempt:  She was standing at her door, rocking her baby, and singing "You're going to miss these days"  over and over.  My heart melted.  For those of you that don't know, while not exactly the right words, that's a lyric from the Trace Adkins song that I used to sing to Ryan when he was a baby.  Ryan and Abby love it when I sing it to them now, especially if it involves picking them up and dancing crazily around the room!