Update on the bottle - yesterday went pretty well with Grandmom feeding Abbi. I mean, i say it went pretty well, I'm not entirely sure what words Grandmom would use to describe it though. She did eat about 4 ounces throughout the day, which isn't much, but she didn't scream the whole time, so that is improvement.
Jenn was more than upset this morning to leave Abbi behind. I think the only thing that made it any easier was that I was the one dropping her off at Grandmoms. Since Jenn works so close to the school and both places that she'll be going are on my way to work, I'll be dropping her off each day and then Jenn will pick her up.
Last night we worked with her some more on taking a bottle, and she did show some signs of minor improvement. I've found that putting her in the bouncer helps keep her a little happier, and as such she doesn't scream as much. So hopefully she'll do better today with Grandmom and as the week goes on, hopefully she'll stop fighting the bottle so much.
As for her current status - Abbi is growing just like she should and last week I posted her new stats, she is still in the 95th percentile for her age which is awesome, even if its completely meaningless as a comparison statistic. Jenn will be starting back to Jacobsville next Tuesday and she is not looking forward to it. Not in the way that most people don't look forward to going back to work (I mean we all hate Mondays), but more because she doesn't want to miss Abbi growing up. She doesn't want to miss the first time that Abbi rolls over, or crawls, or laughs hysterically out loud. So Jenn is definitely feeling the sadness this week as she enjoys her last full week with Abbi.
Jenn has mentioned to me many times recently about different jobs and such, and one thing I remind her of, is that as a teacher she will get to spend a TON of time with Abbi. She'll get all those snow days, holidays, and of course summer break with Abbi.
So because Jenn is headed back to school next week, we are working with Abbi to get her to take a bottle, otherwise she'll starve to death while Jenn is at work. Things haven't been going well with it. I've tried. Jenn's tried. Its not going easy. About 5 weeks ago Abbi took a bottle just fine. Problem is, she hasn't taken one since and now she's not interested in it at all. Sunday we tried for about 3 hours to get her to take a bottle and both times she chose to cry herself to sleep rather than take the bottle. Last night we had some success, she drank about 1 oz., but that's not nearly enough. So..the battle continues there.
As for me and Abbi, things have changed in the last month. I went back and read what I wrote the last time, and I definitely feel things differently now than a month ago. Even though overall I would say she doesn't do much, she does a LOT more than she used to.
The other day we were in a store and Jenn as looking for things so I was entertaining Abbi. We were talking together, and she was talking right back to me. In her own way of course. But I can see the determination in her eyes that she really wants to sound like we do. While I know she can't really talk, she can make a sound that sounds like either yellow, or hello. Take it how you will. I'm working with her to say hamburger. She's almost got it :)
In addition to all the talking sounds she working out, this girl can stand strong. I like to hold her up and let her use her own legs to support herself, and she's really good and holding up. I'm excited to she her progress with it.
Then of course there is the smiling. A month ago, if she smiled it was because she was farting, or some other random thing that we had no control over. In the last month she has grown to the point that she often smiles at things we are doing to or with her and its awesome to see her smile.
Finally, in terms of growth, reflection and all that. When Abbi was born she had these creepy eyes. Steel gray. I'm sure some people looked at them and though they were so beautiful, me - I found them creepy. Just like that umbilical cord. But now, now they are turning an absolutely wonderful shade of blue, and honestly they are starting to look just like her mothers, which in some ways, make me love them both even more.
This picture is from the beach on Sunday when it was cloudy outside so we had to keep her bundled up for warmth. We propped her up in one of the beach chairs and took this picture.
In Abbi news, she did great down at the beach, and then last night we had an awesome first. Abbi slept all night long. She went to bed around 9:45, and then woke up this morning at 7 am. Its awesome. Jenn was incredibly excited this morning that Abbi slept through the night. Lets hope this is the start of something consistent!
Yesterday I got a comment about updating photo galleries - I want to let everyone know that I am now using a new site to host my photo galleries and as such, there is now a new link to get to the photos. HERE is a link to the new website.
