I don't know why but Abbi loves the phone. If Jenn and I ever use the phone she has to see it and try to use it. She'll walk around with our phones up to her ear and fake talk to different people (mostly Grandmom or Grandpa) or gom and pop as she calls them.

You can see her here rocking her first nightgown instead of standard pajamas. She of course loves it.

Phone Calls

In front of the Betsy Ross house they have a couple of these old style american flag banners drapped across the railing outside. I managed to get a very busy-body Abbi to sit still long enough to get this picture of her!

American Girl

I took this picture of Abbi hiding behind a door stoop in Philadelphia. We were walking around Elfreth's Alley (an area of super old buildings) and she started playing in the doorway of one of them. She was hiding from us and then popping out and playing. Always fun!

Hiding

Two doors down lives a little girl, Katelyn who loves to play with Abbi. And based on Abbi's reaction to her, she loves to play with her too. My parents watched Abbi Monday for us, and since Abbi was home Katelyn was apparently thrilled to have Abbi to play with. This is a picture of the two of them, Katelyn pushing Abbi in her swing.

By the way, "Kaat", or something like that is what Abbi calls Katelyn.

Kaat

I took this picture of Jenn and Abbi I think after they went to a ladies event together. Jenn wanted me to get a picture of the two them dressed up together. I think they both look beautiful. Like mother like daughter.

Lovely Ladies

Jenn took this picture one morning. It could have been one of many lately. As I mentioned last week, she makes her way into our bed almost every morning by 5 am. If Jenn is up before me, she often stays sleeping next to me, in this case she happened to mosey her way over pretty close.

Snoozin

22 Months! Its been a long month with Abbi. The transition for her into the big girl bed has not been an easy one. She sleeps fine, but she doesn't sleep through the night anymore. I really couldn't say the last time she actually slept all the way through the night, and even if she does, she's usually up around 6 to join us in the bed. So its been rough, especially for Jenn who gets up with her because I never hear her cry.

We're also pretty confident Abbi is into her "terrible two's" because she acts pretty terrible sometimes. She decides without reason or warning to be super pissed and cry relentlessly until she's done. This obviously makes it hard to deal with her at times. Adding to that, she's also become somewhat of a picky eater, at least when she's with us.

With all this, she's still tons of fun and a wonderful little girl. I don't think a day has gone by in the last month that she hasn't played outside a little bit. She loves to play with Max, or us, or the neighbor kids, doesn't matter to her. She loves to be out playing, and doing stuff in general.

She's got all of her "2 year" molars in. She's saying more and more words, and putting more and more of them together all the time. We've been working on colors and numbers the last month, and Jenn's been working specifically on teaching her how to spell her name. She can say "A B", so we're half way there! I love my little girl to death, but I gotta say, 22 months in - she's certainly more work than either of us ever expected. But its ok, because she's worth it.

22 Months

While down in D.C., we had rounded the corner of the Jefferson and we were headed towards the FDR Memorial when we stopped off for a lollipop and diaper change. I asked her to smile big for me and I'd give her a lollipop. As you can see, she obliged me and we both got what we wanted.

Big Smile

Back when the tree in our front yard still had blooms (which are now long gone), we went outside and took some pictures of Abbi. This is one of them. You can see her thoroughly enjoying the blooms falling towards her. What I love about this picture is the pure joy that you can see in her smile on her face. I just love it!

Tree Blooms

When we went to D.C. about a month ago we rode in on the metro, of course, because I won't drive down there. So Abbi was very excited to get to ride on a "train". She enjoyed her ride, and since it wasn't very crowded she even got to have a seat all to herself.

Train Ride

Today we took Abbi for her 9th laser treatment at Hopkins. She did very well, and was only super pissed off for the short time it took them to wrap her up and do the laser, maybe 3-5 minutes total. Again, the actual laser treatment only takes about 1 minute, but to get her wrapped up to prevent movement takes a few minutes.

This time through, the doctor upped the power to target a specific spot on her cheek, in the hopes of having better progress in that area. Then dialed it back down to "normal" for the rest of her cheek and some around her nose and inner eye (by the nose). So she's on the road to recovery and our next appointment isn't until September. Only 2 left!

Treatment

One of Abbi's recent new capabilities is her ability to climb up things. She's always been a climber, but recently she's really harnessed her ability to climb up ropes and vertical things. Before they had to be on an angle, easier to work with, but now, as you can see here, she's able to go straight up. This kid is a barrel of energy and she doesn't stop. Most nights when I get home from work she's wired up and running around the house or outside until its time for bed. Its crazy to me just how much energy this little girl has.

Climbing