Hat Girl

This is another picture from the O's game last weekend. Abbi wanted to take the sun hat she got last year on Mothers Day to the game. I think part of her reasoning was in hopes that it would help her get on the jumbotron. Unfortunately it wasn't enough to get her on the big screen. It did however make for this cute picture!

O's Game

For Fathers Day Jenn took us all to the O's game. We all had a good time, and it was good to spend some time with Cole. He is however, quite a task to keep contained in such a small area, for such a long time period. I intentionally picked seats in the front row so that he wouldn't be able to harass anyone else in front of us. In this picture you can see him laughing, which he does more, after of course I had tickled him to get the smile.

Recital

This past Saturday Abbi had her first official dance recital. For the last year she's been going to Dancers Dreams, a local dance studio. She's been participating in a program called "Movement" which i suppose equates to super-basic ballet. They danced to a song called "Desperate for a Dog", and Abbi did fantastically. I'm biased of course as her dad, but in my opinion she was great. It was awesome to see our little girl up there on stage in front of a few hundred people performing. Jenn and I are definitely very proud of her!

Abbi 3.10 Years

Over the past month we've seen quite a transition for Abbi. Over the past few weeks Jenn and I have taken note of the fact that Abbi has really started to grasp the manners that Jenn and I have been working to instill in her. She's still an almost 4 year old of course, so she's pushy and upset when she doesn't get her way, but she's extremely well behaved these days, and definitely listens and follows directions well.

As we gear up for her fourth birthday, which by the way I can't believe is almost upon us, Jenn and I have started working with her on her alphabet. I'm sure if I've documented it before or not, but Abbi can write "Abbi Harrah" on her own. The Harrah part is a bit rough at times, but you can get the idea. Jenn has been working with her on the rest of the alphabet, and we're coming along.

As for counting, another thing we work on together, she's got 1-13, then jumps to 19, 20. For not conceivable reason. I'd think that 14-18 would be easy since they are just a variation on 4-8, but then again, i'm not her age, so that might have a little bit to do with it too.

On the fatherhood front of things, Abbi recently wanted to get married to me. So Jenn helped put on one of her dress ups and we "got married". Jenn watched. The ceremony was pretty much Abbi walking up to me, giving me a kiss, and then we danced. It was a special moment as a dad, especially since we've got one boy and one girl. I experienced that moment, but at the same time flashed forward to a moment 2 decades from now I hope to experience. Jenn videoed us, and afterward commented that she knows I'll be glad to have that video years from now. I know shes right, and I'm glad to have it now.

Abbi is a special little girl. I'm sure every father feels that way about his daughter, and honestly - I'm not different. I love my little girl. A tremendous amount.

Cole Year 1.3

There haven't been any major developmental changes in the past few weeks with Cole. He's getting better and better at walking, and I think he's spending the majority of his energy doing so. He's able to walk around really well now, and able to get up and down if he falls, or wants to sit down. We've been working with him on going up and down stairs, mostly the down part. Because he loves being outside so much, its important that he learn how to go down the deck steps.

He's been busy growing a few new teeth as well. He's now up to 14 teeth, two opposing "I" teeth have come in. He seemed to handle those teeth coming in, a lot better than he did ALL of his other teeth.

If Cole's desire to go outside is any indication of him as an adult, he's going to be some kind of outdoorsman. He absolutely LOVES to be outside. He can't get enough of it. Sometimes its cute, and other times it drives us crazy. He will go over the sliding glass door and stand and say something that sounds like "side". He'll also bang his hands against the door to indicate he wants out. And if we don't let him, he gets super pissed and cries. A lot.

Even with that, he's my little man. I love the guy a tremendous amount, and just like every other month, it awesome to see him growing up.