I can't believe it! We have made it 1 year and everyone has survived!
The last 2 months have been busy as usual. On March 16, we closed on our new property and I have spent 3 weekends since then down there with my parents working to fix up the cabin and prep the land for hunting.
On St. Patrick's Day weekend, Erin and Abigail traveled to her parent's house. They went to the parade and spent time at the park. Abigail got her first chance at swinging in a baby swing and loved it!
The weekend of March 31 - April 1, Erin's parents came to visit for Jessica's birthday. Abigail did a great job when we ate out at a deli on Saturday and as always, enjoyed all of the attention she got.
On Easter weekend, my sister, Melissa, and her kids came for a visit and we did an Easter egg hunt in the living room (it was too rainy to go outside). Abigail loved playing with her cousins, especially sharing her ball popper with Brycen.
On April, 21, we had Abigail's 1st birthday party. Once again, she loved all of the attention and enjoyed opening all of the presents and cards. So far, it seems that her favorite presents are the sunglasses from grandma and grandpa Weiler and the pillow and blanket that came with the doll bed from grandma and grandpa O'Connell. She tried pear salad for the 1st time at lunch and despite my hopes that she wouldn't like it (so there would be more for me), she loved it. She didn't seem to care too much for the cake, although she did lick some of the frosting, and wasn't interested in making a mess of it either (which I think disappointed both grandmas).
On Saturday, April 28, we took a day trip to Iowa City for my cousin, Mathew's, wedding. It was a good time and Abigail did great! She slept on the way there and the way home. She was a little noisy during the ceremony, but nothing that a little walking around at the back of church couldn't fix. She didn't want to take a nap between the wedding and reception, but that ended up being ok as she did great at the reception. She ate 2 dinner rolls on top of her normal dinner food and some of the fruit that came with the kids meal. Her cousins kept her entertained until we left for home.
On her birthday, we let her sleep in and wear her PJ's around all day. Her 1 year old pictures were scheduled for 4 and even though the photographer was running behind, Abigail was very patient and did great for her pictures. She got a treat, some graham crackers from her Easter basket from G&G O'Connell, for dinner and loved it! She got to Skype with both sets of grandparents and great grandma Engelmann called to sing her happy birthday. We will be going out to eat with my brother Paul, and his family this Friday to celebrate Abigail's birthday as well. She is such a special little girl.
Here are a few of the things that Abigail has started doing since my last post. She is feeding herself finger foods very well and we have started having her eat most of the items that are provided for lunch at daycare. She started drinking whole milk and is a champ at drinking from a sippy cup on her own. Just yesterday (her birthday), she decided that she can hold her own bottle, just in time for us to be done with them. She is crawling as well as going between crawling and sitting up on her own. She can pull up to standing against an object. She likes to walk around on her knees using any toy or box as a "walker". She is going through a phase right now where she is tries to bite us. She has started giving us kisses. I'm sure there is much more, but that is all I can think of right now.
My favorite things right now are her laugh (which I can get out of her pretty much whenever I want) and when I pick her up from daycare each day. As soon as she sees me in the doorway of her room, she gets so excited and if she is playing, she will crawl as fast as she can over to me. I love that little girl!
