Girls Just Wanna Have Fun

One of the best things about having a girl is dressing her in pretty embroidered dresses sent from England. I've known since Abby was born that there is only a limited amount of time that I, as the mum, dictates what she'll wear - in just a few short months I'm sure I'll have no say. So, while I do:

And no beautiful English dress would be complete without a McDonalds Happy Meal Shrek watch. Did you get a picture of it Dad?

Dad, Dad, really, did you get the Shrek watch in the picture?!

2nd Trimester

So, the 2nd Trimester has brought some fun changes to our house. Mostly because my energy & appetite are back. I may also be 'nesting' as the term says - wanting to start moving Abigail to her new room so I can set up the nursery with fun baby things despite having, oh say, nearly six months, till said baby is due, ha ha.

So, here we are, Abby taking over the last of our guest room with strawberry paint:

And me back to cooking again! How does lemon & leek stuffed Cornish hen sound to you? I really should have taken the picture AFTER cooking, not before!

Don't think we eat 'gourmet' all the time. Pregnancy has involved more than my usual fair share of McDonalds. Abby doesn't mind:

Enough About Abigail ...

... and a little about mini-Madonna #2.

I had my 16wk appointment today, apparently baby is about this big:

Baby also threw us for a loop by lowering that high 'girls' heartbeat to a low 'boys' one (I know, silly old wives tale but it's fun to guess).

We (me) are simply bursting to find out what we're having this time - the excitement of that is even bigger than the first time for me. I am itching to picture our family, as well as itching to know whether the 9000 boxes of beautiful girls clothes in the garage can be used again or not. I am very grateful that we had a lot of gender-neutral white, cream, yellow & green when Abby was born but who am I kidding? There's still an awful lot of pink & lavender in there too that I can't see putting a boy in. So, who knows? Will I be shopping in the blue section this fall? That'd be fun (although more expensive than another girl). We'll see. Stay tuned.

School Report

At age three, Abby's School Report reads something like this:

Abigail has changed the most in the almost-year we've had her in our classroom. She is now very independent, and one of our social butterflies. She is not shy with her feelings but does still need to work on talking to her teachers instead of instantly crying when something upsets her.

Abigail meets all the cognitive, language and gross motor skills expected of her age group. (There were a couple of tests to show number/letter/shape recognition from Feb to now and her growth was huge). Loves to colour & has started drawing recognisable shapes. Pretends to read & write (taking menu orders).

She loves imaginitive play, especially doctor & dentist, as well as baby dolls. She uses blocks as microphones & pans as guitars - always turning to music & dancing before all else if given the choice.

Abigail is our chatterbox - she carries on conversations with friends & teachers. We sometimes have to ask her to calm down so that other children, those more shy, can also have a chance to answer the teacher's question.

We will be sad to say goodbye to this particular group as they move up to the Preschool room in August. Abigail is excited & more than ready for this move.

First Artwork

I'm sooo proud of this. A few weeks ago, Abby came home from school with her first ever artwork that resembles something:


Isn't it great? I love that our legs come straight out of our head, and then our arms out of our legs. It's just beautiful.

Fathers Day

Fathers Day was a HUGE deal to Abigail - this is about her favourite being in the world after all. It started with a party at school on Friday. Abby insisted she wear a dress because "there's gonna be a party mum". Duh mum! The teachers told me she didn't stop asking "when are the dads coming?" all day:

And, then for her gift on Sunday, she helped me prepare a special breakfast:

Good cook isn't she? This strata has eggs, sausage, bread, spinach & mushrooms.

We ate, stayed home all day watching kids TV, and the pair of them napped together. Jake said he couldn't have asked for a better Fathers Day. I love the both of them.

Just More Photos of Our Growing Girl

Despite my best intentions to keep exceptionally 'girly' stuff out of our house, we have started playing Princess, or Bride, a LOT. At least twice a week Jake or I have to go through a little ceremony 'marrying' Abigail. Jake is the officiant, and babbles some words about promising to love her as her mummy forever & her loving me forever, and then we are declared married & we kiss & I have to follow her about for the next half-hour being told what to do.

Running the hallway:

And just to give you a recent conversation:

Abigail in loud excited voice: "mum, when I grow, I'm going to be SO SO BIG, SO BIG like my dad. He is THIS TALL - he is SO BIG, that's how big I'm going to be!"

*silence for a minute*

Abigail in quiet sad voice: "sigh, but not like you mum, because you're only medium"