She's found her toes!

Abby has finally found her toes! Now they pretty much go in her mouth every waking moment. It makes us laugh every time. She just looks so proud of herself...

Swim lessons

We started Abby in swim lessons at the YMCA today! She sure enjoyed her swimming in Cayman and since Rian and I love the water too, we decided it would be fun to turn her into a good swimmer. Here we are getting ready for her first lesson:



Right now, she's a "Shrimp/Kipper" (that's the 0-2 year old class)...how cute!

Abby's 1st Halloween

I couldn't decide what costume to choose so Abby got 2 for her 1st Halloween. I never knew it could be so much fun dressing her up in costumes! Rian had an away game and unfortunately didn't get home until after she was in bed so had to settle for pictures...

A Tootsie Roll (to represent her mother's candy addiction)


And, Princess Leia (to represent both her mother and father's love of Star Wars)


We think she is just the cutest little kiddo ever!

Big milestone day in Cayman

Yesterday was a BIG day...Abby got her first tooth! I knew it was coming since there has been a hard little ridge on her gumline for the past 2 weeks and she has really been chewing hard on everything in sight (even grunting as she chewed). I checked her gums in the morning and low and behold, there it was! It really surprised me when I felt that little tooth. I thought "great, she hasn't even been very bothered by it." Well, that changed very quickly. We had a very unsettled afternoon. She was so unhappy and wouldn't take a nap (literally screaming every time I tried to lay her down) but she was so tired. I finally got her to fall asleep about 3:30 but she only slept for 30 min. Grammie took her for a walk on the beach and she managed to make it through the rest of the day just fine. Went to bed about 6:30 and slept all night. So, she definitely wasn't feeling great once that tooth came through but seems to be just fine today. In the grand scheme of things, it could've been much worse so I can't complain. It was so sad to see since she has NEVER been that unhappy in her whole 6 months of life. Poor little sweetie.

It's funny because I was so excited about that tooth and then when I went to bed, I couldn't help but feel a little sad too. Gone is the helpless little baby that I would snuggle in my arms. She's growing and gaining her independence every day. This is exactly what I've heard from all of my friends who are mothers but you just can't understand until it's your child you are watching change right before your eyes. I will enjoy seeing her meet each and every milestone!

She's a swimming fool!

This morning, there was a local instructor teaching a water aerobics class in our pool. My mom did the class while Abby and I hung out and watched. The instructor also teaches swim lessons and after the class, wanted to get us in the water so she could show me a few things to do with Abby. Since we already know Abby likes the water, I was all for it. She had her kick her little legs, "fall" into my arms off the side of the pool and float on her tummy and back. AND, she went under water for the first time! Her eyes couldn't have been wider when she came up but she didn't cough at all so must have kept her mouth closed. Good! She didn't even cry! Later in the afternoon, I took her back in to work on those things and she went under 2 more times. Almost cried but we were able to sidetrack her with our "Yay Abby's" and laughs. I'm so glad she is enjoying the water so much. She starts swim lessons at the Y next week...

Yet another beautiful Cayman day...

Blue skies and sunshine today and since Rian had a game at noon, we hit the beach early. Abby got dressed up in her cute little ballerina swimsuit and off we went!


The water was nice and calm so we took Abby out to float. We spent about a half hour out there! Abby loves it! She didn't even seem to mind the taste of the saltwater as those little hands went in and out of her mouth...



We spent the afternoon inside watching Rian's game (thank goodness our CBS here is the Buffalo feed). What a game! Rian hit a 50 yd field goal with 4 seconds left to send it to overtime! But, we ended up losing...man, that was a tough one to get over...

After the game, we went back down to the beach and Grammie and Abby took a walk while I got to enjoy some "me" time reading my Kindle...ahhhhhh

Grammie arrives!

Abby and I picked Grammie up at the airport about noon today. She flew in on the red-eye through Atlanta so was a bit tired! We hung out in the condo while Abby and Grammie took a little nap and then hit the beach. Here is Abby enjoying her first dip in the warm Caribbean Sea...



Since there were a few waves starting to roll in, we decided to try out Abby's fancy new floatie in the pool...



She pretty much just hung out, quiet as a mouse, sucking on those little hands. As of now, this girl doesn't have too much to say!

We swam for about 30 minutes and decided it was time to get out. Here's my little boo all warm and snuggly with Grammie...