Thursday, December 31, 2009

2009 in review

I am sitting here trying to make a list of all that Abigail has accomplished in 2009 like I did last year and I am struggling. 2009 has been an amazing year for Abigail and she has grown into a very nice caring sweet young lady who thinks of others first, can do anything she sets her mind too and is OBSESSED with learning new things, and trying to figure out how things work.

In January:
  • Abigail started talking back. If I tried to rush her she would tell me to "not use my mean voice" and "stop being mean"
  • Abigail continued her interest in shadows, echoes and reflections. She describes an echo as "a shadow for your ear"
  • She watched President Obama's innaugaration address with rapt interest and adoration and then ran out to play in a random snowstorm that we had
  • She read for the first time on camera
  • She began her obsession with word play
  • She continues to share her love of knowledge and specifically science with us.
  • She begins to enjoy 3- D creativity. We made a bridge of marshmallows and many many animals and shapes out of salt dough
In February
  • Abigail gave up the paci! This was a HUGE change for us.
  • Discovered a love of cooking. Our first recipe: 3 bear bread!
  • Abigail learned that no matter what she can get her way. One day she was grounded from TV so she took her bears, and a portable table easel and made her own tv show.
In March
  • Abigail got sick. This was the beginning of her struggle with strep throat and she never really got better. Looking back at these pictures makes me realize how ill she really was during those months!
  • She also went to see Laurie Berkner again! She loved it. Abigail loves music in general and really enjoyed this concert.
  • Continued to cook and cook and cook.
  • Learned to write her name, and the names of her friends.
  • Confronted that age old question that bothers us all...what came first, the chicken or the egg
In April
  • Abigail was a kid.
  • Abigail still had strep
  • We hung out and played and went to the earth day festival.
  • We enjoyed the warm weather that came back to Wilmington
  • We died eggs and went to egg hunts
  • We lost a 75 foot tree in our backyard. If it had fallen a different way we would have lost our home. We were very lucky
In May
  • Abigail still had strep
  • Friends came to visit and we spent a lovely weekend hanging out at the beach
  • We spent Mothers Day celebrating with other friends
  • Abigail discovered knock knock jokes
  • Abigail got a real big girl bed
In June
  • Abigail still had strep
  • She started to learn hot to swim again- it as a long winter
  • She went to the ENT and we scheduled an appt to get her tonsils out
  • Her and Grandma grew some mega vegetables in the Garden
  • We traveled and traveled and traveled. We went to Charlotte, DC, Philly, back to DC, back to Charlotte, and then to New York.
  • We met Carolina Klear for the first time as she joined her family in North Carolina
In July
  • Abigail did not have strep. She also did not have tonsils. Her surgery was a completely and total success
  • She is a knew child. She wants to see, know, here, smell explore, EVERYTHING. Mommy can see the difference and realize how much the strep actually did affect her.
  • Abigail si starting to read about a kindergarten level. She still will not let me to video tape her.
  • Abigail can swim with her head under the water! It is a big step and something she would not even try before her tonsils came out
In August
  • Abigail discovered the mail system adn wants to spend her days writing letters to people and mailing them and most importantly getting responces
  • Abigail starts to draw scenes and families. She learns to write her last name
  • She discovers soccer and wants to play constantly- too bad it is 110 degrees out most days
  • She has her first days of school. She is in school 5 days a week now and loving what being with the big kids has to offer!
  • She has been healthy all month!
In September
  • September was full out art. Clay, crayons, painting any type of art available
  • It was a month of story telling. Abigail learned to tell (and type) stories
  • It was a month of boogey boarding as Abigail learned to ride the waves
  • Abigail discovered simple machines, loves levers, pulleys, inclined planes
  • It was a month of Soccer. Abigail joined her first YMCA soccer team, and had a great time!
In October
  • Abigail turned 3!!!
  • She is 36 lbs and 39 inches.
  • She knows all her information, can read, add subtraction, tell time, and just be a wonderufl and loving child!
  • She wrote her first letter to Santa
  • She was a zinnia fairy for halloween
In November
  • Abigail became more introspective
  • There are not as many why questions. More how, or what do you call it. She is thinking things out a lot more. She is a more solid kid. Of course she is still a kid:)
  • Abigail made a list of what she is thankful for friends, family, pets are on there...but so are clocks, grilled cheese sandwhiches and her little people
  • It was a month filled with parties for stuffed animals, cooking and playing
  • Abigail is writing more songs, she is getting creative in what she writes. She is making her own tunes. She is constantly thinking planning and creating
In December
  • Abigail is full of word play. Riddles, puns, songs, stories, plays, etc. if it is made of words, she is doing it.
  • Abigail is buidling, drawing creating constantly. She is explaining her drawings more and more. She can make an entire story about a picture that starts with a random squiggle that she draws on a paper.
  • Abigail has decided that Santa does not exist. At least she did until Christmas morning. Now I am not sure. She liked getting all the presents she asked for
  • Abigail has decided that God does exist. Has questions about the Bible, going to church and God. I am doing my best to answer those questions and letting her explore the information I give her
  • Abigail no longer wants to become a doctor (last month) or a princess (last year) she now wants to be a balloon blower upper.
Abigail is a wonderful creative and introspective child. She has grown so much this year. She is a reader, a thinker and a questioner. She is smart, beautiful, nice polite and a dream to raise. I am very lucky that she has blessed my life and I am so proud of who she is now and what she will become in the future.

Thursday, December 24, 2009

Merry Christmas!!

Merry Christmas to everyone!!

We have had such a fun holiday season. It is so busy I will need to update sometime next week about it. Abigail is so excited about Christmas and the ideas of the presents but I fear that the Magic of Santa is fading fast in our home. As she was falling asleep tonight she told me that I was really santa.

Anyway on to a more cheerful subject: PICTURES!!

Here are some pictures from our Christmas Eve.






and a few short videos of her christmas spirit. The first two are her own songs, the last she is singing with some help from Grandma.





Wednesday, December 23, 2009

First Ballet Recital

Somehow today is December 23. I don't know how it got to be so late in the month but is it. It has been a very busy month in the Forbes household with lots of activities and lots of fun.

Abigail had her first dance recital this month. It was very cute. She had a lot of fun and is in love with the Nutcracker, a play that I hated as a child! Here are a couple of videos from her show. I don't know how far she will go in dance class but the girl sure does have some jumping skills!




and here is one of her solo performance

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Only in North Carolina

or other southern states would you be able to go outside and pick fresh peppers in December. Tonight while on the phone I wandered my garden and was surprised to find 6full size peppers with at least 10 more that should be ready by the end of the week.

Saturday, December 5, 2009

All grown up...

At least that is what Abigail said today after I agreed to let her pierce her ears. She has been BEGGING for a month for me to let her do it, but I thought she would wimp out at the last minute. Little did I know that whatever Abigail sets her mind to do she will do; a great trait that she has.

Abigail was so excited to get her ears pierced. She did not cry or even so any hesitation, in fact she told the ear piercing girls (there were 2 of them) how to pierce her ears "once you are done drawing the dot, you will pierce them with a needle". Afterwards she was SOOO proud of her earings and herself I think.

Not a tear was shed and she is walking around 10 feet tall tonight.



Tuesday, December 1, 2009

a look inside her mind...

Here is one of Abigail's latest drawings.




It is so fun to watch since she takes a random organic line and makes it into whatever her imagination comes up with. Her explanation for this picture is

"This is a persons brain and they are thinking about the tooth fairy. They are feeling very happy. That is why one happy face has glasses the other does not"

Sunday, November 29, 2009

Deck the Halls with boughs of Holly


Today Ab and I started to decorate for Christmas. We will get our tree later this week, but in the mean time I wanted to get the firepalce mantle ready. It is so much fun celebrating Christmas with Abigail this year because she understands so much more of it.


Hope everyone has had a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend and is looking forward to the holiday season as much as I am.


Friday, November 27, 2009

Welcome Christmas

We welcomed Christmas and Santa to Wilmington this mroning with a visit at the Cotton Exchange. This was a great Santa who did a wonderful job of mixing in stories of Jesus with comercial symbols for the holiday.

While the wait was long it was totally worth it because he spent a good 5-10 minutes with each child making sure that they got as much time as they wanted with him. Abigail already has plans to visit him again this Christmas season.

Reading her Christmas list to Santa

Trying to explain why she
wants brown socks for Christmas


Listening to Santa as he tells herthe importance of being good.

Thursday, November 26, 2009

Happy Thanksgiving Part 1

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!

The other day Abigail and I made a handprint wreat of all the things she is thankful for. It was a fun project to do and great to see the important things in her life.

Here is her list- in my order

  • Family

  • Friends



  • Dogs




  • My Bed



  • That I can play outside



  • Clothes to wear to school





  • Food




  • My Birthday Toys




  • My Couch




  • My Little People

  • and part 2

  • My Tree House



  • My Clock




  • Abby Cadabby


  • and



    • Grilled Cheese Sandwiches


    Happy Thanksgiving to All!

    Thursday, November 19, 2009

    Happy Birthday Kitty!!





    Tonight Abigails Kitty turned 5, so naturally we had to have a birthday party for the cat.

    Monday, November 16, 2009

    Abigail's Song

    Abigail wrote a new song tonight. It is sung to the tune of The Farmer in The Dell

    Here it is:
    Tippy Toes go up
    Tippy Toes go down
    Tippy Toes go Round and Round


    Beth

    Monday, November 2, 2009

    Walking in Parking Lots

    Some of the most interesting conversations Abigail and I have are when we are walking through parking lots. The vast empty space seems to allow her to think and explore all the ideas in her head.

    It started nearly two years ago when she discovered her shadow. It was fun to explore how her shadow changed as she walked and how it was different when we were entering the parking lot as we were leaving.

    Next came reflections. She looked at a car one day and wanted to know why her shadow was in color. This brought on a new round of conversations. We talked about how shadows and reflectiosn were different, how they were the same. What it meant. Did different cars make different reflections, after a summer rain we looked at our reflections in water. More time to talk, more time to be.

    Lately the conversations are changing again. We still talk about shadows and reflections but she now has a new interest; perspective. We talk about how far away an object is. That size can change depending on how close we are to the object Ab likes to guess at how big an object will be when we get close to it. We talk about the angle we are looking at and how that may change the way things look.

    I love these simple times with her. She is growing up so fast. I know some day our abstract conversations will be replaced by topics that are more concrete, more factual, more commerical. So I treasure this time as we enjoy a momment of peace in our hectic life.

    Tuesday, October 27, 2009

    Halloween Celebrations

    We are happily celebrating halloween here in Wilmington. So happy that the weather has been warm so Abigail is not freezing in her costume. So far we have gone to our moms' group Halloween Party and the Carnival at "the pumpkin church" Tonight I introduced her to "It's the Great Pumpkin Charli Brown" a movie that she completely loved.


























    Tuesday, October 20, 2009

    October 10

    2006

    2007

    2008

    2009

    Crazy Weather in NC

    It has gotten SOOO cold here in the past week!
    This is Abigail and her best friend Meredith on October 9th



    and then a week later!



    Fall has definitely come to the Carolina's!

    Sunday, October 18, 2009

    A letter to Santa

    Yes it is only October. We stilll have Halloween and Thanksgiving before Christmas but tonight I asked Abigail what she wanted for Christmas. She is not the easiest to shop for and I am trying to figure out what to get her for Christmas. As many of you know the only thing Abigail wanted for her birthday was a rug and while it is an awesome rug, I needed some inspiration for christmas shopping.



    Here is a copy of her letter to Santa...






    For those of you who do not read "Abigail-ish" she has requested a leapster, some brown socks, a new game, a map, and a new yellow square book.

    Wednesday, October 7, 2009

    Almost 3...

    Abigail will be three in less then 72 hours. I cannot believe how quickly these past three years have gone. Especially this past year. She has changed so much. Looking back I think she has changes just as much this year as she did between birth and 1.

    Here is an example of her art work from 10 months ago, when she first started drawing people:




    and a drawing she did tonight:




    It has been so fun to see her artwork progress over the year, every day she adds a new detail, something different to her artwork. It is wonderful to be watching her creativity explode.

    Saturday, October 3, 2009

    Riverfest 2009

    Here are some pictures from Riverfest today! Abigail had a wonderful time especially eating all the yummy fair food! We may try adn headback tomorrow if the weather holds up.