Grammie’s thoughts about my one year old granddaughter….

I’m writing this blog for myself, more than others, because Abby is changing so quickly now and I want to always remember what she was doing when she was almost thirteen months old, and when I put the entries here, I will always have a record. So if you’re tired of baby posts, I totally understand, just skip over this.  It’s just me, being a sentimental grammie today...

She’s talking now, not just babbling or repeating words, she actually understands what she is saying.  I always say it’s like a light bulb has switched on and she comprehends now.

She presses her little hands to her chest and says, “baby.”  And sometimes when you say “Abby” she presses her hands to her chest.  She tries really hard to say “Abigail” and she’s getting better at it.

She points to the M&M’s and squeals “Puppy.”  She claps her little hands in time with music and she dances to the songs on the Disney Channel.

She’s toddling around, still likes to hold Mommy and Daddy’s hand as she walks around the room, but she does take a lot of steps on her own.  Sometimes you can see intense concentration, and other times she forgets she’s not holding on and just walks.

She shoves toys under the couch, and then lays down with her little bottom in the air and peers underneath the couch to see what’s there.

She pretends to talk on her little cellphone – she talks to it and then listens, hoping it will say something.

She prefers her books to her toys this month, turning pages endlessly and putting them in your lap for you to read to her.

When you put her in the crib and walk away, she waves and says, “bye, bye” “bye, bye”. 

She says “hi” to you whenever she sees you and get this huge grin on her face.  When I talk to her on the phone she yells “hi” to me over and over again.  Then she babbles a long string of words, which, unfortunately, I can’t understand.

She loves to roll her red ball, and gets so excited she wiggles all over and squeals at the top of her lungs.  Lindsay plays ball with her the best, she can really get her wound up.

She laid her little head on Uncle John’s shoulder and hugged him when he kissed her goodbye last weekend, and yes, I cried when I saw it.

Auntie Dee-Dee dresses her up in the most girly outfits she can find and then we both ooh and aah about how adorable she looks.

She’s Daddy’s girl, goes to find him when he’s in another room and loves visiting him in his office.  As soon as she hears his voice, she stops what she’s doing and goes to him.  He’s such a good father, he spends so much time with her, and is always focusing in on her and what she is doing.

And she thinks Grandpa is wonderful, tool.  She reaches for him and loves riding around his arms.  They go outside and look at the cows, he buckles her in her car seat and pushes her stroller, he’s totally besotted with her.

She sits in her high chair and when you offer her food that she doesn’t want, or when she gets full she shakes that little head back and forth and goes, “no, no, no, no, no.”

She’s really an independent little girl, she definitely wants to do things “her way.”

She loves it when her Mama sings to her and dances with her.  Her little eyes just shine when Lindsay comes into the room.  Lindsay sings and dances “Boom, Shakalka Boom Boom” with her in her arms, and Abby shimmies her little shoulders and laughs. Linds has repeated this little nursery rhyme to her since she was tiny and she loves it, jumping up and down on her lap when she says it -

Five little monkeys jumping on the bed,
One fell off and bumped his doodle head.
Mama called the Doctor and the Doctor said,
"No more monkeys jumping on the bed!"

And how does she react to me?  Oh, she reaches for me to take her, and of course I just melt.  She loves playing with me, and always gives me huge smiles.  We play peek-a-boo and patty-cake and itsy bitsy spider and sing silly little songs.  She bends her little head down for me to kiss her and snuggles on my lap with her blanket.  We’re quite a pair, Abby and I…