Abby is Walking!

Two days ago, Abby started taking three steps on her own. Before it had been steps with aid from people and props. But she took three wobbly steps before collapsing delightfully into my arms. Then yesterday she took 5-7 steps. She would stand up, beaming with delicious pride, and then take a couple of tentative steps, followed by some quick ones at the end.

Overall, I feel great about her gaining independence. It's so amazing how the physical separation is so apparent, from birth to weaning from nursing to walking away on her own. My little girl is growing up, and I'm excited to see it!

She signs "please" like crazy. It's her universal sign for anything that she wants. Sometimes she'll wail loudly for something that she wants, such as to be held so that she could reach the blinds. I look at her and say, "Say please, Mommy." Then she immediately stops and starts rubbing her chest furiously in a circular motion with her palm, smiling broadly. It's like a game to her. I like how I don't have to listen to her wail, but it has become ridiculous. She sits there and signs "please" from across the room. And I don't even notice until a couple minutes later. She doesn't get that you're supposed to sign things once you've made eye contact. In fact, she frequently waves to people to mean hello when they're not looking.

Poor Abby! I totally understand this behavior. I do this all the time. I often say things to people at the wrong moment, and I'm left hanging. I try to enter conversations from across the room, and end up commenting to myself.

The Quest to Sleep Earlier

Lately Danny and I have been trying really hard to go to sleep early. Danny starts off the evening saying, "We're going to be in bed by 9:30pm." And I try really hard to believe that that's going to be true. But it never is true. I wonder why Danny is so extreme sometimes. We're used to sleeping at midnight, on average. If that's the case, why choose 9:30pm as a goal? Why not 11:30pm? I think I've suggested it before, but he'll insist, "I'm exhausted. I need to sleep. We're going to bed at 9:30pm."

But I'll be supportive. 9:30pm it is. That's our goal. To be in bed by 9:30pm. Tonight, it was a little off. I'm writing this at 11:56pm. There's always tomorrow.

A Moment in the Frozen Food Aisle II

I realized that I never talked about my "moment" in the frozen food aisle in my last post! So here it goes...

I went to the Korean grocery store to buy some groceries. I had just picked up Abby from daycare and I hadn't seen her all day. So we spent time reconnecting while she rode happily in the shopping cart. I went over all the tricks she knows, reviewed all the body parts she knows (her favorite is still belly button), and even sang some songs to her, while grabbing some green onion here and soft tofu there.

When we got to the frozen food aisle, she suddenly reached out her arms to me. At first I thought she was done riding in the cart and wanted to "go down." However, as I drew close, she wrapped her little arms around me as much as she could, and lay down her head on my stomach. She just wanted to give me a hug! So, I hugged her back, and then she promptly started patting her hand on my back because that's how we always comfort her: pat pat pat. As she pat pat patted me, we had our "moment." Right there in the frozen food aisle, next to the meat and kimchee dumplings.

A Moment in the Frozen Food Aisle

I went shopping for a total of four hours today! My purchases: Stride Rite shoes for Abby, Shiseido compact, Shiseido shimmering lipstick, Shiseido blemish concealer, gift for Abby's friend's birthday, two pajamas for Abby, khaki blazer for me, a make-up/toiletry bag, dulce de leche latte, a petite vanilla scone, jacket for Abby, robe for Abby plus slippers, sippy cups for Abby, reclining chair for the floor, and pink leggings for Abby.

A true shopping spree!

Those of you who know me know that I take FOREVER purchasing an item. I have to research it, look at it up close, weigh all the pros and cons, and then do the "love test," which is to leave it behind for said number of hours/days, and then finally buy it.

Today, I put Abby in daycare, and decided it was time to go to the mall and buy something. Over the past one and a half years I've collected gift cards, always tentative about using them because I needed to make the perfect purchase. Having so many gift cards in my purse was driving me crazy! So I had to take action. And I took it.

Out of all the items I bought today, I spent a total of $36 out-of-pocket. Everything else was through gift cards and/or exchange. This is totally unheard of. The make up and blazer alone would total about $200! Wow. Thank you to all who have given me a gift card in previous years to Nordstrom, Gymboree, GAP, Starbucks, Target, Sephora, American Express Giftcard, and Macy's. I've used up everything except for the Gymboree giftcard and the Starbucks giftcard. Whew.

I had a lot of fun! I took my time. I compared prices. I returned items and adjusted prices so that I could get the maximum out of all my purchases.