Mama Beal

For those of you who are curious and like to read other peoples blogs, I have started my own blog at mamabeal.blogspot.com. I encourage all to check it out.

Thanks
Julie

We've come to an age in Abby's life where she's learning many new things that, as adults, we may take for granted. Recently Abby has been experimenting with the idea of using a fork and spoon for her food. She definately hasn't mastered it but she sure thinks it's fun. She has also learned to put her sunglasses on by herself and she's a natural Stevie Wonder. She has also learned how to play properly with Leon instead of just laying on top of him. Here's a few pictures of our little goof-ball from the last few weeks.

Abby playing with Duke

Abby also learned how to put her jacket on. She understands the concept of zipping it up but she gets frustrated because she can't do it yet.

Stevie Wonder playing the drums.

I wonder if Stevie Wonder had Dora the Explorer sunglasses

Abby likes to try to walk Duke in the house.

Abby using a spoon for yogart. I think she has just a little bit on her face. :)

So, as promised, here are some updated pictures of Abby. She's officially 14 months old now and still growing like a weed. Everytime friends come over, they all comment on how big she's getting even if it has only been a week since they saw her last.

Abby has not only been growing physically but she has also been growing intellectually. She is saying all sorts of words such as; her name, baby, kitty, puppy, more, Ta-Da, mama, dada, papa, peepee, poopoo, potty (the kids at daycare are potty training), and many other words. She's also learned to jump in place which kids aren't typically supposed to be able to do until they're 3 years old.

Daycare is starting to get easier but it's still a challenge taking here there every morning. I honestly think she has finally gotten into the routine of being at Susie's but it has now become a habbit for her to cling to us when we drop her off so we're trying to figure out how to break that habbit. Any suggestions would be much appreciated. :)

Here's some pictures from the last month.

Abby with Mommy's shoes on, that's another word she likes to say "SHOES!"

Abby under her chair

My cousin (Barbara) came into town with her husband and kids. Tyson is exactly 1 month younger than Abby and it was fun to see them together. As I thought, Abby really liked Emma (my cousin's oldest). I thought this was a good picture of the proud Grandpa Peterson's.

This is an adorable picture of my other cousin Elizabeth with Tyson.

Tyson dancing to Chuckee Cheese music.

For answers to the New York quiz, refer to the comments section in the previous post.

More Abby pictures to come soon.
~the Beals.

Alright, it's been a few days and Jason has yet to put any pictures of his New York trip on the blog so I'm doing it for him. Instead of writing about it, I'll have you take a quiz instead. It's more fun this way and this way, hopefully, we'll get some feedback on the blog. Here's a little background on Jason's Trip.

Jason went on vacation to see the great state of New York with two friends, James Seale and Dave Bargmann. They were gone from Sept 6-10th and stayed at a church that some friends that live in Brooklyn.

Let's begin the Quiz!


What is the name of this bridge?

Where was this picture taken?

True or false, the boys did not get off to see the statue up close and personal?

Who won this game at the Mets stadium?

What is the name of this painting hanging in the Museum of Modern Art?

Where did Dave's legs go?

What is significant about this lady Jason is sitting next to at Ripley's Believe it or Not?

What famous wall is James standing in front of?

No prizes for getting all the questions right, just the pride that you probably know more information than the average bear.

It happened-she cried!

So, since we switched daycare, Abby has been particularly clingy when we leave her at the new daycare. She was fine all last week and just needed a little encouragement to let go of mommy in the morning but today, Monday, she cried and had to be pryed out of my arms in order for me to go to my internship. It was HEARTBREAKING! To make matters worse, when I got to my internship, there were some girls telling a story about a friend of a friend's 2-and-a-half year old child told mommy that the daycare lady put her in a box and hit her on the head. I know Susie is not doing this but, my imagination wonders and my motherly instinct strongly suggests, at times like these, that daycare will never be the best thing I could be doing for my Abby. The logical side of me says I'm rediculous to think about the other alternatives. I'm torn.

Being a mom with dreams of holding a respectable occupation is hard.

Single Parenting!

This is going to be one of those boring posts that doesn't have any pictures.

So, Jason has gone to New York with some friends until Wednesday the 10th of September and I am going to be a single mom for those few days. Now, just to make things clear, I'm not complaining because I know there are many people doing this every day and I only have to do it for a few but I know this is going to be a difficult task for me and Abby to get through.

First of all, Abby just started a new day-care last week thus, she's been very clingy and a little more crabby than usual. The new day-care is very convenient because it's about 2 blocks from home but there's not as many kids and most of the kids are younger so they're not quite as entertaining. I also think the day-care provider might underestimate Abby's intelligence because she's never been around a 1 year-old quite as smart as Abby (I may be biased) :). So, when she gets home from day-care, she needs LOTS of attention and interaction. If anyone has suggestions about getting her more involved in daycare, let me know.

Second of all, this coming weekend on the 13th, I'm taking my part III Chiropractic Boards exams and granted, I have been studying a lot, it never quite seems like enough especially during the week before so ... it looks like Wednesday-Friday I'll be studying quite a bit when Jason gets home.

Thirdly, I just started a new internship which actually may be more of a pro then a con, considering my last internship was horrible. At least with this internship, I'm not working on the weekend otherwise I would have had to find someone to watch her this weekend. Thank goodness for that!

Lastly, my cousin is coming into town, from Oklahoma, with her family which we rarely get to see. We're meeting them on Wednesday right after Jason gets in from New York. I was just trying to remember the last time we saw them and I think it was when I was about 8 months pregnant so ... at least 14 months ago! Wow, it's going to be nice to see them and meet her 1 year-old son, Tyson, and so Abby can meet their family as well. I'm so excited for them to FINALLY meet. I'm sure Abby will get along with both but I have a feeling she's going to like Emma a lot since Abby is such a girly-girl.

Well, that's all for now. I've gotta go shower since Abby is finally sleeping. It's the small things you don't think about until you become a single parent for a few days. Oh, how I appreciate my husband. Lots of love to all!

~Julie