Learning by Accident

As I mentioned in the last post, we are definitely seeing Abby's personality develop.  It's so fun to see her figure new things out.  We don't always know if achieving these "developmental milestones" are an accident or not, but I figure they probably all start out as accidental, then a baby realizes, "Hey, that's something I can do!" Abby's been working on a few.

Smiling

You've seen the pictures.  Abby's been smiling like a champ for weeks, and her smiles just get better and better.  She's such a charmer.

And, in case you missed the video on Facebook:

Tummy Time

We got this spiffy little tummy time mat at the WeeCycle Consignment Sale  the other weekend, and Abby actually seems to enjoy tummy time on it.  There's a mirror, too, and she loves looking at the baby in the floor.  So, I don't know if it's her age or the mat, but at least she's getting to enjoy some tummy time.

Reaching for Things

This may have been an accident, but last week, while sitting in her rocker, she reached up and touched the toys dangling from it.  Ok, it may be more that she was flailing about and happened to touch them.  She did it more than once, though.

To be honest, she hasn''t been successful with this since, but she continues to reach!

Talking

Abby has become a little Chatty Cathy!  We have full on babbling conversations.  The thing is, she gets shy as soon as I start videoing her.  I did catch her cooing a bit while playing on her new play mat.  She loves talking to the baby in the mirror!

Thumb Sucking

This also has only happened once, so it might have been an accident.   I have mixed feelings about the thumb sucking - I sucked my thumb for a LONG time - until I was six - and had to have a head gear, braces, the whole shebang.  But at her age, it IS developmentally appropriate - not to mention, freaking cute.  :-)

S.F.P.

In college, I was notorious among my friends for having what we affectionately referred to as a "severe facial problem."  Meaning, if there was a situation that required a poker face, it was guaranteed that I would have just the opposite.  For example:  The boy my roommate has a secret crush on happens to sit with us at lunch and unwittingly makes a double entendre - which is only a double entendre if you know that roomie has a crush on said boy.  I was unable to take this in stride.  My face would contort as I struggled to keep it from showing surprise, then amusement, then turning red as I tried to not laugh.  This resulted in me drinking copious amounts of tea in college, as that was  my escape.  Awkard moment = me getting up and saying, "I'm gonna get some tea."  And then try to hide my face behind my teacup, should further hijinks ensue.

The "severe facial problem" became such an inside joke among my friends that when I made my own webpage (as was fashionable in the late 90s, before MySpace and Facebook and all that), I had one dedicated to "Severe Facial Problems," featuring photos of friends with unusual (and usually funny) facial expressions.

More and more, when I look at myself and Abby in the mirror, I have to admit that, at least for now, she looks more like her daddy.  I tell her, "That's ok, you're daddy's pretty good-looking."  However,  some photos make me wonder if she might share her mother's propensity for "severe facial problems:"

"Mom, I'm only 2 months old.  I'm not ticklish, yet."

"Well...."

"World domination?  No, of course, that's not what I was thinking about."

Also, that sleeper no longer fits her. : (

"Mom, like I even know it's Dad's birthday."

I love that we're starting to see her personality come through more and more.  :)