Too Fast!

My daughter will be 6 months old as of this coming Wednesday, and I have to tell you that it is entirely too early for her to be doing this:

What's that? Did we put her there?? Did we prop her against the crib railing??? Oh, no. She definitely pulled up there on her own. Actually, this is the third time she's done it... after we had already lowered the crib mattress following her first time. And now we're going to have to get one of those teething rail thingies because she just wants to chew on it! Plus, she now thinks she can stand all the time and wants to pull up on everything, so she's no longer content to sit around. Noooooo...... you just try to sit her on the floor with a bunch of toys and see how that works for ya. Good luck, friend. The crying is getting to be a bit much, actually, but I know I should be thrilled that she's working so hard to get mobile. *It's only a phase, it's only a phase...* Oh, and the talking has turned from mostly vowels to lots of consonants since she found her tongue a few days ago. Here's the current favorite face:

Love it! My world is totally changing (every day, it seems like!). She is such a joy, and I cannot believe how quickly she is growing up!

The RIGHT Way

We had two biscuits left over from dinner last night, and I decided that was going to be my breakfast this morning with butter and jelly. This is not necessarily anything of importance to blog about, but I always think of Papaw when I eat biscuits with butter and jelly because he knew the right way to eat it. If you are a Curtis cousin (or aunt, or uncle, or any other relation) you know exactly what I'm talking about. It was just a happy thought as I ate my breakfast this morning. I will make sure Abby grows up knowing how to eat her biscuits with butter and jelly appropriately. :)

Play Date

Abby loves to go play with her friend, Claira Tittle. Claira is 9 months old, and Abby just thinks she is the coolest thing since sliced bread. Joy (Claira's mother) and I laugh so hard at how tickled Abby gets just watching/pestering Claira. She will watch Claira cruise around the furniture and crawl around the room, and she just smiles and laughs. Ah, to be a big girl like friend Claira. :) Abby does kind of act like the little sister, though--she can be such a pest! She's just curious and wants to play, but so far that includes reaching out to grab or pull any part of Claira she can get a hold of. Claira is not such a fan of this game, but I guess she'll catch on and pop Abby one of these days. I am thankful Joy and I can get the girls together because they have so much fun, and I really want Abby to learn how to play well with other kids. Plus, it never hurts to have some adult conversation (and maybe a Vanilla Diet Dr. Pepper from Sonic!) during the day. :) Here are our big girls:

Confession

Ok, I have something to admit:


My Christmas decorations are still up.


There it is. Go ahead, say what you will. It's not that I'm hopelessly clinging to the holiday season... I just really haven't had the time or energy to put everything away! Plus, the Christmas tree (that's right, our sad little fake tree is still up, too) makes a wonderful night light in the living room when I'm feeding Abby and rocking her to sleep. I suppose we could just invest in an actual night light, but this one is so... festive. :) I am very aware that it is mid January, and I really need to get on the ball. Maybe this weekend?? Oh, well. Perhaps we'll just celebrate Christmas year round this year.

In other news, I have started my new job in the nursery at Health Corp (local gym/spa), and I love it! There isn't anything overly exciting about it, but I am glad to be working with kids again. Here are the perks:
1) The shifts are only 4 or 5 hours long, depending on the day.
2) I make more than minimum wage.
3) When Abby turns 6 months old in a few weeks, she can go with me every time I go to work.
4) I get free gym membership.
5) I am actually using the free gym membership!
6) I spend my work day coloring, building with blocks, reading books, and tossing balls and bean bags.
7) I get to wear workout clothes and tennis shoes to work.
8) The parents are only allowed to leave their kids for 2 hours max at a time, so there's a constant rotation of children.
I think that about covers it. Right now I'm only subbing for people on the weekends or evenings since I can't take Abby yet. The good news: one of the regular girls put in her 2 week notice today, so I'm going to fill her spot starting in February--more hours! It was looking questionable for a while whether or not I would have many hours to work, but this helps a lot. She said she would try to finish out the month, and then they're mine!

In true fashion, I will now leave you with a couple of recent Abby pictures. Here's my big 5-month-old girl:

Would you like to eat this block?? Trust me, it tastes great!

Can I play with the camera, too, Mommy?