How Does She Do That?

Our friends Doug & Jessica had this on their blog, and it was so cool we thought we should spread it around. Check out this video of Boyanka Angelova:

The Rump Shaker

Abby Walks

Someone told Jen recently that Abby must not be walking, because if its not on the blog it must not have happened. Well, thanks for the compliment, though I've been lagging a bit lately.
So, Abby has been walking around since Christmas, but each day she spends more time on her feet. I think yesterday was the first day she walked more than she crawled, so I was finally able to get some footage. And so, by popular demand, footage of Abby walking in the living room...

A day at the Zoo

We took Abby to the Phoenix Zoo today. We found a 1/2 off coupon; last time we found free admission coupons; so now the three of us have been twice and only paid $16 total. I'm proud of my deal seeking skills. I'm addicted to slickdeals.net too, by the way. If you've never seen that site, you should. They list amazing deals on all sorts of stuff, from zoo admission to electronics to clothing. I think I have an addiction, and so does everybody else I know who's been to that web site. At any rate, here are two shots from the zoo.

After a long day, Abby zonked out in her chest harness. I carried her around the zoo in this thing all day. Its better than a stroller 'cause I can cut through crowds and she can see everything.

Jen and Abby pose with an oryx.

And I tossed this photo in just because. Here Abby was eating spicy rice and beans with chicken and tomatoes tossed in, chased by some sweet potato puffs. Abby doesn't like baby food (I can't blame her). It made us nervous for a while, but now it seems she's anxious to jump directly into adult food. Here she is passed out after blissfully stuffing herself.

Christmas 2008

This was Abby's first Christmas. We spent it with Jen's family in Washington state where we enjoyed an unusually white Christmas. Olympia hasn't had this much snow since the 1980s. We barely got into town and once we got to her folks house we were snowed in for days.

Below are Kevin (Jen's brother) and his son Noah, and Brent (Jen's brother) and Nicole (his wife) holding Abby. Isn't this snow man awesome?

Abby received lots of little gifts, including this Alphabet Train that teaches the ABCs.I received a Fossil brand BYU watch. Go Cougs!

Jen's favorite gift was a tempo watch (a fancy shmanshy conductor's tool that tells you how fast you are conducting--the opposite of a metronome).

And midway through our visit Jen's sister gave Jen a new look--how do you like the short hair? Now she and Abby have the same style. I think short hair is hot, but you have to be beautiful to pull it off (see example below).

Well, we've got a few more days on our little trip here in Washington--I'll keep you informed if anything interesting happens, or if I find a useful video among the 200 clips people recorded. We had three cameras (often taking video) and three high def video cameras taking shots here on Christmas day. I think we've got every angle imaginable, but its a beast to sort through. Note to self--take fewer and shorter videos.

Abby in High Def, sort of...

Well, we got a high definition camcorder with the cash Jen made conducting for Ballet Arizona and the Phoenix Symphony. This is our first clip; unfortunately, I blogger cannot handle the high def format and youtube converts it into something a little less clear than standard definition. So, the clip below isn't as sharp as what appears on my screen, but I thought you might appreciate an update on Abby's crawling speed.

Trying New Things

Does this look like the face of a child who eats cockroaches?

Maybe not, but when we found this today all the parts were not there.

Last weekend we visited my parents in Southern California. We went down to the beach and rode a trolley along the shoreline.

Abby rode on a carousel with my mom. She likes to experiment and try new things (see cockroach photo above), but this was a scary experience for her.

More on Abby

At just over 9 months old, Abby is growing bigger and stronger (she now weighs 14 lbs.). She drinks her milk (almost exclusively--a frustrating story of its own) to build strong bones and muscles, and to get a little extra bulk she knocks out two dozen pull ups each morning.
With her now found strength she terrorizes the house. She is particularly fond of the closet, and does her best to unfold all the sweaters, disorganize the shoes, and pull down any hanging items that she can reach.
Fortunately, she is so cute that we dont mind. Her brown hair with a touch of copper is beautiful, and all the grown men in the ward fawn all over her. My biggest concern is the older toddler boy I've seen her flirting with at church--Tommy (See "Dave & Tiffany" on our blogging buddies). Dave, I've got my eye on him!

So, on to other things (for the one or two people who care)... Life is going well. Its very busy. Jen is wrapping up the semester with both schoolwork and her choirs. She's been a little ill lately but is starting to recover and in just a couple weeks she can rejoice in knowing there is very little schoolwork remaining (I think she needs one more class next semester). I just finished the defense of my prospectus, which means I advanced to candidacy and now have nothing more to do in school except write my dissertation (and teach classes). I've been doing interviews with folks and will continue to do that for the next few weeks, and then I've got to start producing. I am presenting at a prestigious conference in March and am a bit nervous that I've not yet finished the research. I am enjoying the work. In church things are going about as usual. Jen just finished up a large stake youth choir and incorporated all our musical friends into the production. We are excited for next month when we spend Christmas in Washington with all of Abby's cousins. We can't wait for her first Christmas. As usual, we'll do Thanksgiving with my family in Los Angeles, and my mom will love to show off Abby. I feel like the too many balls I've been juggling are slowly reducing in number--and that is a relief. For Jen, it appears, she's got to wait a few more weeks for that respite.

Dad wins the race to Abby's first word! Here is the evidence:

Halloween

Abby is too cute