I had always heard that once you have kids, time speeds up. I am here to tell you this is absolutely, unequivocally true. Now our first few weeks home, I might have put up a big of an argument. Not because time went slow but because Abby was not changing as fast she is now. But as I sit here looking back at the last time I posted, I know time has gone into a kind of warp mode. I know this by watching Abby. My little baby has been replaced with an adorable, funny and happy toddler. I can almost see her growing and learning before my eyes. Part of me wants to just slow down the time but most of me loves watching her pure joy when she figures out something new.

So what is new? Well, Abby had her first complete haircut. I say "complete" as the last attempt ended in only half her hair being cut. This time took a team of 3 but the result was quite adorable. I have discovered her hair does grow as fast as mine (which is indeed very fast) so we will likely be back for another hair cut very soon.

A few weeks ago we attended Sesame Street Live with Avery (and her mommy Kris) and Alec (and his mommy Dawn). Abby really adores Alec and Avery and was so excited to see both of them. As for seeing the dancing Elmo, Oscar, Big Bird and company, well, she was pretty scared for the first 10 minutes or so. She definitely had a death grip on me but managed to still watch the show over my shoulder. That's all it took though - 10 minutes - and then she joined the clapping and dancing. I have discovered this is Abby's approach to anything new. She is very reserved around situations in which she does not feel comfortable, but usually after a few minutes she will jump right in. I love this about her.

Last week I had a work meeting here in Atlanta. Since we had evening activities, Abby had babysitters for 2 nights in a row. She cried each night when I left but ultimately did fine both nights. I think we were both extremely happy to get back our normal routine though. I really missed her that week since for 3 days I mostly saw her when I was taking her to/from daycare. It made me appreciate all the more that I normally work from home and get to spend more time with her since I don't have to spend time in traffic going to the office.

Abby continues to be obsessed with The Wiggles. This is very funny to me since Abby watches a grand total of maybe 30 minutes of tv a day. She will carry around the DVD case like a security blanket. She will yell out "GIGGLES" (how she calls them) and if we do watch them, she will dance right along with them. I must admit that "Do the Monkey" and "Hot Potato Cold Spaghetti" have grown on me.

Let's see - other favorites this week include: bubbles, Wiggles, playing in the dirt, sliding, our 2 year old neighbor Francesco (or CoCo as she calls him), knocking over mommy's block masterpieces, and dancing. Favorite music right now includes anything on the Blue Disney CD (especially The Tiki Room), the soundtrack from Chicago, her Kazakhstan CD (also still my favorite - this one really gets her clapping!), and Van Morrison.

Abby is talking up a storm. She can and will repeat just about anything and has also gotten very good at announcing things without prompting. There is not a dog in a 5 block area that will go by without her shouting "Doggie!!". Same goes for any baby. And the "baby" can be any child up to and including about 5 years of age.

For the last 2 weeks Abby has stayed in her new classroom all day long (without venturing back to Ms. Kim's room as she was doing). Her new teacher Ms. Cheryl keeps the kids very busy with lots of art, music, and reading. This week is "Chicken Week". Heh. I love theme weeks.

So, it has been a busy and fun few weeks. I have new pictures and promise to post them in the next day or so. Good night from Atlanta.