Abiageal || 8/9 Months!

Welcome to parenthood and the holidays where I didn't find any time to blog, haha. Here's 2 months of updates, while she's 10 months old in like, 2 days. 

8 Months: 

• First Halloween! She was a pumpkin for the party and about a half hour of trick or treating. She wore a cute little onesie from Carter's during the day when we went and got her foot prints painted on a popcorn dish!
• Sleep regression did not pass go, it did not collect $200. It hit us and stuck around even to today.
• She mimicked me and said "dada"! 
• Abby started to give me a break and would play independently with her toys around the living room.
• Started to stand without being held/help.
• Generally, she gets the spoon full of food into her mouth but we have to give her another pre loaded spoon in order to get the first one back, haha.
• Favourite things: Brown Bear Brown Bear What do you See?, our dogs, grilled cheese sandwich, and daddy.
• Still fitting into 6-9 month clothes.

9 Months:

• Abiageal's first Christmas! Her 9 month photo was taken on Christmas day in her Christmas pj's from Santa :) 
• As you can probably tell from the photo, it's getting more difficult to get her to lay still for these, haha!
• Abby graduated from 2 teeth to 5. She has 3 bottom, and her two top teeth!
• I flew solo with Abby to Vancouver to visit my new niece, and Abby's new baby cousin (they're 1 day away from being exactly 8 months apart!), and the flights went really well. It felt like a breeze compared to our Scotland trip.
• Decided to give me a heart attack by disappearing while at Aunty's house and we found her at the top of the staircase (a whole 9 steps!) all by herself. She was following their cat. Baby gate was promptly brought out of storage by Uncle!
• Abby can walk with help! She can do it if you're holding her hands, then on the 30th of December, she received a push walker from her Grandma and Grandpa, which she pulled herself up right away and went zooming away.
• She's decided that opening cupboards in the kitchen is SO MUCH FUN. We now gate off the living room until we buy child locks or until I find a better place for our cleaning supplies from the kitchen.
• She growls. We hang out with our dogs too much, and she finds it hilarious when Spencer growls. I think it also really took off after her cousin. Nenna, showed Abby her growling dinosaur. 
• Started sleeping at night again! No more hourly wake ups, and is down to 1-3 wake ups. Really just depends on her day and what's going on. 
• Abiageal can clap! She also signed for "milk" (formula in this case). It's not 100% used in context and it gets confused with waving "bye" but we're getting there.
• Favourite things: Definitely Gunner, family - she was on cloud 9 during the holidays with all the attention and visits with her favourite family members, cucumber - it feels so good on those sore gums, and finding floor treats. She gives us a run for our money when we go to another person's house or place, because she really does find every single piece of styrofoam, tape, foam, rocks, dirt, etc.. 

After Remembrance Day (November 11th), I was waiting for my EI (maternity leave paycheck) and assumed it would be late because of the statutory holiday because the offices were closed. Log on to find that they made the decision to cut me off at the end of October because of a previous open claim, and they say you can only claim so much in 50 weeks. I called, in tears, and that's what I was told. I filed a reconsideration because I was told at the beginning of my maternity leave that while it said October 31st was my end date, I'd be fine until February 1st. We were left with only Rob's income for November and December, and forced me to go back to work for January 8th.

I finally came to terms with Abiageal being in child care, after a full day of on/off crying because I didn't want her to be in someone else's care. Today is day 3 of daycare for her! We found one that we really like and that made all the difference in coming to terms with it. She's extra tired and sensitive when she gets home for the day, but we're all still adjusting. I go back to work this coming Monday so I'm trying to use my childless time wisely in preparation for that.

On that note, do you have any favourite easy week day dinners? Preferably gluten free or a recipe that I can switch a few ingredients to make it gluten free. :)

xo. Nicole

Photos c/o Treasured Forever Photography