Just Another Week...

On Monday night we made Valentine cookies. Last year Abby was SO excited to make special cookies and take them next door to our neighbor. She told me so, several times in the days leading up to it (which was a good thing because it gave her extra practice so she could actually say VALENTINE correctly by Valentine's Day). She always loved wearing an apron and helping in the kitchen. Here she is stirring the dough for our special cookies.

It's funny how fresh this memory is in my head. It was a Sunday morning (which explains why Abby is in pajamas). Anthony was at early morning meetings before church (he was Elder's Quorum President at the time) and I'm pretty sure Spencer was sleeping in the swing. We invited one of Anthony's sisters over that night and her kids helped Abby decorate the cookies. They had so much fun!

This year I was thinking Abby could probably shake the sprinkles onto the cookies, but she was more interested in putting her fingers in the frosting and then ripping apart the cookie. So we just let her have fun while I did the rest of the cookies and Spencer combed the floor for any sprinkles that might have fallen off the table.... Then Abby 'signed' little Valentine cards for her therapists (do you see the red crayon lines in the picture?) and we packaged them up. She really  likes her teachers!! And they were all so excited the next day when we delivered them at school (which is what we call Abby's therapy sessions).

Abby had a follow-up appointment with her opthamologist this week to see how her eyes are doing post-surgery. He was pleased with the progress that they have made so far said they will only continue to get better. To be honest, we haven't really seen much of a difference, so we are taking his word for it! They seem a little better at times, but they are still way off at other times. He said that's normal and it will take her a while to get used to fact that she CAN use them together, since she went so long without doing that. But from his exam he said she was responding better than before.

Spencer had his turn at the doctor this week with his 15-month well check (that really is what the pediatrician said when he walked in - "So Spencer, you get a turn now!" - because I was just there with Abby a couple weeks ago). He is in the 90th percentile for height (only 6 inches shorter than Abby right now) and the 10th percentile for weight. He has 7 teeth and 2 partial molars. Those take forever to come in completely!

He is so much fun right now (when he's not whinning...). He loves his blankie and his favorite game is Peek-a-boo. If you ask him where his eyes are he will blink. If you ask him where his teeth are he will click them together. He is running all over the place and talking all day long. He has his own little language that he babbles in, but he does know some real words too: doggy, mommy, daddy, Abby, hi, ball, teeth, shoe. His favorite word is doggy. But in the car on the way to the doctor he kept saying "mommy" over and over again. It was so cute. Another cute thing: the way he crosses his ankles when he sits.

He has been doing it for quite a while, but I still laugh every time I see it. The other night he fell asleep in the car on our way home from a family dinner...with his ankles crossed. Cuteness!!

In other news, Anthony and I left the kids with a REAL babysitter on Friday night for the first time in 9 months! We have left them with grandparents a few times, but this was the first time leaving them with a teenager. For a long time we just weren't comfortable having other people watch Abby because she was so fragile and so many things could go wrong. But now she is so much stronger and there is no reason why we can't leave her. So we did. For 5 hours! And everyone survived. Date night is a must from now on. We loved it.