17 Months

We were a day late taking pictures this month, but we had Daddy's assistance, so better smiles and worth the delay. Aunt Krista got him this romper that says "fishing for kisses" and it's the prettiest turquoise color...unfortunately it won't fit very much longer!

17 months old

 ...with the attention span of a flea.

Hugs...

...and kisses.

"If you're happy and you know it,

clap your hands!"

Bear-y love!

As opposed to last month, which seemed a lot like the previous month, there have been some new behaviors and experiences. To list a few...

• Abram has learned to "blow" when food is hot, and he can also blow a whistle and the bird ocarinas that my dad makes. He will also "blow" his nose...but he blows through his mouth for that too.
• Selective hearing has begun....I'm on to him.
• We started "swim lessons" at the YMCA and Abram's favorite thing is to JUMP off the side to me.
• He is understanding SO much more of what we say and ask of him. We just don't understand a lot of what he says yet....all in good time.
• Abram is able to turn on his keyboard, press the "demo all" button and then dances to all the songs...so funny! 
• Doesn't cry anymore when going to "Sunday School", just walks right in to play! Still fusses when we go to get him like he's asking "where did you go??"
• RUNS around the house and flops himself up onto chairs and couches in one fluid motion.
• Loves to go visit the neighbors chickens and will occasionally say, "bak, bak".
• Woke up from a nap with a fever of 102.6...he was miserable, scared me, but it came down with one dose of Tylenol and the rash that followed cleared up almost as quickly as it appeared (diagnosed Hand, Foot and Mouth).
• Holds himself up and will often pee and/or poop on the BIG toilet!
• Can point to his eyes, nose, ears, mouth, head, hair, elbow (with some difficulty), knee, toes, feet, chest, hands, fingers and belly...and likes to point to ours too.
• Recognizes and laughs at Grandpa's (my dad) voice on the phone when he makes his Donald Duck sounds.
• Really enjoys playing with "his" phone...one of our old ones.
• LIKES WHOLE GREEN BEANS!! Still spitting out most fruits unless pureed.
• Waves goodbye to Daddy every morning out the window, and to strangers he's just met, such as the cashier at the grocery store.
• Showing interest in more "complex" books. He added Mercer Mayer's "Just Me and My Dad" to his frequent reading pile this past week.
• In addition to "noggin", "fist bump" (or is it "bomb") has been added to his repertoire, thanks to the instruction of Dale, one of Curtis's co-workers. He will now go from person to person wanting to bump fists. Pretty cute:)
• MY favorite thing this month has been his improved understanding of hugs and kisses. He will now tilt his little face upwards and push his lips out a bit to receive a kiss and squeeze back when we hug him. He's even done the "running hug" with Curtis a few times, running into his arms. 

Have you noticed?

A few of my regular followers noticed a subtle announcement on my blog sidebar, but I'll make it official now with a post. Yes, we are expecting another baby! Our due date is 12-18-12...but who knows, Abram came at 39 weeks, so we might hit the magic 12-12-12! We only had to try a few months this time and I was so relieved that we did not need the assistance of medication or doctors! Hallelujah!

Baby Cunningham at 9 weeks

I'm VERY happy that my first trimester is over, because I was pretty miserable this time around. I felt so sick, all day long from about week 7-13...managed to avoid throwing up all but twice. I may have felt this nauseous with Abram, but I was also going going going with camps AND I had a broken foot, so maybe I just ignored it better with that pregnancy?

Mama Cunningham at 5 weeks

11 weeks (looking a bit more tired here)

I'm now in week 14 and have been feeling tired but MUCH less nauseous. I have not been quite as diligent this time around in taking a weekly belly shot, but I'll try to get more at regular intervals for those of you who experience a sadistic joy in watching me get fat.  Please pray that we have a complication free pregnancy and end up with a healthy baby for Christmas!

Swim Lessons

Two weeks ago we started swim lessons with Abram. In these lessons they mainly sing songs and try to get the babies to do different motions in the water (move their hands, feet, blow bubbles).  Abram was very clingy the first week but relaxed by the end of the session and enjoyed jumping to me from the side the most.  The second week Curtis came with us and Abram got used to the water and environment much more quickly.  He even did better being on his back in the water for a while. He still enjoyed jumping off the side but he also discovered the center rail of the therapy pool and wanted to hang on it and float his feet up on the other side. We have 4 more sessions before the big pool party at my parents in July! 

Jumping off the side...a bit reluctantly at times if I'm not close enough!

Temporary Foster

Having "fostered" Harriet for 3 years, Curtis and I have not had other dog fosters for quite a while.  We also know that fostering any unknown animals with a pet-loving toddler could be risky. While Abram and I spent a week with my sister/parents, Curtis fostered a dog for the JB Ogle Animal Shelter in Jeffersonville until his rescue transport arrived to collect him. It was a good experience and promised to be very short-term, so we told the shelter manager we'd be willing to do this again.  So along came "MaryAnn".

 This is MaryAnn. Appropriately labeled as a "shepherd x"...maybe mixed with Doberman? She is 5 months old and as you can see by the size of her paws...gonna be HUGE! You would think that a 5 month old would just be a bundle of pure energy and destruction, but this pup spent most of her time sleeping on the deck by the back door or sleeping on the rug on the front porch! Her worst fault was she was not crate trained as yet, and she was a nervous pee-er. So daily crate cleaning was necessary and we just had to deal with her being a bit stinky because her recent spay prevented a bath. She really was a sweetie and we enjoyed her company for the week she was with us. Abram REALLY liked her. They had tons of fun playing on the back deck after supper several nights in a row.

 They would both run back and forth on the deck alternating between grabbing the tennis ball or the rag. MaryAnn was surprisingly gentle...only occasionally hooked him with a puppy tooth.

 They'd play tug o war with the rag. MaryAnn was so young and awkward that she would fall down as much as Abram.

Ah! Foster Puppy Attack!

Oh they had SO much fun!

This video cracked us up. MaryAnn and Abram liked "wallering" each other and practically sitting on each other. At the end of this video, Abram was a bit off balanced when she did so and he ends up getting sat upon in a way he did not appreciate! haha

She'll make someone a great (big) dog and we hope she gets adopted by a wonderful family with kids, because she proved to be a very good playmate. Good luck, MaryAnn!

Meow Meow Meow Meow

After rewinding the "Meow Mix" commercial 3 times we finally captured it on video. He thought those kitties were so funny! And we, in turn, thought his response was hilarious! haha