Say that again...?

This is too good to pass up...

Email from my mom yesterday:

"Hi Babe, remember how I complained about the squirrels and rabbits running rampant over the yard. Well, now we have a chicken sitting on a nest of 12 eggs.."

WHAT?! Did she say a CHICKEN is living in their yard?! OK, I know I'm from the South, but I swear it's really not like that. For those of you who don't know where my childhood home in Hope Mills is, it's not exactly surrounded by farms and is on a pretty busy road.

I haven't gotten the whole story yet, but evidentially this chicken found a really good reason to cross the road!

Pouring rain

Why does it cost more to take your dog to the doctor than yourself? I'm not going to say how much, but it's enough to give you some sticker shock. Poor Zak has had an upset stomach for the past couple of days that doesn't seem to be getting any better. (Translation: we have to take him on several more walks a day to try to keep him from messing up the floor.) Brandon broke down and took him to the vet this morning. The doc was also concerned about his bladder problem (he leaks.) So, we get to run a whole battery of tests. Hopefully he's just got an infection or bug, but with our luck probably not.

It also looks like the whole family has been impacted by Brandon's leg problems. Before the accident, Brandon was really good about making sure Zak got some good exercise several times a week. This is one area I haven't been picking up the slack. Needless to say, the scale at the vet revealed that the dog has put on some pounds over the past few months. With his bad legs, he has to be uncomfortable. Maybe making an effort to get him out for more walks will motivate me to get off my butt in the evenings.

Anyway, when it rains it pours...we also had to put new tires on the Honda this weekend after a bad front end alignment after we replaced the steering column after the car was stolen out of our driveway last fall.

Winding down the weekend

Second day with no nap. yippee.

Not for lack of trying though. She was in her crib for over on hour. I guess it could be worse, at least we didn't have any meltdowns. But, oh my gosh, talk about clingy, from morning till evening, it's been "Mommy! Mommy! Mommy!"
I'm flattered, but I'm ready to go back to work to rest.


Wishful thinking...

Night Out

What a great night out!
One of the traveling Cirque du Soleil shows has set up camp (or more specifically - tent) at Marymoor Park right beside the Velodrome. We'd seen the shows on TV and heard great things about it, so we splurged and decided to have a night out for the adults. A little pricey but we were able to get a discount.
So, Thursday evening Aunt Mary and Uncle Wayne graciously agreed to watch Abigael for a few hours. We dropped her off and raced over to catch the 4:00 show. Unfortunately, traffic was against us and we missed the first few minutes of the show. No matter, it was Fabulous! If you're not famliar with Cirque du Soleil, it's a circus, but not like the circus we grew up seeing. No animals, just fantastic gymnasts, acrobats, and performers. The show is in a tent that holds maybe 1,000 people, so there wasn't a bad seat in the place. We were off to the side but only about 8 rows back. The show was called Varekai and was just beautiful. In brief, it was set in an enchanted forest with bizarre creatures. The show consisted of several skits, ranging from high flying acts to intricate dances to gymnastic shows to hilarious slapstick. It was the most enjoyable two hours we've spent in a long time. If you ever have the chance, I would definitely recommend that you check out one of their shows. It was worth the money for a unique, enjoyable night out.

Bedtime

This is how we wind down for bedtime...?






Warning: the video is a little long

(Can you tell I've found a cool new toy with the videos?)

Baseball!

Go Team!
I was lucky enough to score a couple of tickets at work to last night's Mariners game. So we made it Family Night for Brandon, Abigael and I. We had great seats, row 16 lower level, just past 3rd base. It was a warm, clear night and the roof was open.


Abigael had a great time and was such a good girl. It was so fun to watch her cheer, clap and dance. During the 8th inning, they even played a little montage of music for all the kids to jump up and down to get some energy out.























All in all it was a great night. Fun, family and the Mariners won!

Perfectly Average

We took Abigael to the doctor this afternoon for her 2-year-old check up. Not that we had any doubt, but it went just fine. We absolutely love Dr. Gromko. She's so great with Abigael and always takes the time to talk to us and found out how things are going in our lives.
Anyway, Abigael is right on target with all of the milestones for her age. Actually I was just looking at a small milestone chart on BabyCenter and she seems to be exceling at some things. Well, that's just because she's the smartest kid ever.
As the title suggests, her height and weight were perfectly average. She's right at the 50th percentile for both (26 1/2 lbs and 33 1/2 inches tall.) I guess that should put our minds at rest about how little she eats. No, it's still going to bug me.
We're so proud of her and the big girl she's become. It still feels like a miracle that she's gone from this...




to this!

New Trick

Abigael has learned how to snap her fingers. Or at least her version of it...



This has got to be the cutest things I have ever seen.

A Day at the Beach

Tuesday was the first hot day of the year, so we took an outing to Golden Gardens Park here in Seattle. It has a great little beach right on the Sound.
This is one tough kid. It may be 80 degrees outside, but Puget Sound in May isn't exactly what I would call warm. She had a blast.

Happy Birthday 2 You!

Happy 2nd Birthday Abigael!
This is a little late but I wanted to briefly record this priceless milestone.
It has definitely been the whirlwind weekend as family and friends descended to help celebrate the happy occasion. Christie's parents and grandmother arrived Thursday from North Carolina. Brandon's parents, sister Gabbie and, niece and nephew, Emma and Matthew, came into town from Los Angeles on Friday.
The big birthday party was on Saturday. The orginal intention was just a small gathering of family and a few of Abigael's friends. Either our apartment is a lot smaller than I realized or she actually has a lot of friends. I'm voting for friends. We ended up with fourteen adults and seven kids packed into our living room. What a great time!



Yes, we had to have another cake on her "real birthday" so I could get this picture....



Thank you to everyone for being a part of our lives and this special day!

No Fear

The girl never ceases to amaze me with her boundless energy and "don't quit" mentality. As Friday was my day-off from work, it was family day. We spent the morning hanging around the house and cleaning a little bit. Around 10:30am, Brandon, Abigael and I loaded up the car to run a few errands and then go to Greenlake to enjoy the beautiful weather. The park has an awesome playground for the little kids, complete with plenty of slides, swings and sand. As soon as she saw it, Abigael made a beeline for the small slide apparatus. Inside of thirty seconds she had scaled the platform, climbed the steps and flung herself down the slide. This was repeated without incident at least 23 more times.


Next she invited herself to play in the sand with some other kids. "It's not a problem that I just jump right in, is it?"

Next on the agenda was the giant jungle gym. You know the kind, multiple appendages of slides and poles and stairs strung together with hyperactive ants (kids) scrambling all around. She made it up the stairs and across the swinging bridge but was turned back at the tall slide. No, she wasn't scared. Mom and Dad just decided the plastic was too hot for her skirted legs.

Final stop for the day was the merry-go-round. This is where her spunk earned my full appreciation.
There were four or five other kids already on the merry-go-round when she climbed aboard. It wasn't going super fast, but fast enough that it paid to hold on. For a couple of minutes, she copied the other kids and clung to the pole where she stood. However, it didn't take long for her adventurous streak to take over. Before we could blink, she was running back and forth across the merry-go-round. While it was still turning! If you don't remember the dynamics of this from your youth, just recall your basic physics lesson: Objects in motion tend to stay in motion until another force acts upon them. She looked like a tipsy sailor trapped inside of a pinball game as she moved across from pole to pole. The older kids around her stayed tight to their spot as they watched her totter around. Their parents looked on in awe and laughed. Her determination to make her way across to her Daddy, only to miraculously find herself back where she started, was the funniest sight I've seen in a long time.

All too soon playtime was over and we made our way back home for naptime. Thank you Abigael, for giving us a small glimpse into the confident, fun-loving woman you're destined to become. It's going to be a rough and challenging road, but I'm going to enjoy every second of it.

Nap time

2:15 Put Abigael down for a nap. Today we're trying using a bed rail instead the crib side. She has a sippy cup of chocolate milk.

2:20 Click click click. The sound of little hands trying to turn the door knob (the milk must be gone). Then silence.

2:21 Tap Tap Tap. The sound of a little hand knocking on her bedroom door. Shoot. She's still quiet, so I'm faintly hopeful that she'll go back to bed. I go to get the baby monitor.

2:22 - 2:26 Various little kid sounds eminate from the monitor. A drawer opening, jumping on the mattress, knocking on the door...all peppered with the occasional "Mama."

2:28 I quietly go into her room and tuck her back into bed. She looks sleepy and says "ok."

2:29 Click click click. Knock knock knock. "Mama!" Shoot.

2:32 I give up. I quietly go back into her room and tuck her back into bed. I remove the bedrail and put the crib side back on. She looks sleepy. "Night night."

2:32:30 The crying commences. I'm such a heel.

2:37 Still crying (i.e. yelling). Poor baby. I'm still a heel.

2:41 The crying has stopped, replaced with the sound of jumping and rustling in the bed. Whew! Hopefully, it won't be long...

2:45 I think we're still doing ok. She's talking to herself a little bit, but still fairly quiet. "Abigael's pillow." Moan, jump, moan.

2:50 I think we've done it. I haven't heard anything for a minute or so. Sleep tight, baby girl.

Oh well...we'll try again another day. Surely she won't have to sleep in a crib till she's grown, will she....?

Self-Portrait

We have a budding photographer on our hands:

Monkey in Boots!

La Vida Loca....

Yes, it's been a crazy couple of weeks, but the Lockwood's are hanging in there and trying like hell to hang onto our sense of humor. If you've been been out of the loop, check out the details of our lastest dramas on Brandon's blog, Track Daddy. Aside from near-death experiences, frayed nerves and a neurotic (almost) two-year old, we're doing pretty good. The bills are paid, we're on the road to recovery (again) and Spring is in the air.
The week after Brandon's surgery, I headed out to Washington, DC for a previously planned business trip. I, along with two other co-workers, were scheduled to meet with some of our customer counterparts from a program at work. It sounds more impressive than it really was, but all-in-all it was a good trip. The only downside was that our hotel was out near the airport instead of in DC. So, no sightseeing for us. Maybe next time. At least I was able to experience the beautiful weather of an East Coast Spring.
Speaking of Spring, it's finally arrived in Seattle. Combine the natural burst of energy from that with the budding independence of a toddler, and you have a very dangerous combination. All of sudden we have a 2 1/2 foot tall, bi-polar, chatterbox running at Mach 3 through the apartment. The kid just does not stop. Last week she went three days in a row without taking a nap. If you've every been around toddlers that haven't had a nap, you know their pleasant disposition only lasts so long. Let's just say that by the time I got home in the evenings, she wasn't exactly my favorite person to be around. But aside from that little issue, Abigael has just blossomed into this awesome little person. Over the past few weeks, we've seen her vocabulary just explode. She's also seemed to have mastered her parroting skills, more and more we have to watch what we say. Embarrasing example to bring out when she's a teenager: she passed gas the other day and looked at me with a little smirk. I grinned back at her and said "Abigael farted." She proceeded to proclaim "Abigael farted!" over and over for the next five minutes. What can you do but laugh....
You have to see the good in things whenever something unfortunate happens in your life. One of my "good things" the past couple of weeks has been all the extra time I've been able to spend with Abigael during this warp speed development. We've discovered ants on the sidewalk, Play-doh, birds and airplanes, singing at top volume, and, not only more self-awareness, but awareness of others. "Abigael's shirt...Momma's shirt....Dada's shirt!"

All in all, it's a crazy ride....but it's so worth it.