Gaper's Blog: Abigail Update

I was bluntly reminded by a friend that not everyone is on Facebook, therefore while Abby is Facebook-famous, she's long overdue for an update here.

Abigail just turned seven months old on Saturday. And you'd think that some of the bloom would be off the rose by now and that we would've settled into a mildly jaded parental state. Not so. I'm consistently amazed at how delightful being a parent is and how great it is to have Abby in our lives. Like so many things in life, you always hear from other people how great _____ is and how much you'll love _____. Until it happens, you can't quite wrap your head around what it's like. The funniest part for me (and Carla, honestly) is that neither of us were 'baby people'. Sure, we'd hold other people's children and enjoy that but we weren't baby crazy and yet once it happened we became those people. We are the walking cliches of doting parents.

Since Mid-May, I have been Abby's primary caregiver two full days and three half days a week. My parents have been wonderful in pitching in on those half days when I'm coming off an overnight and need a few hours of sleep and they'd be the first to admit it's a joy for them to get to spend quality time with their first grandchild.

At the seven month mark, Abby is now sleeping through the night very consistently. She's been

Weisbluthed/Ferberized for the most part. Those 10-12 minutes in which you have to let your child 'cry it out' are arduous but necessary and as the book says and everyone tells you, 'she'll never remember it'. It's true, she always wakes up smiling. Abby's also begun taking baby food twice a day, which has replaced one of her milk feedings. Unlike her dad, she seems to love squash and sweet potatoes. While she's not crawling yet, she is quite the adroit roller. No intelligible speech yet but it doesn't stop her from talking a blue streak when the mood strikes; it makes sense to her, I just wish we had the baby translator Danny DiVito's Uncle Herb character invented on that Simpsons episode. Naps have dwindled from three to two but she's remarkably consistent with those, which gives me time to either nap along or get stuff done. She's already experienced quite a bit as a seven month old, some bullet points.

She's been to her first Cubs game, they lost, which seems about right
Given all her gear, she's apparently a Packers fan, though--like her mom--she probably couldn't name three current Packers.
She made her maiden trip to the Brookfield Zoo last weekend.
She's already been up to Mercer twice and Green Bay half a dozen times.
Technically, her first 'rock' show was Emmylou Harris at Ravinia but we could only stay for a few songs, so her first proper show has yet to happen.

So, that's a thumbnail sketch of our little girl, who we've nicknamed "Pickle", which just so happens to be what she'll be for her first Halloween this weekend, thanks to the sewing of her grandma and her mom. A full photo album 'Abby' was just added, below left.