In general, my stamina has not been impressive lately, so I'm feeling pretty wiped at this point. I was therefore all set to write a short blurb about how Michael finally said "Abby" today, and let that be the end of things, but as I pulled out my laptop, Abby and Tom began storytime across the living room from me. The sight of Abby in her pink sparkly hat all curled up on her daddy's lap was too much to resist. I had to whip out the camera and take a few pictures.
So, yeah, after much urging from Tom, Michael finally verbalized a fairly hesitant "Hab-bee," followed by a quiet repetition of the two sounds blended together without the H: "Abby." But that's all that Tom has been able to get out of him all day, and, of course, I was not present to witness. It is my hope that I will be honored with a repeat performance soon.
He's also got another tooth to his name: the upper-right lateral incisor. It's maybe 20% exposed now, so I can't really count it as a seventh tooth yet, but it's pretty clearly visible. Its mate, the upper-left lateral incisor, has just barely broken through the gum line.
And now, on to those pictures. I was inspired to take them not only because of the cute hat, but also because of the book that Abby is reading. It was a recent gift from Nana and Papa to Michael, but Abby took an instant liking to it. I realized the other day as I read it to her that it's the same book that Mei Mei owned and loved many years ago. Mei Mei adored all things Spot, and owned a few different books as well as a stuffed animal, but if my memory serves me well, Where's Spot? was the first Spot book that she ever owned.
I think that Abby is particularly enchanted with the lift-up flaps. I, personally, am enchanted with the fact that we've reached a point with her where we can (mostly) trust her to lift them up somewhat gently and not rip them straight out of the book on impulse.
I cropped the above picture to make Abby the center of focus, but as I was saving it, I noticed her father in the background. He's doing the same thing with his lower lip that she is! You can see it even better here, in a differently cropped version of the same photo.
Neat, huh?
And here are a couple more, just because I like 'em.
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Today's follow-up appointment confirmed once again that there have been no further changes in dilation, so perhaps Raspberry and I have another couple of weeks together ahead of us. Or more. Only time will tell, I suppose...
